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Harborne GC chooses Toro

November 15, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Sofia Martins

Harborne GC chooses Toro: Harborne Golf Club in Birmingham have again evaluated and invested with Reesink Turfcare, upgrading its Toro fleet with three new machines chosen specifically to focus on improved course presentation and productivity. The beautiful 6180-yard par 70 parkland course, famous for its fast, sloping greens, will now benefit from a brand-new Groundsmaster […]

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials

November 10, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Bradley Foster

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials: Indigrow developed Diamond Green as a liquid fertiliser based on potassium, calcium and magnesium. It contains essential plant oils to enhance plant health and increase disease resistance in turf grass. The combination of nutrients in Diamond Green improves the plants natural resistance to many known pathogens. After the […]

Harborne GC chooses Toro

November 15, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Sofia Martins

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials

November 10, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Bradley Foster

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Harborne GC chooses Toro

November 15, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Sofia Martins

Harborne GC chooses Toro: Harborne Golf Club in Birmingham have again evaluated and invested with Reesink Turfcare, upgrading its Toro fleet with three new machines chosen specifically to focus on improved course presentation and productivity.

The beautiful 6180-yard par 70 parkland course, famous for its fast, sloping greens, will now benefit from a brand-new Groundsmaster 4500-D rotary mower, a Greensmaster 3250-D and a GreensPro 1260 riding greens roller.

Harborne GC chooses Toro

These new machines will enable course manager Jim Gilchrist, who has been overseeing the club’s greenkeeping team of five for 17 years, to keep the classic and unspoilt 1893 Harry Colt design in pristine condition while saving time and money all year round.

After spending time with the new fleet, Jim chooses the Groundsmaster 4500-D rotary mower as the absolute standout: “It has improved course presentation immensely from our previous rough mower. The fact that it covers more ground, reduces the time it takes to cut the roughs by half a day allowing us to focus on other areas on the course.”

Excited about the noticeable improvements, Jim is already planning more projects for the course, which include greens drainage using PC (Passive-Capillary) drainage on all 18 greens over the next few years. The club is also set to renew its frontline cutting machinery with Toro next year – a sign this symbiotic relationship will continue to flourish.

“During my time here, Toro has been instrumental in allowing us to achieve our goals over the years with the continued improvement on machinery and customer support. We have been an all-Toro club since 2012, and it has been all we could have asked for in terms of professionalism and reliability,” Jim explains.

“Dan Tomberry and David Timms from Reesink have been very supportive since they have taken on their new roles with the company, especially during the pandemic. They have made the whole process seamless and easy, so of course we’ll keep coming back to them. The Toro service centre Redtech is another big pillar in our line of work – Graham Hall and his team have been there for us from the very beginning for everything we’ve needed.”

Despite the difficult past few months, Jim believes there will always be opportunities for the industry to prosper. He says: “We have dealt with lockdowns, staff shortages across the business, and golfers’ expectations on their return. However, I feel that everyone came together for our club – from the committee to management and staff, they have all handled the whole process extremely well.

“The club, our members and our visitors have all appreciated the hard work and challenges we have faced over the last 18 months. Their support is what keeps us going and we will continue to make improvements on and off the golf course in the coming years.

“These new additions to our fleet will help with all the plans we have in store for Harborne Golf Club. We know the machines will deliver – Toro doesn’t disappoint. So, we’re very much looking forward to seeing all they’re capable of.”

As for what Jim thinks of the future of golf? “It looks very positive,” he concludes. “There could well be trials ahead, but nothing we won’t be able to tackle. By continuing to invest in our club, will bring continued improvement. Hard work and dedication from the team coupled with a machinery partner like Toro will produce visible, positive results, and that’s what we’re focusing on.”

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Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials

November 10, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Bradley Foster

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials: Indigrow developed Diamond Green as a liquid fertiliser based on potassium, calcium and magnesium. It contains essential plant oils to enhance plant health and increase disease resistance in turf grass. The combination of nutrients in Diamond Green improves the plants natural resistance to many known pathogens.

After the successful development the additive formulation, trials of Diamond Green at different application rates were carried out to assess its impact on the spread of Fusarium and Red Thread. It was tested three different application rates to assess it’s effectiveness.

