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Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems

March 9, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems: The exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland is coming to the end of a huge four year renovation project – at a total cost of £7.5 million, probably the most costly in the history of British golf – in which 85 per cent of the golf course has been sand-capped (apart from the USGA greens), its drainage […]

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor

March 8, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Louise Challiss

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor: Following the recent news of expansion in their coverage area, GreenMech main dealers GA Groundcare Ltd have announced the appointment of Matt Textor as Sales Manager. A well-known industry name, Matt joins the Wiltshire dealership to spearhead sales of the GreenMech woodchipper range across their increased nine-county territory. Having initially […]

Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems

March 9, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor

March 8, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Louise Challiss

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems

March 9, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems: The exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club in Scotland is coming to the end of a huge four year renovation project – at a total cost of £7.5 million, probably the most costly in the history of British golf – in which 85 per cent of the golf course has been sand-capped (apart from the USGA greens), its drainage infrastructure rebuilt, its irrigation system completely renewed and its bunkers reconstructed using the Capillary Bunkers lining system.

Surrounded by mountains and next to Britain’s largest freshwater lake, Loch Lomond has always faced huge problems caused by its environment. “We have a lot of bunkers – and a lot of rain,” says David Cole MG, the club’s director of golf course and estates. “We average around 2000mm (79 inches of rain a year), and our bunker design has some steep faces in places. As a result, we have always suffered badly from washouts and contamination. Bunker maintenance is our second largest consumer of greenkeeping resources, second to greens – due to the design, the size (8500m2), the amount, the player expectations and the environment, it takes a lot of resources to prepare the bunkers internally and externally for play on a daily basis, and it was frustrating not being able to produce a consistently good product from this valuable resource due to the ageing infrastructure and the uncontrollable element of frequent rainfall.

Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems

Cole and his team, along with contractor Esie O’Mahony of GolfLink Evolve, have rebuilt the course from the bottom up. The new drainage pipes are laid in trenches lined with geotextile to reduce the ingress of fine particles, and the pipes themselves have been resized to deal with the volume of water. The project was planned to be completed over the winter of 2019/20, but the Covid-19 pandemic meant that two holes were left unfinished. Those have been dealt with over this winter.

In among this huge quantity of construction, Cole was determined to improve the consistency of the bunker presentation and reduce the internal bunker maintenance challenge. “We wanted to try to eliminate sand contamination and washouts and ensure we give our members a quality product no matter the weather,” he says. “After reviewing and trialling the options available, we selected Capillary Concrete throughout the project to line the bunkers. The product gives a lot of confidence. It’s concrete, so you know it is going to last, and the fact that you can install in wet weather situations is a huge plus for us as the renovation and installations took place throughout the wettest period of the year. The cost is obviously important – we are spending a lot of money on this project, but we are conscious that it is our members’ money, and we want to get good value for them – and Capillary Bunkers was very competitive.”

Cole says he is already seeing the benefits. “The simple fact is that we aren’t spending hours pushing sand back up bunker faces after rain. Ultimately since the liner has been installed the sand does not slip off the face after heavy rain events and daily preparations to present a good product for our members and guests is less labour intensive than previous. This allows us to focus more time on the detail work of internal bunker maintenance, and/or redirect resources to other priority areas that been neglected prior to this undertaking. Most days, three guys can deal with the internal bunker preparation, when previously it was five or six. Quantifying that isn’t easy and COVID-19 has not helped, but I think we may see a forty-fifty per cent reduction in resources we use preparing the internals of bunkers yet still producing a superior product.”

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GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor

March 8, 2021/in News, Press Release/by Louise Challiss

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor: Following the recent news of expansion in their coverage area, GreenMech main dealers GA Groundcare Ltd have announced the appointment of Matt Textor as Sales Manager.

A well-known industry name, Matt joins the Wiltshire dealership to spearhead sales of the GreenMech woodchipper range across their increased nine-county territory.

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor

Having initially joined T H White Groundcare on a Service Engineering apprenticeship, Matt spent a total of 13 years in the workshop where he developed a thorough understanding of the mechanics behind a vast selection of groundcare and arboricultural equipment. This foundation went on to set Matt up for a successful 7 years in sales, pairing his technical know-how with an appreciation of the requirements of a wide customer base. During this time, he also headed up sales of the GreenMech range of pedestrian, road-tow, PTO and tracked woochippers from T H White’s Reading depot during their tenure as a dealer.

In his new position as Sales Manager for GA Groundcare Ltd, Matt will be in charge of business development across their new larger territory and is ideally placed to serve the South Eastern counties from his Berkshire location. On his appointment, Matt said, “I’m excited about the new challenge ahead and being able to target and focus all of my efforts solely on one fantastic product line. GreenMech are great ambassadors for British manufacturing and I am very much looking forward to working closely alongside them again, and the whole GA Groundcare Ltd team, to support customers old and new.”

Commenting on the exciting growth of GA Groundcare Ltd, Director Ashley Stevens added, “I’m very pleased to finally be able to get Matt on board, having worked alongside him a number of years ago. His mechanical knowledge and honest sales approach is a great fit for our business model.”

Operating from their purpose-built depot in Poulshot, Wiltshire, GA Groundcare Ltd are exclusive to the GreenMech franchise, offering supply, servicing and support, together with stocking a comprehensive range of GreenMech replacement parts. The success of the partnership saw an extension of GA Groundcare Ltd’s territory in January 2021 to serve the counties of Berkshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire.

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)

Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor

Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Capillary Concrete solving bunker problems

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor

GA Groundcare appoint Matt Textor: Following the recent news of expansion in their coverage area, GreenMech main dealers GA Groundcare Ltd have announced the appointment of Matt Textor as Sales Manager.

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