On your side for 50 issues, and counting…

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On your side for 50 issues, and counting…: When we launched Turf Matters back at the beginning of 2014, we had high, but realistic, hopes. We hoped that our readership would appreciate what we had to offer and that, perhaps, we might grow over the years to be a well-respected title.

With this, our 50th issue, we can look back with pride at having achieved that goal. We are definitely a respected title. We have won awards for our writing and our design and we are thrilled that more and more companies within the industry are deciding to share some of their marketing and advertising budgets with us. That is not something we ever take for granted, particularly in these tough times.

On your side for 50 issues, and counting…

On your side for 50 issues, and counting…

We are also pleased that so many have opened their doors to enable us to produce interesting features and over the last eight years these open doors have allowed us to showcase extraordinary work at virtually every major sporting venue in the country – not to mention the odd overseas assignment, which included a preview to the Ryder Cup matches at Golf National, in Paris.

We have also seen our digital presence grow and we now have over 22,000 on-line followers.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped to make Turf Matters what it is today and the promise that I make to you is that we will continue to work hard to produce the magazine you want to read and the digital platforms you want to visit.

Scott MacCallum, Editor/Publisher

On your side for 50 issues, and counting…

On your side for 50 issues, and counting…

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

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The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses: SubAir Systems, a high-tech system provided by Bernhard and Company to EMEA and parts of Asia, is one of the most revolutionary products in the turf industry, being trusted by some of the most famous golf courses and natural grass stadiums around the globe.

We sat down with Steve Wilson, PAC-Asia Business Development Manager from Bernhard and Company, and Matt Cindea, Global Project Consultant from SubAir Systems, to learn more about the product and why it is the ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses.

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

“As a concept, SubAir is a vacuum and aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses,” said Matt.

“In pressure mode, the system simply pushes clean oxygen into the selected root zone of any pitch or green, encouraging the best possible growing conditions for the grass plants. This is extremely important, as grass naturally develops waste gas that formulates around the root zone – even more so during high temperatures. Being able to remove these gases and replace them with fresh oxygen means that the growing conditions can be regulated continuously and kept at optimal levels.

“The vacuum mode essentially works in the complete opposite way, by pulling air out and away from the bottom of the root zone.

When you remove air from this zone, it also pulls moisture away at the same time, which allows the user to be very calculated when determining the amount of moisture they want within their soil profile.

“This use of SubAir Systems is perhaps the most globally recognised and is certainly one that our customers appreciate, because it allows them to maintain a constant moisture level despite any large storms or deluges of water that might otherwise flood their pitch or course.

“We also install sensors in the playing surfaces that can monitor the salinity, moisture, temperature and oxygen levels of the turf. The information collected by those sensors then directly feeds into our system which can create an auto-response. For example, the system can be programmed so that if there is a spike in moisture levels, the vacuum will automatically pull air out until the moisture level drops back down to the desired number.

“Initially, the SubAir product was created purely to push air into a root zone. The prototype product was actually derived from a powerful leaf blower, which was used to blow air through a drainage system to provide fresh oxygen to a green that struggled particularly badly with flooding each year. Over the course of a couple of months, it became obvious that the green was able to recover quicker due to the better-quality air circulating beneath the soil. From that came the realisation that if you could push oxygen into the subsoil, with a reversed power source you could just as easily remove air and water.

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

“Every SubAir System that we install has to contend with a different growing environment. We have systems all over the world, in Asia, North America, South America and Europe. The systems in each of those locations need to be programmed differently to tackle each totally unique climate. We work very closely with the turf manager at each individual site to determine their exact treatment requirements. With so many variables in play at each location, it is extremely important for us to go through a rigorous consultation process to understand the bespoke needs of each client and how we can deliver the best possible results.

“An example of the differing climates and how they have totally unique requirements would be with one of our more recent installations in Qatar. The amount of rainfall each year in Qatar is extremely low and the temperature rarely drops below 25 degrees Celsius.

