Limagrain Stays In The Family

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Limagrain Stays In The Family: Alex Exton, head groundsman at Witham Hall in Lincolnshire, claims he has not looked back since using a range of MM grass seed from Limagrain UK, having had the mixture recommended by his father Keith.

Keith Exton has enjoyed a long and prosperous career in the turf industry and Alex, long inspired by his dad, is now carving his own successful path in the industry. However, he admits that he would be foolish to not soak up some of the wisdom Keith has accumulated over the years.

Limagrain Stays In The Family

“I first heard about Limagrain through my father who is a big fan of them,” said Alex. “He’s been quite successful within the industry and I suppose I have just tried to follow in his footsteps.

“I know he used Limagrain when he was at Oakham School for 16 years or so and then continued to use them when he went to Glamorgan County Cricket Club.  ​He is now at Grantham CC and is still using MM50 and Action Replay to this day”.

Alex is entering his ninth year at the prestigious Witham Hall which is a thriving boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4-13 years. The school is committed to providing a first-class education both in and beyond the classroom and sport is a fundamental part of the curriculum – which is where Alex comes in.

The children can enjoy the major team sports of rugby, football, hockey, cricket, netball and rounders, and Alex alongside two other members of staff, maintain the fabulous sports pitches, grounds and facilities all year round.

Alex has a busy schedule which sees a tight turnaround in transforming the pitches for the relevant sports in between terms. As you can imagine, the playing fields experience an incredibly high amount of usage all year round but Alex claims that his use of Limagrain grass seed helps the turf to withstand such high wear.

Throughout his tenure at Witham Hall, he has relied on Limagrain’s MM50 for the cricket squares and Action Replay for all of the outfields which includes the rugby, hockey and football pitches.

MM is one of the most respected brands in the UK sportsturf and amenity industries and is relied upon at top sports grounds throughout the UK and beyond. In particular, MM50 is ideal for cricket squares and outfields. This hard-wearing mix has rapid germination, very fine leaved appearance, high shoot density and is tolerant to very close mowing, along with high disease resistance. All these attributes together produce a fantastic sward that has great colour all year round

Limagrain’s Action Replay belongs to the company’s Designer range of amenity grass seed and is an excellent mixture to use when renovating winter sports pitches. It will establish very quickly producing a dense, hard wearing sward for all heavy-duty sports areas.

According to Alex, both of these products provide him with everything he is looking for in a grass seed.

Limagrain Stays In The Family

“We try to put Action Replay down in the spring and autumn as part of our renovations. I have just recently purchased a disc seeder so I tend to put it down between 20-25g/m2.

“On the cricket square it all depends on what I’m doing. If I have cleaned a track out in the playing season and want to reuse it, I will groove out and apply the product with the pedestrian push spreader. When I’m over-seeding the whole square, as part of our end of season renovations, I must admit that I put plenty on. I will normally apply two bags with the pedestrian spreader, to fall into the grooves made by the scarifier and then I will go over it in four directions with our SISIS Variseeder, again with another two bags.

“I know it sounds a lot but our square is on a slope, so when watering, the water can run and take a fair bit of seed with it. I just think that doing it this way works really well for our site and I get a fantastic take and coverage.

“The MM50 is excellent for the cricket – it stands the sort mowing, the heavy rolling and recovers incredibly well. In fact, both products perform consistently well and I never have any bad results or problems. It’s as simple as that really – they are good solid products.

“If I’m ever asked what seed I use, I only ever say Limagrain and I would recommend MM50 and Action Replay to anyone.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

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Toro Irrigation A Water Saver

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Toro Irrigation A Water Saver: Thanks to Toro irrigation, Royal Birkdale Golf Club saved 25 percent on water consumption throughout the 2018 heatwave.

The timing could not have been more fortuitous as Royal Birkdale Golf Club turned on its new Toro irrigation system in April 2018 just in time for one of the hottest summers the country has ever experienced.

Toro Irrigation A Water Saver

Little did Chris Whittle, course manager at Royal Birkdale, know, as the tender process for a new irrigation system started in September 2017, that within weeks of installation a record equalling heatwave would hit the country.

As golf courses fought to prevent their turf from being burnt brown and water costs rose accordingly, Chris was in the fortunate position of having efficient, accurate and precise irrigation at his fingertips with a new Toro Lynx central control system and all new sprinklers, including Toro Infinity, across the 240-acre 18-hole links course in Southport, Merseyside.

