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ICL Schools Seminar A Success

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ICL Schools Seminar A Success: ICL’s sixth successive annual Independent Schools Seminar recently took place at Birmingham’s Edgbaston Stadium. The event brought together turf professionals and provided an opportunity to network and enhance education and understanding on a range of different turf management topics.

Following an introduction from event organiser Emma Kilby, ICL Area Sales Manager for the Midlands and West, Gary Barwell, Head Groundsman at Edgbaston Stadium, kick-started proceedings by offering an insight into pitch preparations at the stadium as well as disclosing some of his team’s techniques.

ICL Schools Seminar A Success

In the midst of a particularly difficult summer, delegates welcomed the opening presentation by Dr Andy Owen, ICL International Technical Manager. Entitled ‘Growing resilient turf’, Andy focused on growing deeper rooted plants, which explored a number of strategies that groundsmen can apply in order to encourage rooting; explaining the importance of an integrated approach and that nothing should be undertaken in isolation. Furthermore, Andy went on to provide a plethora of hints and tips from research trials which included advice on best practice in utilizing nutrition, dealing with parasitic nematodes and ideal water management to get the best out of the grass plant.

Grass seed is an important aspect of ICL’s product portfolio and an essential part of the company’s integrated turf management solutions, and the next presentation ‘Seed for all Seasons’, provided delegates with a fascinating insight into this aspect of the business.

Simon Taylor, ICL Product & Business Development Manager, has more than 20 years’ experience in the grass seed sector and he revealed the opportunities for potential genetic improvements in finding new traits in varieties that could benefit the turf manager. He explained the motives behind looking at the best of what US and European breeding programmes offer and how the finest of those characteristics can be applied into various new blends.

A complimentary lunch signalled the halfway point before Alex Vickers, Turf Consultant, spoke in detail about his experience of helping to build a cricket pitch in Rwanda. In this humorous and thought-provoking presentation entitled ‘Making the most of what you have got – a lesson from Rwanda’, Alex explained how the team achieved fantastic results when faced with a near-on impossible task.

The presentation seemed to strike a chord with the delegates. “I really enjoyed Alex’s presentation and I think there is a great lesson to be learnt,” said Tom Brotherhood, First Team Cricket Groundsman at Loughborough Grammar School. “Just seeing how they managed to achieve what they did in Rwanda with basically half of the equipment compared to what we have was amazing. We are always wanting more of the best equipment and perhaps we take what we already have for granted. I think it showed how to think outside of the box when you find yourself in a difficult situation.”

Andy Richards, Grounds Manager at Shrewsbury School, was the next speaker to take to the stage. In this insightful presentation Andy revealed how he uses data recorded from his weather station and moisture metres to speak to the school’s sports department bursar about playing conditions and to identify what equipment he needs in order to continue to make improvements. Andy encouraged the delegates to follow suit claiming that just that little extra bit of information can be used to their advantage.

It was the third ICL Independent School Seminar Andy has attended and he believes that events such as these are integral to raising the standards of groundsmanship.

“Independent schools groundsmanship is a completely different form of groundsmanship to say football, cricket or other sports grounds, because your usage is incredibly high over such a condensed period of time. This is the only event of its kind designed to specifically help independent school groundsmen and it’s great to meet like-minded people where we can bounce ideas off one another. It’s the only way we can continue to improve.”

Attendees then received a glimpse into Syngenta’s new turf pigment technology when Glenn Kirby, Syngenta’s Technical Manager for UK Turf & Landscape, provided an overview on the new product – Ryder. This unique turf colourant delivers a consistent, natural green colour and gives turf managers an opportunity to colour up turf to their liking. Glenn explained Ryder’s strong longevity qualities and how the technology protects turf from harmful UV rays and excessive light.

Former English first-class cricketer, Ashley Giles MBE, is arguably best known for his heroics in England’s victorious 2005 Ashes series and he concluded the day’s presentations by explaining his current role as Director of Cricket at Edgbaston as well as relaying some very interesting and humorous stories about how the successful Ashes team celebrated their monumental victory over Australia.

