Rody Kilbride Wins Award

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Rody Kilbride Wins Award: The winner of the 2018 Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award, sponsored by ICL and Syngenta, has been confirmed as Rody Kilbride from Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo.

For a number of years, ICL and Syngenta have been proud sponsors of the Irish Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award – which is part of the Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board’s (KWETB) Greenkeeping Training Course.

Rody Kilbride Wins Award

Colman Warde, ICL Country Manager for Ireland presented Rody with his trophy and a gift voucher at Naas Golf Club, Co Kildare said: “As a company we are very proud to continue our sponsorship of this award. The training course is a fantastic opportunity which helps prepare the students for a promising future in this industry. It was great to present the award to Rody, who is a good example of enthusiastic, young greenkeepers. It’s good to see so many students interested in this course because they are the future of the industry.”

“Aisling does a tremendous job arranging the course and it’s great to see the likes of David Behan from Naas Golf Club, David Callanan from Beech Park Golf Club, Mark Kirwan from the Heritage Golf Club and Tom Carew from Craddockstown put so much time and effort into helping train these students” commented Colman.

For the duration of the 48 week course Rody was placed at Beech Park Golf Club under the watchful eye of Course Superintendent David Callanan. With the student course now complete Rody has successfully gained a full-time greenkeepers job at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Course in Co Limerick, with the newly redeveloped course, designed by Tom Fazio, due to open in April 2018.

Now in its twelfth year, the course continues to go from strength to strength, which is testament to the hard work and meticulous planning carried out by Aisling Mahon, course co-ordinator who’s commitment to nurturing the future of greenkeeping has ensured the success of the course. Aisling is delighted to have seen the course open a number of doors for aspiring greenkeepers, including full time employment, further education and oversees internships at prestigious golf courses such as Bay Hill and Pebble Beach in Ohio, USA.

Last year’s winner, Tiernan Crawford, impressed Naas Golf Club so much throughout the duration of the course that he was offered a full time greenkeeping position. He has been working in this role for the past year and is now moving to Beech Park Golf Club – a position which commences in just a couple of weeks. He intends on furthering his education and will be studying Sportsturf Science Level 6 in September 2019.

William Fitzpatrick, winner of the 2016 award, has been busy working and continuing his studies as well as becoming a first-time father. He is working full-time at Portarlington Golf Club and has just recently graduated from Teagasc College of Amenity Horticulture, National Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, Dublin where he studied Sportsturf Science. William has also volunteered at a number of tournaments and is working hard to progress within the industry.

To make any enquiries about the Greenkeeping Training Course please email greenkeepingcourse@gmail.com

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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No Repeat Of Glyphosate Saga

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No Repeat Of Glyphosate Saga: There will not be a repeat of the Glyphosate saga, promises EU’s new committee on authorisation of pesticides.

The new special committee on pesticides started looking into the EU authorisation procedure during its first working meeting on 12 April.

No Repeat Of Glyphosate Saga

MEPs discussed the state of play of the procedure with European Food Safety Authority executive director Bernhard Url and the European Commission.

Committee chair Eric Andrieu (S&D, France) said: “We must dare to do everything and not forbid ourselves on this real question of society: we are talking about the health of 500 million Europeans, 42% of foods are identified without pesticides… the margin is large.

“In December, when we will vote on our report, we will have to make a commitment to citizens that the food they eat and the air they breathe are not dangerous to their health.

“Our Special Committee must lay the foundations for new practices guaranteeing transparency and independence. Above all, it must restore citizens’ confidence in the European process.”

Co-rapporteur Bart Staes (Greens/EFA, Belgium) said: “This new committee gives us the opportunity to delve into the work of the different European and national agencies, the quality of the evidence used, the role of industry and the independence and transparency of the entire evaluation process.

“Protection of public health and the environment must be at the heart of EU decisions. We want to make sure there can no re-run of the glyphosate saga”

The EU re-authorised glyphosate for five years in November amid controversy around carcinogen claims.