This kind of installation very much goes against the misconception that SubAir Systems are all about moisture control. In Qatar, the turf management teams will be using the system almost exclusively in pressure mode, to provide fresh, cool oxygen to the pitches and help remove the waste gases that build up much more quickly in intense heat.”

Steve added that they had learned a lot from installing SubAir in Qatar.

“At one particular venue that is located by the coast, there is a very high water table. At this time of year in Qatar, they will overseed with Rye grass, which means they are watering the surfaces a lot. As such, the moisture levels within the turf have been very high, so they have been using their vacuum system to pull some of that moisture down which inadvertently reduced the salinity of their soil.

“In addition to reducing salinity, some turf managers will also use the vacuum system to help with their chemical applications. If they are looking to apply a root treatment, they can use the vacuum system to draw the chemicals further down into the root profile for maximum efficiency. I really can’t overstate how valuable it is to have control of a natural grass pitch, and the ability to pump in clean air and remove water. Not just from a maintenance perspective, but it is also so important from a safety side of things. The ability to dictate a perfect playing surface means that the field will be in the safest possible condition for those competing on it.”

Matt explained that each system has its own control panel that is housed on-site and allows turf managers to quickly and easily control their system.

“We have access to all our installations through an oversight app that allows us to make manipulations if requested, and we are always happy to consult with our customers on process recommendations. Ultimately though, it is a tool that we are providing to turf managers that will give them the ultimate platform to deliver the healthiest and most effective pitch or golf green.

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

The ultimate aerification system for natural grass pitches and golf courses

“It’s important to note that SubAir is by no means just a product for golf. It was developed to help and improve any natural grass pitch or green. We have installations across multiple different platforms, from golf to cricket, baseball, soccer, horse racing and tennis, just to name a few. Every installation is completely bespoke – our team of engineers will take a look at the space provided, then custom engineer a system to fit that location.

“A SubAir System is the best insurance policy in the world for sporting venues that host major events or tournaments. Events that take place on an international or global scale have millions, if not billions of dollars pumped into them – look at the World Cup for example. If the heavens opened and a deluge of rain came down, it is completely feasible that pitches would quickly become unplayable and the cancellation of games in international and global tournaments can cost organisers millions. In the grand scheme of a project, having that insurance when it comes to game day is priceless.

“The future of SubAir is extremely bright. Maintaining a pitch is far more than throwing some seed onto a field and applying some fertilisers. Turf care is a science and modern-day expectations are very high.

When new pitches and golf courses are being created, everything has to be done to the highest possible level, including the turf, and SubAir is essential if you are looking to deliver the very best possible turf.”

What is it about Durham?

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What is it about Durham?:Scott MacCallum talks cricket with Durham School’s Head of Grounds Barry Boustead, learns how a merger with the city’s Chorister School has brought together 600 years of heritage, and muses about THAT song…

One of renowned singer song-writer (and whistler) Roger Whittaker’s most famous pieces of work was Durham Town, in which he sang “I’m going to leave old Durham town.” It’s a lovely song, but having been to Durham recently, I can’t see any reason why anyone would wish to leave.

What is it about Durham?

What is it about Durham?

There can be few more beautiful places in the country in which to earn a crust than Durham – named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The sheer beauty of the famous cathedral, which sits majestically above the historic buildings, give it a mystic which would be hard to replicate anywhere. Oh, and it’s a City despite what Roger says. Probably “city” didn’t scan as well as “town”!

One man who has no intention of leaving Durham any time soon is Barry Boustead, Head of Grounds at Durham School, for whom gazing over his view after a full day’s graft is very much balm for the soul.

“My place of work really is quite spectacular. There are not many better settings than this,” said Barry.

“Like many jobs you can occasionally get a bit fed up, but then I just look out over our main rugby pitch to the cathedral and everything seems a little bit better.”

But the fact that Barry has been at the school for 13 years suggests that those days when a “fix” of the view is very much required are few and far between.

