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Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB

April 9, 2019/in News, Press Release, Sport/by Lucy Nicholls

Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB: ICL’s Riptide, the no1 ranked creeping bentgrass, has been a key player in the development of the greens at the stunning JCB Golf and Country Club. Set amid the lush green rolling countryside of Staffordshire lies one of the most exciting new golf courses to be built in the […]

Bionema Demo Nematode Application

April 9, 2019/in News, Press Release/by Dr Minshad Ansari

Bionema Demo Nematode Application: Bionema Ltd, a leading biopesticide technology developer, has released a new case study video for the control of chafer grubs in turf. The video provides step by step guidelines to greenkeepers, groundsmen and course managers in how to apply the beneficial nematodes (roundworms). Bionema has seen excellent success in recent nematode […]

Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB

April 9, 2019/in News, Press Release, Sport/by Lucy Nicholls

Bionema Demo Nematode Application

April 9, 2019/in News, Press Release/by Dr Minshad Ansari

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB

April 9, 2019/in News, Press Release, Sport/by Lucy Nicholls

Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB: ICL’s Riptide, the no1 ranked creeping bentgrass, has been a key player in the development of the greens at the stunning JCB Golf and Country Club.

Set amid the lush green rolling countryside of Staffordshire lies one of the most exciting new golf courses to be built in the UK over the last decade. No stone has been left unturned in the creation of this remarkable 18-hole course designed by British architect Robin Hiseman of European Golf Design.

“This is a high end facility that people might only visit once a year or even just once in their lifetime. The whole experience has to be there and it is down to us to deliver that on the golf course,” said Callum Wark, Golf Course Manager.

No doubt those who play the course will be fully immersed in the experience and will marvel at the imaginative design concepts of the course. It is also inevitable that the course will provide the backdrop for compelling drama to unfold – history will be made and the finest players in the world will steal the limelight but the unsung heroes responsible for this magnificent course deserve every bit of credit.

The story that will not be told, is that throughout this four year journey, the greenkeeping team at the JCB Golf and Country Club have been involved in the whole construction process from start to finish.

“Myself and four senior greenkeepers were equally involved in all aspects of construction,” said Euan Grant, General Manager. “We had all been around constructions in the past but none of us had ever had direct construction experience. For greenkeepers to jump on excavators and dumpers, and to be ploughing and turning soils over is really quite remarkable. We have been fully engrossed in the project working seven days a week making the best of the weather when we can.

“It is a heavy clay site so we had to work when it was dry. If we got two days of rain then we couldn’t work for ten days and if that meant working at 8 o’clock on a Sunday night then we were working at 8 o’clock on a Sunday night.”

It is no wonder that Euan, Callum and the team speak about their involvement with an overwhelming sense of pride. After all, they have helped to create a world-class golf complex that will stand shoulder to shoulder with the very best. However, these modest greenkeepers are not allowing themselves to get that far ahead…yet.

“The tournaments will happen but first of all we need to achieve agronomic excellence,” said Euan.

“In order to achieve that, and in order to host tournaments, you have to be in that top percentile of golf course reputation and quality,” added Callum.

With the construction coming to an end, their attentions quickly turned to ensuring that they had the correct suppliers and products in place which would indeed help them to reach that top tier – and the greens were the first port of call.

In order to select the ideal grass seed for the greens, Euan created a trial area and split a nursery into five different rootzone amendments which consisted of a profile product – which was porous ceramic, a green waste product, two zeolite products and a straight sand. Six different grasses from six different suppliers were then applied to the rootzone plots.

“We monitored the germination rates, density, colour and disease to find out which product would be the best for our site,” said Euan. “We didn’t put any fungicides on them throughout winter because we wanted to know which diseases would be more prevalent. Based on all of the results, and also by looking closely at which was the strongest grass coming out of winter, we decided that we would go with ICL’s Riptide on a green waste compost / sand mix as per USGA specification.”

Exclusive to ICL, Riptide is the no1 ranked creeping bentgrass variety, it is ideal for seeding new areas or when used for interseeding as part of a course renovation programme. This fine-leaved, densely-shooting, creeping bentgrass establishes quickly, especially in spring, growing upright but low to the ground with high tiller shoot density and keeping its bright mid-green colour right through autumn and winter.

Riptide responds very well to lower nutritional inputs and less frequent watering, potentially significantly reducing costs involved in a higher maintenance programme and offering a more sustainable approach; less fertilizer, fungicide, scarification and verti-cutting.

