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An R&A appointment for ETL

March 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Sharon Singleton-Bruce

An R&A appointment for ETL: ETL, a Labosport Group company in Central Scotland, are proud to announce that they are now the official testing laboratory for The R&A, supporting testing for all Professional & Amateur event venues. Sharon Singleton-Bruce, Managing Director of ETL says “this is an amazing opportunity for the laboratory, and we are […]

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative

March 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Juliet Liddell

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative: Twenty-one turf professionals from across the UK and Ireland have completed the 2020 Future Turf Managers Initiative (FTMI) at Jacobsen’s Ipswich headquarters. The intensive three-day event is focused on providing future turf managers with the skills and confidence to manage people and progress their careers, with 33% of candidates moving […]

An R&A appointment for ETL

March 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Sharon Singleton-Bruce

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative

March 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Juliet Liddell

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

An R&A appointment for ETL

March 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Sharon Singleton-Bruce

An R&A appointment for ETL: ETL, a Labosport Group company in Central Scotland, are proud to announce that they are now the official testing laboratory for The R&A, supporting testing for all Professional & Amateur event venues.

Sharon Singleton-Bruce, Managing Director of ETL says “this is an amazing opportunity for the laboratory, and we are looking forward to working with The R&A’s agronomists, Alistair Beggs, Richard Windows and Adam Newton.”

An R&A appointment for ETL

Testing for The R&A includes several of ETL’s Golf Green Health Testing (GGHI) tests using bespoke sampling kits. This service is providing course managers and agronomists with data for the performance of their golf greens, including undisturbed infiltration rates, organic matter content at incremental depths and nutrient analysis.

ETL is A2LA-accredited in the field of “Geotechnical, Putting Green Materials” since 1997, with an unrivalled experience of testing venues from all over the world. Adhering to the rigorous protocols of the accreditation provides the industry’s most reliable laboratory data.

Alistair Beggs, Head of Agronomy at The R&A said “we are delighted to be partnering ETL laboratories, and we are looking forward to working with Charles and Sharon who are able to give us the supporting information and knowledge we need to ensure the venues we use are maintained optimally and provide first class surfaces for member and championship golf. “

About ETL

European Turfgrass Laboratories Ltd (ETL) provides an independent and unbiased service for the analysis of soils, sand, peat, gravel, rootzone and other materials specifically for the turfgrass and landscape industries.

Formed in 1996, we have been testing materials for many of the world’s leading golf clubs, football clubs, national stadiums, racecourses and other natural grass sports surfaces
ETL’s market began in the UK and Ireland and has rapidly expanded across Europe into Africa, Middle East, Australasia and South America.

Golf course architects, agronomists, material suppliers, contractors, local authorities and government agencies use our testing services extensively during project planning and construction to ensure that all materials are conforming to their project’s specifications.

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21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative

March 13, 2020/in News, Press Release/by Juliet Liddell

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative: Twenty-one turf professionals from across the UK and Ireland have completed the 2020 Future Turf Managers Initiative (FTMI) at Jacobsen’s Ipswich headquarters.

The intensive three-day event is focused on providing future turf managers with the skills and confidence to manage people and progress their careers, with 33% of candidates moving on to managerial positions over the seven years the initiative has been running.

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative

In association with BIGGA, the course uses professional trainers and mentors to provide the practical tools and guidance needed, including communicating a professional image, conflict resolution and building budgets.

Mentors for this year’s initiative were Craig Haldane, Andrew Laing, Steve Lloyd and James Bledge. In 2017, James became the first candidate to return as a mentor and, having experienced the initiative from both sides, views the FTMI as a unique opportunity to learn vital management skills.

“There are so many brilliant volunteering programmes, but the FTMI is different because it is proper management learning,” he explained. “It’s intense as well, it’s seven o’clock in the morning to ten at night, it’s non-stop, and it does subject you to proper hard work and proper hard learning in a classroom environment.

“When you go from being a deputy or greenkeeper to course manager, managing people is your biggest shock. The agronomy side of it is twenty percent, and the management is eighty. If you’re making that transition, then it’s a big bump down to earth because there are so many banana skins out there and managing people is difficult.

“Everything you get taught is beneficial, there’s no grey areas or bad parts of it, you’ve got to be engaged the whole time and not miss anything because it’s all important. There’s nothing that’s more important than anything else because you’ll deal with every single part of it.”

Because the initiative covers a range of topics, it allows individual candidates to take different things from it. Zoe Lee-Amies, greenkeeper at Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club, applied to the course to increase her confidence and has already benefited from what she has learnt.

“The reason I applied to come to the FTMI as a majority of people on the course have expressed is confidence – confidence to talk in front of people. It’s already helped give me the tools to cope with it. I find myself needing cue cards, so now I know that where ever I go and whatever I do I can have that, that’s how I can outline bits and pieces. The coping mechanisms like squeezing the ball, pressing your hand on the table or holding my cue card really hard – those are great learning tips, and I’ve got a lot out of it so far.

“But, predominantly for myself, it was conflict resolution, and how to talk to people, how to get information out of them and out of myself. To be able to meet in the middle like we’ve been discussing and it’s only when you’re here that you start to reflect on yourself and others. You realise that it’s a learning opportunity of yourself, it’s a mirror for yourself and I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Gemma St John, first assistant at Brokenhurst Manor Golf Club, also values the self-reflection the course offers, but like Zoe, has found the communication side invaluable for old fashioned attitudes she unfortunately still has to face as a female greenkeeper.

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative

Gemma explained: “I applied mostly for confidence to try and deal with the older generation. I did a talk at the BCA College in front of greenkeepers from the ages of 16-19 and the question they asked me was ‘why do you find it hard in greenkeeping? You’re just a greenkeeper.’ And I explained that they’ve learnt in this day and age that we’re all equal, but what you’ve got to remember is 40 years ago we weren’t. So, talking to you guys was lovely, but I’ve now got to go and talk to members who think ‘how can you lift that, how can you use a chain saw, you can’t do what he can do.’

“With the FTMI, hopefully, my conversations with them will be more positive and not have that shaky voice where I do feel a bit intimidated by them. Now I know how to process the questions they’ve asked me and answer them in a more confident way by using the strategies that we’ve learnt here.”

Providing candidates with skills they can use immediately is an essential part of what is on offer over the three days, and Jack Percival, deputy course manager at Chipstead Golf Club, already has plans on sharing what he’s learnt to benefit his team.

“I’ve applied for the FTMI three years running and didn’t get it, so I wanted to take full advantage of it and take as much information as I can from the mentors and use it with my team.

“I’ve already thought of ways that I can go back and use what I’ve learnt. Because I’m quite confident and good at presentations, I’m already thinking of how I can help the team back at work and get them to channel their energy and help them with their presentation skills. We’ve got a few guys on our team who are fantastic guys, but they’re a bit shy, and I want to help them come out of their shell using what I’ve learnt.”

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)

An R&A appointment for ETL

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative

An R&A appointment for ETL

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

An R&A appointment for ETL

An R&A appointment for ETL: ETL, a Labosport Group company in Central Scotland, are proud to announce that they are now the official testing laboratory for The R&A, supporting testing for all Professional & Amateur event venues.

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative

21 complete Jacobsen’s 2020 Initiative: Twenty-one turf professionals from across the UK and Ireland have completed the 2020 Future Turf Managers Initiative (FTMI) at Jacobsen’s Ipswich headquarters.

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