From gastronomy to agronomy

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From gastronomy to agronomy: Sentosa Golf Club is set to install two digesters that will make it the first club in Asia with the ability to grind down food and horticultural waste to reuse as fertiliser on the golf course.

Using a Golf Sustainability Fund Grant awarded by The R&A, the Singapore-based club set on Sentosa Island will reuse 40kg of food waste generated each day along with the one tonne of horticultural waste produced every month.

From gastronomy to agronomy

From gastronomy to agronomy

The grant is part of a project that will also help bring sustainable organic waste management practices to golf courses in Asia with Sentosa Golf Club estimating cost savings of up to 30% on monthly waste disposal over a one-year period.

It also comes shortly after Sentosa Golf Club was announced as the world’s first golf club to sign the UN’s Sports for Climate Action Initiative.

Embarking on a two-stage process, the first will see Sentosa using a food waste bio-digester to process and grind down waste from its three F&B outlets on site.  Once microbes are added to the waste it is ready for use as organic fertiliser on the golf courses, SMBC Singapore Open venue, The Serapong, and The New Tanjong, which hosts the HSBC Women’s World Championship and was also the chosen venue for the 10th edition of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) and the inaugural Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) in 2018.

The second stage of the project will introduce a heavy duty woodchipper and bio-digester shredder to grind an estimated one tonne of horticulture waste that is generated per month at the club.  The club does not currently purchase and apply compost material on the golf course, but foresees that a suitable compost by-product can be derived from this project and used to improve the golf course, including the retention of vital moisture across the fairways, thereby reducing the need for irrigation.

Andrew Johnston, Director of Agronomy and General Manager at Sentosa Golf Club, said: “It is very humbling for Sentosa Golf Club to be chosen by The R&A to be part of its Golf Sustainability Fund. Personally, I’m very proud of what the club has achieved in recent years with its environmental efforts. The entire team at the club can be recognised for their hard work and dedication towards creating an environmentally sustainable environment – it has become a way of life at the club.

“This grant will help us go a long way towards further achieving our goals and the waste recycling project along with all the other initiatives we have implemented here at the club, will hopefully inspire other clubs around the world to play their part in becoming more sustainable.”

On the importance of such an initiative, Johnston added: “Most horticultural and golf course waste is currently disposed through the process of waste incineration or burial administered by the local authorities. This adds to air pollution and applies pressure to landfill sites, which is particularly pertinent to land-starved Singapore.”

Both The R&A and leadership team at Sentosa Golf Club envision achieving a major leap in golf course specific waste recycling and fertiliser use across the fairways of courses all over the world along with a major change in the consideration of how golf clubs approach their waste management strategies. The club’s initiative will also help with the research and development of bi-product fertilisers that can be used on primary roughs and fairways and shared with other golf clubs in Asia and around the world.

Dominic Wall, Director – Asia-Pacific at the R&A, said: “Sentosa Golf Club has introduced many environmental-friendly golf course practices over the last few years and The R&A is excited to work with them on this project, not only to allow them to further a more sustainable environment at the club, but also to provide the vital research needed for other clubs in Asia and around the world to use as best practice.”

Chris Gray, Head of Sustainability and Agronomy – Asia-Pacific at The R&A, added: “The R&A is extremely pleased to be able to work closely with Sentosa Golf Club through our sustainability fund and help them continue to raise the bar and act as a model for other golf clubs around the world to follow in terms of environmental sustainability.”

Sentosa Golf Club’s green agenda was initially brought to the attention of the golfing world with the launch of its #KeepItGreen campaign at the SMBC Singapore Open in January 2018. It saw a number of key environmental features implemented at the club, such as the creation of their own Bee colonies; using rechargeable lithium batteries in their golf carts; banning single use plastics from the golf course and replacing them with water stations; as well as installing electric vehicle charging sockets and building their own sustainable herb garden.

The club also unveiled a new global campaign, GAME ON, at the start of the year, which is designed to unite the global golf community in addressing the growing concerns of climate change. The aim is to educate and inspire the global golfing community, helping golf clubs around the world to better prepare by introducing modern sustainability practices to reduce their environmental impact.

