Okehampton GC Sign Sherriff Deal

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Okehampton GC Sign Sherriff Deal: Devon’s Okehampton Golf Club have signed a new deal which sees Sherriff Amenity as its preferred supplier of products for a period of three years.

Okehampton Golf Club features an 18 hole parkland course, sheltered by the highest tors of Dartmoor, on the northern edge of Devon’s magnificent National Park. It is a challenging course and can be deceptive if the wind is blowing – especially on the 12th hole where the West Okement River awaits to the left and behind the green.

Okehampton GC Sign Sherriff Deal

Stuart Entwistle has been the course manager at Okehampton for just over four years and is pleased with the progress he has made in that time.

“I used to work at a large club but was quite restricted in trying new methods and products. However, once I came here I had a free reign to trial a number of new products. I personally feel there has been a big improvement to the course. My main goal to start with was to be able to offer golf all-year round and we have already achieved that.”

Stuart initially focused his attentions on the tees and after a recommendation from Sherriff Amenity’s David Chammings, he turned to Evolution Xtra 24.4.4 granular fertiliser for the summer and then Evolution Controlled 18.0.32 in the winter.

“I would say that the majority of our members have said that the biggest improvement here has been on the tees,” said Stuart. “When I first arrived the tees just looked tired and weak so they needed immediate attention. I went with an initial application of the Evolution Xtra 24.4.4 at a rate of 30g/m² in the middle of March. It gave me a great initial hit and I applied it twice more in that first year.

“This really worked in getting them in a better condition and for the second year we went with two more applications of the 24.4.4 but then for winter we went with the six month release fertiliser – Evolution Controlled, which was the perfect feed to see us through. The growth was steady and strong – exactly what we needed.

Okehampton GC Sign Sherriff Deal

“The other good thing about Evolution Controlled is that it is chloride free so it has a low scorching index. Therefore, I can put it down and not worry about the scorch, which was one of my concerns at first because we don’t have any irrigation on the tees.”

For the greens at Okehampton, Stuart claims that he just wouldn’t be without Sherriff Amenity’s GoGreen Energy – a concentrated bio-stimulant, formulated to assist plant health and relieve stress symptoms.

“GoGreen Energy works really well for us – we go through the summer with it at four weekly intervals at the full rate of 60 l/ha. Before we started using the product, the greens were starting to yellow and were a bit stressed but now they are a beautiful green colour and it has really helped with root depth.

“We have tried a number of similar products in the past but GoGreen is the one we have consistently stuck with. I honestly believe that if we didn’t use it for one summer then we would notice the difference.

“It’s a nice low nitrogen product, contains simple sugars, a bit of chelated iron, has a bit of seaweed in it and is a complete trace element package – but not too much of one thing and that’s what we want. It just gives you a nice steady pattern.”

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

For more news and insightful views, you can follow Sherriff Amenity on Twitter @SherriffAmenity.

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Charterhouse Double At Beedles Lakes

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Charterhouse Double At Beedles Lakes: A Rink DS800 from Charterhouse Turf Machinery is helping to make light work of topdressing the 27 greens of Leicestershire’s Beedles Lakes Golf Club. This, together with a Verti-Drain® 7316 are the latest tools in the armoury of Head Greenkeeper Sam Shuttlewood, who is delighted with the versatility he now has at his disposal for the tasks of topdressing and course-wide aeration.

Time is of the essence for Sam and his team of six, with an 18-hole parkland course and 9-hole par 3 to maintain, along with a 16-bay driving range and 32-acre fishing lake. “Topdressing was one of those tasks we wanted to carry out more frequently, but the drop dresser we had would only cover a small area per pass meaning that we would have to go over each green 10 or 15 times to get adequate coverage. Not only that, but it would fit on the back of one of our Gator’s which meant we would have to unmount our sprayer from the back each time we wanted to go out – all of this made it a time-consuming task.”

Charterhouse Double At Beedles Lakes

The Rink DS800, in trailed form, immediately impressed Sam on his demonstration with local dealer Platts Harris. “The beauty of the Rink was that you simply hitched it on the tractor, plugged in the hydraulics and you were on your way. It was quick and easy to set-up and, unlike a lot of machinery these days, didn’t feature an unnecessary amount of technology needed to complete the task at hand!”

