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Day Of The Tetraploid

August 9, 2017/in Turf Spotlight/by Scott MacCallum

Day Of The Tetraploid: Wonderful work is being carried out by Top Green which will take sports surfaces to another level. Scott MacCallum dug out his passport to find out more about what is going on. A message to all turf managers who find themselves battling with a poor quality sward, disease or pest infestation. There […]

Yeovil Golf Club Invests In Two Toro Machines For Quality

August 9, 2017/in Machinery, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Yeovil Golf Club invests in two Toro machines for quality: Toro has impressed again at Yeovil Golf Club, where the quality of a TriFlex 3400 and Reelmaster 5610-D has shone through at the 27-hole parkland course. While Yeovil has praised the heavy-duty 5610-D fairway mower for its comfort and “ease of use”, the 3400 greens mower […]

Day Of The Tetraploid

August 9, 2017/in Turf Spotlight/by Scott MacCallum

Yeovil Golf Club Invests In Two Toro Machines For Quality

August 9, 2017/in Machinery, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Day Of The Tetraploid

August 9, 2017/in Turf Spotlight/by Scott MacCallum

Day Of The Tetraploid: Wonderful work is being carried out by Top Green which will take sports surfaces to another level. Scott MacCallum dug out his passport to find out more about what is going on.

A message to all turf managers who find themselves battling with a poor quality sward, disease or pest infestation. There is help at hand and it can be found in a little corner of north west France where all your problematic grass issues are being tackled and solutions found. It may take some time but be assured that the work is being done.

Top Green, the seed development arm of Rigby Taylor, are based at Les Alleuds, near Anger, and it is there that test plots containing thousands of cultivar species and varieties are examined, developed and nurtured to identify those most likely to offer salvation to turf managers all over Europe and beyond.

A recent press trip, organised by Rigby Taylor, provided the ideal opportunity for a group of the country’s industry journalists to witness the work that goes on at the Top Green Research facility.

Situated in idyllic rural countryside the Top Green is a highly sophisticated and cutting edge operation, a hint of which comes with the sight of robot mowers silently cutting the grounds around the building.

The surrounding fields contain grass varieties which will undoubtedly be found in the sports pitches and golf courses of the future, but you would do well to track them down. There are 90,000 metre square trial plots at Top Green – 30,000 are planted each year on a three year cycle – and they include every conceivable combination of cultivar species and variety, each one carrying hopes that it will develop into something special.

Brit abroad, Stephen Alderton is Top Green’s Assistant Managing Director and a man who knows these plots inside out.

“We test the plots visually three to four times a year, looking for colour, consistency, disease, drought and shade resistance and in doing so someone will walk 30km,” revealed Stephen.

At various stages seed from well performing plots will be married together to see if weaknesses can be eliminated and strengths built upon but it is a pain staking process fraught with unfulfilled expectations and disappointments.

The French grass breeding fraternity also carries out its own research with companies sharing out their own seed for blind testing on each other’s trial plots, a system which works extremely well.

“You can produce a potential variety which ticks all the boxes we want to find only to discover that we can’t scale it up by producing enough seed to make it commercially viable,” explained Stephen, adding that with 15 years of research and development behind each new variety a fall at the final hurdle can be tough to bear.

Lighting rigs and wear machines are also in evidence at Les Alleuds to ensure that all tested grass experiences the same sorts of issues it would face were it to pass all its exams and graduate as a fully fledged new variety and come up against the studs, spikes, clubs and sticks of modern day sport.

Amid the 50 shades of green (and more) of the grass plots there can also be found a splash of colour with the Euroflor wild flower mixes which have been developed and which prove such an attraction to local authorities and managers of open space, or golf courses, who wish to enhance the overall appearance of their sites.

But for turf professionals everywhere it is the prospect of a new super grass which may allow them to sleep soundly at night and in recent years the development of the tetraploid which sounds like the creation of John Wyndham or something from a Dr Who episode, but is actually one of the most remarkable advances in cultivar performance.

No science fiction here. This is science fact.

