GMA Awards relaunch for 2022

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GMA Awards relaunch for 2022: Following the launch of the Grounds Management Association’s Hall of Fame, the association relaunches the GMA Awards (previously IOG Awards) with the ceremony taking place this November at The Vox, Birmingham.

Last year, the awards were on hold due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which gave GMA members and the industry the opportunity to focus on challenging maintenance diaries. In 2022, the GMA Awards hosts 19 categories to cover the broad spectrum of its members, including the Volunteer Sports Grounds Team/Individual of the Year Award, the Best Environmental and Sustainability Impact Award and the renowned Alex R Millar Award.

GMA Awards relaunch for 2022

GMA Awards relaunch for 2022

With turf care quickly growing its media presence and public interest, the GMA has also looked at ways to make the awards more accessible to those at all levels of grounds care or turf management, from grassroots to professional stadiums. This includes, for the first time, applicants having the option to submit a short video to the set questions and criteria, instead of completing a written form.

The full list of categories for this year’s GMA Awards is as follows:

  1. Young Grounds Person of the year
  2. Newcomer of the Year
  3. Volunteer Sports Grounds Team/Individual of the Year
  4. Community Sports Grounds Team/Individual of the Year
  5. Bowls / Croquet Grounds Team/Individual of the Year
  6. Best Managed Artificial Surface of the Year
  7. Best Environmental and Sustainability Impact
  8. Professional Cricket Grounds Team of the Year
  9. Professional Tennis Courts Grounds Team of the Year
  10. Professional Horse Racing Grounds Team of the Year
  11. Professional Rugby Football League Grounds Team of the Year
  12. Professional Rugby Football Union Grounds Team of the Year
  13. Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year (A)
  14. Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year (B)
  15. University/College Grounds Team of the Year
  16. Independent School Grounds Team of the Year
  17. International Impact Award
  18. Alex R Millar Award
  19. Induction to Hall of Fame

Commenting on the return of the GMA Awards, GMA CEO Geoff Webb says:

“Last year, we recognised that entering the GMA Awards was not a priority for many grounds staff and volunteers, but with growing post-COVID-19 optimism we warmly welcome everyone back to celebrate their achievements in 2022. Both paid grounds staff and volunteers are the backbone of sport and physical activity, and our new award categories aim to make the applications more inclusive and easier to enter for all.”

Nominations for the GMA Awards 2022 open from midday Tuesday 3 May. Judges will be announced later this year with tickets on sale for the ceremony from summer.

Award nominations will open on Tuesday 3 May. Nominees will receive an award application, which they can complete in written or video format. These will then be judged by an independent panel of experts which will be announced later this year.

Deadline for nominations is Friday 29 July 2022, and the deadline for applications is Monday 8 August.

For more information, please visit https://thegma.org.uk/awards where you can sign-up for further updates.

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New Reesink training courses

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New Reesink training courses: Reesink’s new range of training courses, of which there are now four, are now held at the customer’s venue and focus on getting the best from Toro equipment in just two days.

Lee Rowbotham, service manager at Reesink Turfcare, says: “We knew coming out of the pandemic we were going to have to look at doing things differently and we decided all the courses would all be hosted at the customer’s venue using their own products. This ensures there’s little disruption to the new schedule, but most significantly it comes with the advantage of the customer learning in an environment they are familiar with, about products that they have and use daily.”

New Reesink training courses

New Reesink training courses

The courses cover the Safe Use of Ride-On Mowers which is ideal for new starters giving a thorough overview of operating, checking and maintaining ride-on mowing equipment. The Turfcare Mechanics course is aimed at instilling confidence in troubleshooting, routine servicing and maintenance of Toro equipment as well as understanding Toro Fault Codes and Level 1 Hydraulics and Electrics fundamentals to incorporate on board machinery diagnostics.

The Professional Sprayer course focuses on how to calibrate and operate Toro spraying equipment and the Compact Tractor Driving course is a quick refresher course on what to look out for on pre-use checks before using a compact tractor and its attachments, guiding you through basic operations and manoeuvring.

