Promising Student Winner Announced

/in , , /by

Promising Student Winner Announced: Award sponsors Toro and Reesink Turfcare, an official UK Toro distributor, are delighted to announce Matthew Skingle from Coventry City Training Ground as the winner of the Most Promising Student of the Year Award at the tenth annual Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) Awards on October 31.

Matthew, who was presented his award by Reesink’s Alastair Rowell, was recognised as an ambitious and passionate groundsman who has plans to use his award to encourage others, particularly younger people, into the industry.

Promising Student Winner Announced

Matthew, who has wanted to pursue a career in the industry since first getting a taste for groundskeeping at a young age, says: “The industry as it stands consists mostly of an older generation, which is great on one hand because they have a lot of experience we can learn from, but we need to ensure the industry has a future.”

“I’d love to inspire young people. I really benefitted from work experience in the industry through school and wouldn’t ever have considered a career as a groundsman without it. It gave me the chance to see what it was like. So, I think we should do more to get out there and show younger people what it’s really like.”

After a successful year studying at South Essex College while working at Coventry City, Matthew is now working full-time as a groundsman at the club. “It was great to do the course and expand on my knowledge,” he says. “I’ve learned a lot in this past year and I know I’m really lucky to be part of such a great team.”

Speaking of the awards, he said: “I was so shocked when I found out I’d won. I wasn’t expecting to be a finalist so even that was an honour in itself. The competition was tough, and the other finalist was really deserving as well, so I was chuffed to win. I’m really grateful that Toro sponsors the award as I believe this will give me a platform that will help my career.”

He continues: “In this industry if you work hard, you can get far and that’s what I intend to do. I’d like to be head groundsman at a stadium one day, or even a pitch advisor for IOG. The opportunities are limitless.”

Marketing manager at Reesink Turfcare, Holly Jones, says: “Encouraging and supporting young talent in the grounds industry is a hugely important undertaking for us and sponsoring this award demonstrates Toro’s long-term commitment to the development of the industry and our investment in the careers of young people. This is a wonderful achievement for Matthew, and we hope the award continues to encourage more young talent like himself. We will follow his career with great interest.”

The awards, which took place on the 31 October at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, recognise leadership, innovation and outstanding achievement across every aspect of groundscare. Attended by more than 650 of the UK and Europe’s leading groundscare experts, the ceremony highlights the progress of young, student grounds professionals.

But it’s not just winning the award which will set Matthew apart, his passion and determination to help promote the benefits of a career in the industry to his peers will undoubtedly do that too. And Reesink and Toro are proud, as ever, to play a part in giving Matthew a platform to do that through the sponsorship of such an important award for the future of the industry.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth

/in , /by

Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth: Great Yarmouth Racecourse has been named as the best flat course in the Racecourse Association’s prestigious grounds staff awards 2018, and Rigby Taylor’s amenity products have played a vital role.

Combined with high-class groundscare routines led by head groundsman Richard Bradley, the use of a host of products as well as continual advice and support by Rigby Taylor this year saw the Great Yarmouth team succeed with a “well-covered and great-coloured” course during a racing season that experienced the hottest summer on record.

Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth

According to Clerk of the Course, Richard Aldous, the award reflects “both the success of the grounds team’s expertise as well as the efficacy of the products” that have been used at the site for the past five years or so.

“We use a range of Rigby Taylor products to ensure the track consistently looks and performs superbly,” he says, “and we’ve been especially pleased with the combination of using the Fineturf 6-0-18 and PolyPro 25-3-15 slow-release fertilisers and Microlite Activ-8 (both 12-0-12 and 6-0-24).

“Together these have enabled us to produce a track that particularly this year has received laudatory comments from jockeys, trainers and owners.”

He continues: “We re-laid the turf on the straight in 2015 to ensure we could attract top-class horses to Great Yarmouth and to provide opportunities, particularly for horses which might go on to big festival meetings such as Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood. This has certainly been the case this season and I’m in no doubt that the amenity products we use have played a significant part in that success.”

Rigby Taylor Key At Great Yarmouth

Staging 23 meeting each season on the course, from April through to October, the Great Yarmouth team utilises a year-round programme of Rigby Taylor soil testing regimes and products, including the Propel-R wetting agent, liquid seaweed, Greenor systemic herbicide, and Delta Sport granular and Microsol soluble fertilisers, as well as overseeding with the R14 100% perennial rye seed. This, says Richard, “not only germinates quickly and presents a sward that holds together excellently, but it also is very wear- and disease-tolerant”.