“Another reason we went for the Rink was the fact it is a disc-spreader which will enable us to conduct more frequent light dressings and, thanks to it’s impressive spreading width, we can cover a whole green in two or three passes.” Toward the smaller end of the Rink Disc Spreader range, the DS800 has a 0.8m3 hopper and is highly adjustable, offering a spreading width of up to 12m and a thickness of up to 15mm. It is available in both a trailed or mounted option.

With the Rink bringing new flexibility to topdressing, Sam’s other purchase made in May 2019 was a Verti-Drain® 7316.“This will be a true multi-purpose aerator that we can use on greens, tees, approaches and fairways thanks to the range of tine options available.” He concluded, “On the day of the demonstrations the decision was easy – we saw two machines, we loved two machines, so we bought two machines!”

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John Deere & CMAE Organise Workshops

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John Deere & CMAE Organise Workshops: The recently formed Club Managers Association of Europe – Middle East & North Africa Region (CMAE MENA) has held its first club education seminars under the title ‘Building confidence in communication’, to train golf course and other managers for new challenges. John Deere supported this initiative by bringing in communication expert Bill McFarlan to deliver several seminars earlier this year.

Bill McFarlan has a passion for helping people build their confidence in communication, having been a broadcaster for 25 years with some of Britain’s top radio and TV stations. Sharing what he’s learned from broadcasting and business, he helps create and deliver passionate presentations on how to conduct interviews confidently with the media and at work.

John Deere & CMAE Organise Workshops

As clubs are becoming bigger, more diverse and more demanding, communication skills are more than ever a key requirement for managers at all levels. Using practical workshops, Bill McFarlan shared top tips and techniques on how to be relevant to any audience, deal with complaints and arguments, and recover difficult situations. The workshops were held at Education City Golf Club in Qatar, Al Mouj Golf Club in Oman and Dubai Creek & Yacht Club.

The events were also a great opportunity for John Deere to be involved alongside local dealers Progressive Trading Qatar, Oman Technical Agencies and Orient Irrigation Services, to meet the CMAE MENA members and support the team.

Carlos Aragones, John Deere’s Manager Sales & Marketing, Turf & Golf for Europe, CIS, North Africa, Near & Middle East, said: “Continued education is a core pillar of the John Deere philosophy, and through this partnership we are committed to making ourselves available to the association’s membership for advice and support.”

Michael Braidwood, General Manager at Education City Golf Club in Qatar and former CMAE Director of Education, said: ”CMAE MENA was delighted with the support John Deere offered us to be able to have our first educational seminars in the region. Without this support, the events would have not been possible. Over 60 club industry professionals benefited from Bill McFarlan’s expertise. It is great to partner with an organisation like John Deere, who have similar values to our own, and we look forward to working with them to deliver more first-class club executive education in the future.”

CMAE’s broader vision is to become the leading organisation for club management educational programmes, and John Deere is delighted to support the Association to achieve its goals.

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Mower Man Gets Wembley Invite

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Mower Man Gets Wembley Invite: A grass cutter whose efforts in creating a pitch “fit for Wembley” for children has been invited to cut the stadium’s pitch for real.

A tweet Jimmy Broadhouse shared of his work at a council field in Bilbrook, near Wolverhampton, has been seen almost three million times.

It also caught the attention of Wembley’s head groundsman, who sent an invite to Mr Broadhouse, known as Jimmy the Mower, on Twitter.

“It is amazing,” Mr Broadhouse said.

“Isn’t it every groundsman’s dream?”

Karl Standley, the Wembley head groundsman who sent the message, has been approached for comment.

But in the exchange with Mr Broadhouse, he said he was “100% serious” about the offer.

Mr Broadhouse, from Ditton Priors, who runs Ditton Services, added he would “try to sort it for August when the mowing has slowed down a bit”.

“I’m working seven days a week at the moment so it is just trying to find a time when I can get down there, but it is fantastic.”

“When I saw the message I was so excited, I could hardly sleep.”

The original post was massive with more than 43,000 likes and three million views.

Many people also shared their own proud photos of finely manicured turf.

Jimmy was deluged with comments and even offers of work.

“It’s been really great,” he said.

“It has been so positive and uplifting, I’m really happy.

“And it really highlights how much these parks and open spaces mean to everyone.”

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Greenkeeper Support Team Revealed

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Greenkeeper Support Team Revealed: The Director of Golf and Greenkeeping at Wentworth Club has spoken about his pride at the return of a greenkeeper support team to assist with course maintenance during the BMW PGA Championship this September.

