Groundsman Recommends TM1000

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Groundsman Recommends TM1000: David Hodgson, groundsman and president at the Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club in Headingley, Leeds, believes that a lot more local cricket clubs would see significant improvements if they used a SISIS Rotorake TM1000 tractor mounted scarifier on their pitches.

Established in 1853, Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in the country. The club, which is based at the Field of Dreams on Queenswood Drive in Leeds, boasts two Saturday league teams, a Sunday 3rd team and a range of junior teams from under 9’s to under 17’s.

David, or ‘Hodgy’ as he is more commonly known in the local area, has been looking after the facilities for the past twenty years and president of the club for the past twelve. The compact ground surrounded by trees, hosts on average, between 85 and 100 fixtures per annum and David leaves no stone unturned when it comes to preparation.

‘Hodgy’ is passionate about sports turf and particularly cricket – he is a previous winner of a Yorkshire Cricket Board OSCA (Outstanding Service to Cricket Award) and was also commended by the West Yorkshire and Leeds branch of the Institute of Groundsmanship for his work in developing and presenting “Understanding of Groundsmanship” courses to Yorkshire’s cricket development groups and raising the profile of groundsmanship in the region.

When he is not tending to the pitch at Kirkstall Educational Cricket Club, David has his own groundcare business and applies his expertise at a number of sports clubs throughout Yorkshire. With his workload increasing, he felt it was time to invest in new machinery and specifically something that would make his end of season renovations easier.

“I’m getting no younger and I thought that instead of operating pedestrian machines it might make sense to have a tractor mounted machine. I have colleagues who have the Rotorake TM1000 and they gave me very good reports on it. I have known of SISIS for years and own a SISIS Variseeder (tractor mounted seeder), which has served me incredibly well for over twelve years now.

“As my business developed I made the decision to increase my machinery stock to make my life easier – hence the purchase of the SISIS TM1000.”

The SISIS Rotorake TM1000 is a tractor mounted heavy duty scarifier and linear aerator and is un-rivalled when it comes to removing and controlling thatch. It includes a collector box and floating unit to follow ground contours and its contra-rotating reel throws debris forward ensuring a clean, consistent groove resulting in an excellent finish. With interchangeable blades and a quick, simple depth setting without tools, it seemed to be the perfect machine for David.

“I’m highly delighted with the purchase – the strength of the machine and the durability is excellent. I’ve used it for all of my recent autumn/winter renovations at around 25 venues throughout Yorkshire already.

“It’s great for ease of use and I like the fact I can adjust the depth setting depending on the site and the level of thatch that is in the profile. It’s a great feature to have and you can adjust it very easily without any tools.

“I have the scarification reel and the fraze mowing reel – which I think is absolutely brilliant. I’m also now looking at purchasing the brush for cleaning the squares during the playing season.

“Personally, I think that a lot of local cricket clubs would benefit from using the SISIS Rotorake TM1000.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

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Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

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Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque: James Bledge, Course Manager at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, based in Deal, Kent, says he has successfully treated Dry Patch with monthly applications of Qualibra wetting agent.

Formed in 1892, Royal Cinque Ports is a Championship Links course situated on the narrow stretch of coastline between Deal and Sandwich Bay in Kent. The 18 hole course offers a stiff challenge to golfers of all abilities and in particular the last seven holes are reputed to be amongst the toughest in golf.

Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

With the course being so close to the coast, one would think that James and his team would spend most of the time trying to get water off the course, but situated in the driest corner of England, and with the aid of an artificial sea wall, Royal Cinque Ports has no such problems.

However, the course has repeatedly suffered from Dry Patch even with previous wetting agent programmes and as a result, last year James trialled Syngenta’s Qualibra – which is distributed by ICL.

“I’ve used a number of wetting agents before but I’ve always had a problem with Dry Patch, we are situated on sand with only around 3” of topsoil so infiltration rates are pretty high. We also lose a lot of moisture – Sometimes up to 10% Volume water content in a day. Therefore, I decided to look at Qualibra and trialled it last year to see how it performed. I’m a big believer in doing a full year’s trial with products, especially a wetting agent, because I think you are wasting your time if you do anything less than that. You need to see it consistently throughout every month to see how it is performing and also just give it a chance. – not just apply it on a turf nursery in June and see how it performs in one month.

Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

“Because I haven’t had much luck with wetting agents in the past, I was thinking that if it didn’t work out then we would just try something else next year. However, at the end of the year I remember telling Darren Hatcher (ICL Technical Area Sales Manager for the South, London and the Channel Islands) that it was perfect.”

James applied Qualibra to his greens, tees, approaches and fairways at 20 L/ha in March and continued with monthly applications until October. His goal was to optimise the use of water resources and move surface water down to maintain, firm, fast conditions, as well as improving the playing surface quality for members.

“We wanted the greens to play firm and fast and Qualibra has been a big part of that,” he says. “I also wanted to avoid the unsightly burnt off crests and lush valleys on the fairways and if you irrigate them the water just runs off the top. However, Qualibra reduces the surface tension and goes in from the very top. In June they were the perfect colour, consistently that transition between green and brown.

“I’ve got a guy who has been working here for 40 years and every morning he comes in at 3.30am and hand waters all of the greens before the golfers come out. He absolutely loves Qualibra and he says that throughout his time here it is by far the best wetting agent we have ever used. I really value his opinion as he’s seen it all so we discuss at length what products would make his life easier when it comes to moisture control, on a links course it’s one of the most important factors to success and that’s why we don’t sacrifice on quality.

“We are also definitely using less water now and we didn’t have any Dry Patch last year – which was the first time in years. To me that was a huge success because it was one of the driest years on record.”

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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Reesink Appoints Mike Turnbull

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Reesink Appoints Mike Turnbull: Mike Turnbull has taken the role of the recently retired Nigel Lovatt and assumes responsibility for Reesink customers, the dealer network and retail partners located from the north east to the north west of England, or as Mike refers to it “from the Wash to the Wirral”.

Mike is no stranger to the geographical area spanning from Nottingham to North Wales, having covered the same in his 20-year role with Toro Spellbrook.

Reesink Appoints Mike Turnbull

Mike says: “I was over the moon to accept this role. It is a great position, a great area and I am stepping into the role of a great colleague. Nigel did some fantastic work here and I am really looking forward to continuing and adding to that.”

As we all know this is an area that is home to some of the best and most high-profile golfing and sporting venues in the country, as well as many councils, local authorities and landscapers perfect for the comprehensive grounds machinery range from Toro and Reesink. Mike’s role will focus on both, and will see him working closely with Jeff Anguige, national sales manager.

Mike continues: “I know this area well as it’s one I used to cover in my position working with Toro for Spellbrook, so to some I will be a familiar face. My background and experience with Toro means I bring with me a lot of knowledge and expertise of the brand, and my two years working with Reesink puts me in good stead too.”

Jeff Anguige, national sales manager at Reesink Turfcare, agrees: “Mike was not only the logical choice for the position, he was also the best. He understands the Toro brand and knows how Reesink works as a company. He has big shoes to fill left by Nigel, but there’s no question he will carry on the good work.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Toro At Blairgowrie Golf Club

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Toro At Blairgowrie Golf Club: Managing secretary Steven Morgan says every day is tournament day at Blairgowrie Golf Club, and for that reason the club has invested in a partnership agreement with Toro.

As the latest Toro machinery delivery arrives at the club in Perthshire in Scotland, Steven explains: “We decided to invest in Toro to ensure we constantly improve the playability of our courses. We believe that every day at Blairgowrie Golf Club is a tournament day and the time, effort and attention to detail when setting up the courses reflects this belief, as do the machinery choices we make.”

Toro At Blairgowrie Golf Club

Three Greensmaster 1000 pedestrian mowers, two Reelmaster 5410-D ride-on mowers, a Greensmaster TriFlex 3400 and a Multi Pro 5800-D sprayer join the fleet, which Steven calls “very good and very versatile”, and which the team of 16 say they “love, because it is easy to set, maintain and use, and leaves a fine finish to give great job satisfaction.”

The new additions join a fleet which already includes three Toro Groundsmaster 3500-D mowers and ProCore 648 aerator, and the performance of these machines is yet another reason as to why Blairgowrie continues to choose Toro. Steven says the ProCore in particular is “flawless”: “The design of the ProCore allows us to aerate any part of the course in a clean and tidy manner with ease no matter the terrain. We’ve had it for a long time, and it still performs flawlessly.”

