Student Greenkeepers Win Toro Awards

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Student Greenkeepers Win Toro Awards: The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association has announced that Daniel Ashelby from Wilmslow Golf Club has become the 30th winner of the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award, whilst Danny Patten of Lee Park Golf Club scooped the Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award.

Daniel, 25, joins a proud tradition of former awards winners that stretches back to Mark Proctor, who won the very first hosting of the award in 1989 while a student greenkeeper at Portal Golf Club in Cheshire.

Student Greenkeepers Win Toro Awards

The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards is a nationwide contest hosted by greenkeepers’ association BIGGA and sponsored by turfcare machinery and irrigation manufacturer Toro alongside its official UK distributor Reesink Turfcare.

Each year, a selection of the best student greenkeepers, selected from regional interviews hosted across the country, descend upon BIGGA House at Aldwark Manor in York for the two-day finals of the event, where they complete a variety of tasks.

A second-generation greenkeeper, whose father was course manager at Gatley Golf Club, Daniel impressed the judges with his knowledge and passion for the profession. The presentation he delivered in front of the awards judges showed his dedication to greenkeeping and his eagerness to do well in his chosen career.

Daniel said: “I can’t believe I’ve won it to be honest. There was a really strong line-up and I couldn’t tell right until the end who had won because everybody else was fantastic. I’m absolutely delighted and I’d like to thank Toro, Reesink Turfcare and BIGGA for everything they’ve done this week, it’s amazing.”

As part of his prize, Daniel wins a seven-week scholarship at the University of Massachusetts in the USA, as well as a trip to the GCSAA’s Golf Industry Show in San Diego and a trip to Toro’s headquarters in Minneapolis.

The Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award is open to students under the age of 20 and as winner, Danny receives a two-week work placement at the exclusive Vidauban Golf Club in France, as well as a trip to BTME in Harrogate.

Danny, 20, said: “I’m shocked to have won. I thought I had done a good course walk but wasn’t sure it would be enough. Then when they announced my name to say I had won it was just the best feeling in the world. I’ve been greenkeeping for just over two years so to get this award is really promising for my career and I’m looking forward to what the future holds.”

BIGGA Head of Member Learning Stuart Green said: “Congratulations to Daniel and Danny, who showed outstanding passion and commitment, both during the finals of the awards and at every stage of the competition, to be crowned worthy winners of this year’s awards.

“To be crowned Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year isn’t just two days’ hard work; rather you must dedicate yourself to the greenkeeping profession every day of your working life and so both winners and everyone who made it to the finals should be incredibly proud of their achievements.

“Each year the finals of the competition get harder to judge, which gives me confidence that the future of the industry is in very safe hands.”

The runner-up in the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award was John Scurfield of Morpeth Golf Club.

The runner-up in the Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award was Liam Pigden of Burnham & Berrow Golf Club.

David Cole, managing director of Reesink Turfcare and award judge, said: “Every year the challenge of selecting one winner from each category becomes greater and greater for the judges. This tells us that the greenkeeping baton is being passed to safe hands by virtue of the commitment we see in front of us from students towards their career and personal education.

“Congratulations, not only to the winners and runners-up, but also to the whole group in reaching the final in what is a very competitive awards competition. You are all a credit to yourselves and to your golf courses.”

BIGGA Chief Executive Officer Jim Croxton said: “We call the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards the most prestigious in the industry, but they are only made so by the commitment and dedication to the greenkeeping profession shown by those who have previously enjoyed success in the awards.

“Daniel and Danny join an incredible roster of past winners throughout the awards’ prestigious history, each of whom has done their part in elevating standards in the greenkeeping profession to new heights.

“Our thanks once again go to Toro and Reesink Turfcare for their support in hosting these annual awards, which remain a real highlight of the greenkeeping calendar.”

Applications for the 31st Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards will open in February 2019.

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GTC Release New Training Materials

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GTC Release New Training Materials: The Greenkeepers Training Committee (GTC) has released a revised set of best practice learning materials for all levels of student greenkeepers.

Although originally inspired as the underpinning knowledge for the Level 2 qualification, the GTC Board of Directors and the Employer Group championed the revision of the copyright Learning Materials.

These will be made available not only to learners undertaking the Level 2 Greenkeeping qualification, but will also be available to all golf clubs to be used as best practice.

Prepared by industry specialists and based upon best principles and practices for golf course maintenance and management, the copyright materials are divided into eight chapters, ranging from health and safety, golf course preparation and maintenance to preparing a tractor with attachments.

The 327-page publication is available to purchase in digital format to anyone through the GTC’s shop for £150. For more information, see www.the-gtc.co.uk/shop/

All GTC Quality Approved Centres will receive a copy of the of Learning Materials, for use with all sports turf students on the various greenkeeping courses.

The GTC is supported by England Golf, Scottish Golf, Wales Golf, The PGA and BIGGA.

GTC Manager Fiona Lyttle said: “Each of the original chapters has been meticulously reviewed and updated by specialists from within the sports turf industry. Following consultations with our Employer Group, it was suggested we incorporate some additional aspects of what a fully-qualified golf greenkeeper should know. With this in mind, we have included more detail on soil science, as well as basic drainage and irrigation. Changes in technology, equipment and machinery have also necessitated an extensive update. The GTC has ensured the materials are suitable for everyone from apprentices to golf course managers with all subjects comprehensively covered.”