All provide manufacturer backed certification at the end of the course and both course material and assessment are included in the fees. Each course ranges from one to two days of training and can be conducted on an individual basis or in small groups.

Lee continues: “We’ve tailored these courses to meet our customers’ needs, whether that be carrying out preventative maintenance, fine tuning their cutting units or calibrating their Toro sprayer. We feel that having this knowledge has so many benefits in getting the best from their Toro and TYM equipment.”

Reesink Turfcare offers competitive prices and flexible dates so that they can book training ahead of time, safe in the knowledge they are getting the best deals possible.

Training is an invaluable investment in the workforce and developing skills and expanding knowledge in the products they use and repair on a daily basis.

To find out more contact Reesink Turfcare on 01480 226800 or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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New lease of life at Chorley Golf Club

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New lease of life at Chorley Golf Club: Chorley Golf Club has got its 125-year anniversary year off to a good start by updating its machinery fleet.

The course sits in 127 acres between Bolton and Preston, drawing players out of both major conurbations to be challenged while taking in prime views that extend as far as the Lake District and North Wales.

New lease of life at Chorley Golf Club

New lease of life at Chorley Golf Club

With healthy membership numbers and a high number of visiting players, Head Greenkeeper Tony Grayson and his team of four – deputy John Cottam, Chris Riley, Stuart Angus, and Daniel Woan – are working to meet expectations every day.

“I try to produce the best course I can every day, as we have so many competitions”, he says. “It’s all about the presentation of the course – people want what they see on TV.”

Living up to the manicured greens and fairways seen on televised competitions is no mean feat in the north west of England, where consistent rainfall and clay soils present major challenges.

“The ground is very quick to get wet but also quick to dry as we are on a couple inches of topsoil and thatch on the fairways,” Tony said. “The bunkers are really difficult to maintain in bad weather because the clay contaminates the sand. Others might put in liners nowadays, but we’re on a limited resource and it costs a fortune.”

Pests and diseases, particularly fusarium, anthracnose, worm casts and leatherjackets are an increasing challenge too, with many chemicals being taken off the market. Frequently warm and wet conditions make the pressure relentless.

Keeping the course in top condition takes attention to detail, and the team can afford little machinery downtime. A breakdown can threaten to overwhelm the team so when they were handed the keys to a brand-new shed just before the first covid lockdown in March 2020, the impetus was there to invest in new machinery.

Tony said: “It had been difficult to invest in machinery because of the previous sheds in terms of their security and the environment – you don’t want to be keeping machines in damp conditions.

“We had an ageing fleet and the reliability, particularly of our previous rough mower, was going down. When you’ve got the grass growing like mad and a rough mower down, it’s difficult to manage.”

The team’s new shed now stores a John Deere 7500 fairway mower, a 9009A TerrainCut rough mower, an 8000A E E-Cut Hybrid fairway mower, a XUV86SM Gator, three 220SL SL PrecisionCut walk-behind greens mower and two 2500 greens mowers.

Tony said: “Looking at other brands, I found that John Deere, as well as being at the top, was offering value for money as well. Once I demoed everything, it was obvious what I was looking for. The machines are now specific to our course and environment so we can go out with more confidence, getting a nicer cut.

“The 8000AE is so versatile and it can even act as a backup fairways mower by quickly raising the height of cut. It is our key machine and the one that players will notice in terms of the appearance of the surrounds and approaches. Now, the green-side bunkers are part of the surround and we’re able to cut around this area with the new machine, making the presentation so much better.”

For the majority of the new machines, Tony opted to use John Deere Finance. And with a strong relationship with John Deere’s specialist servicing dealer Balmers GM spanning 20 years, the team at Chorley has direct access to support to maintain the machines. For its flagship machine, the 9009A, Tony reasoned that an operating lease, whereby the team would only pay for the use of the machine, would be the best option.

“The club looked at the hours our machines were doing – and with the rough mower doing the most hours, we took it out on an operational lease as we have a lot of semi-rough, and will look to change after five years.”

