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Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac

June 21, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Peter Driver

Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac: London Golf Club has taken delivery of the new Ventrac 4520 all-terrain compact tractor and selection of attachments to assist in the maintenance of their two Jack Nicklaus-designed courses near Brands Hatch in Kent. Lee Sayers is the Golf Courses and Estate Manager and heads a team of 27 […]

Conserving water for the future of turf sports

June 21, 2022/in Turf Spotlight/by Admin

Conserving water for the future of turf sports: It’s official – fresh water supplies are dwindling, demand for water is steadily rising, and regulations on how much and for what purpose water can be used are becoming increasingly tightened. Finding ways to use water more efficiently is no longer an environmental nice to have; it’s […]

Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac

June 21, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Peter Driver

Conserving water for the future of turf sports

June 21, 2022/in Turf Spotlight/by Admin

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Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac

June 21, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Peter Driver

Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac: London Golf Club has taken delivery of the new Ventrac 4520 all-terrain compact tractor and selection of attachments to assist in the maintenance of their two Jack Nicklaus-designed courses near Brands Hatch in Kent.

Lee Sayers is the Golf Courses and Estate Manager and heads a team of 27 full-time staff and 15 part-time including two head greenkeepers, a workshop mechanic, irrigation technician and a gardener with 21 members of the team working on the golf course.

Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac

“That might seem a very large team to most people, but we have 500 acres of estate including two championship golf courses to manage and large areas of woodland; it’s an intensive job”, he says.

Lee began his career in 1991 at Cottesloe Golf Club in the suburbs of Perth in Western Australia, before returning to the UK in 1994 to take the position of assistant greenkeeper at London Golf Club. Four years later he joined Hempstead Forest Golf Club near Cranbrook and in 2000 returned to London Golf Club as No. 2 to Peter Todd. In 2003 he joined Mid Kent Golf Club near Gravesend, where he spent 14 years until returning to take up his current role in 2017.

“Our members and guests expect a high level of presentation and we try to maintain a manicured ‘look’ across the entire estate, so the Ventrac was an obvious choice, he added. “I’d seen lots of ‘noise’ about Ventrac in the press and on social media together with good feedback from my peer group across the county, especially Mark Todd at the Wildernesse. We had a really good demo and that just reinforced my opinion, so we purchased the tractor unit and four attachments; the Contour deck, Tough Cut deck, Turbine Blower and Power Brush.

“The Tough Cut deck is great for maintaining the woodland margins. The out-front position of the Tough Cut deck combined with the low profile and agility of the tractor unit, means we can get in and under the trees. Without doubt, it has lifted the presentation of the course. The Contour deck does a superb job on the Nicklaus-designed bunker surrounds, where we previously used ‘Flymo’ mowers on the steep sides. This has saved numerous hours and has increased efficiency.

“We have significant woodland and spend too many hours using backpack blowers removing leaves and other debris, not just in the autumn, but all-year round. This is so time-intensive, but the Turbine blower is brilliant; we can also use it to remove debris after scarifying and even blow cores from the greens after aeration.

“Changing between the different attachments is quick and easy. There’s no three-point linkage to worry about or adjustments to make, you simply drive out of the current implement and drive into the next one. The mounting system is ingenious; it’s so quick that it encourages you to use it to its full potential.”

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Conserving water for the future of turf sports

June 21, 2022/in Turf Spotlight/by Admin

Conserving water for the future of turf sports: It’s official – fresh water supplies are dwindling, demand for water is steadily rising, and regulations on how much and for what purpose water can be used are becoming increasingly tightened. Finding ways to use water more efficiently is no longer an environmental nice to have; it’s a fact of life for most turf facilities today and imperative for our industry’s future.

As a turf manager you’ll always need water – it’s a fundamental building block of turf – but there are a number of steps you can take to influence how much water you need.

Conserving water for the future of turf sports

One of the biggest potential impacts on your water consumption can be made by redirecting water that already exists.

Plant selection can also play an important role in how much water is needed to keep your property at its visual best. Choose turf varieties such as fine fescues that require less water than others such as perennial ryegrass.

Even with these changes, irrigation is still essential and ongoing maintenance of your irrigation system is an effective way to reduce the amount of water wasted. Moisture sensors, weather monitors and other high-tech tools are also available to help you use your water conservatively.

Even after irrigation, there is still one more hurdle to getting water to your turf as efficiently as possible: your soil. How well your soil performs can have a tremendous impact on how much water you use.

Soil:water repellency interferes with how even the most well-placed water moves, leaving some areas a little too dry while making some a little too wet. This is certainly not a new phenomenon, but research indicates that it is much more common than previously thought.

Water repellency is one of the most pervasive water use issues, and it is also one of the easiest and most cost-effective to fix. Soil surfactants lower the surface tension of water and restore the wettability of effected soils, allowing water to move into and through the profile more efficiently. This reduces the amount of water lost to run-off and preferential flow

“Revolution is one of the very few products that makes a dramatic difference and actually changes the way turf is managed. It affects everything including the turf, the distribution of water, fertilisers, and other materials” – Sam Rhodes, Woodhall Spa GC.

Most courses have best management practices in place for their properties, but not all commit them to paper in a formal document. There are a number of resources available that provide guidance and templates for creating one, but should you bother? Absolutely.

Water conservation is a realistic goal, with both environmental and financial upsides.

Like it or not, the call for sustainability – and the challenges that presents – are going to be big issues for a long time. Doing what you can at your course does more than just protect a diminishing global resource – it protects your course, your job, and the future of the sports turf industry.

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Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac

Conserving water for the future of turf sports

Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac

Conserving water for the future of turf sports

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac

Jack Nicklaus courses benefit from Ventrac: London Golf Club has taken delivery of the new Ventrac 4520 all-terrain compact tractor and selection of attachments to assist in the maintenance of their two Jack Nicklaus-designed courses near Brands Hatch in Kent.

Conserving water for the future of turf sports

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