Three stars for Three Cliffs

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Three stars for Three Cliffs: Customer experience and satisfaction are the ultimate priorities for Three Cliffs Bay, a five-star holiday park on the Wales Coastal Path, which is why it has chosen three battery-powered utility vehicles from STAR EV to ensure the quiet, clean, unobtrusive operation of its luxury site.

Offering caravan parking, glamping, camping and yurts, this large holiday complex in Gower, South Wales, originally needed one vehicle to collect ashes from fire pits. When it received its first Capella HCX, market-leading when it comes to towing capacity and the amount of payload it can handle, the machine quickly established its reputation for quiet motoring and a productive performance, and another was ordered.

Three stars for Three Cliffs

Three stars for Three Cliffs

Then recently the site’s third vehicle arrived, this time the Capella Lifted which is ideal for off-road load carrying situations.

Tom Beynon, owner of Three Cliffs Bay, says: “Our utility vehicles form an essential and major part of the business and how well it runs. Up until now of course, they’ve always been petrol which for the business we’re in wasn’t ideal. It’s really important to us that the running of the site goes unnoticed by our guests, many are residing under canvas and all are enjoying our natural environment just a short walk from the infamous Three Cliffs Bay.

“These machines have proved to us very quickly that they can take on all the tasks we need them to without any difference in productivity to their petrol counterparts and without disturbance. We use them for rubbish collection and recycling. The big, strong cargo area at the back of the Lifted and the fact that we can add a trailer means it’s become part of our gardening arsenal too.”

In fact, Tom’s been so impressed that he has plans for expanding the job requirements of  the Capella Work Machines: “We use these machines already for transporting guests and their luggage around the site, but I’m really interested in taking that a step further and hiring them out to guests for the duration of their stay. They’ve proved themselves to be such good vehicles – easy to drive, comfy to use and they look good – and it would be another selling point for our guests to stay at the park.”

So how did Tom come to hear about STAR EV? “I found out about the brand at the Leisure Transport Show at Birmingham NEC last year,” he explains. “I went with new utility vehicles at the top of the shopping list and distributor Reesink e-Vehicles was by far the most helpful with our queries at the show and gave us lots of time going through the options available.

“Then our STAR dealer in the area – Terry Harrison Machinery – took over and the experience has been equally as positive. Terry’s business delivers a good combination of being small enough to still have that family feel and deliver a high level of customer service and help, but is also big enough to get things done quickly.”

When machinery and guests coexist, the best thing a utility vehicle can bring to a holiday park, whose very business depends on creating a positive and pleasurable customer experience, is to be seen but not heard. STAR EV has proved this point three times to Three Cliffs.

To talk to Reesink e-Vehicles about STAR EV, call 01480 226800 or go online at reesink-evehicles.co.uk

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Sturdy Stoneburier proves the ideal investment

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Sturdy Stoneburier proves the ideal investment: After years of hiring various makes and models of stoneburier with varying levels of success, ATV Contract Services Limited decided the time was right to purchase their own machine and went for the most robust model they could find – the Stoneburier from GKB Machines.

Managing Director Paul Hensman noticed the superior build quality Stoneburier at a dealer open day, and in the few months since its delivery it has more than lived up to expectations – taking commercial groundwork projects, on tough terrain, in its stride.

Sturdy Stoneburier proves the ideal investment

Sturdy Stoneburier proves the ideal investment

Based in the East Midlands but assisting with major infrastructure projects around the country, ATV Contract Services have an extensive fleet of equipment for cultivation and soil preparation – with the GKB Stoneburier SB180 the latest addition to that, delivered in Spring 2022. “These machines, with the nature of the work at hand, take a real hammering and what you don’t want is to invest in something that is going to spend more time in the workshop than out in the field!” says Paul.

“We saw the GKB machine at an open day hosted by Fentons of Bourne and the first thing that struck me was how sturdy and robust it was and, following a good chat with the GKB team, we placed an order. The proof has been in the pudding and in the first eight weeks from delivery, the Stoneburier did six weeks’ worth of work and everybody was incredibly impressed with it. It’s been on a lot of POS (public open space) work where you’ll very often find debris such as discarded kerbstones or lumps of tarmac in the ground and the SB180 hasn’t missed a beat.”

The Stoneburier utilises blades that rotate against the direction of travel to effectively screen stones and other debris from the top 7” of the surface, creating an optimal seedbed in a single pass. One particular feature that has impressed Paul and the team is the 45o angle on the GKB blades meaning that when they turn in the ground, no pan layer is created. He explains, “Other stoneburiers we’ve used with blades at 90o to the rotor can actually compact the ground in such a way that restricts drainage and negatively impacts seed germination. That simple design feature on the GKB Stoneburier makes a huge difference to not only the quality of finish, but how often the machine will jam or clog up.”

“The GKB Stoneburier made great commercial sense and has proven to be a fantastic investment. We are already benefitting from having it on our fleet, available whenever and wherever we need it” Paul concludes.

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Lynch clinches the BIGGA National Championship

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Lynch clinches the BIGGA National Championship: West Sussex Golf Club greenkeeper James Lynch won the BIGGA National Championship at the first attempt following two wonderful rounds of golf at Enville Golf Club.

Taking place on the 10th and 11th October, the event was hosted by the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) and was sponsored by the association’s official Golf Partner, Origin Amenity Solutions.

Lynch clinches the BIGGA National Championship

Lynch clinches the BIGGA National Championship

James pipped three-time winner David Simpson of Crieff Golf Club by a single stroke to lift the BIGGA National Challenge Trophy, contested for over Enville’s Highgate course. Located in Staffordshire, Enville is a Regional Open Qualifying venue that is also the current host of The R&A Girls U16 Amateur Championship.

