GMA NextGen Welcomes Three New Industry Trailblazers

GMA NextGen Welcomes Three New Industry Trailblazers

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GMA NextGen Welcomes Three New Industry Trailblazers

The Grounds Management Association’s (GMA) NextGen group is pleased to welcome three new members: James Williamson, Sonny Keywood and Calum Clarkson.

GMA NextGen Welcomes Three New Industry Trailblazers

GMA NextGen Welcomes Three New Industry Trailblazers

The trio join after a strong application process with an impressive number of candidates from across the sector.

The GMA NextGen group brings together young professionals who act as ambassadors for the industry. Their mission is to inspire and support more young people into careers in grounds management, helping to secure a skilled and sustainable workforce for the future.

Introducing the New Members

James Williamson, Club Development Partner at Cricket Wales, has been a passionate sports person from a young age. Growing up in Cornwall, he supported sports development through a variety of coaching roles before moving to Cardiff in 2019 to study Sport and Exercise Science (BSc). After graduating, he chose to stay in Wales and turn his passion for sport into a full-time career. James now helps Cricket Wales create welcoming, sustainable cricket facilities across the country. James is particularly motivated to help young people discover the wide range of opportunities within the sector.

Sonny Keywood, Groundsperson at Brighton & Hove Albion FC, has always loved sport and spending time outdoors, making grounds management a perfect career. Sonny first learned about the industry through his dad, realising early on that it offered far more variety and opportunity than he had imagined. He enjoys the fast pace of his role and the day-to-day challenges that come with maintaining elite playing surfaces. He sees NextGen as a platform to raise the profile of the profession and help young people see grounds management as a respected and rewarding career choice.

Calum Clarkson, Groundsperson at George Heriot’s School, takes great pride in preparing top-quality cricket pitches and sports surfaces. Alongside his work maintaining the grounds at George Heriot’s School, he is Head Groundsman at Royal High Corstorphine Cricket Club. Growing up in sport, he understands how much high-quality surfaces matter for safety, performance and player experience. Having once been unaware of the career routes available in turf care, he is now committed to championing the profession and inspiring future talent.

Jack Langley, Co‑Chair of the GMA NextGen group, said: “James, Sonny and Calum bring real energy and industry insight to the existing group. Each of them has a brilliant story about how they found their way into grounds management, and they share a willingness to supporting young people entering the profession. We’re excited to have them on board and to see the impact they’ll make.”

Meg Lay, Co‑Chair of the GMA NextGen group, added: “The NextGen group exists to give young professionals a voice and to help drive the industry forward. James, Sonny and Calum each bring fresh perspectives and valuable experience. Their excitement is exactly what we need as we continue promoting the sector and inspiring the next generation.”

Find out more about the NextGen group by visiting www.thegma.org.uk/nextgen

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How The Vale Resort Achieves Perfection with Baroness

How The Vale Resort Achieves Perfection with Baroness

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How The Vale Resort Achieves Perfection with Baroness

Maintaining top-flight playing surfaces across a large, multi-use facility demands more than just quality turfcare equipment – it requires absolute reliability, operational efficiency and a consistently high standard of finish.

How The Vale Resort Achieves Perfection with Baroness

How The Vale Resort Achieves Perfection with Baroness

For The Vale Resort, Baroness has become an increasingly important part of that equation, with the recent delivery of four LM551 fairway mowers adding to the finesse delivered by four LM331 surrounds mowers already at the venue.

Recognised as one of Wales’ most prestigious resorts, the site nestled among the Vale of Glamorgan countryside has undergone significant expansion over the years. Within the 650-acre private estate is a hotel, health and racquets club used by leisure members and six football and rugby pitches, for training by the FAW and WRU. Under the longstanding involvement of Head Greenkeeper Mike Bevan, the golf element has grown from a modest nine-hole layout into two 18-hole championship courses, maintained by a team of 12 greenkeepers.

“We try to limit the sharing of equipment between departments as, when you get a break in the weather, it tends to be the same machines that are in demand site-wide” explains Noel Werner, Golf Manager at the Vale Resort. “This drove a conscious decision to invest in equipment that is dedicated for golf. In exploring the options available in the mower market with the support of Geraint Richards at GJR Machinery, the quality of cut from Baroness stood out immediately.”

