Arrests After Golf Course Vandalism

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Arrests After Golf Course Vandalism: Two men have been arrested and charged in relation to vandalism at a golf club in Oamaru.

The North Otago Golf Club was vandalised overnight on Saturday when a 4WD vehicle was driven over several of the club’s fairways and greens.

Sergeant Blair Corlet confirmed men, aged 25 and 22, had been charged with burglary, and unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle.

The 25-year-old, the alleged driver of the 4WD, had also been charged with intentional damage.

Club secretary Julia Knight said security footage showed one person appearing to try break into the club’s green-fee box.

“Luckily our green-fee box is very well secured so they couldn’t get into that,” she said.

The footage then showed what appeared to be a man trying to unsuccessfully hotwire one of the golf buggies.

Knight said a 4WD could then be seen driving about the clubhouse side of the course.

“It’s a substantial mess,” she said.

“Then they got in their big 4WD and broke down one of the fences and got onto to the course.

“They ran over greens and snapped about four pins that are in the greens and knocked over about three or four signs.

“Then they demolished one of the sheds … and then they did donuts around the course and made a real mess. The ground’s very soft at the moment because of all the rain.

“They’ve probably driven over at least half the fairways on that side of the course. We’ve got 14 holes on that side and they actually went to the furthest point, which is where the shed was.”

Knight said the club only has one greenkeeper, and the rest of those who look after the grounds are volunteers. Pleasingly, she said the course was still usable.

“It’s very pleasing too that we’ve got good cameras and we picked the two guys up on the cameras.

“We’ve got our greenkeeper assessing the cost at the moment.”

Corlet said the men will appear in the Oamaru District Court next Wednesday.

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Golf Club Feels The Heat

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Golf Club Feels The Heat: The impact of the UK’s current heatwave can be seen at Oxford Golf Club.

Just a month ago Oxfordshire’s oldest golf course resembled a lush green oasis, but after the driest June on record, the fairways have frazzled.

Now the most verdant parts of the course on Hill Top Road, Headington, are the greens and tees, which are watered via an irrigation system.

Doug MacGregor, the club’s head greenkeeper, said: “I’ve been a greenkeeper for 25 years in Oxford and Scotland and these are some of the most extreme weather conditions I’ve experienced.”

Meanwhile in Oxford University Parks, walkers are likely to have blamed falling water levels in the pond on the scorching weather.

It is thought hundreds of fish died last week after levels plummeted rapidly, but the water loss was not the result of evaporation – the university suspects river gates on the Cherwell were opened to increase depth of water downstream, without realising the implications.

Golf club worker Mr MacGregor took a photo of the course one month ago and again this week from the 10th hole, to demonstrate the impact the weather can have.

The experienced greenkeeper and his team of five are working to keep the course in good shape amid sizzling temperatures of up to 30 degrees C, with the hot spell set to continue this week.

Mr MacGregor added: “We had a tough winter but came through it and then had a very wet period and a lot of grass growth before the heatwave.

“The course has looked magnificent in recent months and now the weather has changed the fairways and rough have really struggled to maintain moisture levels.

“This, coupled with the lack of a mains irrigation system at the club, has meant that they have suffered in terms of grass density and colour but they are still playable.

“The weather has a massive impact on the course and we have to adapt daily -we live by weather reports.”

The team’s day starts at 6am with an analysis of data from the club’s weather station.

The information informs them which areas of the course have lost moisture and enables them to establish where to focus their efforts.

“With the heatwave we have adjusted our tactics significantly,” said Doug.

“We also have a high-tech moisture meter which we use by hand to take readings on different spots of the greens.

“Wind is a big factor and different parts of the green will need more water than others.

“The readings enable us to focus on areas which require attention and apply the necessary levels of water accordingly.

“The soil is very warm and dry, and we continually aerate it. We have reduced the amount of grass cutting we do.

“I love looking after the course and it’s great when people comment on the quality.”

Met Office forecasters said today’s temperatures would be cooler than yesterday.

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Pitchmark Takes New Lines In Expansion

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Pitchmark Takes New Lines In Expansion: A family-run business based in Bristol, UK, Pitchmark has been innovative in raising the standard of line marking since the company’s inception in 2010. As expansion continues, they have made a number of new appointments and developments to consolidate the increasing demand for their range of high quality line marking paints, machines and accessories for all types of sport and sports surfaces. Pitchmark products are used in over thirty countries worldwide and were supplied to every stadium at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and UEFA Euro 2016 in France.