After dinner the day was rounded off in style as all attendees stayed behind to watch the T20 game between Birmingham Bears and Leicestershire Foxes.

Reflecting on the event, Lee Marshallsay, Grounds Manager at Charterhouse School, said: “I’ve been coming to these events almost every year and they just keep getting better. There are plenty of speakers to learn from and there is a lot that us groundsmen can take back. I particularly like the networking side of it because you can find out that you’re not the only one who may have had a hard season. It’s also a good chance to bring other members of staff along because it means that some of the younger guys can learn things from other people rather than just listen to me all the time!”

That was certainly the case for Aaron Skyrme, Assistant Groundsman at King Henry VIII School in Coventry: “Today has been really beneficial,” he said. “I’m currently studying an NVQ Level 2 in Sports Turf Management and learning about the different technologies in seeds and various grasses today has really helped me. There are also so many aspects that I will take away with me and put into my practical work at the school.”

Please contact ICL on +44 (0)1473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie.

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The Impact Of A Heatwave

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The Impact Of A Heatwave: Ten weeks of drought has posed a major challenge to Irish golf courses. Kevin Markham interviewed two greenkeepers to assess how course conditions have been impacted.

Listening to Met Éireann tell us we haven’t had weather like this since 1976 makes you realise how much we miss hot, dry summers.

Golf courses that were under three feet of snow in March are now burned brown by the long days of sun. If you’ve been on social media, you’ll have seen an unforgettable image of Ballybunion, which looks more like the Sahara than a golf course.

The heatwave may have cooled but the trouble is, 10 weeks passed without significant rainfall and greenkeepers have had their work cut out to maintain their courses.

Here are the views of two head greenkeepers: Paul Coleman (PC), Golf Course Superintendent at Dromoland Castle; and Dave Edmondson (DE), Links Superintendent at The Island.

What are the key challenges facing golf courses in a heatwave?

PC: “The main challenges facing parkland courses are trying to provide good quality playing surfaces in the face of intense and prolonged drought. The golfer’s expectation is still the same no matter the weather and we need to at least offer a product worth the money.

“As the majority of playing areas are comprised of sand for the purpose of better drainage, they obviously dry much faster and consequently wilt. Also, having staff working in this heat is not ideal as there is prolonged exposure to the sun.”

DE: “Dormant turfgrass is not growing or recovering from daily wear and tear, such as traffic patterns. Areas of The Island are also becoming hydrophobic (water repellent) due to lack of precipitation.”

Have you experienced anything like this in your career?

PC: “The last time I can remember a similar prolonged period of hot and dry weather was in the summer of ’95. I was working as a seasonal greenkeeper at Woodstock Golf Club, and there was no irrigation on the course. The only method of applying water was through a bulk tanker which drew from a nearby river.”

DE: “In my six years at The Island, 2013 was similar with prolonged dry conditions. I have also experienced similar low rainfall years in France and Belgium, although these were slightly easier to deal with due to lower traffic.”

How do you tackle these issues?

PC: “Irrigation. We have an automated system on tees and greens but it’s not as simple as just turning them on and forgetting about it. Moisture levels need to be constantly monitored as too much is worse than too little. Some members are amused when they see us out with hoses, knowing we have sprinklers.Without getting technical some areas on the greens become water repellent and will not wet with just water. They need to be treated with wetting agents.

“Unfortunately, it’s a logistics game and we do not have the capacity to water the entire golf course.”

DE: “We are targeting our water onto key areas: greens, tees, greens surrounds, and heavily divot-prone landing zones. As a classic links, based on sand, The Island is prone to drying quickly and we are utilising wetting agents for moisture retention and to avoid water repellancy issues.

