Volunteering Pays Off

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Volunteering Pays Off: Amazing, incredible, life changing… they are just a few of the words used by British and Irish greenkeepers since 2015 to summarise their time on the John Deere TPC Sawgrass Volunteer Programme, arranged annually in partnership with the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of Ireland (GCSAI).

Held at the legendary TPC Sawgrass course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, THE PLAYERS Championship is considered by many to be golf’s fifth major. As such it presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for BIGGA and GCSAI members to network, learn and gain a huge amount of invaluable experience.

Volunteering Pays Off

THE PLAYERS is made possible thanks to the hard work and dedication of a course preparation force of over 90 volunteer greenkeepers from 14 different countries, who join the home team in getting and keeping the course in shape. Following the final day’s play, the greenkeepers also get the chance to attempt to hit the 17th hole’s intimidating island green.

For the first time this year, the programme has been expanded with John Deere’s support to allow a seventh member to take part, from BIGGA’s International Region. The six successful BIGGA members who have been selected to join the course preparation team at the 2018 tournament, which takes place from May 10 to 13, are:

  • Scottish Region – Paul Armour, course manager at Dunbar Golf Club, East Lothian;
  • Northern Region – Joe Barnes, deputy head greenkeeper at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lancashire;
  • Central England Region – Nicholas Thorley, greenkeeper at Little Aston Golf Club, West Midlands;
  • South West and South Wales Region – Jamie Blake, head greenkeeper at Broadway Golf Club, Worcestershire;
  • South East Region – Antony Kirwan, deputy course manager at Aldeburgh Golf Club, Suffolk;
  • International – Craig Cameron, superintendent at Golf Club St Leon-Rot, Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

They will be joined by GCSAI member Jonathan Kelly, head greenkeeper at Ballyhaunis Golf Club, Co Mayo in Ireland. This is the fourth such UK & Irish group to travel to the US with the John Deere Limited sponsored programme, which started in 2015.

For more information, visit: www.JohnDeere.co.uk

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Changing The Channel

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Changing The Channel: In an attempt to bring clarity and certainty to its distribution channel, Bailoy Irrigation Control Systems have chosen to bring the distribution of all its products in the United Kingdom and Ireland in-house.

In effect from the 1 January 2018, this means customers with GTI Gemini and Trident products should contact Bailoy, rather than previous distributor Reesink Turfcare, for spares, support and sales.

Changing The Channel

Adam Lovejoy, Bailoy’s managing director, says: “We have enjoyed a productive working relationship with Reesink and Toro for 25 years, but with recent changes in product and service ranges for both companies it made sense to bring the sales and support of our Gemini and Trident products in-house.

“We believe this move will end any uncertainty about who controls the sales and support of the GTI range in particular. It means we can focus on supporting and forging relationships with the contractors and dealers who sell our products directly and that is something we are very much looking forward to doing.”

The move mainly affects customers with the Toro-badged CDS and SC3000, which, although labelled Toro in an exclusive distribution agreement, were designed and manufactured by Bailoy. Those customers in particular should now contact Bailoy direct for sales, support and technical information, says Adam.

“For most customers very little changes, but for those with Toro-badged CDS and SC3000 products or for those who don’t have an account with Bailoy, it’s a simple phone call.”

And with a comprehensive range of service and support options available, it’s a call that will ensure the continuation of a reliable relationship for an efficient range of products from Bailoy.

For more information, visit: www.bailoy.com

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New Environmental Commitment

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New Environmental Commitment: Ekerum Resort Öland was recently awarded the “World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility” at the World Golf Awards which took place at La Manga Club in Spain. The Golf Club which is situated in Sweeden has signed a five-year preferred supplier agreement with Jacobsen in which both parties have pledged to measure and publish environmental performance.

Jacobsen has ensured that Ekerum Resort Öland is supplied with the best environmentally performing machinery, which includes an Eclipse 322 diesel hybrid greens mower, a Truckster XD with SprayTek, an HR700 wide area rotary mower, an AR722 rough mower, 10 Cushman Haulers and 25 E-Z-GO ELiTE TXT golf cars.

New Environmental Commitment

 Jacobsen has an ongoing commitment to ISO Standard 14001 which gives clear objectives for improving environmental performance and actively championing environmentally sound practices. Jacobsen and Ekerum Resort Öland have worked together to set a specific set of environmental targets. The targets agreed to by both businesses are:

  • Reduce waste removed from sites by 2% per year (10% over a 5-year period)
  • Increase waste recycling by 2% per year (10% over 5-year period)
  • Reduce energy use (total KW/h/ hours worked) by 2% on 2016 usage (10% over 5-year period)

Commenting on the partnership, Director International Golf Sales Andre Andrade, said:

“Firstly, I would like to congratulate Ekerum on winning the accolade of the World’s Best Eco-friendly Golf Facility. At Jacobsen, we are leaving no stone unturned as we strive to better both our production and the environmental performance of our machinery. As custodians of a fantastic facility in Öland, I am incredibly pleased that the team at Ekerum share the same environmental values and together, we are setting industry standards and pushing boundaries.”