“It is a good place to work. I wouldn’t have stayed so long otherwise,” he said, before admitting that his original Plan A had been to remain for around four years and then emigrate to New Zealand!

The job Barry started out with has changed since he began as Head of Grounds, however. He has added the Gardens portfolio too, while a merger with The Chorister School in the city, just last September, bringing together a shared heritage of over 600 years, has increased the number of children using his beautifully prepared pitches and grounds, while adding to the complexity of his role.

“We have inherited two playing fields, one of which has three junior rugby pitches, while I don’t know what the plans are for the other as yet. Personally, I’d like to be a training area to keep them off my rugby pitch, but it will bedown to the sports department at the end of the day,” he laughed.

As part of the merger Barry has acquired one new part-time member of staff, Jon Bland, who had been working at The Chorister School, but with Barry himself and two other staff, Damian Merrigan and Darren Keeler, they are certainly kept extremely busy.

“Even visiting the new fields can be a challenge as they are on a busy road and at peak times, or as was recently the case, when a bridge was closed and traffic diverted, it can take 10 to 15 minutes just to make the right turn before we can get back. That sort of time can add up and over a week can be quite significant.”

What is it about Durham?

What is it about Durham?

And time is one thing the team can’t really afford to lose. Particularly over the autumn period when, on a site with so many mature trees, clearing leaves is the Durham School equivalent of painting the Forth Rail Bridge.

“It’s a daily job from October through to January and we clear every leaf off the site pretty much.

We collect them and put them in a pile behind our shed which just builds up and then rots down.”

How many man hours a week are devoted to the task?

“This week for example two of us have been on the job and all we have done is leaves so it’s anywhere upwards of 50 hours a week. Other jobs do take priority but so much time is devoted to leaf clearance. I always have a target of getting every leaf cleared by Christmas, but I’ve not done it yet!”

The other on-going issue, also tree related, is the school’s artificial hockey pitch, which sits in a lovely, secluded site surrounded by trees.

“Being surround by trees means that silt – dust or sap – has collected within the profile. Then when we get a heavy downpour the silt rises to the top and it gets very slippy – not something you would want on an artificial pitch.

“We’ve tried different brushing machines and it has improved slightly but we are going to see how this winter goes before we see what our next step is. We are using a SISIS Twinplay with stiff brushes and it seems to do a good job. Ideally, we’d like to do it twice a week but pressure of work means that we can only fit it in once a week. It’s an on-going problem.

“One solution would be to take out the existing sand and replace it but that is costly.”

With leaves taking up a significant part of the year it is grass cutting which occupies the rest and with cricket, in particular, it is an intense fixture list.

“We can have three or four fixtures a week and we have 12 match strips on our main cricket ground and three down on the bottom ground,” explained Barry, adding that the main cricket pitch shares its space with the first team rugby pitch – which boasts sets of posts which reach a remarkable 17 metres – the same height as those found at top grounds such as Twickenham.

To prepare the cricket wickets Barry and the team rely on a single Allett C20 wicket mower, which makes advanced planning an essential part of the job and leans heavily on the reliability of the mower.

“I get the fixtures in at the beginning of the season and then fit in the Cup fixtures as the teams progress through the tournament. I do have a good relationship with the Director of Cricket so he has a good idea of what we are capable of producing.

We can hold three fixtures at once – two on our upper field and one down in the other field.”

On the reliability? Well, that’s not always down to the machine itself.

“I did clip a stud and bent the bottom blade on our Allett,” confessed Barry.

“Fortunately, we do have a good relationship with the University. I started my career there and was at school with the Head Man, Paul Derek’s, kids, and we do help each other out. They helped me with a wicket mower after the bent bottom blade incident, and last summer they had a problem with their tractor, which they use to cut their big fields with gang mowers, so they were able to use our Kioti.”

That kind of mutual back scratching can help solve immediate problems, but also ease the budgetary strain on hire fees which can, with the now longer lead times on spare parts, mount up quickly.

