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Well-Being and Recruitment Day a success

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Well-Being and Recruitment Day a success: On Tuesday 28th February 2023, Carnoustie Golf Links and The Rookery played host to its very first Recruitment Open Day, in parallel with a Health and Well-Being Open Day – another first of its kind at the Links.

Between 11am and 3pm residents from the local area were welcomed to Links House to explore the recruitment opportunities available at the Links, including roles in Guest Relations, Merchandise, Golf Operations and Restaurant Waiting Staff. The informal day was designed to give everyone a chance to meet some of the senior management team, explore the facilities and learn more about the roles.

Well-Being and Recruitment Day a success

Well-Being and Recruitment Day a success

Furthermore, over 32 local mental health and well-being services and charities were on site in The Rookery to share a wealth of information with everyone in attendance.

The day was deemed highly successful with over 130 guests in attendance. This event is one of the many outreach initiatives that Carnoustie Golf Links run. The most notable being its Community Benefits Programme which has donated over £250k+ to local good causes to date.

Services & Charities that attended on the day:

Alzheimer Scotland;
Andy’s Man Club;
Angus Health and Social Care Partnership;
Angus Independent Advocacy;
Angus Voice;
ANGUSalive;
Carnoustie Medical Group Patient Representative Group (provisional);
Change Mental Health;
Citizens Advice Bureau;
Communities Team (Carnoustie, Monifieth & Sidlaw) Angus Council;
Community Action Team Angus; Scottish Fire and Rescue Service;
Cruse Scotland Bereavement Support;
Department for Work and Pensions;
Dundee & Angus College;
Flourishing Well;
Golf Memories/Cycle Without Age;
Hear Me;
Macmillan (ANGUSalive);
Manna Project, Carnoustie Baptist Church;
Mental Health & Wellbeing and Substance Use, Public Health Directorate NHA Tayside;
Nature Prescribing;
New Solutions;
Penumbra;
Police Scotland;
REACH Across;
Re-Engage;
Royal British Legion Scotland;
Skills Team, Angus Council;
Skilz;
Suicide Prevention / MH &WB;
Tayside Council on Alcohol;
Voluntary Action Angus;

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Make a difficult job easy with myTurf Pro

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Make a difficult job easy with myTurf Pro: With economic uncertainty as it is, it’s never been more important to consider more than just the equipment’s purchase price. Now, with Toro’s myTurf Pro, working out the cost component of a club’s assets has never been easier.

myTurf Pro is a powerful, easy-to-use software application that tracks and manages all a club’s assets, regardless of brand. With access to real-time data, it’s possible to improve staff efficiency, lengthen the life of equipment and reduce overall maintenance costs across the entire range of equipment and assets.

Make a difficult job easy with myTurf Pro

Make a difficult job easy with myTurf Pro

Total Cost of Ownership is a vital part of the decision-making process when looking to invest in a new equipment, but certainly never before has the concept had such weight, as Jon Cole, divisional business manager – turfcare at Reesink Turfcare, UK distributor of Toro equipment, explains: “The cost of living crisis impacts businesses as much as consumers so it’s never been more important to consider more than just the purchase price of a club’s equipment. The net purchase or financed value is important, but often no more than 35 percent as a cost component of the equipment’s operating life.

“It’s equally important to look for value with features that enhance performance, productivity, reliability, downtime, durability and longevity for residual value.”

With robust record keeping it’s possible to balance investment, component costs and residual value, but with Toro technology in the form of the web-based asset management system, myTurf Pro, there’s no limit to what can be tracked, from equipment, irrigation, vehicles, attachments, hand tools and more, across one or more locations – and it’s so quick.

A decade in the making, the level of informational detail myTurf Pro provides is unrivalled by any other asset management system. Order parts, schedule service activities, track inventory, monitor fleet health and labour expenses or generate reports that demonstrate operational access, 24/7.