“The time had come to replace our system,” says Chris, who has been course manager at the prestigious club for almost a quarter of a century. “We had a Toro system that had always served us well and the service from distributor Reesink Turfcare, L.S. Systems and Robin Hume Associates has always been great so there was no question we’d go with anyone else, but we needed more control. Lynx was the obvious choice and no sooner was it installed than it was put to the ultimate test!”

And the system triumphed in the face of adversity, says Chris: “We’re delighted with the results Toro has delivered. We spent some time learning the system, there was tweaking required as we set it up, making it specific to the course and making sure we maximised its capabilities. Once that was done, operation was easy and straight-forward. As I’m sure you can imagine having remote access to make real-time adjustments was particularly useful this summer!

“Prioritising water allocation meant we kept the course playing well, looking fine and in the best possible health,” Chris continues. “Not only that, but despite the need for more irrigation than we’ve experienced for many years, we made huge savings in water consumption.”

25 percent savings and that’s a conservative estimate, says Chris: “It was a figure that was unexpected in how significant it was. We hoped to make savings with the new system obviously, but not while we contended with extreme heat and lack of rain, the worst of which we hadn’t seen in years! When we realised how much we’d saved we couldn’t believe it.”

Royal Birkdale has held more championship and international events since World War Two than any other course in the world and has been voted the number one golf club in England, one of the top five clubs in the UK and among the top 35 in the world, so standards were expected to remain high despite the conditions. And Toro could be relied upon to help do just that.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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ICL’s New Research Project

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ICL’s New Research Project: Producing the top-quality turf needed for high-level sports requires a keen focus on turf maintenance and inputs. All applications of water and nutrients should be optimised to ensure responsible resource-use efficiency. ICL has started an exciting research project exploring the use of wetting agents to further improve water use and to potentially help optimise nutrient use for managed amenity turf.

It is a three-year research project delivered through the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation, Lancaster University. The Centre is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and is supporting local sports field construction specialists J Mallinson in collaboration with surfactant specialists at ICL.

ICL's New Research Project

Dr Andy Owen (ICL International Technical Manager) has been instrumental in planning the project. “I have known the research team here at Lancaster Environment Centre for a number of years and the chance to collaborate and generate useful research optimising inputs to turf through wetting agent use is invaluable.”

Graduate researcher Vasileios (Billy) Giannakopoulos is working under the supervision of Dr Jaime Puertolas and Professor Ian Dodd. Billy was selected ahead of a number of other applicants to embark on the three-year project and said “I’m delighted to be a part of this project as this kind of research has never been undertaken until now. It is such an interesting and relevant topic, with the potential to make a real difference for turf and crop management.”

The project will be utilising ICL’s H2Pro range of wetting agents which includes TriSmart, AquaSmart and FlowSmart and the research team will be using these products in a series of experiments, both laboratory, glass house and field-based.

A year has already passed on the three-year project and Dr Puertolas believes that some new ground-breaking information could well be on the horizon.

“Understanding surfactants and what they do is a very interesting subject, we normally modify the soil moisture by how we place the water through irrigation type or the frequency of the irrigation application but this is another way of manipulating how the water is distributed in the soil.”

“We hope to generate information which could improve irrigation effectiveness and better understand water and nutrient movement through a soil and uptake by a plant.”

“Working with J Mallinson and ICL is a win-win situation because we can deliver research in our line of expertise but also connect with industry practice; that is really important to us because it covers two of our aspirations – to be more environmentally friendly and to continue to innovate.”

Lana Farren, Research Manager for ICL, believes that the research is being carried out at an incredibly appropriate time. “The world is becoming more and more environmentally aware. The reality is that demand for water is increasing with large volumes being used for irrigating crops and amenity turf.

We also lose a lot of applied nutrients through leaching which can be environmentally damaging. If we can improve water and nutrient use efficiency then ultimately, we are becoming more sustainable.”

ICL's New Research Project

Prof Dodd commented “Providing sufficient water for crop production is a major challenge in many parts of the world. Even in the UK it can be difficult to assure this, as crop water use peaks in the summer when water availability in the environment can be limited, as we’ve seen this year.

This project is one of a number that have been funded in Lancaster’s Plant & Crop Sciences research group via the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation, and it is heartening to see such engagement between academics and industry to develop real-world solutions.”

Andy feels that as a global supplier of turf and agricultural products, ICL has a certain responsibility to conduct such vital research. “ICL will continue to invest in good quality independent research that helps support our products. We recognise that water and nutrient use efficiency is critical for crop management worldwide, so this research is vitally important.”

