STRI Group Announce New Honours

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STRI Group Announce New Honours: The STRI Group has announced the addition of a new set of honours for the 2020 Golf Environment Awards (GEAs).

The Home Unions National awards, supported by the governing bodies for amateur golf in the UK, are designed to encourage clubs, just starting their ecological and environmental journey, to enter the GEAs.

STRI Group Announce New Honours

The GEAs have grown considerably in stature over the last few years and are now recognised as a prestigious and integrated award within the industry and at club level. Importantly the GEAs provide a vehicle for the industry and individual clubs to share information, grow their experience and importantly, demonstrate ecological and environmental best practice.

England Golf, Scottish Golf, Wales Golf and Golfing Union of Ireland joined the GEAs in 2018 to help create greater environmental awareness throughout golf. The Home Unions also provide a platform to help clubs grow the game by increasing membership and supporting sustainability at the heart of their communities.

Each Home Union will have its own National award for clubs in their region. Clubs must enter before the closing date of 2 August 2019. Shortlisted finalists will be confirmed in November 2019, and the winners will be announced at the GEAs in Harrogate during BTME week in January 2020.

The Home Unions National awards joins the existing GEA awards – Environmental Golf Course of the Year, Environmental Project of the Year, Conservation Greenkeeper of Year and Operation Pollinator.

Golf Environment Awards founder, Bob Taylor, said: “We wanted to make the GEAs even more accessible to golf clubs, however big or small, across all regions of the UK. Developing a new cluster of awards, with the support of the Home Unions, will hopefully encourage clubs who haven’t entered before to give the awards a try, and to use them as a springboard to aim for the other established GEA awards in the future.”

Steve Isaac, R&A Director of Sustainability, said: “The R&A is delighted that its affiliates in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are engaging with the Golf Environment Awards.  This new category will unearth some fantastic examples of good environmental practices which can be widely shared and adopted by others in the golf industry.”

Iain Lancaster, Club Support Manager at England Golf, said: “England Golf is delighted to be involved with the new Home Unions National Golf Environment Award. This will be a wonderful showcase for remarkable projects undertaken by our affiliated clubs. We hope it will inspire others to put good environmental management into practice.”

Sandy Veale, Golf Coordinator – Wales Golf, said: “Wales Golf is delighted to have been involved in the development of the new of the Home Unions National Award. With so many fantastic examples of good environmental management across Welsh Golf Clubs, which might otherwise have gone unrecognised, this is a fantastic opportunity to give clubs the credit they deserve and spread good practice across the Home Unions.”

Carolyn Hedley, Environment and Sustainability Manager Scottish Golf, said: “Scottish Golf is pleased to continue its support for the Golf Environment Awards in 2019 and we are delighted that the new National Award has been created to encourage more clubs to enter. The GEAs are a great way for clubs to demonstrate their superb environmental practices and projects and we would encourage more Scottish greenkeepers to get involved to get the recognition they deserve.”

Entry for the 2020 GEAs closes on Friday 2 August 2019. Visit golfenvironmentawards.com for more details and to submit your club’s application.

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AGS Announce Recent Accreditation

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AGS Announce Recent Accreditation: Advance Grass Solutions Ltd is proud to announce its recent accreditation to The Investors in People Standard. It’s a mark recognised across 75 countries that sets apart those companies that have achieved excellence in the way they lead, support and manage people.

“Achieving Investors in People accreditation is an outstanding achievement for such a young company“ said Jamie Bennett, CEO of Advance Grass Solutions. “It requires genuine commitment from the management, passionate employees with everyone focused on the ambitions of the organisation”

AGS Announce Recent Accreditation

“Our most valuable asset is our employees and as such we wanted effective tools to measure and benchmark performance against common global principles to ensure we are the best employer we can be”.

To meet the minimum level for accreditation organisations are required to meet all nine performance indicators. Sarah Baker, Financial Director of AGS added “We scored well above average on all 9 indicators but were particularly recognised as exceptional in recognising and rewarding high performance”.

Accreditation lasts for 3 years with annual reviews. AGS is committed to delivering continuous improvement and ultimately providing our customers with an outstanding level of service and support.

For more information on AGS or to enquire about ongoing opportunities to join the team  please call 01183-914540 or email info@advancegrass.com.

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Toro Fleet At Man City

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Toro Fleet At Man City: Manchester City’s Football Academy in the heart of East Manchester has chosen Toro again as it updates its fleet.

The supply of six Reelmaster 3575-D lightweight mowers continues a relationship with Cheshire Turf Machinery and Toro which spans 20 years.

Toro Fleet at Man City

For use across the 80 acres of grounds adjacent to the Etihad Stadium which is used for youth development and first team training, head groundsperson Lee Metcalfe has chosen Toro and the Reelmaster 3575-D mowers to replace its older Toro Reelmaster 5510-D machines.

“We needed to replace the RM5510-D fleet as they had a high number of hours on them,” he says. “This time we opted for the three-wheel RM3575-D mowers, so we wouldn’t have as much impact on the pitches. It’s been a wet winter and we felt this would deliver a better result considering the conditions.”