“The re-authorisation of glyphosate highlighted some serious problems with the current process. We will now examine the evidence in detail and come forward with recommendations to make sure that the authorisation procedure for pesticides as a whole is fit for purpose, so that future decisions are fully transparent and respect the relevant EU regulation” Staes said.

Co-rapporteur Norbert Lins (EPP, Germany) said: “The main goal of the PEST-committee is to look at the authorisation procedure from every angle and to identify possible improvements based on a scientific approach.

“The Commission and EFSA gave us a good overview about the current legislation which was a good start to understand the process. Nevertheless we will need more input from all stakeholders, to see how the theory works in practice. It is of particular interest for me to put an effective and efficient process in place which does not only focus on transparency but ensures safety for environment and health and strengthens innovation” he added.

The special committee will hold its next meeting on the 26th of April.

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Toro MVP Kits Increase Uptime

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Toro MVP Kits Increase Uptime: Greenkeepers, workshop technicians and mechanics can prevent maintenance headaches in the season ahead with Toro’s MVP kits.

 As the grass growing season gets into full swing and your fleet’s workload increases, the last thing needed is extended machinery downtime and unexpected maintenance costs. This is a situation that can be avoided with Toro’s MVP (maintenance value performance) kits.

Toro MVP kits Increase Uptime

With an individual kit for blades, roller rebuilding, cutting unit overhauling, seals, and blades and belts, whichever kit you go for, one thing guaranteed is that you will have all the genuine Toro parts needed to quickly get your turfcare machinery working again.

So, instead of spending valuable time sourcing individual parts as issues arise, greenkeepers can purchase Toro MVP kits in one convenient box that comes with the added benefit of saving up to 20 percent in repair expenses.

Michael Hampton, Reesink Turfcare parts manager, comments: “As we all know, time is of the essence for greenkeeping teams in the summer and machines are worked hard to keep turf in play and in immaculate condition. Owning an MVP kit means no longer being caught out by a machine in need of care, as you will be prepared with every part needed to quickly get your turfcare machinery back into action.”

Instructions give advice on when to perform specific maintenance tasks depending on the model and the number of hours of use, helping prevent running machines into the ground and incurring unnecessary costs to repair them.

Michael continues: “Keeping turf in premium condition is rightly at the forefront of greenkeepers’ minds, with constantly high-performing machines being the means of achieving this and downtime being a possible obstacle. Toro’s MVP kits enable you to react and resolve maintenance or repair issues immediately, keeping uptime at an all-time high.”

Added to this, if used to perform regular maintenance, MVP kits keep cost of ownership low and allow for more accurate forecasting when setting budget aside for parts and servicing.

Investing in Toro MVP kits is, says Reesink Turfcare, a wise decision.

For more information contact distributor Reesink’s Toro parts department on 01480 226800, go to reesinkturfcare.co.uk, or visit your local dealer.

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Pellenc’s Factory Award

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Pellenc’s Factory Award: After transforming its state of the art factory in Pertuis, France, the Pellenc group has been presented with the Industry Showcase of the Future award.

Since the Pellenc group was created in 1973, the company has based its development on a policy of constant innovation. The group’s ability to be able to anticipate changes in its markets has led to the registering of 1081 patents – winning numerous awards for the excellence of its products.

 

A forerunner when it comes to lithium-ion technology, Pellenc has established itself in the “Zero Emission” professional power tools market. The company has seen rapid growth since 1973 and in just the last five years Pellenc has doubled its turnover. With a policy of investing 10% of its turnover back into research and development, the group is committed to continually developing its industrial processes and this led to the transformation of its factory.

Pellenc’s factory transformation objectives were to not only improve operations but also to enhance the working conditions for employees – increasing their safety and optimising the comfort of the workstations.

