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“Toro The Future” At Mid Kent GC

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“Toro The Future” At Mid Kent GC: Darryl Manion, the newly appointed course manager at Mid Kent Golf Club, has committed to increasing the club’s Toro fleet with a renewal agreement and four new machinery purchases in his first three months at the club in Gravesend. 

Darryl arrived at Mid Kent Golf in 2000 and has worked his way up the club through senior and deputy roles before taking on the course manager position. He is dedicated to renewing the current Toro fleet and expanding it further.

"Toro The Future" At Mid Kent GC

He explains: “I’m not interested in changing a system that works. I want to make the club better, not take a step backwards. The service we get from Toro is second to none and to be honest I can’t think of anything better to suit the course’s needs. Our team works hard to keep standards high, but it would be useless if we didn’t have the right equipment behind us, which is why I want to continue with Toro.”

With Toro already front and centre at the club, Darryl explains why expanding is the right choice for Mid Kent: “The design of Toro machinery has always impressed me, they get the job done quickly which saves fuel and their durability in particular is better than any other brand I’ve used. The quality is undeniable really. I’ve only been in this role three months, but I’m already looking to the future and to what we can achieve. By renewing machines each year and updating the fleet, I know the quality of the course will only improve. The way I see it, Toro is the future for Mid Kent Golf Club.”

Mid Kent Golf Club, which is over a century old, is regularly referred to as a course of classic design and has long enjoyed glowing praise for the fact that the challenge and aesthetic layout of the course Willie Park Jr took great care in creating has never been diluted. This is a situation Darryl is keen to maintain.

“I’ve had experience with Toro for many years and there’s nothing else that meets the same standard. I’m lucky enough to be in a position to make investments to maintain the club’s charm and make improvements that mean we stay with the times – I want to take that opportunity and ensure the future of Mid Kent is the best it can be and going forward, that means Toro.”

The club currently boasts a comprehensive collection of Toro machines and utility vehicles plus two TYM tractors so there’s no question the club has long recognised the value they bring. With a Workman MDX-D and Groundsmaster 4700-D purchased this year, and a Reelmaster 3100-D and Greensmaster Triflex Hybrid 3420 on order, the fleet is expanding and with Darryl in charge there have been no delays in making that happen.

“The new machines are going to be a great addition to the fleet we have already,” says Darryl. “Each machine we get from Toro always works perfectly for the job it’s intended for, which is what makes them different to other brands. I think my favourite machine is the Reelmaster 3100-D Sidewinder, because I know it’s going to be a job well done before I even start. It gives good definition around the greens which is really important and, of course, very satisfying.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Price Turfcare At BTME

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Price Turfcare At BTME: Price Turfcare will be returning to BTME for the third time in January, back to Harrogate where the company was officially launched back in 2017.

Commenting on the first two years in business, Managing Director Rupert Price said,

Price Turfcare At BTME

“A totally unbelievable couple of years since we launched the business back in 2017,” he said. “I have no idea where the time has gone. It’s been a whirlwind of demonstrations, roadshows and exhibitions to get the Ventrac and Ryan brands out in front of the UK turf industry. It’s been very hard work, probably harder than I envisaged, but it’s definitely paying off. Ventrac was virtually invisible in the UK before 2017, now we have established it as a credible brand.

“So much so, that some of our early customers such as Peter Pattenden at Carden Park and Chris Brook at The Club Company have come back to order more machines and additional accessories. We have proved that the Ventrac is an extremely versatile machine, with many applications for golf course management.

As well as golf customers, machines are going into major sports facilities, to large landscape contractors, rental companies and to some private buyers with large estates. The addition of the Ryan franchise in 2018 has also given us a boost and the result is that we have an eclectic mix of turf maintenance machinery to suit any organisation, small or large.

Come and visit us on stand 450 in the Purple Area and see why we are making an impact.

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Germinal To Showcase ForeFront At BTME

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Germinal To Showcase ForeFront At BTME: Germinal will be heading to the BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) in Harrogate from 22nd to 24th January 2019, where it will be showcasing its ForeFront Greens grass seed mixture.

