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How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

September 9, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses An award-winning golf club near London has won plaudits from bee and butterfly experts by transforming rough into nectar-rich wildflower meadows. Featured in a new episode of YouTube series The Green Report by Syngenta – broadcast to mark International Thank a Greenkeeper Day on September 8 – nature-conscious greenkeepers Matt Aplin and […]

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

September 9, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage Manufacturer of compact multifunctional loaders, Avant Tecno, have announced the appointment of Charlies Ag & Turf as a new authorised dealer, strengthening their coverage and customer support across Wales. Through the new partnership with the Welsh supplier of agricultural and grounds care machinery, Avant Tecno are able to provide a […]

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

September 9, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

September 9, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

September 9, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

An award-winning golf club near London has won plaudits from bee and butterfly experts by transforming rough into nectar-rich wildflower meadows.

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

Featured in a new episode of YouTube series The Green Report by Syngenta – broadcast to mark International Thank a Greenkeeper Day on September 8 – nature-conscious greenkeepers Matt Aplin and Melissa Winkworth at Goring & Streatley Golf Club explain how they have created 7.5 hectares of habitat perfect for pollinating insects.

According to local beekeeper Rob Nickless of Meadow Honey Farm, the golf course, which sits on chalk downland in the Thames Valley, is his most productive cropping site, yielding hundreds of jars of honey and making the club more than £20,000 in revenue, all reinvested into further biodiversity projects.

“Most people expect golf courses to be green deserts,” said Nickless. “Far from it. There are fantastic amounts of flowering plants here and it is beautiful natural forage for the bees.”

Syngenta established Operation Pollinator to address the decline in natural habitats and pollinator numbers. Active in 41 countries, the initiative is estimated to have restored biodiversity across more than eight million hectares of unused land.

Simon Elsworth of Syngenta said: “Pollinators as a group are critical to the environment and for the production of our food. Without pollinators much of the world’s food wouldn’t exist, or would be produced much more inefficiently.

“What Matt, Melissa and the team here have done here is a real exemplar. By taking some areas out of high maintenance and allowing them to regenerate into areas for biodiversity, it reduces the labour requirements and enables the team to spend more time on the in-play areas, creating brilliant playing experiences for customers.”

Like many greenkeepers around the world, the team at Goring & Streatley care passionately about the golf courses they manage and the environment they work in.

Melissa Winkworth, Deputy Course Manager, whose interest in ecology kick-started the biodiversity projects at the club, said: “It’s great to see how far we’ve come and how people have bought into it. Now, we are always looking to see where we can add wildflowers.”

Course Manager Matt Aplin confirmed further projects are planned, funded by sales of honey.

“We look at things completely differently now,” he said. “We’re looking to create an orchard close to the beehives where we are going to plant around 150 apple, plum, pear and cherry trees which will be pollinated by the bees and harvest the fruit to use in the clubhouse.”

The episode release coincides with International Thank A Greenkeeper Day, an annual campaign recognizing the hard work and dedication of turf management professionals worldwide.

The Green Report docuseries recently surpassed 100,000 views, providing a global platform for leading course superintendents to showcase practical environmental stewardship and progressive land management.

The full episode is available to watch now on YouTube.

Get involved

Golf clubs and sports facilities interested in joining Operation Pollinator can register at: https://turf.syngentaturflandscape.com/en-gb/operation-pollinator

To watch all episodes of The Green Report and access case studies on sustainable golf, visit syngentagolf.com syngentagolf.com

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

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Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

September 9, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

Manufacturer of compact multifunctional loaders, Avant Tecno, have announced the appointment of Charlies Ag & Turf as a new authorised dealer, strengthening their coverage and customer support across Wales.

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

Through the new partnership with the Welsh supplier of agricultural and grounds care machinery, Avant Tecno are able to provide a better service to customers, improving local sales and aftersales support, increasing machine availability and strengthening parts and service coverage within the Mid Wales region.

“Charlies Ag & Turf has built an excellent reputation within the agricultural, grounds care and machinery sectors, with a strong customer-focused approach that aligns closely with our values at Avant. This new appointment represents an important step in strengthening our dealer network and further improving the support, accessibility and customer experience we provide across the UK” says Raimo Ala-Korpi, Managing Director of Avant Tecno UK.

Due to the growing demand of Avant loaders and attachments across British agriculture, equestrian, landscaping, construction and municipal sectors, the company has sought to invest in stronger regional representation by expanding their UK dealer network.

“We’re pleased to be joining the Avant Tecno dealer network and adding their world-renowned, multifunctional loaders to our fleet! Stocking various of their attachments that are purpose-built for specialist task, Avant machines offer outstanding versatility and will help enhance productivity for both our agricultural and turf customers” says Harry Jones, Territory Sales Manager at Charlies Ag & Turf.

Founded in Finland in 1991, Avant Tecno are the world’s first producer of the compact loader – a multifunctional machine built to tackle a wide range of tasks with ease and efficiency.

With over 200 attachments designed to meet the needs of their customers, Avant loaders support productivity across construction, plant hire, agriculture, landscaping, equestrian and property maintenance applications.

Part of the Charlies Stores Group, Charlies Ag & Turf Ltd are a dealer of agricultural and turf products, operating from their depot in Coed Y Dinas, Welshpool.

“Welcome to the Avant family Charlies Ag & Turf, we look forward to working together to continue growing the Avant brand throughout Mid Wales and beyond!” concludes Raimo.

For more information about Avant Tecno, visit https://www.avanttecno.com/uk

For more information about Charlies Ag & Turf, visit https://www.charliesagturf.co.uk/

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)

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

How Nature-Minded Greenkeepers Are Transforming Golf Courses

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

Avant Tecno expands UK coverage

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