Customisable tools deliver interactive alerts, automated and proactive notifications, labour management and expense tracking, and instant access to service documentation and operational reports.

Jon continues: “myTurf Pro was designed to make our customer’s difficult job easier. It puts the optimisation, efficiency and effectiveness of the operation at the course managers’ fingertips and allows customers to track the total cost of ownership, depreciation, maintenance and operating expenses for the real value of machinery for its expected lifetime.”

And all of that is backed up by Toro NSN technical and customer support, by phone, email or chat, and up-to-date reference materials. It is available through Reesink Turfcare with flexible finance deals with deferred start dates, subsidised rates or those that can be aligned to peak income months to help manage cashflow. It only takes a conversation. Make contact online at via reesinkturfcare.co.uk, by phone on 01480 226800 or by email at info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk.

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Kubota LX 351 a real workhorse

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Kubota LX 351 a real workhorse: Lifting, mowing and manoeuvring within confined areas are proving no problem for an estate in the heart of Lincolnshire following the delivery of a Kubota LX 351 – which the owner describes as the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of compact tractors.

Complete with a range of attachments, the LX 351 was installed by Irelands Farm Machinery in Spring 2022 and has gone on to be fundamental to the expanding orchard operation, making light work of the year-round estate management and reducing the reliance on external contractors.

Kubota LX 351 a real workhorse

Kubota LX 351 a real workhorse

The 400-acre family-run estate comprises arable land, run by a tenant farmer, with 34 acres of woodland a further 6 acres of grassland in the final stages of being converted into a fully-operational orchard – with close to 1000 apple trees planted come the end of February 2023. A spokesperson for the estate said, “Our tractor is at the centre of everything we do here, so when it came to looking for a new one, we spent extensive time researching and comparing the options available. We had used Kubota machinery on hire previously and were impressed with the quality and engineering, but still looked at the specification of comparable brands.”

They continue, “Our wish list was for a 35hp tractor, powerful but small enough to navigate around the estate and capable of being equipped with attachments for mowing, towing, hedge cutting and lifting and moving pallets to where they are needed. We also wanted a cab and air-con for comfort and safety as we work all year-round.” Ticking every box, with a competitive price tag and excellent back-up support from the team at Irelands, the LX 351 complete with mixed service tyres, front-end loader and counterweight, front forks, log grapple, 60” mid-mounted mower deck and 2-tonne Kubota tipping trailer was installed in April last year.

“It’s proven itself to be a real workhorse, from lifting pallets on and off delivery vehicles, assisting with pruning trees, felling and planting jobs throughout the winter and spring and assisting with the apple harvest in September and October. Attachments are easy to switch with the ‘quick attach’ mechanism and all of the controls and features are designed for comfort, making for a very pleasant operator experience. The cut quality with the mid-mounted deck has also been superb, navigating around the newly planted saplings where the gap is no more than 4m.”

The LX 351 has also enabled the team to conduct more operations in-house, saving money otherwise spent on bringing in contractors, to the point where the estate are now considering offering contracting services themselves to those in the surrounding area. “This investment will pay for itself in no time and there’s been nothing we have asked of it to date, that it hasn’t been able to deliver.” They conclude, “The whole experience has been so positive that we would not hesitate to consider further equipment from the Kubota brand in the future, as and when the need arises.”

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4turf® delivers a sustainable drought-tolerant sward

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4turf® delivers a sustainable drought-tolerant sward: Opened in late 2019, Stoneham Lane Football Complex comprises 64sq.Km of artificial and natural sports pitches – supporting grass roots football for players of all ages and abilities.

Part of the FA’s Parklife Project, the maintenance of the Complex falls under the remit of Hampshire FA Facility Operations Manager Pete Hussey who, in conjunction with seed from DLF, keeps the five grass pitches fit for more than 425 matches per season.