“Our wetting agents are used both in sports turf and agriculture and ultimately we want to be able to support the whole range with robust data, so we can market them responsibly.”

For more information about the H2Pro wetting agent range please contact ICL on +44 (0)1473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie. For more information about the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation please visit www.globalecoinnovation.org.

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Charterhouse Links Up With BIGGA

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Charterhouse Links Up With BIGGA: Charterhouse Turf Machinery has teamed up with the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association to offer educational opportunities for golf course professionals across the nation.

In its new capacity as Education Supporter for the association, Charterhouse will help provide valuable professional development opportunities for BIGGA members.

Charterhouse Joins Forces With BIGGA

For over 35 years, Charterhouse has been a leading provider of professional maintenance machinery to keep both natural and artificial surfaces in first-rate condition. The company distributes the Redexim range of aerators, overseeders, topdressers and scarifiers for natural turf.  To compliment this, the Graden range of pedestrian verticutters and the BLEC range of specialist landscaping and turfcare products, are also available.

Commenting on the new agreement, Charterhouse Sales Manager Nick Darking said: “We have been a supporter of BIGGA for many years, in many different guises, including a number of years as sponsors of the annual National Championship. We are proud to now be working alongside BIGGA as an education supporter, helping to provide valuable professional development and educational opportunities to those in our greenkeeping industry.”

BIGGA Business Development Executive Lauren Frazer said: “With their extensive expertise providing valuable tools for the modern greenkeeper, Charterhouse Turf Machinery has long been a proud supporter of BIGGA members, including as title sponsor of the BIGGA National Championship. In conversation with Nick and the Charterhouse team, it was clear they wanted to build on that relationship and find a way to help greenkeepers all over the country to achieve new heights and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to sign this agreement, which will enable that to happen.”

To find out more about Charterhouse Turf Machinery, visit www.charterhouse-tm.co.uk

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John Deere Key At Dumbarnie Links

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John Deere Key At Dumbarnie Links: A brand new 18-hole golf course development on the south coast of Fife is coming, with Dumbarnie Links set to be open for play by spring 2020. The 165ha development reflects the historical location of a links course and sports club at Dumbarnie dating back to the 1830s.

Luke Beardmore of OB Sports Golf Management – the US firm hired to manage Dumbarnie – and John Deere dealer Sandy Armit of Double A signed a partnership deal last year for the supply of grow-in and maintenance equipment for this exciting £11 million project, which is supported by the local landowner Lord Balniel of Balcarres.

John Deere Key At Dumbarnie Links

Designed by former Walker Cup and Ryder Cup player Clive Clark, Dumbarnie Links is notable for featuring sea views on all 18 holes. The course manager is local man Grahame Taylor, who grew up in Leven and came from the Old Course at nearby St Andrews.

“The vision for Dumbarnie Links has been to provide a first class, true links style golf experience of international quality for all to enjoy,” said Luke Beardmore. “The golf course will be operated as a pay-and-play facility, with no members’ club or fees, and will be open to the public for a daily green fee. It has been designed and laid out to the highest standard while also respecting the coastal setting and environmental designations within the vicinity.”

Largo Bay to the south of the site forms part of a wider designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Wetland of International Importance (RAMSAR Site). The Fife Coastal Path and Dumbarnie Links Scottish Wildlife Trust Reserve are also adjacent to the site boundaries.

“Due to extremely favourable weather conditions last year the golf course construction work took just six months to complete, which is extremely fast,” said Luke. “The contractor, Landscapes Unlimited from the US, assembled a team of first class sub-contractors to build the course so quickly. The course will still need to mature throughout 2019, but so far the project has truly exceeded everyone’s expectations.”

John Deere Key At Dumbarnie Links

Luke Beardmore feels that John Deere has been at the forefront of the project’s success so far, adding: “Our initial success has largely been based on our strong working relationship with John Deere, and specifically the dealer Double A. The ability for Dumbarnie to work with the dealership team allowed us to keep the preliminary costs down while still focusing on the highest quality standards every day. This partnership has truly been a win-win for everyone.”

Sandy Armit of Double A added: “This is a very exciting project and we are very pleased to have been chosen to be involved with the initial loan and supply of John Deere equipment, including hire tractors and a ProGator utility vehicle with mounted sprayer and spreader. We look forward to phasing in a full fleet of course maintenance equipment through the grow-in period this year, in preparation for the course’s official opening in 2020.”

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

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