Bill Mitchell Retires

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Bill Mitchell Retires: A 58-year career is not in itself remarkable, what is remarkable, as in the case of Bill Mitchell, is a 58-year career at just one club. Not to mention the 25-year relationship with Toro and Reesink Turfcare.

After almost 60 years at Perranporth Golf Club, on the North coast of Cornwall, the club he joined straight from school, Bill leaves behind a legacy that has helped shape the industry.

Bill Mitchell Retires

Over the years, Bill has quietly and diligently cared for the links course of Perranporth, favouring a traditional approach to links greenkeeping and bringing genuine long-term sustainability to the club’s core.

Bill proved over his career that it’s possible to stick to what you believe in – despite the fact that it goes against the industry norm – and achieve commercial success. He created and maintained fast and smooth surfaces high in fine fescues and kept low in disease-risk on a links course. It was, he says, his greatest achievement.

“The fact that I proved it’s possible to maintain a natural links course is my biggest achievement, and the thing I am most proud of,” he says. “I hope I showed the next generation that sustainable, natural links greenkeeping is not only possible but viable, that I took the difficulty out of it and perhaps inspired them to try it should they ever be in the privileged position of working on a links course.”

A long-term Toro fan, Bill believes it’s quality rather than quantity that applies to all aspects of greenkeeping: “It’s possible to get results with dedication, vision and hard work, just as much as it’s possible from big budgets or greenkeeping teams. As soon as it was no longer possible to support all British in my machinery choices, it was Toro I turned to. They’re the finest products and treat the ground with respect.”

John Pike from Reesink Turfcare presented Bill with a decanter from the company in recognition of his career, he says: “Bill is an unofficial ambassador for the industry. Approaching 60 years at one club is almost unheard of and he certainly made his mark on the course at Perranporth! Actually, I think it’s fair to say he made a mark on everyone he’s worked with, myself included. We wish him well for the future, I don’t say it lightly when I say he will be much missed.”

Throughout his career, Bill’s been involved in the education of the industry, he helped set up the Duchy College training programme and was heavily involved with the assessing and training of attendees, and always placed the utmost importance on the education of his apprentices. In addition, Bill enjoyed time on the Open Support teams throughout the years, helping prepare the courses and assisting with the smooth running of the world-famous tournament.

Bill has also been a key member of the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) Devon and Cornwall section since its inception over 40 years ago. In fact, so instrumental was his work for the organisation that he was given life membership in recognition of it.

It is therefore, with pleasure, that we can confirm Bill will continue with his advisory and education work for the foreseeable future.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Buxtons Named New Kubota Dealer

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Buxtons Named New Kubota Dealer: Kubota UK is pleased to confirm it has further strengthened its extensive dealer network having joined forces with Staffordshire-based groundcare and arboriculture specialists Buxtons.

The appointment of Buxtons is part of Kubota’s ongoing investment to ensure its market leading range of high performance groundcare machinery is supplied through an independent dealer network that is committed to a first class service offering.

Buxtons Named New Kubota Dealer

The new partnership means Buxtons will now supply Kubota’s complete range of high quality and innovative groundcare solutions, from walk behind, ride-on, out-front and zero turn mowers, to Kubota’s industry leading compact tractors and its durable and rugged RTV utility vehicles. This includes Kubota’s recently launched range of BX Series, B1 Series and B2 Series sub-compact tractors, and the new ZD1211 zero turn ride-on mower.

Neale Hopley, Managing Director of Buxtons said: “We are absolutely delighted to become a Kubota dealer. Although we previously supplied groundcare equipment, our range was limited.  This new relationship with Kubota enables us to significantly expand our business, giving us the chance to target a much wider range of commercial sectors including local authority, education, equestrian and the sports turf market.

“These are exciting times for Buxtons. The Kubota brand is synonymous with quality, durability and reliability, with a fantastic reputation for innovative, cost effective and hard working machines.  It’s a trusted brand that turf professionals know will get the job done and not let them down. We are extremely excited to be working in partnership with Kubota and are looking forward to growing our business with them.”

Adrian Langmead, Business Development Manager for Kubota UK’s Groundcare Division said: “Here at Kubota we pride ourselves on having a dealership network that is second to none. By signing Buxtons up as a new dealer we can extend our reach across a 30-mile radius throughout the Staffordshire area, enabling us to secure key accounts within the commercial market.