“We purchased four LM331 mowers in 2022 which are used daily during the main growing season on banks, tee and green surrounds and other peripheral areas. These mowers tick a lot of boxes – not just the quality of cut they deliver and the fact they stay on cut incredibly well, but from a maintenance and servicing perspective everything is super simple to work on.” Noel adds, “Their reliable performance is invaluable to us as such a busy resort where downtime just isn’t an option.”

Building on the success of the LM331’s, the club expanded its Baroness fleet further in October 2025 with the purchase of four LM551 mowers for the fairways. While winter conditions have limited their usage to date, expectations are high for the season ahead.

“The whole team are really looking forward to getting them out when new season growth arrives. Based on our experience with the surround mowers, we’re confident they’ll deliver the same precision, consistency and reliability on the fairways.”

Support has been another key factor in the relationship – with GJR Machinery and Baroness’s Paul Watson delivering fast, effective back-up when needed. “For a complex of this size, support is critical.” He emphasises, “Knowing there’s a team behind us, that understands our operation and is available to offer help and advice just further reinforces our confidence in the brand. It makes a massive difference.”

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How Wildwood and Stogger is Lighting Up Brighton

How Wildwood and Stogger is Lighting Up Brighton

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How Wildwood and Stogger is Lighting Up Brighton

Winchester-based Wildwood Machinery has partnered with Dutch giant Stogger Turf Care to install and maintain a state-of-the-art grow-light system for Premier League football club Brighton & Hove Albion.

Grow-lights are used to optimise germination, root development and shoot growth in grass pitches.

Stogger Turf Care’s state-of-the-art LED light rigs represent the way forward for elite sports clubs in terms of quality, efficiency and sustainability.

How Wildwood and Stogger is Lighting Up Brighton

Managing director of Wildwood Machinery, James Bastian, says: “We’re delighted to be working with two major names in elite sport to install and maintain one of the biggest LED grow-light projects in the UK.

“A lot of Premiership and Championship football clubs, and other elite sports clubs will be watching this development with interest, especially with HPS lights likely to be outlawed from 2027 due to their inefficiency.”

Stogger Turf Care LED lights vs competitors

The Stogger Turf Care grow-light system is acknowledged to be the leader in this sector.

With the highest overall light levels in the market, 4-channel dynamic light spectrum, superior glass lens design, upgradeable LED engines, and advanced thermal management there are clear advantages in sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness.

“Wildwood Machinery worked closely with Stogger Turf Care on a lengthy pre-installation trial and due diligence,” says James Bastian.

“We’ll now provide a complete aftercare, backup and support service for the groundcare equipment, as per our exclusive UK partnership with Stogger Turf Care.”

“Brighton FC is widely regarded as one of the best-managed, most sustainable clubs in the Premier League, while Stogger Turf Care technology is the most efficient LED grow-lighting system available.

Supporting Brighton’s Ambitions

We’ll be doing everything we can to support Brighton’s ambitions on the pitch and to help showcase Stogger’s outstanding technology in the UK.”

The installation at Brighton & Hove Albion FC includes: 9 × Booster Carbon 460 units; 2 × Booster 60 units; 4 × Booster Carbon Compact units and 4 x turf fans covering 4,300 square metres of surface area, which makes this one of the three largest LED grow light projects in the UK.

Phil Fifield, Head of Sports Turf Stadia at Brighton FC, said: “We are committed to excellence in all of our operations, and of course the playing surface is a key part of that.

We’re looking forward to seeing what we can achieve with Stogger Turf Care and Wildwood Machinery on our side.”

Florian Mans, International Sales Manager at Stogger Turf Care, said: “At Stogger Turf Care, we remain fully committed to working closely with end users across the industry to engineer and develop practical, innovative and forward-thinking solutions.

“We thank Brighton & Hove Albion and their outstanding grounds team for the trust placed in Stogger Turf Care. Together, we are committed to making this an unprecedented success.”

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Pinehurst Cuts Water Use By Going Back in Time

Pinehurst Cuts Water Use By Going Back in Time

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Pinehurst Cuts Water Use By Going Back in Time

Pinehurst No.2’s dramatic renovation in 2010 could prove to be a blueprint for future golf course sustainability, a new episode of Syngenta’s Green Report YouTube documentary series reveals.

Returning the four-time U.S. Open venue to its natural and historic characteristics, as envisaged by original designer Donald Ross, has yielded remarkable sustainability benefits, including a 50% reduction in water consumption.