The RM3575-D machines are lightweight – just 2550lbs including the cutting units – and the front-to-back and side-to-side balance of weight produces a low centre of gravity which, when combined with turf-friendly tyres, reduces any potential turf compaction and damage.

The three-wheel drive system of the new machines will also help with the tight turns at the end of the pitches, says Lee: “These machines are easy to use and with the tight turn areas we have three wheels work very well. Cut is set at 30mm for the academy pitches and at 23mm for the first team pitches. Maintenance is daily by the MCFC staff and a couple of technicians from Cheshire Turf Machinery come out every Monday to check and maintain the machines too.”

The relationship between Manchester City and Cheshire Turf Machinery is almost two decades long as managing director Steve Halley explains: “We’ve worked with Manchester City Football Club for around 20 years, with Lee and grounds manager Roy Rigby. It’s our understanding that reliability of the brand is key and we trust that our support and the longevity of our relationship is too.

“This latest order addresses the club’s constant drive to improve turf quality without sacrificing productivity. As Lee says the three wheel configuration makes the machine very agile and means the team can make tight turns without damaging the turf.”

With the surfaces of the Academy taken care of, Lee, who has been at MCFC for 10 years and manages a team of 13, tells us what’s next: “We are always focused on how we can keep developing the grounds area and team. I’m constantly looking to see what the latest innovations are in terms of machinery and when it comes to our team, these are the people of the future. Everyone in the team is willing to learn and move forward which is very encouraging to see. They question things and attend many training courses to make them all better groundspeople.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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GKB Ideal For Artificial Maintenance

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GKB Ideal For Artificial Maintenance: Launching his dedicated artificial sports turf maintenance business this month, Sports and Courts Maintenance Ltd, Jon Lawson was looking for something that would decompact and assist in the deep cleaning and rejuvenating of artificial sports turf and was impressed with the robustness of GKB’s Renovator and the size of the double heads of the Rotobrush.

Owner and Managing Director at Sports and Courts Line Marking Ltd, Jon Lawson explains, “GKB is known for reliability and from Tom’s demo, I was so impressed with the rotary brush. I needed something that was going to do the job and that was robust and reliable.”

GKB Ideal For Artificial Maintenance

“We have a lot of tennis clubs complain that they’ve got very compacted baselines and the Renovator and Rotobrush tick all the boxes. For us it was the answer to going forwards with the new business, offering this additional service on top of the deep cleans and everything else we already do” Jon adds.

The GKB Rotobrush enables you to brush deeper and more effectively as the rotating brush disc is provided with extra rigid bristles which are pressed into the synthetic turf. Where the functioning of normal brushing and cleaning stops, the Rotobrush will continue.

The GKB Renovator’s five rotating brushes form the foundation of the machine and because the brushes interlock into each other, you will not miss a single inch when you are operating on your pitch.

For more on GKB Machines and their reliable and robust range of machinery for natural, hybrid and synthetic turf, please visit www.gkbmachines.com or contact Tom Shinkins on 07495 883617.

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Celebrating 25 Years In Irrigation

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Celebrating 25 Years In Irrigation: Celebrating 25 years in the business, Jeremy Green became an authorised Landscape Agent for Rain Bird UK in May 1994. In 2006 he established Evergreen Irrigation in Pitstone and the company has become one of the UK’s most well respected landscape irrigation specialists.

Jeremy says: “Irrigation has become important in discussions about landscaping – not just to ensure appropriate watering, but also because of the need for more efficient use of water. Many building projects require irrigation as part of the eco-friendly requirements of local authorities. Increasing numbers of Landscape Designers are including irrigation in their layouts and looking to us to address the watering requirements for various types of plants and trees.”

Celebrating 25 Years In Irrigation

Jeremy’s original involvement with irrigation was when he began his career in the Middle East, acquiring experience on high profile projects. He familiarised himself with Rain Bird working for the landscape and irrigation project division of the BMTC in Saudi Arabia. “ The Middle East has a demanding climate so effective irrigation is essential. If products are tough enough to operate efficiently there, then the UK should present no problem. I was keen to be associated with Rain Bird on my return to the UK. “

Jeremy sees the most significant recent product development to be dripline surface irrigation that provides water exactly where it is needed. Automatic control systems including Wi-Fi linked and IQ-Cloud systems, which Rain Bird has developed, bring new levels of practicality and bespoke control. There has been a greater emphasis on training: “ Rain Bird and most other large irrigation suppliers provide extensive training programmes. I would like to see the industry take a greater lead in training, implementing recognised qualifications and codes of practice.”

Evergreen Irrigation supplies products for smaller residential installations and local roadside landscaping as well as commercial roof gardens and high profile installations including Royal Albert Hall, London Eye, Arsenal FC Training Ground, National Trust Properties and the HM Treasury.  “With increasing awareness of the need to use water responsibly, I see the irrigation industry going from strength to strength. The next 25 years will be an exciting period,” Jeremy concludes.

Evergreen Irrigation, Pitstone Green Business Park, Tunnel Way, Pitstone, Beds, LU7 9GJ

Tel: 01296 668402, office@evergreen-irrigation.co.uk  www.evergreen-irrigation.co.uk

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