Magnus Lagerlöf, CEO at Ekerum Resort Öland, commented on the new machinery and the partnership with Jacobsen:

“As our recent award suggests, we are committed to environmental sustainability, and a huge part of this is the machinery we use on the golf course. The E-Z-GO ELiTE golf car range is a huge technological advancement in the industry. The new cars have a 25% reduction in weight and reductions in energy consumption in the region of 30%. These are big savings which positively impact both the environment and our finances! We are very excited to be working with Jacobsen, and Textron more broadly, to keep improving our practices and the golfing experience for our customers.”

In addition to winning “World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility,” Ekerum Resort Öland also won “Sweden’s Best Golf Hotel” and was nominated in the category of “Europe’s Best Golf Venue” and “Sweden’s Best Golf Course” at this year’s World Golf Awards.

Find out more about Ekerum Resort Öland: http://ekerum.com/

Find out more about E-Z-GO ELiTE: https://www.ezgo.com/elite

 Find out more about Jacobsen: www.jacobsen.com

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Doosan Dealer Changes

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Doosan Dealer Changes: Doosan Construction Equipment has confirmed that the Central Belt region of Scotland will now be looked after jointly by the company’s dealers, James Gordon Ltd (Gordons) and Balgownie Ltd. 

Based at Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, Gordons was appointed last year as the Authorised Dealer for the Doosan Heavy range in the South West and Borders regions of Scotland and for the county of Cumbria in Northern England.

Doosan Dealer Changes

The existing Gordons territory has now been extended with the addition of the following central-belt areas – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and all the Lothian Counties, Argyle and Bute, Isle of Mull, Stirling, Fife, Falkirk and the parts of Lanarkshire and Ayrshire that the company did not previously cover.

Balgownie, based at Inverurie, is responsible for the Doosan range in Aberdeenshire, Morayshire, Angus and the Highlands as well as Perthshire and Kinross-shire.  To these areas have been added the Isle of Skye and remaining Highlands postcodes.  Perth and Kinross had already been added 12 months earlier.

According to Doosan, Gordons and Balgownie have been awarded the extended areas purely on merit, despite very strong interest from other parties.  The company is looking forward to working closely with both companies to continue its success in the Scottish market.

Gordons has six depots across its territory and will operate the new Central-Belt area through the Strathaven and Berryhill depots, with support from the headquarters branch in Castle Douglas.  Balgownie will handle the extended territory from the headquarters in Inverurie and the company‘s branch in Turriff.

Founded in 1865, Gordons is a well established and much respected agricultural machinery business in South West and Central Scotland, providing a fast, efficient local service for machinery supply and, most importantly, the best possible aftersales support with 35 service engineers, five of whom are mobile engineers dedicated to construction and Doosan trained.

Balgownie Ltd started trading as an engineering company in 1907 in sheet metal work and tank manufacturing, supplying to shipyards, farmers and the food industry before diversifying into the manufacture and supply of dairy equipment.  Today, Balgownie is one of the leading specialists in construction, tractor, trailer, agriculture and groundcare machinery sales in Scotland.

Both Gordons and Balgownie are responsible for sales and servicing of the Doosan crawler, wheeled and mini/midi excavator, wheel loader and articulated dump truck ranges in their areas.

Customers of both companies benefit from superb on-site service networks, covering everything from emergency repairs to routine maintenance.  The companies‘ factory-trained engineers have many years of hands-on experience of repairs and servicing of plant and machinery.

As well as covering existing contracts, Gordons and Balgownie provide flexible service agreements, depending on the requirements of the customer.  They offer service and warranty work on all existing Doosan machines in their areas, backed by a full selection of genuine accessories and parts.  Both companies hold a stock of new and used Doosan branded machines, to respond quickly to customers’ needs.

For more information about Doosan construction equipment, visit the website www.doosanequipment.eu

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Water Suppliers – Assessing Options

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Water Suppliers – Assessing Options: It’s been almost a year since Greenkeepers in England have been able to choose who supplies their water. Almost 92,000 supply points have so far switched, with more in the pipeline, and many companies have renegotiated a better deal with their existing provider.

If you’ve never explored the options, you could be missing out on benefits including:

  • The convenience of dealing with a single supplier, reducing administration time and cost.
  • Lower prices.
  • Better customer service, specified to your needs.
  • Water efficiency services to cut the amount of water you use, saving money and waste.

Water Suppliers - Assessing Options

To help Greenkeepers understand the market and how to assess their options, independent water specialist The Water Report has produced a short guide. It explains the new arrangements and includes a supplier directory to help customers shortlist potential retailers from the 20+ companies licensed to compete.

The Customer Guide to the New Water Market is available FREE to download at http://www.thewaterreport.co.uk/guide

Karma Loveday, author of the Guide and editor of The Water Report said: “The market turns a year old in April. This is a good time for customers to look at whether they could benefit from switching, because first mover risk has passed but potential benefits remain. It can be hard to know where to start though. The Water Report has been following these developments since the beginning. We have produced The Customer Guide to the New Water Market to provide businesses with independent, high quality information to help them find their way in the new environment.”

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