Gillingham manager praises groundstaff

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Gillingham manager praises groundstaff: Gillingham manager Steve Evans saluted the Charlton groundstaff for getting Saturday’s game on and the referee for letting it happen.

Read the full article from Kent Online here

Gillingham manager praises groundstaff

Gillingham manager praises groundstaff

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Ian Darler credits team

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Ian Darler credits team: Cambridge United head groundsman Ian Darler has praised ground staff and volunteers for getting the League Two clash against Southend United to go ahead.

Read the full article from Cambridge News here

Ian Darler credits team

Ian Darler credits team

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Evolution is the solution

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Evolution is the solution: Graham Kitley, head of grounds at Hazlegrove Preparatory School in Somerset, needed a premium controlled release fertiliser with no excessive flushes of growth. He found exactly what he was looking for in Agrovista Amenity’s Evolution Controlled Fine 25-5-10

The vastly experienced Graham, along with two other members of staff, tends to approximately twenty-two acres of gardens and grounds at the prestigious Hazlegrove Preparatory School. This includes the maintenance of a six-hole golf course, a putting green, four cricket squares, two synthetic turf pitches, cricket nets and five rugby pitches.

Evolution is the solution

Evolution is the solution

Sport is an integral part of the experience at Hazlegrove and Graham, quite rightly, takes great pride in his work. “I insist on preparing every pitch to a standard that I would like to and expect to play on myself,” he says.

Graham demands the best out of his products and equipment, and therefore, when he felt he wasn’t getting the desired results out of a particular product he knew it was time to look elsewhere.

“I was previously using another fertiliser on our rugby pitches, but I was finding that it was giving me a really bad flush of early growth and I couldn’t keep up with cutting them – it got out of control. I then tried out another couple of different products and none of them really worked for me. It was as this point that I consulted with David Bevan from Agrovista Amenity.”

After David visited Graham and assessed the situation and the pitches, he recommended Agrovista Amenity’s Evolution Controlled Fine 25-5-10 (3-4 months).

Evolution Controlled is a fertiliser range consisting of nutrients packaged in a coated granule that are released over an extended period of time. Longevity is determined by the thickness of the granule coating and by soil temperature. High temperatures accelerate nutrient release, while lower temperatures reduce the process. Evolution Controlled products are therefore very effective in supplying nutrients to the grass relative to current growth requirements.

The Evolution Controlled Fine analysis provides a triple action nitrogen source to promote growth in a range of conditions and the immediate availability of nitrate ensures a rapid response. Polymer coated urea controls further release and ensures the grass continues to receive nitrogen over an extended period, which is exactly what Graham was looking for.

Furthermore, the product boasts significant calcium and magnesium content to support turf health and colour.

Graham took David’s advice on-board and he first applied Evolution Controlled Fine to two of the five rugby pitches. However, he admitted to keeping his options open and wanted to make sure he had the right product before applying it to all five.

“First, we applied Evolution Controlled Fine to two of our rugby pitches in August, but it wasn’t until a bit later that we carried it over to the other three,” he said. “The reason for doing so was because I was conducting a trial with a competitor product. I quickly found that it didn’t work as well as Evolution Controlled. Based on the results, Evolution Controlled is now on all five rugby pitches.

“I cannot fault it at all,” continued Graham. “It has nearly been four months and I still have good colour, plenty of growth and the turf is really healthy. It just continues to tick along nicely and most importantly it hasn’t given me that excessive growth. It is also cheaper than the previous product I was using, which is also another huge bonus.

“It has done exactly what David said it would do. The all-round customer service from Agrovista Amenity has been fantastic throughout the process. What I particularly like about David is that I get the impression he is not just trying to sell me the most expensive products – he genuinely has an interest in your grounds and he works hard to identify the products that will benefit you the most.”

For more information about Agrovista Amenity, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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Vattanac opens night golf

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Vattanac opens night golf: The Troon-managed, Vattanac Golf Resort, celebrates the opening of the spectacular “The Dragon Turn” night golf. The night golf is an exciting addition to the recently opened “West Course” and offers golfers a unique opportunity to play in the breathtaking surrounds of Phnom Penh under the cover of darkness.

“The Dragon Turn” is aptly named by the lake’s shape that sits in the middle of three holes of this exciting 9-hole floodlit course. Inspired by ownership’s vision to create a venue with significant character, this lake is yet another unique feature that this resort plays host to. Night golf will be available for play from sunset with the last tee time at 9PM, creating a very special addition to Vattanac Golf Resort.