If pushed, Barry would say that his first love is cricket and his aim is always to produce the best surface possible.

“I’m a big believer that a good cricketer will be able to react to any situation and while I do talk with the Director of Cricket I’m never under pressure to produce a wicket to suit our own team. What they see is what they get,” said Barry, who while he didn’t ever play the game, has a real passion for preparing cricket wickets.

So much so, in fact, that he spent a week with Vic Demain and his team at Chester-le-Street working at a Durham county match.

What is it about Durham?

What is it about Durham?

“The week I had was really good. I learned so much, mainly from seeing how the team all operate and come together to work towards the same goal. Vic and I are still in touch and he helps run the Durham Groundsman Association. He is a great communicator and having come from grass roots level has a real affinity with guys in our position – those working with one wicket mower!”

Barry’s arrival in the industry came about very much by chance. He’d begun a degree course in business management at Sunderland which involved a placement working for a year at a local council.

“It was working in the marketing department, but I soon learned that being stuck behind a computer just wasn’t for me. I left and found a position on a summer contract working on the grounds’ team at Durham University.

“When a full time contract came up I got the job and loved it.

They put me through my NVQs at Haughall College, which was just across the road. I did my NVQ 2 in sports turf and my NVQ 3 in sports turf management. I knew at that stage that it was the career for me,” said Barry, whose previous experience had amounted to cutting his dad’s lawn on a weekly basis!

After four and a half years the Durham School position came up and Barry got the job.

As he looks out at the fabulous view of the Cathedral, he has never had any doubts that he chose the right career and is very happy at Durham. Roger Whittaker on the other hand…

EQUIPMENT INVENTORY

JCB 354 tractor
JCB Workmax
Major tractor mounted
roller mower
Toro 6500d
Kioti WD 1260 ride
on mower
3 x STIHL battery
pack blowers
STIHLl BR 600 petrol blower
Billy Goat blower
2 x STIHL strimmers
2x Honda rotary mowers
Ferris FW25 mower
SISIS Twin play
SISIS Rotorake
Allett c20
Dennis 36inch cylinder mower
And my most important and favourite tool in the shed, says Barry, the SISIS Combi Rake.

Raising the bar

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Raising the bar: Scott MacCallum headed to Hertfordshire to meet James Bonfield, a Course Manager for whom a change of club ownership has been a real tonic and a chance to set new standards.

Finding out that your company has been taken over, or that you have a new boss to whom you will be answering in future, is an unnerving situation. You see it in all walks of life. Your face no longer fits, or you find that your name appears on the list of potential redundancies.

Raising the bar

Raising the bar

It never ends well. Or does it?

James Bonfield, Course Manager at The Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club, found himself in that very position three years ago band went through all the anxiety and uncertainty that goes along with the territory. However, when we spoke in the ancient splendour of the mansion house around which the course flows, you could scarcely find a happier man.

However, there is no denying that the period before Elysium Golf Ltd, a company with no previous record of golf club ownership or management, was a worry.

“We knew that we were being taken over but didn’t have too much information about the people we would be working for or what their goals were – we knew they didn’t have a history in owning golf clubs. This is their first golf course and we didn’t know our position in their future plans. So, it was all up in the air,” recalled James.

What is never in doubt during these situations is that they inevitably become hotbeds for all sorts of rumours.

“In the months before there were rumours flying about. Everyone who was not working here seemed to have a direct line to the owner and knew what was happening,” said James.

“We were only going to be nine holes. We were going to be closed totally. We were going to be this. We were going to be that,” said James.

“We were only going to be nine holes. We were going to be closed totally. We were going to be this. We were going to be that,” said James.

Given that the land, north of London and in sight of the city of London itself, would be worth a fortune to developers, many of the rumours could possibly have carried some genuine mileage.

“The first couple of times that you hear it you think ‘Whatever’. Then, after we’d been hearing the same things for about six months, it got to some of the lads. I feel very fortunate that I still have half the team from 2019. My Deputy, my Mechanic and my First Assistant are still here,” said James, who stressed that he has no issues with those who left given the uncertainty of the times.