We are also using traditional watering methods, i.e. hand-watering on putting surfaces, as much as possible. This allows us to target water onto the high parts of greens (slopes) and leave lower lying areas. This method has allowed us more uniformity of moisture throughout our putting surfaces with an improvement in playing characteristics.

“With all of our watering practices we utilise soil moisture probes daily to determine the needs of specific areas. This is deemed to be good practice, allows us to micromanage our greens and conserves water.

“The club recently purchased a pogo moisture meter that allows us to test moisture content in a given GPS location, sends the information to a cloud network, and creates a map which helps the greenkeeper handwatering for the next day to target dry areas or hotspots.”

How much time is spent dealing with the current challenges?

PC: “We have two guys each watering for approximately 50 hours per week. Mowing has decreased and so we can tackle other jobs we normally wouldn’t be able to get done.”

DE: “As turfgrass is presently mainly dormant, our mowing has reduced drastically so I have three guys hand-watering during the day. One of these will be collecting moisture content data to help us make key decisions regarding the next day’s watering.”

Are the grasses able to cope with these conditions?

PC: “Typically we go by transpiration rates of the grass plant and this can mean approximately 5mm to 10mm of water is required per night (in or around 8,000 to 12,000 litres).”

DE: “Native links grasses are Fescue and Browntop bent, and both species are native to links sites and are extremely drought resistant. They can withstand periods of stress. In many areas these species are predominantly dormant at present but will bounce back once the rain returns. From a sustainability perspective, these grasses require little to no pesticides, and limited fertiliser or water inputs.”

How serious a threat is a prolonged drought to the golf course?

PC: “It is serious as 90% of the course is burned out and in great water deficit. It will take a few weeks of rainfall to recover. No water means dead grass on greens and tees. This can make the course unplayable. There will also be a cost down the road in regressing some turf areas lost.”

DE: “I don’t see it as a major problem as long-term forecasts predict a break in the current weather. If we do get any thinning of turf coming out of the dry weather, we are due to overseed again in August with fescue throughout.”

What can golfers do to help the course and greens staff during these periods?

PC: “Members and guests can help by not driving golf buggies carelessly on fairways and where they don’t need to be. The wheel lines are being burned into the grass.”

DE: “Golfers should understand that greens teams throughout the country are doing there utmost to produce quality products for their members and guests. Patience is required through these challenging periods until we all return to normal weather conditions.”

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Agronomic Services A Success At Wolves

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Agronomic Services A Success At Wolves: Following on from Wolverhampton Wanderers FC’s incredible season, being promoted to the Premier League,  Agronomic Services Ltd are delighted to announce their continued working partnership with Wayne Lumbard and his team.

David Snowden of Agronomic Services Ltd said “We are thrilled for Wayne, his team and the club, it has been fantastic to follow this season and the quality of the pitch has been superb. We have been particularly pleased with feedback from industry colleagues and Groundsman, it is a testament to Wayne and his team.”

Agronomic Services A Success At Wolves

The combination of Eon Bio, which gives rapid establishment and mass rooting, in particular during renovations, combined with Floratine foliar nutrition and excellent Groundsmanship has been the recipe for success at the Molineux and Training Grounds.

Wayne Lumbard commented that the most difficult part of his job in the last season had been the installation and the renovation of the pitch and by September the pitch “just got better and better.”

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A Look At The Polaris Opole Factory

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A Look At The Polaris Opole Factory: Founded by David Johnson and brothers Edgar and Allan Hetteen in 1954, Polaris Industries is now a global powersports leader. Employing over 10,000 people worldwide with annual sales in 2017 of $5.4 billion, Polaris has been the world leader in off-road vehicles for over 30 years. In 2014, Polaris enhanced its manufacturing capability by opening the first Polaris factory intended for the production of off-road vehicles outside of North America in Opole, Poland.

With over 300 employees, the 33,700m² Opole facility plays a pivotal role in the production, homologation and development of off-road vehicles for Europe, Middle East and African markets for Polaris. In 2017, the Opole Distribution Centre was built which occupies an area of 17,500m².