Vattanac opens night golf

Vattanac opens night golf

The launch of “The Dragon Turn” night golf comes after a successful end to 2020 for the resort following the opening of the second Faldo Design course, the “West Course”, and the “East Course” being named ‘Cambodia’s Best Golf Course’ at the 2020 World Golf Awards.

With imposing character and striking identity, the “East course” has received high praise from golfers the world over. Set within captivating natural surroundings, the “East” is a strategic golf course that utilizes dramatic water features, creative bunkering, and various forms of native fauna to challenge golfers of all levels. Over and above the highly enjoyable golf experience, the “East” pays homage to the marvels of Khmer architecture and the country’s rich history, with magnificent scale replicas of the world-renowned Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple and Preah Vihear Temple.

The “West Course” will certainly contend with the “East Course” as not only one of the best in Cambodia, but also one of the best in Asia. The West Course has distinctive differences from the East Course, of which are defined by narrower and more undulating fairways, a variety of unique water features and testing Paspalum greens. Cultural sculptures and stunning landscaping attribute to the striking scenery of Cambodia’s newest golf course. The “West” is a rewarding test of skill for players of all levels, featuring 5 sets of tees, starting at 4,935 yards, right through to 7,249 yards.

Karl Whitehead, General Manager at Vattanac Golf Resort, commented: “It’s been an incredibly exciting end to 2020 and start to 2021 for us at Vattanac Golf Resort. The announcement of the 9-holes of night golf on the West Course showcases how we, not only want to compete to have the best championship courses in Asia, but we also, under Mr Vattanac’s vision, want to offer golfers a fresh and exciting approach to the game. The dramatic landscape of “The Dragon Turn” under the night sky will hopefully provide golfers this.”

Cambodia’s luxury golf resort continues through the next phase of the integrated resort development to soon include a world acclaimed Golf Academy.

To view imagery of the “East Course” and “West Course”, click here.

For more information on Vattanac Golf Resort, visit www.vattanacgolfresort.com.

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London Stadium relies on G860’s

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London Stadium relies on G860’s: The London Stadium has recently increased its fleet of Dennis G860 cylinder mowers, and Head Groundsman James Williams has revealed exactly why.

James is an ambitious young groundsman and his prominent position at the London Stadium certainly is testament to this. The Welshman is about to embark on his fourth year in the role and understandably, he believes that 2020 has been the most challenging yet – but not for the reasons you might think.

London Stadium relies on G860's

London Stadium relies on G860’s

“It’s been a difficult year due to the pandemic,” he said. “The worst thing is waking up in the morning on a matchday and there’s just no spark because you know there will be no fans to showcase your pitch to.”

James obviously takes great pride in his work; he is hard-working, committed and works round the clock to ensure that the pitch is in the best possible condition. Anywhere he can make improvements he will strive to do so – and therefore when an opportunity presented itself, James was quick to seize it.

“When football started again, the Premier League announced that we have to prepare the pitch and leave it well alone five hours before kick-off – it used to be three,” said James.

“This would mean starting a lot earlier and so my CEO asked me if there was anything I needed which could help. Straight away, I told him that two more Dennis G860’s would be nice!”

The London Stadium already had three Dennis G860’s in its armoury when James arrived, and he was pleased to see a familiar mower – one which he had become accustomed to for many years previously.

“I used the G860’s the whole time I was at Swansea City FC,” he said. “I’m just extremely comfortable with them – they are reliable, adaptable and they get the job done to the high standard I expect.”

James isn’t the only groundsman to be of this opinion as many of his peers have long relied on the G860 to provide the perfect cut for sports turf. Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate.

The mower features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion. The Dennis G860 also features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks such as including scarifying, verticutting, brushing, spiking, and slitting.

“The G860’s are normally brought out towards the end of the week once the pitch has been repaired to make sure that it is in the best shape going into a matchday.

“When the grass gets too thick, or if it’s dying off, we will use the verticutting cassette to clear that out – just to stop it from causing any thatch or disease. We probably verticut once a month as well as use the brush – both help to keep the pitch nice and healthy.

“The 8 bladed cutting cylinder always offers a fantastic finish,” continued James. “I like to cut down to 23mm for matchdays but if there is period when we’ve got a lot of games and training sessions on the pitch then I’ll take it up to 26mm for extra protection and coverage.”

The Dennis G860 was an instant hit when it was first developed and over the years it has proven to be one of the most popular sports turf mowers on the market. There is a reason behind its success according to James.

“Do you know what I like about the G860? It’s the fact that it hasn’t changed a lot. Dennis as a company has evolved with some other great machinery but the G860 doesn’t need to. Why would you evolve something that doesn’t need fixing? You can’t improve perfection.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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