Blog Elements - Turf Matters

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Emotional BTME celebration

March 24, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Karl Hansell

Emotional BTME celebration: A turf educator known as the ‘grandfather of greenkeeper education’ and credited with helping establish training opportunities for those working on golf courses was recognised on the opening evening of the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME). At the BIGGA Welcome Celebration with AMS Robotics, Dennis Mortram, 75, was awarded with the Outstanding […]

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners

March 23, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Karl Hansell

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association and Campey Turf Care Systems have revealed the winners of the BIGGA Excellence in Communications Awards. Whether using digital and social media, community outreach or by producing an article for the monthly journal of BIGGA, Greenkeeper International, the awards recognise those greenkeepers […]

Emotional BTME celebration

March 24, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Karl Hansell

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners

March 23, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Karl Hansell

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Emotional BTME celebration

March 24, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Karl Hansell

Emotional BTME celebration: A turf educator known as the ‘grandfather of greenkeeper education’ and credited with helping establish training opportunities for those working on golf courses was recognised on the opening evening of the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME).

At the BIGGA Welcome Celebration with AMS Robotics, Dennis Mortram, 75, was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution of the Year Award sponsored by Bernhard and Company. Dennis is a former tutor at Reaseheath College in Cheshire and was one of the first to recognise that greenkeepers would require industry-specific education if they were to elevate the profession and raise standards of golf course maintenance. He also played a key role in the establishment of the Master Greenkeeper certification.

Emotional BTME celebration

A tribute video is available to view here.

BTME is the UK’s leading exhibition for those in the golf greenkeeping and sports turf industries and is taking place in March for the first time in the trade show’s 33-year history. The traditional curtain-raiser of the exhibition is the BIGGA Welcome Celebration sponsored by AMS Robotics and hosted by television presenter Naga Munchetty.

At the event a number of other awards were handed out to BIGGA members who have done extraordinary things throughout their careers or shown wonderful commitment to supporting the association and its members.

The team at Loch Lomond Golf Club was awarded the Greenkeeping Project of the Year Award sponsored by Baroness. With almost 2 metres of rainfall each year, Loch Lomond is a challenging place to build a golf course. David Cole MG and his team have overseen a project that has been described as the largest golf course construction in UK golfing history. Using innovative techniques that included placing a sand cap across the entire course, the team rebuilt the entire golf course over a period of four winters. More information is available here.

The Championship Greenkeeping Performance of the Year Award sponsored by Origin Amenity Solutions was won by the team at Clevedon Golf Club following the hosting the Wright-Morgan Championship on the EuroPro Tour in 2021. The event was only Clevedon’s third professional event in its 130-year history but despite their relative inexperience and a modest operating budget, Course Manager Richard Ponsford and the team produced a golf course that was described by the EuroPro’s tournament director as by far the best presented venue of the year. More information is available here.

Also recognised at the BIGGA Welcome Celebration sponsored by AMS Robotics were:

The winners of the Excellence in Communications Awards with Campey Turfcare Systems were revealed to be John Rowbottom of Woolley Park Golf Club (New Media), John Milne of Garmouth & Kingston Golf Club (Outreach) and Shaun Cunningham of Prestonfield Golf Club (Innovation and Thought Leadership).
Stuart Taylor, formerly course manager at Glasgow Golf Club, received Life Membership of BIGGA.
The Amenity Forum Sprayer Operator of the Year Award was given to Jason Garlick of JMG Amenity.
BIGGA’s latest Master Greenkeepers received their certificates. They were Matthew Aplin, Alan FitzGerald, Greg Fitzmaurice, Richard Johnstone and Paul Brett.
The audience watched a conversation with Bryn Roberts, deputy head greenkeeper at Padeswood & Buckley, who recently returned from delivering aid to the Ukrainian border.
Jonathan Wood of St Andrews Links and winner of the 2021 BIGGA Photographic Competition collected his prizes including a frame print of his winning image.

Dennis Mortram said: “I’m emotionally drained. What we did back then was as a team and I have so many people to thank, who are as deserving as me to be up on this stage. Thank you to everyone for this honour, it is amazing.”