With expert groundscare routines coupled with regular visits from Rigby Taylor’s Technical Sales Representative Mark Keysell who, adds Richard, “is always on hand and offers an awful lot of support”, the Great Yarmouth team is happy that everything is being done to ensure they stay on track for successful racing at the 300-year-old racecourse.

For more information, visit: www.rigbytaylor.com

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

New John Deere Mower At BTME

/in , , , /by

New John Deere Mower At BTME: Boasting the same advanced technology as John Deere’s award-winning A Model family of fairway, rough and trim & surrounds mowers, the new 6000A Series PrecisionCut fairway machines will be launched at BTME 2019 in Harrogate next January and will be available from UK and Irish dealers in the spring.

Based on a three-wheel drive, smooth tyre configuration, the 6080A, 6500A and 6700A five-gang cylinder models have been introduced to meet a specific customer need for improved budget control, while still delivering a mower designed for the rigours of fairway applications.

New John Deere Mower At BTME 2019

“With tight operating budgets and increasing labour costs, many customers need a more cost-effective solution to get the job done,” says John Deere’s European turf sales & marketing manager Carlos Aragones. “With this in mind, we challenged ourselves to design a machine that can still boost productivity and maintain quality of cut while keeping costs down, and we’ve done that with these new 6000A Series mowers.”

All three models utilise a powerful 24.7hp (18.4kW) diesel engine, and boast several other premium performance and comfort features. Just like the existing John Deere A Model range, these latest mowers offer exceptional cut quality, even on slopes, thanks to the standard LoadMatch system, while the innovative eHydro transmission eliminates linkages between the foot pedals and the hydrostatic pump.

Cutting widths are 2.03m (80in) on the 6080A and 2.54m (100in) on the 6500A and 6700A, with a choice of 46 or 56cm (18 or 22in) QA5 5in or QA7 7in diameter cutting units depending on the model. In addition, the 8mph (12.9kph) mowing speed allows operators to cut larger areas in less time.

As with all A Model machines, the new fairway mowers also feature the innovative TechControl display with password-protected controls. TechControl allows course managers or technicians to enter a range of commands, including mowing, turning and transport speeds as well as service intervals, while also providing on-board service diagnostics, to give complete and consistent control over cutting performance and quality.

The established frame design provides strength and durability, and a high quality cut is maintained in undulating terrain thanks to a rear-attaching yoke on the cutting units. Combined with the standard GRIP all-wheel drive traction system, these features allow the mowers to climb hills more easily without slipping.

The new John Deere 6000A Series PrecisionCut fairway mowers also provide several features designed to increase machine and operator uptime. These include internal hydraulic wet disk brakes that eliminate the need for linkage adjustments and grease points in the braking system, along with the traction drive system that needs only one fluid type for regular maintenance. In addition, the comfortable operator station includes CommandArm mounted controls that move with the seat.

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

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

SALTEX Shapes The Future Of Groundscare

/in , , /by

SALTEX Shapes The Future Of Groundscare: From robotics to hybrid mowers and digital apps, ground-breaking ideas to thought provoking debates, career enhancing advice to limitless opportunities; the recent SALTEX 2018 at the NEC in Birmingham was a landscape packed with possibilities and prospects for the future of groundscare.

Europe’s largest annual groundscare event featured 300 exhibitors, many of which embraced new technologies through the launch of their latest products and services showcased at the event.

SALTEX Shapes The Future Of Groundscare

One visitor – Chris Wood, ECB pitch consultant, was certainly impressed with the machinery on show: “My job with the ECB is to gather as much information on all the new innovations and this is one tremendous outlet for that. I always think that we are one big family in this industry and SALTEX is the one occasion of the year where we can come together, network, and look at all the new machinery – it’s like a toyshop at Christmas.”

The vibrant show floor offered a fantastic opportunity to witness just how these latest technologies are having a positive impact in the groundscare industry – particularly in the all new Innovation Hub where visitors were free to attend live interviews with industry experts and trend setters at the forefront of new groundscare innovations.