The campaign is closely aligned with The R&A’s 2030 Golf Course Initiative that considers the impacts, both positive and negative, of the changing climate, resource constraints and regulation on course condition and playability. The R&A has also recently pledged their support of the GAME ON initiative.

For more information on Sentosa Golf Club visit www.sentosagolf.com or follow the club on social media:

Twitter: @SentosaGolfClub

Instagram: @sentosagolfclub

Facebook: @SentosaGolfClub

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Double A to acquire Nairn Brown

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Double A to acquire Nairn Brown: John Deere turf dealership The Double A Trading Company Ltd, which has its head office in Cupar, Fife and a second outlet at Kintore in Aberdeenshire, has agreed to acquire Nairn Brown (Glasgow) Ltd of Busby.

The purchase, which has been agreed by Double A owners Sandy and Aileen Armit and by Nairn Brown, will see all the existing staff and assets of the latter business transferred to Double A as of 30th September 2020.

Double A to acquire Nairn Brown

Double A to acquire Nairn Brown

Nairn Brown Ltd was founded in 1964 and became the first John Deere golf & turf dealership to be established in the west of Scotland in September 1996. The company has a long and successful track record of supplying machinery to golf courses, local authorities, contractors and private customers across a large area extending from Argyll to Dumfries & Galloway, containing well over 200 golf courses.

Double A dealer principal Sandy Armit and his wife Aileen started their business working from home in 1996 before joining the John Deere dealer network in October 1999. The business initially sold to customers in Fife, Tayside and Clackmannanshire before being appointed to take over the Aberdeenshire area in October 2011.

Double A currently employs 25 people across its two outlets and was awarded the title of UK Professional Turfcare Dealer of the Year in 2011 by the AEA and Service Dealer magazine, as well as the runner-up spot in 2019. In addition to the full John Deere range of professional turf equipment, it supplies a number of other market leading golf course and turf machinery brands including Timberwolf, Campey, Tru-Turf, Gianni Ferrari, Reform and Lastec.

“We are delighted to be given this opportunity to extend our sales territory into western Scotland, and look forward to continuing to build on the very successful business established by Nairn Brown, his family and experienced staff,” said Sandy Armit.

“Double A is a highly professional operation that has developed over the last 20-plus years to become one of the largest John Deere turf dealerships in the UK, providing outstanding customer service and total commitment to after-sales support,” said John Deere Limited golf & turf division sales manager Brian D’Arcy. “We are very pleased that Sandy, Aileen and their team have agreed to this expansion into the west of Scotland, and look forward to their continued business growth.”

Nairn Brown added: “Although sad for me to be leaving the industry, I have to say how lucky we have been to have held the John Deere turf dealership in the west of Scotland for 25 years. I would like to thank John Deere for their staunch support and help over this time – it has been a pleasure dealing with them.

“Most of all, I am extremely proud of all the staff that have helped to make Nairn Brown (Glasgow) the dealership it is today, and wish everyone continued success in the Double A team!”

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Big plans for Palace brings in more Toro

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Big plans for Palace brings in more Toro: With Crystal Palace Football Club currently investing in the development of its stadium and academy training ground facilities, its grounds team knows the importance of ensuring the club has a fleet of reliable machinery. Which is why they’ve invested in yet more Toro machines.

Bruce Elliot, head of grounds and estates, explains: “We’ve now been awarded Category 1 status and are focussed on becoming one of the country’s leading academies, and a huge part of that is investment in the training grounds. We have planning permission for a new full-sized pitch and nine new pitches at the academy with work having started this summer. With such a big project planned for the 2020/2021 season, it was important we upgraded and expanded our machinery fleet beforehand to prepare for it.

Big plans for Palace brings in more Toro

Big plans for Palace brings in more Toro

“Toro is a worldwide recognised brand, and the reason for that is the build quality and reliability of the machines. We’ve had Toro machines at the club and performing well for the last four years and while we did look into other brands, there was really no comparison.”

With TYM tractors also included in the deal, it’s an investment in distributor Reesink Turfcare as much as anything else, says Bruce: “We first added Toro and TYM machines to our fleet in 2016 and have always been impressed by the work they’ve done, so we decided to make our biggest purchase with Reesink Turfcare yet. We needed to replace some older machines at the academy and we also wanted to expand the fleet at our main training ground and stadium.”