David Cole MG, course manager at Loch Lomond Golf Club, said: “I must admit that I feel like the four years of the project have taken their toll on me so I got quite emotional when Naga announced us as the winners. I’m so proud of the team and I really wanted them to get recognition for what they achieved. I will be indebted to my team until the day I die because they were there 12 hours a day, seven days a week for four years in a row.”

Richard Ponsford, course manager at Clevedon Golf Club, said: “I couldn’t believe it. Ganton and West Lancs are amazing venues and I thought we were just there to make the numbers up. From the team that I have every day at Clevedon to the volunteers, we couldn’t have done it without any of them. For the players to say that the course is up there with the best is something special.”

BTME 2022 continues until Thursday 24 March 2022 at the Harrogate Convention Centre. Registration is free and available at www.btme.org.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners

March 23, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Karl Hansell

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association and Campey Turf Care Systems have revealed the winners of the BIGGA Excellence in Communications Awards.

Whether using digital and social media, community outreach or by producing an article for the monthly journal of BIGGA, Greenkeeper International, the awards recognise those greenkeepers who have embraced communication as a vital tool available to the modern turf professional, helping to improve understanding and appreciation of the greenkeeping industry among the public or sharing ideas and best practice for the turf management community.

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners

Three awards categories were up for grabs and the winners will receive their prizes at the BIGGA Welcome Celebration on the opening night of BTME 2022, which is taking place at the Harrogate Convention Centre from 22 to 24 March.

The Innovation and Thought Leadership Award is given to the BIGGA member who has written the most thought-provoking article for Greenkeeper International in the previous calendar year. The judges selected as the winner a feature written by Prestonfield Golf Club’s course manager Shaun Cunningham. Included within the February 2021 edition of the magazine, Shaun discussed the topic of out-of-play areas and whether a golfer’s enjoyment of a golf course depended as much upon the wider environment and landscape as it did the playing surfaces.

The New Media Award is given to a BIGGA member who has embraced the possibilities of digital media to raise understanding of what goes on behind-the-scenes at a golf course. This year’s New Media Award winner is John Rowbottom, greenkeeper at Woolley Park Golf Club in Barnsley. John began using social media as a bit of fun but quickly gained a large following with his entertaining look at life at this West Yorkshire golf club, often joined out on the course by his ‘turf dogs’. One video of the greens team preparing a bunker was viewed over 23 million times.

The Outreach Award seeks to recognise those BIGGA members who have taken their message beyond the normal work boundaries. This can be to the local community, schools or environmental groups. The winner of this year’s award is John Milne, head greenkeeper at Garmouth & Kingston Golf Club. John has presented in schools and at careers events to raise awareness of life at the golf club. He also invites students to the golf course to show how golf facilities can be beneficial for the natural environment. Activities have included primary school pupils planting trees and taking part in an on course wildlife safari, the establishment of an ecology group and encouraging wildlife photographers to visit the site.

Karl Hansell, head of marketing and communications at BIGGA, said: “At BIGGA we work tirelessly to raise awareness among the public about just what it takes to maintain a modern golf course. Greenkeepers too must do their bit if the message is to reach a wide audience and so I’m pleased that we are able to highlight the incredible work of these three BIGGA members, who go far beyond the requirements of their daily working lives to try and improve the lot of greenkeepers everywhere. The wide range of activities they have undertaken shows not only what a wonderful profession greenkeeping is, but how golf clubs can play a positive role in the health and wellbeing of the wider community.”

“Our thanks also go to Campey Turf Care Systems for enabling us to reward these three BIGGA members with such fantastic prizes. To see BIGGA, our members and the turf industry working together in such a great way gives confidence that there is a bright future ahead for the greenkeeping industry.”

BTME is taking place this week at the Harrogate Convention Centre, having been postponed from January 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Registration is free and more details can be found at www.btme.org.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Emotional BTME celebration

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners

Emotional BTME celebration

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Emotional BTME celebration

Emotional BTME celebration: A turf educator known as the ‘grandfather of greenkeeper education’ and credited with helping establish training opportunities for those working on golf courses was recognised on the opening evening of the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME).

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners

BIGGA and Campey announce award winners: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association and Campey Turf Care Systems have revealed the winners of the BIGGA Excellence in Communications Awards.

RESOURCES

CONTACT

CONNECT