4turf® delivers a sustainable drought-tolerant sward

4turf® delivers a sustainable drought-tolerant sward

Alongside the Stoneham Lane facility in Eastleigh, Pete also manages operations at the Winklebury Football Complex in Basingstoke and the Front Lawn Community Hub in Havant – all designed to support and fund grass roots sport within the local area. “I’ve been in this role for three and a half years, but have worked with DLF for 17 years, having used various seed formulations at my previous venue” explains Pete.

“When Stoneham was constructed, one of the major focuses was on drainage – giving us incredible infiltration rates in the region of 52mm per hour. However, the flip side of that is that we have no irrigation meaning that in the dry months, pitches struggle to retain moisture and thin out quickly.” Foreseeing the challenges that lay ahead, Pete spoke to his DLF Regional Technical Manager Ian Barnett to explore more drought-tolerant varieties – and just in time, before one of the most prolonged droughts experienced in the UK, in the summer of 2022!

“We opted to switch from the 100% diploid perennial ryegrass mix to Johnsons J 4Turf 50, sown in May 2022, and we couldn’t have been more impressed with the results.” J 4Turf 50 incorporates 4turf® tetraploid perennial ryegrass, a larger seed with higher energy reserves to deliver deeper rooting, better establishing plants – including in cooler temperatures – with enhanced colour, disease resistance and drought tolerance. The 2023 formulation contains 50% 4turf® tetraploid rye and 50% diploid perennial ryegrass.

“The J 4Turf 50 established well before the hot conditions arrived. We were limited on how much water we could get onto the pitches and were thinking we would need to do a lot of recovery work ahead of the new season, however after the rain returned, the pitches recovered amazingly! We didn’t need to do any additional overseeding or fertilising, we relied on mother nature and the seed to do what it promised it would, and it did exactly that.”

Pete continues, “As the season progressed, the J 4Turf 50 coped with the high wear, recovered fast and remained strong enough that we saw no disease activity at all last year. In fact the pitches looked so good, we were able to wait until after Christmas to put a feed down.” He adds, “This switch has given us everything we want in terms of performance, but more than that, has moved us towards a lower input sward which is more sustainable to manage.”

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BAGMA signs up a new General Manager

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BAGMA signs up a new General Manager: A well-known industry name will be taking the reins at the British Agricultural and Garden Machinery Association (BAGMA), as they announce Nick Darking as their new General Manager.

Effective from 13th March 2023, Nick will be building on the legacy of departing Director Keith Christian, bringing with him more than 30 years of industry knowledge and experience to this lead role.

BAGMA signs up a new General Manager

BAGMA signs up a new General Manager

Nick joins BAGMA on the back of more than three decades in the land based engineering sector working with a cross section of customers and dealers in both the agricultural and ground care sectors.

The majority of Nick’s career has been with leading machinery supplier – Redexim – where he began in a hands-on role in the workshop, before a long and illustrious track record in a sales and support role. It is also here that Nick forged many strong and longstanding relationships with partners across the Redexim dealer network.

In addition to Redexim partners, Nick has also had the pleasure of working closely alongside the leading industry associations including BIGGA and the Grounds Management Association (GMA), and has sat on the AEA’s ‘Outdoor Power Equipment Council’ for the last 10 years.

Commenting on his appointment, Nick said: “I am delighted to be joining the BAGMA team, working with a fantastic group of industry professionals and using my knowledge to further the aims and objectives that BAGMA work so passionately to achieve.

“Having worked with a number of BAGMA members in my previous roles, I look forward to re-connecting and developing these relationships and taking the next step of my career in the industry which I love.”

Keith Christian said: “I am pleased to be handing over BAGMA to a person that has a similar industry background to myself and an understanding of the UK dealer network and their needs in today’s ever changing business world.”

Ruth Bailey (CEO AEA) commented: “This is a superb appointment for us and for the industry. We are absolutely thrilled that someone of Nick’s standing and experience will be taking the helm at BAGMA and carrying on with the dedicated and passionate path as set by Keith. I very much look forward to working with Nick in the years to come.”

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