And it’s a significant investment which will benefit the Selhurst Park stadium, academy grounds and training grounds. New to the club are a ProCore 648 pedestrian aerator and TYM T293 tractor for the stadium, a Reelmaster 3575-D mower and Workman MDX utility vehicle for the academy grounds and two Greensmaster TriFlex Hybrid 3420 mowers and a ProCore 864 tractor-mounted aerator with TYM T393 tractor for the main training ground. These join the ProCore SR70, Workman MDX-D and TYM T353 purchased in 2016 for the training ground.

Having seen Toro in action at the club for several years already, Toro was always the first choice for Bruce when looking to expand the fleet, he says: “We’ve been impressed with Toro since it arrived on site four years ago. Take the ProCore 648 as an example. I consider that to be the pedestrian aerator on the market to beat, it’s outstanding. Previously, we were hiring one in every time we needed to aerate the grounds, so when the opportunity came to purchase one, there was no question for us that we were going to get it.”

With Toro and TYM in use across all the grounds at Crystal Palace and doing a good job, Bruce is looking to the future. He says: “We started to see the benefits of Toro and TYM very quickly four years ago and it’s important we maintain those standards now. Plus, the timing of bringing these new machines on board is perfect with such a big project underway.

“We’re confident we’ll be able to rely on Toro and TYM to provide the excellent standard of turfcare maintenance we need and it’s highly likely we will be investing in more Toro and TYM as the club’s facilities expand.”

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Turf Tank make Robotic Line-Marking affordable

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Turf Tank make Robotic Line-Marking affordable: Makers of the world’s most accurate GPS line marking robot, Turf Tank, has announced  new affordable subscription options for the United Kingdom.

The new subscription packages aim to make robotic line marking affordable for all, take the customer experience to an entirely new level and allow users to benefit from an instant return on investment. The benefits of a subscription include unlimited software updates, access to a world-class support team, limited product warranty and an annual supply of paint.

Turf Tank make Robotic Line-Marking affordable

Turf Tank make Robotic Line-Marking affordable

Lettering and number stencilling, plus all the accessories for operating the robot including the tablet and nozzles come as standard, and customers can choose from three different subscriptions for a package that best suits their needs.

Offering the robot in this way has proved very successful in the USA, and Turf Tank CEO, Olav Jørgensen, hopes providing the same opportunity in the UK will open the Turf Tank One up to more grounds professionals and contractors.

“With positive feedback from our US customers, we are now ready to focus more on the European market and introduce our subscription choice to sports facilities all over the UK,” he said. “Our generous leasing options are suitable for organisations of all types and sizes. We offer services for small clubs with one sports field to more complex packages for schools, universities, parks and recreation, pro teams and stadiums, which include annual paint supply, 24/7 customer support, logo creation and unique robot wrapping solutions.”

The return on investment using the Turf Tank One can be seen almost instantly with a significant amount of time saved when marking and less paint needed to complete pitches. Marking an 11-a-side football pitch from scratch takes just 29-minutes and 45 seconds, while overmarking takes no more than 12 minutes. Larger templates such as a 400m running track can be completed in 1 hour 45 minutes with numerous other fully customisable templates available for track and field events and other sports such as rugby, hockey, American football and lacrosse. By having access to Turf Tank’s support team, any template you need can quickly be created, so you’re able to mark out on any site for any sport.

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Fourth-time lucky Allett Creative Lawn Stripes winner

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Fourth-time lucky Allett Creative Lawn Stripes winner: The quintessentially British striped lawn is idealised across the world and in celebration of this Allett Mowers opened up their annual Allett Creative Lawn Stripes competition internationally.

This year’s stiff competition attracted a truly global set of entries in what has been a tough year for everyone going through the coronavirus pandemic. It has meant, however, homeowners around the world have been able to get into their gardens and work on their competition entries. Spending time in the garden can be great for mental health and there is surely no better way of relaxing than mowing the lawn.