Members of the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) will head to Wentworth for the European Tour’s flagship event, which for the 2019 season has shifted from its traditional May hosting to September.

Greenkeeper Support Team Revealed

The shift in dates has been necessitated by changes to the world golf calendar and reduced competition from other events should mean a star-studded field of players head to Virginia Water for the Rolex Tour event, taking place from 19 to 22 September.

Wentworth’s Director of Golf Courses and Greenkeeping, Kenny Mackay, is eager for the BIGGA volunteers to get the most out of their time as part of the team and so the group is divided between those who will undertake bunker raking duties and those who will play an active role in the preparation and maintenance of the West Course for the duration of the event.

Kenny said: “With the change in the schedule, the hosting of the BMW PGA Championship is going to be a completely new experience for the Wentworth team. The preparation of the course each morning is going to be very tight if we’re to stay ahead of the golf and so the BIGGA volunteers will prove vital as we work to achieve our aims of preparing a course fit for the European Tour’s flagship event.”

“Over the last two years we’ve really evolved the support team experience, so a portion of the volunteers have the opportunity to fully integrate with the Wentworth team. If you ask the volunteers who come regularly, every year is getting better and better. We want to ensure they learn many things that they can then take back to their own club.”

BIGGA members are invited to participate in the BMW PGA Championship Volunteer Support Team as an opportunity for career development that is provided as part of their membership. July will also see a separate team of members head to Royal Portrush to assist with The Open, while teams will also attend other major events, such as the Ladies British Open and the Solheim Cup.

To hear more from Kenny Mackay about the changes to the European Tour schedule and what it means to the Wentworth team, listen to episode 8 of the Green Room Golf Course Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts and via the BIGGA website.

The BIGGA Support Team for the BMW PGA Championship 2019 is:

Preparation support team

Adam Baldwin, Lilley Brook; Anthony Duffield, Ham Manor; Craig Woodman, Bramshaw; Daniel Evans, Maesdu Llandudno; David Ball, Thetford; Josh Dunn, Bramcote Waters; Kevin Tigg, Merrist Wood; Leigh Powell, Windlesham; Phillip Slater, West Herts; Rob Patrick, Stoneham; Sam Ewing, Crane Valley; Jonny Peacock, Rugby; David Taylor, The Bristol; Peter Meek, The Wisley; Seamus Gaughan, Migros Golf Park (Switzerland); Tim Leat, Rich River (Australia); Luke Lacey, Exminster; Callum Atkinson, Prestbury; Harry Misselbrook, Harewood Downs; Henry Aggar, Windlesham.

Bunker support team

Jeff Drake, Newbury & Crookham; Oliver Kirk, unattached; Sam Amey, Basingstoke; Nathan O’Sullivan, China Fleet; Kevin Weller, Dale Hill Hotel; Iain Biggs, Chesterfield Downs; Oli Norfolk, Tylney Park; David Westwood, Kingswood; Jamie Ingerson, Rochester and Cobham; Nick Street, Crews Hill; Billy MacArthur, Temple; Craig Gibson, Essendon Country; Steven Maples, Coventry; Oliver Clark, Mill Hill; Matthew Winney, East Sussex National; Jacob Kennard, Milton Abbey School; Aaron Stead, Surrey Down; Ashley Darnley, The Bristol; Charlie Cripps, Cams Hall Estate; Sam Bethell, Chipstead; Steve Bridgeman, Woking; Steven Hirons, Kirtlington; Tony Bartram, Wentworth; Stuart Simmonds, Boundary Lakes; Robert Brown, Bognor Regis; Adam Young, The Players Club; Daniel Allsworth, Drayton Park; Nicholas Edwards, Remedy Oak; Stevie-Jon Hood, Forest of Galtres; Lewis Turner, The Dyke; Ryan Lindsay, East Sussex National; Matthew Lindsay, Highwoods; Chris Mitchell, Maidenhead; Ryan Frankish, Spalding; David Smith, Newmarket Links; Gary Nimmo, Oundle; Jordan Belong, Camberley Heath; Patrick Redmond, Woking; Stuart Fry, Old Thorns; Jakob Schur, Rudding Park; Jorge Manso, Coombe Wood; Daniel Cowley, Stanmore; Lee Williams, Phoenix; Martin Coe, China Fleet; Kevin Hensman, Rowlands Castle; Steven Morgans, Harrow School; Jack Holman, Middleton Hall; Graham Down, Harewood Downs;

James Lomas, Hadley.

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