Blairgowrie hosts a large number events and in 2018 sees the Scottish Amateur Championship, European Amateur Golf Tour and the PGA Lombard Pro Am arrive at the three course, 45-hole club.

Steven says: “We’ve a lot of golfers and competitors who expect the highest of standards. We knew that by choosing Toro and Reesink, we were ensuring a proactive relationship to consistently provide great course conditions while managing costs at all times.

“Plus, it was the right time to invest. We have recently spent a great deal of money on our greenkeeping sheds to allow us to maintain our assets much more professionally, making sure we get the best from them for longer.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

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Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo: Mark Audin is preparing the green at the Waterloo Hotel, Blackpool, for the biggest national tournament in the crown green bowling calendar, with the help of the Dennis FT510 and SISIS Dart.

Regarded as the ‘Wembley’ of crown green bowling, The Waterloo Hotel has been hosting tournaments for well over 100 years. In particular, The Waterloo Championships has been in existence since 1907 and this year it sees a phenomenal 512 entries from all over the country. Qualifying starts in July and concludes with the final 8 competing to get their hands on the famous trophy on 26 September.

Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

Mark Audin has been working at The Waterloo for 10 years and for the last 5 he has held the position of bowls manager. He has a number of tasks under his remit but Mark’s main priority is to focus on the fabulous green at The Waterloo – which is a year round job, as he explains.

“Out of season when the green isn’t being played on, I cut down to about 7-8mm and during the winter we can leave it slightly longer at 10mm. From May onwards I like to keep it at around 7mm and that will gradually go down to about 6mm and possibly 5mm depending on how it is playing towards the end of the season. There is a misconception that you need to take the grass on a bowling green right down and scalp it, but that really isn’t the case as long as you regularly verticut and generally look after it all year.”

For the essential task of verticutting, Mark relies on the Dennis FT510, which is an interchangeable cassette cylinder mower. It offers the operator ultimate versatility by having the option of fitting twelve different cassettes including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers and slitters as well as 5 or 10 blade cutting cassettes.

“In the lead up to the Championships we will verticut with the FT510 once every four days in four different directions so that the playing surface will be completely smooth. Therefore, going into the Championships the green will become quicker and quicker to play on.

Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

“We’ve got the sorrel roller cassette, the 10 bladed cylinder, the scarifier and verticutter Tungsten tipped cassette and it is all we really need here – it’s my complete maintenance tool. The FT510 is fantastic and it is so easy to use – one cassette out, one cassette in and off you go. In the past we have had machines which take half an hour just to change one cassette.

“I also really like the click adjustment on the FT510 for the height of cut, it is easy to set-up and is adjusted by 0.25mm with every click. Again, with other machines you will have to get a spanner out but on the FT510 it is adjusted in seconds. The fuel consumption also seems to be better than any others I have used in the past too.”

For reducing turf compaction at The Waterloo, Mark uses the SISIS Dart – which is an independently powered vertical action aerator. This popular bowling green aerator has a working depth of up to 100mm (4 inches) which can be easily adjusted from the operator’s position using the balanced depth control lever. Powered by a 6.5hp engine, the unit can also be fitted with a wide range of interchangeable tines to meet the operator’s requirements making it ideal as a bowling green aerator.

“We normally start using the SISIS Dart in July when the ground starts getting hard. We have a number of various interchangeable tines and we tend to go about 3 inches deep into the surface. It does a brilliant job at breaking the surface up, enabling you to get some moisture in and it really helps to reduce thatch and compaction. We’ve always had a bit of an issue with compaction because we have so many people on the green throughout the year,” he said.

“I would say that it is arguably the most used green in bowls and with all the games throughout the season, the green stands up remarkably well. That is, in part, due to the quality of the machines – I’ve tired others in the past but none are nearly as good as the Dennis and SISIS equipment.”

Dennis and SISIS are proud supporters of the Waterloo Championships and have a long history of supporting the sport of bowls. The British manufacturers of turf maintenance equipment host an annual series of free educational bowling green seminars throughout the UK, which have significantly grown year on year.

Further information about the range of bowls maintenance products available can be found by visiting www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.

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