Fourth-time lucky Allett Creative Lawn Stripes winner

Fourth-time lucky Allett Creative Lawn Stripes winner

This year everyone has been forever grateful for the NHS and the competition’s winning entry is a fitting tribute to them. Andrew Wain, Head Gardener of Euridge Manor, has placed high in the stripes competition for the past three years and this time takes the top prize. Euridge Manor is a private estate in Chippenham, UK. The estate regularly holds weddings and has 40 booked in for next year. Andrew has faced the battles of having the wear and tear of weddings and marquees on the lawn

“I first entered the competition four years ago to have some fun.” Says Andrew. “Straight lines can get a little boring sometimes and that year I came second so I decided to stick with it. It’s exciting to win at last, for both me and my employer. As a wedding venue, the lawn has become a real talking point among guests. This year, with Covid and the NHS being so fantastic I felt that this was my opportunity of saying THANK YOU to all those in all departments of the NHS that have put themselves in harm’s way to look after us. It is also my way of saying thank you to all those in the NHS who have cared for relatives of mine who in the last few years and indeed weeks lost their battles with cancer. So that is where I came up with the idea of the butterfly, to carry the thank you message with an NHS rainbow on each side. The Allett creative stripes competition has encouraged me to turn the lawn at Euridge Manor into a piece of art. I encourage anyone to have a go, as it is great fun and adds a whole new dimension of creativity to the garden. I’m over the moon with winning such a fantastic prize and thank Allett for running the competition.”

Fourth-time lucky Allett Creative Lawn Stripes winner

Fourth-time lucky Allett Creative Lawn Stripes winner

This year’s judging was done by Edgbaston Cricket Ground’s very own Head Groundsman Gary Barwell. Allett are proud partners with Edgbaston and felt Gary’s expertise was perfect for the role of this year’s judge. An internal vote was done at Allett with the top 6 entries being forwarded to Gary to pick his overall winner. Gary comments: ”The standard was truly outstanding and the time and work that was put into these was on another level it was so difficult to decide but the winner showed craft, flair, knowledge and relevance”

Creativity is the key to this competition as well as using current themes to design patterns around. The top 6 show just how creative they really are. Andrew, who is a brand ambassador for Stihl, used a Stihl rotary mower and hand trimmer to create his pattern.

Striped lawns used to be the preserve of the British garden, but now keen gardeners from around the globe compete each year for what is now a coveted green award. This year’s competition saw entries come in from USA, Wales, England, Denmark, Australia, Belgium, France, Sweden, Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland. Andrew wins an Allett Liberty 43 battery powered cylinder mower alongside the ALLETT Complete Lawn Care System of six interchangeable cartridges consisting of an aerator, a scarifier, a lawn brush, a dethatcher, a verticutter and a 10–blade cartridge together with two cartridge stands. He will also get ‘a day in the life of a groundsman’ at Edgbaston alongside Gary and his team.

”The rise in international competitors in this competition is in line with the rise in demand our company has seen for our mowers from overseas lawn-fanatics” says Austin Jarrett, Managing Director at Allett Ltd. Allett recently won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise – International trade because of the increase in overseas demand and consequently export sales. Allett Mowers is a leading manufacturer of cylinder, walk-behind mowers – the ultimate tool for creating perfect stripes. The first Allett mower was launched in 1965 and the brand has since firmly established itself as being synonymous with creating stripes on lawns and sports grounds around the world.

Fourth-time lucky Allett Creative Lawn Stripes winner

Fourth-time lucky Allett Creative Lawn Stripes winner

The winning entries in the competition with Gary Barlow’s comments:

1st Andrew Wain, Chippenham,UK- ”The standard was truly outstanding and the time and work that was put into these was on another level it was so difficult to decide but the winner showed craft flair knowledge and relevance”

2nd- Edward Aitken, Cheltenham, UK- Truly outstanding work time and effort needed is amazing

3rd– William Axmacher, USA- ‘To craft something that totally works from the air is great time and effort

4th– Cooper Thomson, Australia (Design in USA)- Batavia Muckdogs Baseball, New York, USA ‘’Brilliant despite it being created by a skilled professional grounds team’’

5th Niklas Andersson, Sweden- ‘This design looks stunning, hard to create and inspired

6th – Dennis West,USA – ‘The waves looks stunning and original’

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