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Irrigation At St Andrews

January 10, 2018/in Machinery, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Irrigation At St Andrews: The Castle Course at St Andrews Links is benefitting from an upgrade of Toro irrigation. Switching from Toro Site Pro to Lynx GAC software and from Flex to Infinity sprinklers, the upgrade brings the most modern technology available on the market to this majestic clifftop golf course. Forming the first irrigation deal since […]

Rugby Groundsman Honoured

January 10, 2018/in Industry News, Press Release/by External Source

Rugby Groundsman Honoured: The great Bard of Welsh rugby, Max Boyce, was recently honoured at the Rugby Union Writers’ Club in London for his services to rugby. The Glynneath RFC president joined Owen Farrell, Doddie Weir and Wharfedale RFC veteran Michael Harrison in being singled out in front of an audience that included World Rugby […]

Irrigation At St Andrews

January 10, 2018/in Machinery, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Rugby Groundsman Honoured

January 10, 2018/in Industry News, Press Release/by External Source

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Irrigation At St Andrews

January 10, 2018/in Machinery, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Forming the first irrigation deal since the Home of Golf reached a long-term agreement with The Toro Company to ensure Toro equipment and irrigation will maintain the seven courses for many years to come, Director of Greenkeeping Gordon Moir says: “The Site Pro system has served us well for many years, although we did suffer a severe lightning storm on one particular occasion, which over time has caused decoder failures. It was also time to extend and enlarge the pipework for an increase in flow, so the timing was right on all fronts. It was an easy decision to choose Lynx from the Toro range. It’s the newest system on the market and its features will make life easier from an operational point of view.”

Course manager Jon Wood confirms: “Many features stand out with the Lynx software, but especially the mapping and testing capabilities. From behind the desk you can narrow down the problems quickly, so by the time you go out on the course you have a pretty comprehensive idea of what the issue might be. Plus, there’s no need for endless sheets of paper, the mapping feature gives you all the site info you need on screen.

“While the software will make a big difference to how we run the irrigation on The Castle Course, making the biggest difference are the Infinity sprinklers. The ground here is different to the other six courses in that it’s more soil with a little bit of sand rather than sand-based and that makes it much tougher going when digging up sprinklers for maintenance and repairs. To know that we don’t have to do that anymore thanks to the fact that they are accessible from the top is fantastic for the team.”

As well as extending and enlarging the pipework, the opportunity was also taken to audit the site and make water savings where possible. That’s why the decision was made to break up some of the pairs of sprinklers running down the fairways, as Jon explains: “Out of the 300-400 pairs of sprinklers we have on the course we have split 100 for more effective water consumption. This will prevent over-watering the same area or areas we don’t need to water.”

The next step in the irrigation upgrade is to move to Toro B-series sprinklers on the tees over winter 2018. This will make all the sprinklers on the course interchangeable so the Trust won’t need to hold as much spare stock.

Jon concludes: “We were in America at the Toro headquarters earlier this year and we were talking about upcoming irrigation developments and basically the future is interchangeable. With this combination of Infinity and B-series sprinklers we’re not only taking the irrigation on The Castle Course to where it needs to be now, but we’re making it future proof, too. From now on, we’ll be able to leave the externals and just change out the internals such as the nozzles when required.”

And this progressive approach and attitude toward sustainability validates the reasons why St Andrews Link Trust entered into the long-term partnership with Toro this time last year. Not only was it felt that Toro was the best choice to maintain the playing conditions required now, but also gave the best fit for the club’s vision for the future, which is nicely illustrated here.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Rugby Groundsman Honoured

January 10, 2018/in Industry News, Press Release/by External Source

Rugby Groundsman Honoured: The great Bard of Welsh rugby, Max Boyce, was recently honoured at the Rugby Union Writers’ Club in London for his services to rugby.

The Glynneath RFC president joined Owen Farrell, Doddie Weir and Wharfedale RFC veteran Michael Harrison in being singled out in front of an audience that included World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont, CEO Brett Gosper, WRU chairman Gareth Davies and CEO Martyn Phillips and British & Irish Lions legends Sir Ian McGeechan and Roger Uttley.

Farrell beat off the challenges of fellow Lions Maro Itoje, Sam Warburton and Jonathan Davies, as well as Exeter coach Rob Baxter, to carry off the RUWC Pat Marshall award for the rugby personality of the year. Ex-Scotland and Lions lock Weir, currently battling Motor Neurone Disease, won the RUWC Special Award, while Boyce and Harrison picked up tankards for their ‘Services to Rugby’.

Harrison played 655 games for Wharfedale and has spent 40 years on the club committee. Boyce can claim 30 years as president at Glynneath and has been the club groundsman for the past dozen or more years. He recently told Peter Jackson, of the Rugby Paper, about his life-long association with his home town team.

”I played a bit at scrum half for the youth team. I was very small and not very good. I also played at openside. Full of heart but not much pace,” recalled Max, of an era when Glynneath were the powerhouse in second class rugby in Wales and Bas Thomas’ ‘Invincibles’ were in the process of reeling off 55 consecutive wins.

A young Dai Morris was learning his trade at the club at the time and while a young Max dreamt of playing in the 1st XV, he is the first to admit he didn’t get very close. ”I didn’t get very close to a first team game, in fact, I was a long, long way away!”

But, as Peter Jackson put it: “There would be no limit to his talent in other directions as a troubadour par excellence with the gold discs and million album sales to prove it. Unable to change the shape of Welsh rugby, he changed the sound instead with his Hymns and Arias brought to a whole new continental audience by the success of the Wales football team at the Euros in France last summer.

“Unlike his constricted playing days, there has never been any limit on Boyce the entertainer, nor on his ability to sharpen new skills in the unlikeliest spheres of expertise. As well as Boyce the bit-part player, miner, musician, comedian, lyricist and perceptive recorder of social history in song, another string has to be added to a very long bow: Boyce the Agronomist.

“His knowledge of grass passes all understanding. His role of honorary groundsman makes him arguably the ultimate one-club man, not that Boyce himself would dare lay claim to such a title. But how many at his age – 74 earlier this season – undertake a job which entails rolled up sleeves and muddied hands?

“Most settle for the less perspiring role as presidential figurehead. The Bard combines his club presidency with the challenging position of groundsman, tackling it with an enthusiasm generated by a lifelong passion for Glynneath and its rugby club.

Max explained where his ‘green fingers’ came from. “A long time ago when I was captain of the local golf club, the committee decided to dig up six greens. I got in touch with the British Turf people and their head agronomist. I didn’t know then what an agronomist was.

“I applied their professional advice to what little knowledge I had at the time to the rugby pitch. It was in a dire state, full of weeds and terrible drainage problems. Often the bottom 20 yards would be under a foot of water.
“Everyone piled in, all twelve of us from all walks of life in a great team effort. We’ve been looking after it now for 20 years. It’s my little hobby and I have to say the standard of pitches in the Championship is pretty good – but not as good as ours. It’s in great nick.”

So, for once, it was Max Boyce the Welsh rugby devotee, rather than Max the great entertainer, who was rewarded for efforts this week. He followed in the footsteps of Treorchy RFC stalwart Bryan James, who was honoured in a similar fashion last year, and received his award from Wale and Lions assistant coach Rob Howley.

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Irrigation At St Andrews

Rugby Groundsman Honoured

Irrigation At St Andrews

Rugby Groundsman Honoured

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Irrigation At St Andrews

Rugby Groundsman Honoured

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