Furthermore, Riptide was given top rankings for quality of appearance and disease resistance by the The Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) and the United States based National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP).

Sowing at an application rate of between 6-8g/m², the team at the JCB Golf and Country Club used Riptide to seed and grow-in eleven greens in the first year and then nine the following year.

“We were germinating in five days and mowing in ten days,” said Euan. “Because it was our first year and it was a soft opening, we were under no pressure whatsoever to cut the grass down to achieve fast speeds. However, we were still getting 10.5ft without significantly chasing that. It is an incredibly fine grass.”

“We haven’t looked back,” added Callum. “The rooting has been amazing – we are 300mm of rootzone over 100mm gravel and even now, a year on from opening, the roots are way down into the gravel. They are incredibly strong roots.”

Commenting on the use of Riptide at the JCB Golf and Country Club, Emma Kilby, Technical Area Sales Manager for ICL, said: “I’m really proud that Riptide has played a big part in the greens here and the development of our seeds is growing all of the time – you just have to look at the new cultivars we’ve got which have a very high rating within the STRI.

“It has been incredible to be involved from the very start. From coming in here and just seeing clay to where they are now is a fantastic achievement. JCB is a great company to work with, in terms of their history, their ethos and their direction.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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

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Bionema Demo Nematode Application

April 9, 2019/in News, Press Release/by Dr Minshad Ansari

Bionema Demo Nematode Application: Bionema Ltd, a leading biopesticide technology developer, has released a new case study video for the control of chafer grubs in turf. The video provides step by step guidelines to greenkeepers, groundsmen and course managers in how to apply the beneficial nematodes (roundworms).

Bionema has seen excellent success in recent nematode field trials conducted on the chafer infestation experienced at the Grove Golf Club, Watford. These eco-friendly and chemical free methods of destroying chafer grubs are shaping the biopesticide industry.

“We have seen an increase in the success of nematode applications by educating users on correct application techniques” said Dr Minshad Ansari, CEO of Bionema. Bionema’s pest control products are available through Rigby Taylor, a leading distributor to the turf and amenity sector. “Our goal is to see an improvement in nematode efficacy by educating greenkeepers, groundsmen and race course managers in the correct application of beneficial nematodes”.

The new two-minute video outlines the benefits of training and good application techniques for chafer control in turf, it also explains the importance of product quality, storage and correct handling.

As each female chafer beetle can lay 100-300 eggs in June, this treatment involves beneficial nematodes attacking and destroying the larvae of the chafer grubs therefore preventing them from developing further population. We recommend combining the nematode application with the BeetlesAttra chafer monitoring traps for optimum results.

Bionema’s NemaTrident^® – a range of beneficial nematode products are safe and non-toxic to users and the environment. It is targeted towards specific pests and thus avoids harming beneficial insects. This safe and environmentally friendly method has a 70-100% kill rates and is on average 20-30% more effective than other nematode products on the market.

Phillip Chiverton, Course Manager at the Grove, said in the video:

“We have seen 80% reduction of chafer grubs in the first year with Bionema’s NemaTrident^® solution, with continuous progress in years two and three. The product costs less money than the chemical treatment, it’s more sustainable for the environment and so is a much better way of dealing with this current issue”.

Bionema are one of the few organizations that focus on a chemical-free method of crop protection and bio-control. All products that are developed are natural products, which use fungi, bacteria and nematodes to help reduce the use of chemical pesticides as well as offering an effective treatment for regulating chafer grub as well as other common pests.

The current problem is so serious, that an emergency summit is to be held with the aim of finding industry-led solutions to the threat of Chafer Grubs and Leatherjackets in the turf industry https://bionema.com/emergency-chafers-and-leatherjackets-summit/. The Summit will take place on 9^th May 2019 at Burton Albion Football, Staffordshire. Attendance at this industry summit is vital to those in the industry that want to develop a long-term preventative strategy for Chafers and Leatherjackets. There are a limited number of free places available, which can be reserved by emailing info@bionema.com.

To watch the video and learn more about nematode application visit www.bionema.com

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)

Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB

Bionema Demo Nematode Application

Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB

Bionema Demo Nematode Application

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB

Riptide Plays Key Role At JCB: ICL’s Riptide, the no1 ranked creeping bentgrass, has been a key player in the development of the greens at the stunning JCB Golf and Country Club.

Bionema Demo Nematode Application

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