Jayne Leyland, is Rigby Taylor’s Grass Seed & Line Marking Product Manager, and she has mastered the art of explaining the highly technical background to tetraploids in an understandable fashion.

“Ploidy is a reference to the number of complete sets of chromosomes within the nucleus of each plant cell. Each chromosome is made of protein and is naturally occurring in many plant species. It can also be induced in plants through the application of a natural alkaloid plant hormone,” explained Jayne.

Alright, perhaps I overstated the understandability factor but the benefits are there to be seen and Jayne is as good as anyone at explaining the remarkable performance achieved by tetraploids.

Tetraploid perennial ryegrass boasts high energy seed and strong growth in cooler conditions making it ideal for autumn overseeding and repairs while excellent winter wear and re-growth helps keep surfaces in play as the season carries on through winter. The high root mass also delivers greater drought tolerance and stability, while it has also proved to be excellent in shaded conditions.

“Shade and wear trials carried out at Les Alleuds have shown how the latest tetraploid cultivars deliver excellent performance in reduced light levels,” said Jayne.

“Although relatively new to the amenity market, tetraploid mixtures and blends are fast becoming the number one choice for renovation and repaid of natural and hybrid grass surfaces in a host of environments including football, and cricket pitches, racecourses and golf course.”

Patience is a virtue and with a 15 year lead time on a new variety of cultivar it can be found in bucket loads at Top Green, but with the expertise on hand there, together with Rigby Taylor’s ability to bring it to market, those turf professionals waiting for solutions will be rewarded.

Turf Matters would like to thank Stephen and Howard, of Top Green, and Richard and Jayne, of Rigby Taylor, for their generous hospitality and excellent company during the visit.

Yeovil Golf Club Invests In Two Toro Machines For Quality

August 9, 2017/in Machinery, Press Release/by Rosie Duckworth

While Yeovil has praised the heavy-duty 5610-D fairway mower for its comfort and “ease of use”, the 3400 greens mower is the real favourite with course manager James Leitch hailing it as “superior to all other machines.”

“Having been in the industry for over 25 years I’ve experienced my fair share of mowers, but the TriFlex 3400’s quality of cut is superior to all other machines. Its DPA units leave such a beautiful finish that you’d think it was the result of a pedestrian mower,” James enthuses.

He continues: “On top of all that the 3400’s ease of use is great too: it’s fast to transport, easy to service and changing units is simple thanks to the tool-free quick change feature.”

Both machines have impressed with their high build quality, and James chose them for this very reason: “With Toro you are guaranteed quality, and with known quality comes a higher residual value. The new machines have already proved their worth and will make great long-term investments for the club too I’m sure.”

With every Toro machine purchased, Elliot Wellman from Toro dealer Devon Garden Machinery has been “reliable and helpful”. James says: “We’ve worked with Devon Garden Machinery for years and the back-up service is excellent. Elliot is a brilliant guy and it’s reassuring to know that he’ll get hold of any Toro spare parts quickly should we need them.”

Investing in Toro machinery paid dividends earlier this year when a flood hit Yeovil on the weekend of the Dorset County Championship: “A thunderstorm flooded the course with two inches of rain on the Friday of the competition – we thought we’d have to cancel the event entirely. The next day, the water had drained away completely and there was no trace of the flood!

“I put it down to the maintenance me and the wider greenkeeping team did with our Toro machines in the lead-up to the championship. Regular aeration with the ProCore 648 and top-dressing with the ProPass 200 meant we didn’t have to call off the event!”

Come rain or shine, Toro continues to prove itself a worthy investment for Dorset-based Yeovil Golf Club. From playing an instrumental part in helping the course recover from a flood, to the positive first impressions of the club’s new machines, it’s clear that James can always rely on Toro’s “quality” machinery.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfnews.co.uk

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Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Day Of The Tetraploid

Yeovil Golf Club Invests In Two Toro Machines For Quality

Day Of The Tetraploid

Yeovil Golf Club Invests In Two Toro Machines For Quality

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Day Of The Tetraploid

Yeovil Golf Club Invests In Two Toro Machines For Quality

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