A Look At The Polaris Opole Factory

The average journey for one of the 7000 active components coming into the facility from one of the 200 vendors from around the world, would start upon their arrival into the warehouse area. There are over 3300 pallet locations in the racking system and 1000 supermarket flow rack locations for the components to be housed and sorted. Any parts that come from overseas in disposable packaging are repacked into internal reusable boxes.

Next stop is the Welding area, which currently produces 46 ATVs and 26 SXS each day. Each of the 10 dual stations for ATV or 20 stations for SXS chassis are fitted with fume ventilation systems and a Visual Work Instruction screen which presents an isometric view of the parts to the operator. There’s a robotic welding cell too, where suspension components are manufactured.

Painting operations consist of both plastic and metal painting areas. The plastic paint areas have two spraying ovens installed and the metal painting system has an automated painting line which takes care of the whole process from chemical pre-treatment to curing. All painters are trained in house to ensure they’re perfectly qualified.

The facilities and plant service team ensure the factory runs smoothly and equipment is maintained. There is also a dedicated test team who put the vehicles under scrutiny on the 2km test track, situated at the rear of the factory – this also includes an asphalt test area, to simulate on-road experience. This data, along with the experiences of the test drivers, is used to further develop vehicles with the US team.

Once the components have been welded and painted, they make their way to their penultimate stop – assembly. There are two horse-shoe shaped assembly lines – one for RZR, RANGER and GENERAL vehicles and one for ATVs and ACE vehicles. Operators are provided with visual work instructions – 3D image files and the operator can rotate the image to view different angles – instead of paper instructions. The material is presented in convenient packing and locations so that there’s little material handling for the operator.

Designed with efficiency at the heart, all of the operators are visible from any point on the line so that the group leaders can see how the production is flowing and make any corrections should there be any problems. The length of the assembly process depends on the complexity of the vehicle. An example of a complex vehicle would be the RANGER, which takes around one hour 20 minutes to assemble. Staff are rotated between the different assembly lines to ensure they are skilled on both lines and their minds are fresh.

Once assembled, vehicles are tested on a rolling road to check all functions and then put directly into a crate and wrapped, ready for distribution. Random vehicles are pulled from the line and checked for extra quality checks. Nearly 40,000 have been produced since the ISO 9001 certified factory opened in 2015 – it was the first Polaris factory with a certified Quality Management System.

“Working at the Polaris factory here in Opole isn’t just a job for our employees – our staff take part in charity events, attend Polaris events and are able to experience the Polaris product for themselves. We foster a positive working environment and as a result have a low staff turnover. Since opening the factory, the nearly three-quarters of the staff who started with us in 2015, are still with us and we have members of the same family who work here. We look forward to the future of the Opole facility – and see it going from strength to strength due to our capacity and our employees skills.”, said Director of Operations at Polaris Opole, Bogusław Dawiec.

‘Understand the riding experience. Live the riding experience. Work to make it better.’

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Work Of A Non-League Groundsman

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Work Of A Non-League Groundsman: In the no-frills, grass roots world of non-league football, it’s possible the most important man on the pitch is the groundsman.

Sitting on a plastic chair, in muddy boots and paint stained jacket, David Page is every bit the non-league groundsman I was hoping to meet.

“The day begins with a cup of tea,” he says, welcoming me into the cosy former shipping container, which serves as his office and general tea room. “You’ve turned up at the perfect time. Days like this provide a glimpse into real life non-league football.”

My journey to Crown Meadow, the home of Vanarama National League North side Lowestoft Town was old school. No out of town, bland stadium here, but a walk along Seago Street, past rows of terrace housing, eventually arriving at the metal gates. It feels like a proper football ground, steeped in history, rooted in the local community. I vividly remember watching games here, on dark winter nights with friends some twenty-plus years ago. Experiences like those stay forever in the mind.