Playing in his first BIGGA National Championship, James shot two rounds of 74 to card a 4-over par 148, with David shooting 149 and previous winner Oly Browning of Queenwood Golf Club shooting 150.

In the Stableford competition, Tyler Holmes came out on top after shooting a combined total of 73 points. Anthony Duffield of Ham Manor Golf Club was second with 68 points.

James was accompanied throughout the two rounds by his fiancée April Watkins. The pair are due to marry in August next year, but with James set to defend the championship at Saunton Golf Club next September, he will have to convince April that Devon is a nice place to enjoy their honeymoon.

A scratch golfer, James said: “It feels amazing and I’m so happy to have won such a prestigious tournament. It’s my first year that I’ve been playing in it and it was a battle to the end. The lead changed hands throughout the round and I’m so relieved that I was able to win. My thanks go to BIGGA, Origin Amenity Solutions and Enville Golf Club for hosting such an amazing tournament.”

Andy Wood, golf course manager at Enville Golf Club, said: “It was a pleasure to host the BIGGA National Championship sponsored by Origin Amenity Solutions. We always enjoy preparing the course for a championship, but to host this prestigious event for fellow greenkeepers is a real honour and I hope everyone enjoyed their visit to Enville. Our greenkeeping team has done the club proud in setting up for this event, which gave them an opportunity to showcase their work to fellow professionals.”

On behalf of Origin Amenity Solutions, Glen Howard added: “It has been a fantastic two days. The course is looking amazing, we’ve been blessed with great weather and I’ve witnessed some cracking golf. It is a privilege to sponsor the BIGGA National Championship, which brings together golfers of all standards from across the association. It gives us an opportunity to catch up with people from within the industry, which I and the rest of the OAS team find invaluable. Congratulations to all the trophy winners, thank you to Enville Golf Club for a warm welcome and well done to all involved, particularly the greenkeeping team, who did a superb job.”

The 2023 BIGGA National Championship sponsored by Origin Amenity Solutions will take place at Saunton Golf Club on Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th September 2023.

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Turf Tank returns to SALTEX

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Turf Tank returns to SALTEX: Turf Tank, leading robotic line marking company and winner of the 2017 Saltex Innovation Award, is bringing the revolutionary Turf Tank One back to Saltex 2022.

Booth No G085

This year the company is bringing a new surprise to the show, the next generation robotic line marking software. Visitors will have a chance to discover the latest features, that improve usability, make the process even faster and easier, and offer more customisation options.

Turf Tank returns to SALTEX

Turf Tank returns to SALTEX

The Turf Tank UK team is inviting everybody interested in the technology to visit Stand G085 and learn how Turf Tank could improve their line marking operations.

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We’re dealing with an establishment where people are investing a lot of money sending their kids to a private school which excels in all areas of education on and off the pitch. So, I want to make sure that the pitches reflect that level of expectation. The Turf Tank robot brings a quality of perfomance and reliability that we expect.

– Lee Marshallsay, Grounds Manager, Eton College

With the traditional way of marking pitches, there was a lot of time wasted. Today we’ve marked five pitches, which would have taken our staff three-four days. With the robot, we’ve done that in an afternoon! It’s the future of line marking!

– Richard Hare, Head Groundsperson, Bromsgrove School

It wasn’t until we used the GPS machine that it highlighted the fact that when you come to mark a line freehand, they creep a bit. And then they creep a little bit more. And then they creep a little bit more, and you don’t really notice the little bit of creeping until you get a GPS line marker overmarking the pitches that were already there. You realise that they’ve moved a considerable amount of distance, and it kind of highlights that the lines were actually in the wrong place.

– Ewan Hunter, Grounds Manager, Nottingham Forest FC

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Foamstream proves a real all-rounder

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Foamstream proves a real all-rounder: Switching to the non-herbicidal Foamstream system for total weed control hasn’t only brought benefit for the team at Tim Brooks Garden Services in terms of time and efficiency, the fact it is glyphosate-free has been very well received by their customers too!

Owner Tim Brooks purchased an L12 from Weedingtech two years ago and comments that the machine has already paid itself back multiple times over – both in terms of the additional work it has generated and the convenience and fewer treatment cycles that Foamstream demands per year.

Foamstream proves a real all-rounder

Foamstream proves a real all-rounder

Tim and his team of three undertake all gardening and landscaping tasks, mainly in domestic settings, which was the reason for the switch to a weed control solution that would be kinder to both people and the environment. “Customers are far more conscious of the negative impact of chemicals now on health and their surroundings, so we decided to trial various different alternatives to Glyphosate. We tried burning and hot water treatments, but found Foamstream to be by far the most effective” Tim explains.

Foamstream is an organically approved process, utilising a plant-based foam comprised of naturally-occurring oils and sugars which acts as an insultation blanket to the active ingredient – hot water – maintaining ‘kill zone’ temperatures of 57oc+ to penetrate and kill a full range of broadleaf weed species. In independent trials, the efficiency of Foamstream was found to be comparable to that of Glyphosate, out-performing other non-chemical methods.

“One of the big benefits we have found is that we can use the same method for multiple purposes – treating weeds, moss and algae but also for surface cleaning and pressure washing which is fantastic. Not only that, but because Foamstream sterilises the spores and seeds before weeds appear, we have found that we are only having to treat surfaces once or twice a year which is significantly less than the multiple applications of Glyphosate that were previously required.”

Safe to use around children, animals and environmentally sensitive areas such as watercourses, Foamstream has also opened up new opportunities for Tim when it comes to working on commercial jobs in conjunction with local authorities. “We’ve demonstrated our Foamstream service to a number of town councils who are all looking for more sustainable, chemical-free alternatives. Their positive response mirrors that of everyone we speak to, and we can only see that Foamstream and its benefits will continue to open more doors for us in the future.”

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