“Buxtons is a well established and respected dealership, so it was a natural fit to partner with an organisation whose commitments reflect our own. We’re looking forward to the longevity of this partnership, enabling Buxtons to provide both residential and commercial customers with the highest quality Kubota machinery, Kubota Care, Kubota Finance and aftersales services and parts.”

Buxtons has already received significant interest in Kubota’s machinery, securing a number of orders from both commercial and residential customers at its recent open day, which saw over 100 potential and current customers attend.

For more information on Kubota and its extensive range of groundcare solutions visit www.kubota.co.uk or call 01844 268000.

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New Creeping Ryegrass Cultivar

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New Creeping Ryegrass Cultivar: Germinal has upgraded a selection of its established landscape and sports turf seed mixtures with the addition of Zurich, a new-for-2018 creeping perennial ryegrass cultivar, which offers increased wear tolerance and fast sward recovery.

Zurich creeping perennial ryegrass provides excellent wear tolerance, persistence and recovery due to its creeping growth habit.  Scoring 6.5 for live ground cover and 6.3 for visual merit, Zurich is one of the best-performing creeping perennial ryegrasses on Table S1 of the BSPB’s Turfgrass Seed 2018 booklet.  It is a fine-leaved variety that also exhibits high resistance to insects and nematode attack due to naturally high endophyte levels.

New Creeping Ryegrass Cultivar

Zurich features as standard in Germinal’s A30 Rapid Sports Renovator Plus* and A20 Creeping Perennial Ryesport** seed mixtures and is a useful addition for long-term pitches ranging from Premiership training grounds to school and municipal pitches.

Zurich has also been added to three of Germinal’s landscaping seed mixtures; A3 Embankments and Droughts, A18 Road Verge & Embankmentsss and A19 All Purpose Landscapingsss.

“A3 has traditionally been the industry’s go-to seed mixture for stabilising embankments due to its high percentage of creeping fescues and bentgrasses which bind the soil together,” explains Richard Brown, Amenity Sales Manager for Germinal.  “The addition of Zurich gives this popular seed mixture the added benefits associated with a perennial ryegrass: speed of establishment, the ability to germinate in colder temperatures, and the ability to rapidly recover from damage caused by excessive wear.  For A18 and A19, the addition of Zurich further enhances the ability of these mixtures to recover from wear with minimal intervention.”

“Zurich exhibits an excellent creeping habit, which not only enables sports pitches to rapidly recover from excessive use, but also binds manufactured soils together quickly and effectively thereby preventing gully erosion and loss of soil.  It’s ability to self-regenerate gives added protection during the winter and slowly helps damaged sports pitches and landscaped green areas to repair themselves with minimal additional physical intervention.  It also makes the improved seed mixtures more effective in cooler temperatures at the beginning and end of the growing season.”

For more information, visit: www.germinal.com

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Aqua-Zorb Eliminates Dry Patch

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Aqua-Zorb Eliminates Dry Patch: Having trialed a range of various wetting agents, Jonathan Smith, Course Manager at Cowdray Park Golf Club in West Sussex, found exactly what he was looking for in Sherriff Amenity’s Aqua-Zorb Liquid.

Golf has been played at Cowdray since 1904. A classic downland layout built on sandy soil, it has spectacular panoramic views of the South Downs. Renowned for being a fair test to all and a true year-round venue, it is a popular destination for visiting golfers. At the heart of the 16,500 acre Cowdray Estate, the golf club echoes the wider vision and values including a long term sustainability plan.

Aqua-Zorb Eliminates Dry Patch

Jonathan Smith has been Course Manager at Cowdray for 17 years and oversees a fully qualified and dedicated team of seven members of staff. As a team they are continuously looking for ways to improve the general condition of the course while keeping the Cowdray Estate’s vision in mind.

Therefore, in the summer of 2016 Jonathan and his team embarked on a series of wetting agent trials in a bid to reduce the carbon footprint without compromising on the overall condition of the beautiful golf course.

“After weeks of hot weather and no rainfall, areas of the course started showing signs of stress and Dry Patch,” said Jonathan. “Even with our fairway irrigation – slopes, high spots and mounds couldn’t hold any moisture – so we trialled various types of wetting agents on our problem areas and Aqua-Zorb Liquid by far had the best results.”