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials

Diseased turf cores were harvested from infected areas of turf on a parkland golf course. The cores were harvested in late Summer 2021 when these diseases were very active. Disease levels were consistent across each core at the time of harvest.

Throughout the trials, our aim was to find our the effectiveness Diamond Green had of different turf grass diseases without killing the fungus. As Diamond Green is a fertiliser with additives, it was important for us to show how this formulation would prevent the spread of the fungus within the cores taken from the parkland golf course.

Treatments

The following treatments were tested for their potential to reduce disease spread in already infected turf stands:

Number Treatment Rate

1 Water: Untreated

2 Fungicide (Tebuconazole 200 g/lt + Trifloxystrobin 100 g/lt): 1 lt/ha

3 Diamond Green: 10 lt/ha

4 Diamond Green: 20 lt/ha

5 Diamond Green: 40 lt/ha

Methods

The turf cores were harvested for each treatment, one infected with Fusarium Patch and one infected with Red Thread. The cores were then sprayed with each treatment until the turf surface was fully covered. The treated turf was then sealed in clear boxes to provide the humidity conducive to active disease spread. The development of the disease and the health of the turf was then monitored over the next 4-5 days.

Fusarium – Observations 4 Days After Treatment

Over a period of 4 days, the active Fusarium had spread freely on the untreated turf core and white, active mycelium was observed. The fungicide treatment has suppressed the spread of Fusarium, but there is still a small amount of active mycelium present.

Number Treatment Estimated Disease

Spread (%)

1 Water: 47%

2 Fungicide (Tebuconazole 200 g/lt + Trifloxystrobin 100 g/lt): 14%

3 Diamond Green: 19%

4 Diamond Green: 8%

5 Diamond Green: 3%

At 10 lt/ha, Diamond Green has supressed the spread of Fusarium, but like the fungicide there is still a small amount of active mycelium present.

At both 20 and 40 lt/ha, Diamond Green has not only supressed the spread of Fusarium but allowed the turf to start to fill in disease scarred areas of turf. There is only a very small amount of active mycelium present on the turf

Red Thread – Observations 5 Days after Treatment

Over a period of 5 days, the active Red Thread has spread freely on the untreated turf core and active red areas can be observed.

At only 10 lt/ha, Diamond Green has had a limited impact on disease spread. However, at 20 lt/ha, the Red Thread has been almost completely suppressed and the turf has had a noticeable green up response and there is an obvious increase in growth rate.

Effect on Disease

It is important to state that Diamond Green is not a fungicide, it is a fertiliser with additives. We trialled both the fertiliser formulation without additives alongside the full Diamond Green formulation with additives. We found that when treated in isolation, the fungal growth is the same for just the fertiliser component as it is for the finished formulation containing the additives.

This confirms that it is the systemic acquired resistance within the plant that stops the spread of the disease.

Figure 1 – Diamond Green – Fertiliser component only

Figure 2 – Diamond Green Final Formulation Fertiliser component + additives

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials

Other Diseases

As Diamond Green acts as a trigger to the plants natural defences, rather than having a direct effect on the fungus itself, it is safe to assume that the activity shown here on Fusarium and Red Thread would be similar on other turf grass diseases including: Anthracnose, Dollar Spot, Snow Moulds and Leaf Spot.

Conclusions

The applications of Diamond Green have been successful in reducing the spread of Red Thread and Fusarium and the higher the application rate of Diamond Green, the stronger the effect is on disease.

At higher application rates of Diamond Green, the treatment also produces a strong growth response, with turf able to quickly ‘fill in’ previously diseased/scarred areas. Although this trial was only observational, we have a strong indication that Diamond Green can play a vital role as part of an integrated disease management strategy. With the benefits to turf health (shown by increased growth response and improved colour), we predict that turf treated with Diamond Green will have improved resistance to future disease attack.

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.

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Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Harborne GC chooses Toro

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials

Harborne GC chooses Toro

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials

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Harborne GC chooses Toro

Harborne GC chooses Toro: Harborne Golf Club in Birmingham have again evaluated and invested with Reesink Turfcare, upgrading its Toro fleet with three new machines chosen specifically to focus on improved course presentation and productivity.

Diamond Green – Continuation of Product Trials

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