“You could say that we all took a chance and stayed, and we are very happy that we have. We have rebuilt team and added to the team.

We had six before the takeover and we are up to ten now – nine greenkeepers and a gardener. It is a sign of where we are moving.”

Raising the bar

Raising the bar

However, they didn’t know that their coin had come up ‘heads’ until they arrived for work the first day under the new owners.

“On that first morning they had no idea what to expect of what they were going to be told. But then we found Simon Doyle from Troon Golf was there waiting for us.”

Troon Golf had been brought in for six months during the transition and to assess the skills of James and his team. A very smart move by Elysium.

“Simon gave us an overview of what would be happening,” said James

“It was good to have Troon here. They were the contact to the owner and vice versa. Simon just came in that first morning and put everyone at ease. When Troon walk in it’s a sign that they are not going to be closing it down soon. You don’t get Troon in for no reason whatsoever.”

It was also a sign that Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club was going to change for the better.

“We were not to be dealing with mediocre – we’re going high-end. And every decision since then has been based on that objective.”

Simon sat down with the team and said this is the plan. This is where the owner wants to head and we went off and went through everything.

“Lucky for myself and my background we had a good chat and he soon appreciated where we came from, our abilities and collective drive to make the courses as good as we could make it.

“It was helpful to be able to achieve our machinery needs, what we would need going forward, as the machinery had in the sheds as a result of the sale, wasn’t fit for purpose.

“He helped us to get a machinery inventory together and get it across the line with the owners and start getting into it so we can move forward,” said James, adding that it was good that people were investing in them.

“The cost of the machinery fleet wasn’t cheap – Toro. And there were no corners cut.

Everything was Toro, other than a Kubota tractor.

“So that’s fantastic. Since then, machinery-wise, we’ve continued to add to it so we’ve got a fairway seeder, two Wiedenmann spikers – one for greens and one for fairways.

Also a trencher so we can do our own drainage works, and another tractor so that we would have more options. So we have got more and we are going to add next year.”

“Every year we continue to progress. It doesn’t always mean adding new machinery. We will not just get kit for the sake of getting it. But will get what we need to will make us more effective as a team and allow us to work more efficiently.

“I don’t want to waste the owner’s money. I don’t want him coming down and seeing a bit of kit that has been sitting around doing nothing for six months. That would kill me. I want him to come in and see that everything has been used and that it is all in good nick. That way we will build up trust.”

Having been given the tools there must be pressure to achieve great things and meet the new found expectations for the golf course.

“This is going to sound big-headed but it’s not meant to be,” said James. “My Deputy, John Hart, and my First Assistant, Karl Vincent, and I have always tried to be better than where we were.

“We’ve always tried to push this place forward. We play a lot of golf at other courses. All the team play from +3 to me at 16 handicap we know what better looks like and, more importantly, what it feels to play it.

“The frustration wasn’t quite having the resources to get to where you felt it could be. That is not to fault the previous owners, that’s just the market we were in at that point.

We are not in that market any more.”

How that manifests itself involves doing exactly what they’ve been doing but adding to it.

Raising the bar

Raising the bar

“Areas we wouldn’t have thought about doing in the past – we can dress tees now and so we discuss if we are to be doing it what do we need? We need to overseed, for example. So we need to build it all into the budget.

“And the same for approaches, because we’ve always grouped tees and approaches together. Then it was how could we improve the course, so we’ve added swales and run-offs round the greens, because we’ve got really nice undulations.”

All this work, as soon as the team were let off the lease, combined to prove to Simon, and ultimately the owner, that James and the team could be left to get on with it.

“Simon is a very knowledgeable guy and runs a lot of golf courses and after about three days he realised that we were confident in doing what we were doing. We were speaking his language. And that got fed back to the owner and he then has more faith in what is going on.