The transformation of the plant has already proved to be hugely beneficial. Assembly times have been significantly reduced, while service rates in the workshops and production line areas have also been greatly improved. In turn, the teams involved feel better prepared and trained for the various stages of production.

Pierre-Antoine Barre, Pellenc Industrialisation Methods Manager was delighted to have achieved such large-scale objectives: “Transformation of the Pertuis site means that the Pellenc group’s capacity and industrial flexibility has grown, and the competitiveness of its product range has improved, building on French know-how, a symbol of industrial excellence and a source of employment reaching +7% a year.”

Pellenc's Factory Award

Aurélien Blanc, technical assistant in the portable power tools shop, offered a great insight from an employee’s point of view: “The changes in the plant have reduced movements needed and distances covered. They provide real improvements in ergonomics, productivity and quality of work.”

The Industry Showcase of the Future award is testament to the success of the factory transformation, but Pellenc refuses to rest on its laurels. There are many more factory projects planned for this year, including new innovations for the newly created areas, new workflow displays and automation systems.

Always seeking further improvements, the Pellenc group continues to innovate and it is no wonder that its products are spearheading the markets throughout Europe and beyond.

Pellenc products are exclusively distributed in the UK by Etesia UK.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

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ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

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ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC: After some shading issues were resolved at the exclusive Blackwell Golf Club located in Worcestershire, Head Greenkeeper Rhys Thomas has since restored the greens back to their full health thanks to a range of fertilizers from ICL.

Blackwell Golf Club may well be the most exclusive club in the Midlands. With approximately 170 members, but despite the club always having a small membership, it has never stopped the club from achieving. In fact, Blackwell has been ranked in the top 100 UK courses for a number of years, boasts three English Amateur Champions, has hosted the Open Championship Regional Qualifying Event six times and was home to the Midland Boys Championship, won one year by a 14 year old Sandy Lyle.

ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

Blackwell Golf Club will be celebrating its 125th centenary and throughout that time the course hasn’t changed much from the original 18 hole design. The truth is – it hasn’t really needed to, which is perhaps testament to the vision of Herbert Fowler and Tom Simpson who designed the course in 1923.

“Following a ecology report from the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute), we decided to remove the trees around the greens and tees that had been planted 50 years ago,” says Rhys. “The trees had had little maintenance and the greens were in the shade and we’d struggle to get growth through the winter. Obviously, they would have a lot of wear during the summer and they never had an opportunity to recover.”

After the trees were removed, it was apparent that the greens would need a lot of attention after being in the shade for such a long time. Disease had crept in, which had resulted in a few scars and damage, and in Rhys’ own words – “If someone has a cold or is ill and they don’t take any medicine, then they don’t get any better. It’s the same with the greens – they need good products to keep them healthy.”

“ICL’s Greenmaster Pro-Lite Cold Start is great for the spring,” Rhys continues. “We know that the greens will kick-off immediately once we get it applied in March. Previously, members used to say the greens were not playing well until June. The right products are being used now and the members have certainly noticed the difference.”

Rhys was also quick to highlight Sierraform GT K-STEP 6-0-27+2MgO+TE, which has a high potassium content to harden the turf in particularly stressful winter conditions.

ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

“In January or February, we turn to Sierraform GT K-STEP which trickles along nicely and we normally get a good amount of growth following application. We may also re-apply it in March if we are doing some renovation work just to give us a bit of recovery.

“Because of the microclimate we have here at Blackwell, it does make it hard to have a strict programme in place – we just have to judge it as and when. But I’ve been using ICL products for a long time and I use them because I know how they work and I can judge the timing of the fertilizers.

“The ICL fertilizers have significantly improved the greens because they are a lot healthier now.

On hand to offer Rhys all-year-round assistance is ICL’s Emma Kilby and he revealed that she has been instrumental in helping him bring the greens back to the standard expected by Blackwell members.

“I have a great relationship with Emma and she is always available if I need her.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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