Following a successful 2021 with summer on the greenkeepers’ side and armed with a new machinery fleet, Tony’s sights are now set firmly on future proofing the course – and the reliability of the new machines will be crucial to ensuring this work can happen.

“Our aim now is to make the course longer by building a few more tee zones set right back on the course’s boundaries to cater for an increasing number of golfers hitting the ball further. All this has to be done without disrupting golfers’ experience or making a mess with the heavier equipment required.

“Our industry isn’t without its challenges but investing in the machines has really given our greenkeepers more pride in their work, and the machines are doing a fantastic job at presenting the course in the best light.”

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Wiedenmann Terra Rake at Western Gailes GC

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Wiedenmann Terra Rake at Western Gailes GC: One of Scotland’s finest links courses, Western Gailes GC, on the north Ayrshire coast, is three years into a long-term project to restore more of the links effect to the rough on the highly acclaimed site.

Course Manager, Stewart Brown, who took up his role in 2017, has targeted a specific area of the course to improve definition and quality. Already by harnessing the expertise of his seven greens staff, progress is being made.

Wiedenmann Terra Rake at Western Gailes GC

Wiedenmann Terra Rake at Western Gailes GC

“We’ve undertaken some fairly significant course changes. One key project has been to re-align major areas of rough back into fairways, so swathes of   long-term rough are now actively being prepared and groomed to become fairways,” said Stewart Brown.

Removing organic matter then, considerably increasing fine fescue grasses by additional seeding, is still a work in progress. However, a recently acquired Wiedenmann Terra Rake has an important role to play.

“We’ll be using the rake to thin these areas out regularly,” continued Stewart.” It is crucial be able to use the rake so we can avoid lifting the turf and re-laying it.”

Already familiar with the Terra Rake’s results having borrowed one for an extended period, Stewart was keen to purchase his own 2.3 m version from local dealer, Fairways GM, exclusive supplier of Wiedenmann UK in Scotland.

“We’ve wanted one for a while. We have a Super 500 and those two go hand -in-hand for rough management, particularly for thinning out the rough and removing dead material. Together, they speed the process.

Stewart’s plan for the Terra Rake means it will be active across Western Gailes’ heavy rough, the semi rough and on the fairways.

“We’ve rough to manage throughout the course on every hole. In places the terrain is quite undulating. I like that the Terra Rake comes with an adjustment so you can lessen or increase the intensity of the tine vibration.

“Our heavier rough will be tackled twice a year. The rake, operating in both dry and wet conditions means I’ve a flexible tool to deploy when other work can’t go ahead.  As we go through the season. we will use it for the semi roughs to stand the grass up before we cut, to make the task of cutting easier and, of course, to benefit presentation.”

“Some other fairway areas will also benefit from more attention. A couple of drought periods in the last two years, has weakened them, so the rake will go in to pull out organic matter; then we’ll blow the dead matter to the side to be picked up and collected with the Super 500. The spring tines on the Terra Rake help create space and a receptive seed bed before we follow on with the Wiedenmann Terra Float seeder.

“We made a healthy start in February and March. The bulk of the overseeding works tends to take place at the end of the year but we will still be using it to remove dead material earlier on in the season.”

The arrival of their own Terra Rake gives Stewart and his team an impressive fleet of Wiedenmann machines, all purchased from Fairways GM.

“When I joined, we had a Super 500 and a Terra Float. We added a Terra Spike GXi8 HD for aeration; a Terra Brush which we use throughout winter for brushing our fairways and now, the rake. Just about a full Wiedenmann set, so not bad at all,” concluded Stewart.

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Greenkeeper delivers supplies to Ukraine

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Greenkeeper delivers supplies to Ukraine: BIGGA member Bryn Roberts and a small team are travelling to Chelm to deliver medical supplies, goods and a 4×4 vehicle. 

Read the full article from Golf Magic here

Greenkeeper delivers supplies to Ukraine

Greenkeeper delivers supplies to Ukraine

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