The club has seen mixed fortunes – fighting bankruptcy, relying on supporters’ donations, then an FA Vase final at Wembley, successive promotions, play-off finals and now reaching the heights of National League North non-league football. By any standards, it’s been one heck of a journey for the Trawlerboys.

Sipping our tea, we stare out at the bleak conditions. Rain pummels the pitch with such force that I doubt today’s important match against one of the league’s biggest teams, Stockport County, will go ahead.

“It’ll be on,” says David. He should know. He’s looked after the pitch for 19 years. He takes off his deep blue baseball cap, which proudly bears the club logo. The previous night was a sleepless one, he says, worrying about the pitch and checking for regular weather updates.

“I never switch off. I can’t – I keep thinking about my pitch and what condition it will be in.” David is a Lowestoft man. He used to work in the fishing industry, spending days and nights out on the North Sea on one of the many trawlers that frequented this stretch of coast. But nineteen years ago, he was approached by the Lowestoft Town chairman to become their groundsman. He joined the ground-keeping course at Ipswich Town, learning from the best in the business, Alan Fergusson, now head groundsman at St Georges Park, home of the England international team.

Sitting in the press box, overlooking the ground, I chat to David. He is focused on the pitch, watching rain sweep across, soaking the already soaked turf. It’s like watching a chess player planning his next move.

“What you see is what you get here,” he says. “We don’t have the luxury of training pitches or elaborate facilities, this pitch sees a lot of action. Four of our sides play and train on the surface.” The first team, reserves, youth and women’s sides all regularly use the surface, making the groundsman’s job all the more difficult. It’s in remarkable condition, considering.

Despite the advancement of technology and pitch care, the job of a non-league groundsman has changed little, and the task of getting the pitch ready for match day is much the same as it always was, although, as David is keen to point out, there is a vast improvement in equipment.

“When I first came up here, the groundsman at the time took me to the shed, handed me the rechargeable drill and pointed to the lawnmower – that was it.” The Trawlerboys’ shed is now home to a host of ground improving aids – large and small rollers, slitter, mowers, rakes and no end of tools to help keep the surface in top condition. A combination of good equipment and superb knowledge means the club did not postpone one game last season, impressive for any club, but especially for a non-league side.

It hasn’t always been like that. David recalls one match day when he arrived to find three-quarters of the pitch under water.

“I could have cried,” he says. We head towards the home team changing room. George the kit man is already laying out the players’ match day kit. Rows of bright blue shirts hang from the hooks, while freshly laundered towels and other essentials are carefully placed at the ready for each player.

David checks the facilities, making sure everything is working. The job of a groundsman at this level is one of caretaker too. The club also has several volunteers who help with painting and maintenance.

On a match day David typically arrives around 6.30am and is normally the last to leave in the evening. He returns early Sunday morning to clean the stands and changing rooms, and see to the pitch if there is a women’s game on. “It’s a good job my wife works in the turnstiles, otherwise we would never see each other,” he says.

As the rain eases off, we head out onto the pitch. Holding his trusty groundsman’s fork, David begins slowly lifting the turf, allowing some of the standing water to disperse. The pitch feels spongy and I imagine it won’t take much for the surface to cut up, but David remains hopeful.

“We have the referee coming around 10am for a pitch inspection – I think we’ll be OK”. Heading back to the office I warm up by the heater while David, the referee and club secretary stroll across the soggy pitch.

“Is it on, mate?” asks a Stockport County fan, one of many who have stayed in town overnight after a six-hour car journey. The game is given the go ahead, preparations for match day continue, and as the rain subsides, the line marker is brought pitch side. It’s a job that can take a good hour and means walking miles over the course of a week. I head for the exit.

The next time I see David is at half time in the match. He’s out there, patting and lifting the turf, nurturing the surface. A last minute goal sees the Trawlerboys grab a score draw. The fans pour out of the exit, smiles on their faces. David is pitch side, staring out onto his beloved turf, pondering his next move.

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