For further information on the GTC’s Learning Materials, contact GTC Administrator Emma Willis on 01347 838640 and emma@the-gtc.co.uk

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Match Off After Pitch Vandalism

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Match Off After Pitch Vandalism: Ongoing damage at Putaruru’s Totara Park is angering the community and sparking fears public access could be restricted.

In the latest incident a vehicle damaged the football pitch so badly that the Rangers team had to cancel its final game of the season.

Manager Derek Roberts, who has been with the club since the 1960’s, said although not the first time vehicles have damaged the grounds, it was the worst he had seen.

South Waikato District Council parks and reserves manager Phil Parker said the damage was “frustrating”.

“Staff and contractors find this behaviour equally annoying as park users,” he said.

“Our staff and contractors work hard to maintain our parks, reserves and sports grounds for our community and to see them treated with such disrespect is very frustrating.”

Parker said prior to the latest incident the council’s contractor was due to begin the bi-annual turf renovation programme.

“This will continue, however, obviously, this part of the grounds will now require some additional work and effort,” he said.

He said the ongoing damage was costing ratepayers.

“Sadly this is not an isolated incident,” he said.

“There is a cost to ratepayers to repair this kind of damage which is unfortunate, but the greatest cost in this instance is that the Putaruru Rangers had to forfeit their last game of the season. That’s really disappointing.”

Parker said the council was disappointed that the actions of a few people were ruining things for the majority.

“Those responsible for this vandalism should be held to account. Unfortunately without eyewitnesses that is close to impossible,” he said.

“We would encourage anyone who knows anything to contact the council or the police.”

Senior Sergeant Jason Henderson said he wasn’t aware of any reports being made to police.

“We haven’t received any report as yet. That is quite often the thing, if we don’t know about it we can’t actually do anything about it,” he said.

“More often than not we find people don’t want to bug the police because we are already busy and all the rest of it but if there is a trend and it is annoying people then we need to know so we can look into it.”

Henderson said such incidents could lead to public access being restricted to such facilities.

“These people will end up ruining it for everyone,” he said.

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CPL’s Best Groundsman Award

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CPL’s Best Groundsman Award: The Hero Caribbean Premier League has created an award for the groundsman that has overseen the greatest improvement in the pitches at tournament venues since the league’s inception in 2013. The award will see the winning head groundsman being flown to New Zealand to work with world renowned pitch expert Mark Perham.

The winner will visit New Zealand for three weeks spending time in both Christchurch and Auckland to see how pitches in other countries are prepared. This is an amazing opportunity for professional development and further cements the Hero CPL’s commitment to improve pitches across the region.

Speaking about the award Mark Perham said: “I have been delighted to work with the groundsmen across the region to help improve the pitches in the Caribbean. This opportunity for the groundsman that has made the biggest improvement to the standard of wickets at their venue is just reward for a lot of hard work, but I would also like to extend my thanks to all the ground staff who have also put in a lot of hard graft over the years.”

Damien O’Donohoe, CEO of Hero CPL, said: “As a tournament we are firmly committed to playing our part in the improvement of cricketing infrastructure across the Caribbean and we are very pleased to have been involved in the improvement of pitches. This award is another example of CPL investing in the development of West Indies cricket.”

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New Lords Head Groundsman

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New Lords Head Groundsman: MCC has confirmed that Karl McDermott has been appointed as the new Head Groundsman at Lord’s.

McDermott, who will join MCC from Hampshire County Cricket Club, will replace Mick Hunt, who is retiring from the role after 49 seasons.

After beginning his career as Assistant Groundsman at Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin, McDermott took on the Head Groundsman role in 1997, ahead of the venue hosting an ICC World Cup Fixture in 1999.

He spent seventeen years at Clontarf, working on numerous international and domestic fixtures and winning the European ICC Groundsman of the Year award in 2007, before moving to Worcestershire as Assistant Groundsman.

He then took up post at the Ageas Bowl where he was initially appointed Deputy Head Groundsman in 2009, ahead of the ground’s inaugural Test Match in 2011 between England and Sri Lanka.

McDermott became Head Groundsman in 2016 and most recently presided over England’s victory over India, the third Test Match to be held at Hampshire’s headquarters.

John Stephenson, MCC Assistant Secretary (Cricket) said: “After a rigorous recruitment process, we are delighted that Karl has accepted the role of Head Groundsman at Lord’s. He is very well respected throughout the game, having spent the past nine years producing top quality pitches at the Ageas Bowl.

“Karl emerged from a competitive field as someone who will be able to maintain the reputation of Lord’s as the ultimate ground at which cricketers of all levels wish to play.

“His first season will be a challenging one, with five World Cup matches including the Final, Ireland’s inaugural Test match at Lord’s as well as the prospect of England facing Australia in an Ashes Series but we have no doubt that he will prove himself up to the task.

“We’re very much looking forward to Karl beginning his role and working alongside Mick Hunt for a short time before Mick begins his well-earned retirement.”

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