“Within 14 days, the majority of Dry Patch had gone and the turf had almost fully recovered. For the remaining part of the summer, and with equal amounts of irrigation, the non-treated areas remained hydrophobic and stressed. However the Aqua-Zorb treated areas thrived with vigour and general appearance.”

Aqua-Zorb Liquid from Sherriff Amenity is a concentrated non-ionic turf wetting agent that will enable water to move faster and deeper into the soil profile. One application can last all season and it is renowned for treating the cause of Localised Dry Patch. Aqua-Zorb can also improve drainage, alleviate compaction, reduce the quantity of irrigation required, suppress the formation of dew and greatly improve the quality of the sward.

Based on the success of applying Aqua-Zorb in 2016, Jonathan decided to apply it to the entire course in spring last year. In mid-April he applied Aqua-Zorb Liquid at a rate of 50 litres per hectare to the tees, approaches, surrounds and all the fairways. Jonathan applied it on a morning of expected rainfall and sure enough, approximately 4/5mm of rain fell that day, which washed the product in nicely.

Normally, Jonathan and his team would cease to spray wetting agent in September/October, but for maximum results he continued to apply monthly applications of Aqua-Zorb Liquid to the greens at a rate of 20 litres per hectare throughout winter.

“By continuing to apply Aqua-Zorb Liquid throughout winter, it made a remarkable difference because it kept putting surfaces significantly dryer throughout all the excessive rainfall,” he said.

On reflection of his use of Aqua-Zorb Liquid throughout 2017, Jonathan noticed a significant number of benefits.

“With record temperatures throughout June, all of our slopes, high spots and mounds held up perfectly. They would re-wet straight away, giving the course a constant solid green colour. All throughout the season there was no Dry Patch at all. We also noticed an incredible 55% savings on irrigation water when it was required – resulting in huge savings on electric power in the pump station.”

“Aqua-Zorb Liquid is an amazing product and the great feedback from the members and visitors on the overall condition of the course is testament to this.”

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

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Headland Keeps School Disease Free

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Headland Keeps School Disease Free: Thanks to help from Headland Amenity, the 17 hectares of grounds for rugby, tennis and cricket at Kings Bruton School have come through the winter of 2017 disease-free and stronger than ever before.  For a relatively small school, they punch well above their weight when it comes to sport and the facilities they offer their 350 pupils.

Grounds Manager, Adie Davis, and his team of 6 groundstaff are kept busy looking after the facilities. “I have been familiar with Headland products for a long time and have enjoyed success with their programmes here at the school for a number of years. On our cricket outfields & rugby pitches we’ve been using Multigreen 28-0-0 which delivers results for the full 5-6 months it promises it will.” Applied in April and then again in September for strength through the autumn/winter, this is complemented on the fine turf areas by C-Complex in various formulations: 4-3-4 used during renovation work; 7-0-7 through the cricket playing season and 5-2-10 as a spring-starter.

Headland Keeps School Disease Free

On the cricket squares, Adie has found success with the combination of Multigreen Mini and Headland’s 20/20/30 non-pesticidal tank mix. “We apply the Multigreen Mini in early autumn to take us through the winter and then once a month between October and March we supplement this with a spray of the 20/20/30 enhanced plant health mix.” Headland’s industry-leading 20-20-30 mix combines Seamac ProTurf Fe and Liquid Turf Hardener plant protectants and Turfite elicitor that work together to strengthen the plant against disease. The combination of products applied at Kings Bruton delivers enhanced root development, disease resistance and strong colour. “This programme has kept all disease, including Fusarium and Dollar Spot, at bay – which I know groundsmen at other schools are suffering from.”

As the school heads towards its 500-year anniversary celebrations in 2019, Adie is delighted with the success achieved with their current nutritional regime. “I’ve worked closely with Headland’s Alex Hawkes, who is very knowledgeable, for a number of years and it’s thanks to him that we now have a combination of products that are really working. We get a lot of comments from staff, parents and local clubs that they’ve never seen turf quite like ours, our cricket areas in particular, which makes all the hard work worthwhile.”

For more information, visit: www.headlandamenity.com

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