As part of the planning for the future, Darren Rodman (Marketing Manager), Tim Rodman (General Manager) and Jon Griffiths (Production Manager) have now become shareholders and directors of Pitchmark, working alongside existing directors Mark and Sue Rodman. The team has also been joined by Dave Blanchard who will be known to many in the industry and also represents Pitchmark’s ambition to grow the brand, while aiming to improve the quality of working life for ground staff.

Pitchmark Takes New Lines In Expansion

“We are always working tirelessly on research and development,” says Mark Rodman “and it’s all about regularly coming up with exciting and innovative ideas. That, and understanding what groundsmen want is what keeps us ahead.” The company has taken on five new staff in the six months to April this year, including a new Warehouse Manager who has been recruited to help improve processes and procedures as the business continues to grow. “These recent changes are very exciting and will allow us to secure our place at the forefront of the industry for many years to come.” Mark added.

Success has been recognised as well with Pitchmark recently winning Business Exporter of the Year for the South West in the regional FSB small business awards. The company is also shortlisted for the Bristol Post Business Awards in the Small Business of the Year category, whilst Tim Rodman has also been shortlisted in the awards for Young Business Person of the Year and was named recently on Insider Media’s ’42 under 42’ list for the South West. As a proud British manufacturer, this year Pitchmark joined the ‘Made in Britain campaign and in future will be using the distinctive logo on products and packaging. All of which is aimed at improving the standard of line marking internationally.

Call 01454 776666 or email sales@pitchmark.com and they will be happy to arrange a demo.

For more information, visit: www.pitchmark.com

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Bristol Rovers Pitch Renovations

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Bristol Rovers Pitch Renovations: Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke has praised the impressive work of the ground staff at the League One club who are going above and beyond to ensure the team have a world class playing surface this season.

The state of the Memorial Stadium pitch was a constant source of frustration last season for both the home and away sides with the turf badly cutting up at times.

However The Gas have taken dramatic steps to solve the problem, pulling up the old pitch after the final home game of the 2017/18 season and planting a new fibre one.

What the fibre does is reinforce the turf meaning it should not come up in clumps.

Talking about the new playing surface, Clarke said: “The Mem pitch is coming together really nicely. Again it is testament to the owners who have spent a fair bit of money on it.

“The ground staff have been working tremendously hard on it. I think Daryle [Sullivan] the groundsman even stayed at the ground for a week or so, sleeping at the ground, he has been working that hard.

 “That is credit to him and that is what we want at the top football club, everyone pulling together in the same direction to make things better and try and help move us forward and that is testament to the staff.”

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Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre

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Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre: Within the framework of Kubota’s ongoing growth in Europe, Kubota Corporation has announced that it will invest €55 million in a new R&D Centre in Europe. The new site will be located in Crépy-en-Valois, France and will be fully operational in 2020. 

Kubota Corporation continues to make significant investments into its expansion throughout Europe and will now invest in a brand-new R&D Centre that will be the Competence Centre of Engineering for agricultural tractor markets, and the base for Kubota’s research activities for tractors in Europe region.

Kubota Invests In New R&D Centre

By establishing a best in class R&D Centre in Europe, embedding up to date engineering and validation tools, Kubota will develop cutting edge technology for its new models to meet the specific requirements of European farmers while keeping the Group’s DNA: reliability, ease of use and best cost of ownership.

As part of Kubota’s globalisation process, Kubota Corporation intends to boost its product development, in line with its aspirations to adapt to the specific needs of its host markets. The new centre plays a vital role in this process, so Kubota will further develop agricultural machinery that is customised to work efficiently and effectively for local crops, field conditions and work processes.

Kubota, already present in more than 110 countries worldwide, aims to continue growing internationally, and this latest investment will accelerate this expansion and growth. Since Kubota Holding Europe B.V. was launched in 2017, the company has reinforced its corporate identity in Europe,  with employees  synchronising  processes and procedures so that there is a consistent approach to how all our business units work and can provide the best services and products for its dealers and end user customers.

Kubota’s tractor sales continued to grow in Europe during 2017 and its products have received prestigious recognitions and awards in Europe, including the FIMA TECHNICAL NOVELTY Award for the Agri Robo autonomous tractor, and the TRACTOR DE ESPAÑA Award in the ‘Specialty Tractor’ category for the M5101 Narrow Advance Cab model.

For more information, visit: www.kubota.com

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