This new Hub was also the ideal platform to showcase and celebrate the SALTEX 2018 Innovation Award. After making its successful debut at last year’s show, the SALTEX 2018 Innovation Award attracted even more entries from various exhibitors across the globe and included a wide variety of high-quality products, services and equipment. Judged by an independent panel of industry experts it was decided that the Toro Outcross 9060 from Reesink Turfcare, PrecisionPro from Sherriff Amenity and the ROBOCUT from McConnel were the stand out entries. Sherriff Amenity’s PrecisionPro was crowned as the winner.

Sherriff Amenity representatives however were not the only trophy winners at the show as Bridgewater & Taunton College saw off fierce competition to win the SALTEX College Cup and the winning students can now look forward to visiting the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in the run up to the Wimbledon tournament, to experience court preparation from Neil Stubley, head of courts and horticulture.

There were also an increased number of visitors looking to progress within the industry as Frank Newberry’s Job Clinic sessions were fully booked between 9am and 3pm on each day of this year’s show. The expert careers advisor offered some fantastic tips on: perfecting a CV and cover letter; how to succeed at job interviews; negotiating a package; proactive job searching and self-employment.

The many opportunities to gain expert advice prompted John Ryan, founder of Lawn Care Legends, to travel from Northern Ireland to SALTEX: “I found my visit extremely beneficial because there are a lot of industry people you can connect with that can help provide ideas on how to develop a business. It’s great to see people with such a passion for the industry and share it with others. For anyone who wants to know what’s going on in the industry, I would recommend that they visit SALTEX.”

Free advice was available at every turn throughout the three large halls at the NEC. Visitors had the opportunity to gather one-to-one sports turf management advice from IOG regional pitch advisors at the Ask the Expert feature and Pathology and Soil Science LIVE provided an opportunity to share soil samples which were magnified, displayed on a large screen and assessed.

Learning LIVE 2018, SALTEX’s all-encompassing education programme, featured more than 50 free-to-attend seminars. Visitors gained CPD points for attendance and got to hear from expert speakers from the UK and abroad who focussed on vital issues that affect the industry.

James Pope, grounds manager at St Paul’s School in London, said he visited SALTEX to explore new concepts: “I’ve gained more ideas just from coming to this one show than I have all year. SALTEX is the right time of year and it’s the busiest and most vibrant show around – everyone is always in high spirits.”

Echoing James, was Ted Mitchell from the RFU, who was pleased to see just how the world’s longest standing groundscare exhibition has transformed over the years. “I’ve been attending SALTEX for many years and to see the event as it is today is incredible – it takes your breath away. It offers such a unique opportunity to meet the range of people at SALTEX in five or six hours that would, in any other circumstance, take me a huge amount of time over a number of months. SALTEX brings the industry together all in one place.”

SALTEX does indeed unite every corner of the industry – the manufacturers and suppliers, the visitors and speakers, the governing bodies and associations; who contributed to the conversations, the learnings, the ideas, the debates, and actively played their part in shaping the future of groundscare and creating opportunity for all.

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

New Germinal Appointment

/in , , /by

New Germinal Appointment: Alan Thomson has been appointed as Germinal’s new Amenity Technical Sales Representative for Scotland and the North East of England.

Based from his home in Glasgow, Alan will provide technical sales support to Germinal’s customers throughout his region, and will be responsible for promoting the company’s popular range of Grade-A sports and amenity grass seed mixtures to golf course greenkeepers, turf growers, sports groundsmen and landscapers.

New Germinal Appointment

Currently training with the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute) to gain his FACTS (Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training Scheme) qualification, Alan will also be responsible for promoting Germinal’s specialist amenity fertiliser range which includes conventional compound products as well as liquid and phased-release fertilisers and specialist sward conditioners.  Alan will also promote Germinal’s range of regional and general landscaping wildflower seed mixtures.

Alan joins Germinal from Glasgow-based John Deere dealership, Nairn Brown, where he was the company’s area sales manager for the central Scotland region.  Prior to this he has worked as the Scottish sales manager for Tacit Golf and also has previous greenkeeping experience from his time at Bothwell Castle Golf Club.

Alan can be contacted via the following:

Mobile: 07887 578802

Email: alan.thomson@germinal.com

Web: www.germinalamenity.com

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.