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BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

November 15, 2018/in News, Press Release/by Darren Taylor

BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA: The British Association of Landscape Industries’ (BALI) careers initiative, GoLandscape, has forged a partnership with YMCA Training to support their work on delivering industry apprenticeships in the wake of a 28% shortfall in the number of apprenticeships being undertaken in the UK*. Along with a decrease in apprenticeships, the Open […]

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

November 14, 2018/in News, Press Release, Sport/by CharmianRobson

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC: Duncan Ross Sports Contractors has used its drainage expertise to successfully revitalise three fairways at Longridge Golf Club that had previously suffered heavily with water retention. The 18-hole, 5,904-yard, course provides outstanding views over the Ribble Valley, Forest of Bowland and the Fylde coast, and, is maintained to an exceptional standard […]

BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

November 15, 2018/in News, Press Release/by Darren Taylor

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

November 14, 2018/in News, Press Release, Sport/by CharmianRobson

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BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

November 15, 2018/in News, Press Release/by Darren Taylor

Along with a decrease in apprenticeships, the Open University have recently reported that only 8% of companies in the UK have drawn from their levy, proving that more support is needed to inspire, educate and encourage industry employers to understand the benefits of taking on apprentices as part of their workforce.

YMCA Training – part of Central YMCA – helps young people find new opportunities through work and training. Every year, thousands of apprentices are trained and go on to build rewarding and fulfilling careers.

BALI’s Education Officer, Stephen Ensell, said; “GoLandscape is proud to support YMCA Training in the industry apprenticeships they offer; their bespoke training means that, nationally, they can help landscapers develop a workforce that addresses the skill shortfalls they so desperately need, which in turn helps boost the economy and grow their own business. We are really looking forward to supporting and working with them in the promotion of the industry”.

BALI’s GoLandscape initiative launched nationwide in March 2018 at RHS Garden Wisley and has already made significant progress in working with employers and industry colleges to provide more opportunities for school leavers and career changers to find suitable employment within the landscape industry, where their skills and knowledge are mapped to the needs of businesses operating in both domestic and commercial capacities.

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Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

November 14, 2018/in News, Press Release, Sport/by CharmianRobson

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC: Duncan Ross Sports Contractors has used its drainage expertise to successfully revitalise three fairways at Longridge Golf Club that had previously suffered heavily with water retention.

The 18-hole, 5,904-yard, course provides outstanding views over the Ribble Valley, Forest of Bowland and the Fylde coast, and, is maintained to an exceptional standard by Course Manager, Andrew Read, and his four staff.

During his 18-years at the club, Andrew had to contend with moisture retention on the third and ninth fairways. Recently, this had caused the third fairway to become near unplayable and action was taken to bring it, and the ninth and eleventh fairways, back in line with the rest of the course.

Duncan Ross was picked to rectify the drainage issue based on Andrews requirement to find a contractor capable of delivering a high quality and tidy project.

He said: “It is the first time that Duncan has worked on our course. I know of the company’s reputation through word of mouth from other greenkeepers and going on Twitter and seeing the videos and work they have done recently, so it’s the overall reputation and recommendations which swayed it for me.

“The third fairway this time last year was horrible. It was black in places, you could hardly walk on it, so if you can’t walk on it you can’t really play golf on it.

“We had more problems when it came to cutting because it would make a mess. In the autumn it never dried up, so I had a meeting with our greens chairman and explained that we needed drainage work done, and they went to the council and funds were made available.

“We then got Duncan on site and he looked at the third, ninth and eleventh fairways and came back with a plan. I had drawn some plans up and Duncan looked at those and decided what the best way to achieve it was, and he’s got the experience, so we were happy to go with what he recommended.

“Going into September we’ve had over 160mm of rain and the drains have started working well. We’ve checked the outlets and there is loads of water coming out of them, so it’s been a sound long-term investment.

“The third fairway and the ninth, which is a short fairway, are now playable. I checked the outlets on the ninth recently and they were running well, and the fairway is dry.

“Golf is a 12-months a year sport now, in the past getting into September and October people started putting their clubs away but now they want to play all year round. The ninth used to get churned up because we’d need to have buggies on for people that couldn’t walk around the course, so we did the ninth because it was wet but also to make it more playable and get the buggies going on there.”

Whilst the main objective of the drainage installation was achieved on the third, ninth and eleventh fairway, Andrew and the club’s members were also impressed with the clean and diligent nature the Duncan Ross team carried out the project.

Because the course had to be allowed time to dry out from the wet winter, work began during May for two weeks when the course was in use. This meant work needed to be flexible and accommodate competitions the course was hosting, requiring the work to be done in a clean and tidy way, something the company is renowned for doing.

“The men worked around us, if we had a competition on then they would move onto another fairway, so the only disruption was the drainage lines that were left afterwards but they were nice and tidy, and the golfers were really impressed with the work and how tidy everything was,” Andrew explained.

“The golfers are happy and we’re happy because we didn’t have to spend time clearing up after the work, we were able to concentrate on looking after the rest of the course instead.

“The club members and the council will look at it and be happy to use them again because the site was always left in a tidy condition.”

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.

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)

BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

BALI GoLandscape Pledges Support To YMCA

Duncan Ross At Longridge GC

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