Pinehurst Cuts Water Use By 50% By Going Back in Time

Pinehurst Cuts Water Use By 50% By Going Back in Time

And while the return to sandy waste areas and native wiregrass by renowned golf course architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw wasn’t universally popular at first, the renovation is now being seen as a visionary ‘back to the future’ sustainability success story.

“The idea behind the renovation was to present the golf course the way Donald Ross intended it to be,” John Jeffreys, Course Superintendent, tells presenter Gary Firkins.

“It had lost its character by Bermuda grass encroaching out and becoming the predominant rough species.

“We restored and replanted 200,000 wiregrass plants and allowed the sand to present itself again outside the fairway edges. We removed 35 acres of irrigated Bermuda grass rough and restored the center-line irrigation that was present in a 1943 aerial photograph, which allowed us to reduce the number of irrigation heads from 1,500 to 500.”

Joining John on the course walk is Danesha Carley, Professor of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University, who was advisor on the 2010 restoration.

Prof. Carley said: “Golf courses can be ecologically rich, biodiverse areas. They can be places where endangered species live, support pollinator habitats and are wonderful places for resource use such as reclaimed water, which a lot of golf courses have moved to.”

Mark Birchmore, Global Head of Marketing, Turf & Landscape for Syngenta, said: “In many ways, Pinehurst is re-pioneering golf course sustainability.

“Blending innovation and new technology with an approach that learns from natural and historical precedents creates opportunities that, in the case of Pinehurst No.2, demonstrably delivers clear sustainability benefits.”

The new episode will be released at 12PM ET / 5PM CET today, and will be free-to-watch for all golf industry professionals and stakeholders on YouTube.

To watch all episodes of The Green Report and for more news, features, videos and case studies on sustainable golf, as well as links to the Changing the Business of Golf podcast, visit Syngenta Golf.

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Stratford Oaks Golf Club enjoys growth with Suståne

Stratford Oaks Golf Club enjoys growth with Suståne

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Stratford Oaks Golf Club enjoys growth with Suståne: Like most, the objective for James Cleaver – Course Manager at Stratford Oaks Golf Club – is to achieve year-round consistency when it comes to plant health and play quality.

A steady, reliable nutrition programme has become a key part of that effort and, over the last 18 months, Suståne’s 5-2-4+Fe slow-release naturel base fertiliser has played an increasingly important role.

Stratford Oaks Golf Club enjoys growth with Suståne

Stratford Oaks Golf Club enjoys growth with Suståne

Rounds are high at the private members club located on the outskirts of Stratford-Upon-Avon, with James and a team of six working hard to retain high performing greens despite high levels of wear and often challenging climatic conditions. To source an organic ‘base feed’ which would keep the greens healthy year-round and, in particular, provide a boost over the winter months, James spoke to Nathan Scarff at GBR Amenity.

“When it’s wet in the winter and difficult to get a sprayer round, switching to a natural-based granular product meant fewer trips around the course and less reliance on spraying during those periods” says James. “After trialling Suståne’s 5-2-4+Fe in autumn 2024, we emerged in the spring in a healthier place which then encouraged us to up the applications to four or five times a year – focusing on the high disease pressure windows.”

Noting the success of their Suståne applications, James highlights one particular result which came following last year’s severe drought. “We had one green which really struggled without irrigation. I spoke to Suståne’s Russell Riley who suggested putting down some extra 5-2-4+Fe to help with the recovery and, interestingly, we’ve noticed that this is the only green which has emerged into 2026 disease-free. Obviously we can’t say for certain that Suståne is the sole reason but it’s the only thing that was done differently and something we’re looking to explore further.”

“Another great thing with this product is it doesn’t trigger a massive flush of growth like you get with some other fertiliser products. Application is also easy – the small prill quickly gets into the sward so, when applied in conjunction with predicted rainfall it doesn’t disrupt our mowing programme.” James continues, “I also appreciate the honest help and advice we get from both Nathan and Russell who actively encourage you not to over-apply products. It’s a refreshing change from the ‘more the merrier’ approach you get from some sales reps!”

5-2-4+Fe is the original Suståne formula, developed in 1988. Its all-purpose nature makes it ideal for a range of sports turf and landscape applications, providing a quick green up followed by long lasting slow-release organic nitrogen. For more information on this, and other products in the professional range, visit www.sustane.com

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