“We love this place and are always thinking about what we can do to make it better.”

Maximise workshop efficiency: Relief grind your cutting units

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Maximise workshop efficiency: Relief grind your cutting units: Ian Robson, of ProSport UK Ltd, the UK & Ireland Importer/Distributor for Foley Company, explains why relief grinding maximises the performance of reels by giving a factory finish every time.

Avital question for a workshop manager is how to maximise efficiency and minimise labour and maintenance equipment costs. One area to achieve excellent savings is to look at how you maintain the sharpness of your cutting units.

Maximise workshop efficiency: Relief grind your cutting units

Maximise workshop efficiency: Relief grind your cutting units

Firstly, why is having sharp cylinders (reels) that are the correct shape so important anyway? The answer is obvious – unhealthy turf brings a whole host of other issues which are costly to correct.

Therefore, prevention is a far more economic approach than a cure.

A huge amount of research and development has gone into designing a cutting unit to produce the cleanest cut possible with the least amount of fraying and tissue damage to the plant. The result is that all manufacturers of grass cutting equipment supply new units with relief ground edges.

WHY RELIEF GRIND?

Tests carried out by leading manufacturers have established that relief ground cylinders stay on cut up to 3 times longer than spun ground ones and require less horse power to drive the unit, resulting in greater fuel efficiency and less stress on the hydraulic power systems. In addition, a relief ground cylinder will withstand the abrasive effects of top dressing far better than one spun ground because the relief edge on both the bed-knife and the cylinder allows the top dressing to clear the cutting blades easily, helping to prevent the dulling effect seen on spun only units.

Continual relief grinding also decreases the squeezing and tearing of the grass as the units get dull, and most importantly it allows the cylinder to be returned to a factory specification perfect cylinder as quickly as possible.

The overall cleaner cut achieved by relief grinding gives a better after-cut appearance, increased recovery rate due to the clean cut of the grass and reduces the stress on components because less horsepower is needed to drive the cylinder.

As a reel wears flat and loses shape (becomes coned), more stress and strain is put on the cutting systems.

A 5-gang cutting unit with relief can require up to 4.5 HP (5 x 0.88HP = 4.5HP) to drive the cutting units therefore a 35HP engine has 30.5HP remaining to drive the rest of the traction system. A 5-gang unit which has been spun ground only, can require up to 13Hp (5 x 2.59HP = 13HP) leaving only 22HP to drive the rest of the traction system.

Maximise workshop efficiency: Relief grind your cutting units

Maximise workshop efficiency: Relief grind your cutting units

So, it has been established that relief grinding your cutting units saves you money not only by reducing workshop maintenance time with far fewer grinds but also through a reduction in fuel costs and replacement parts.

It is also important to acknowledge what relief grinding does for a reel. By removing metal from the trailing edge of the blade it forms a relief angle, which reduces the contact area of the cutting edges, resulting in less friction, longer wear life.

Typically, when a new mower is delivered the reels will be a perfect cylindrical shape. Over time the blade naturally loses shape, and the sharp edge it arrives with becomes flat and dull, often meaning the reel is no longer a perfect cylinder from end to end. This is referred to as ‘coning’ and a natural point for grinding to take place. The decision then sits between touch-up and spin grinding, or relief grinding.

If there is sufficient relief still on the reel then a quick touch-up is fine but once more than 50% of the relief has gone my advice would be to relief grind again and remove any coning. Failure to remove the coning will eventually be seen in an uneven cut appearance of your turf.

Foley machines are set-up for both choices, and some models, such as the ACCU-Sharp, ACCU-Pro and ACCU-Master, have automatic grinding pre-sets and adjustment systems to decrease time and labour.

But, the main question mentioned at the beginning comes back; how to get the most out of your workshop resources by choosing the most effective method to sharpen your cutting units. The answer is to trust the manufacturer’s judgement and return the reels as close to the original factory standard as possible, and for that, relief grinding is the best option. The bonus is this method also maximises performance and gives the best cut.