Containing a unique blend of three top-ranking bentgrass varieties, ForeFront Greens delivers the highest levels of disease and stress resistance.  It is rated for cutting heights down to 3mm and, with excellent shoot density, fineness of leaf and unrivalled summer and winter greenness, is the mixture for better golf greens.

Germinal To Showcase ForeFront At BTME

ForeFront Greens contains 35% Aber®Regal (browntop bent), 35% Aber®Royal (browntop bent) and 30% 007 DSB (creeping bent).

AberRegal and AberRoyal were both bred at IBERS (the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences in Aberystwyth) from parent material originally sourced in the UK.  As well as superb disease resistance they also offer excellent shoot density, good fineness of leaf and unrivalled winter and summer greenness.

007 DSB was bred in the US using 24 parent plants to produce a single cultivar with a prostrate growth habit, high shoot density and good wear tolerance in a wide range of climatic conditions.  007 DSB has won plaudits wherever it has been used including at Ryder Cup and US Open courses and at the PGA Masters at Wentworth.  Unlike older creeping bent varieties, 007 DSB has a lower requirement for water and nutrients thereby making it ideal for inclusion in a low input seed mixture.

The recommended sowing rate for Forefront Greens is 8 to 12g/m2 (80 to 120kgs/ha).  The recommended overseeding rate is 5 to 8g/m2 (50 to 80kgs/ha).

To discuss how ForeFront Greens could benefit your course visit Germinal on Stand 257 in  the Red Zone at BTME.  Alternatively go to www.germinalamenity.com

For more information visit www.germinalamenity.com

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Pellenc Introduced At SRUC Oatridge

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Pellenc Introduced At SRUC Oatridge: Students studying landscaping, horticulture and agricultural engineering at the unique SRUC Oatridge campus in West Lothian near Edinburgh recently participated in an event which gave them the opportunity to discover more about Pellenc’s innovative battery technology and gain some hands on experience with a wide range of equipment.

SRUC College is a bespoke land based industries institution based throughout Scotland which offers a number of courses at all levels from college and university level study, through to postgraduate, consultancy and research opportunities. Many of the courses at the Oatridge campus relate to the ways in which we make use of the land and natural resources around us – from agriculture and horticulture to veterinary nursing and equestrianism, and a huge variety of exciting and relevant land based topics in between.

Pellenc Introduced At SRUC Oatridge

The College has a philosophy of continuously exploring the innovative science that supports these land-based industries, and the way they interact with and support the environment around them. It is for this reason that Thomas Meenagh, a horticulture lecturer at Oatridge, decided that it would be a good idea for the students to become familiar with the increasingly popular battery powered machinery.

“I think that in every walk of society it is becoming common knowledge that we should be more environmentally friendly and be producing less CO2 and greenhouse gasses. An awful lot of hand held powered equipment used in land based industries comes with two-stroke engines which burn off fuel and oil, and so it is good to see the likes of landscaping and horticulture industries moving towards battery powered machinery.

“As a teaching institution we should be ahead of the game; we should be at the forefront of this kind of development – so that is why I wanted to organise some kind of event which could introduce the students to this equipment.”

Having being in the market to buy some battery powered equipment, Thomas’ research led him to Pellenc, which is exclusively distributed in the UK by Etesia. He arranged for four sessions to take place over two days in which Etesia representatives firstly delivered a theory based session which offered a greater insight into the Pellenc technology, followed by a practical demonstration. The students were then invited to trial the equipment for themselves.

“The students were delighted because they got to use the equipment to cut hedges, cut grass, use brush cutters and much more. The feedback was excellent and they were very impressed with the equipment. They commented on it being really light – a lot lighter than equipment they had been exposed to in the past. They also remarked on the equipment having very low vibration, being very quiet and extremely efficient.”

Light, odourless, relatively noise-free, with no starting problems and no refilling the fuel tank – it’s no wonder more and more people are turning to the innovative technology of Pellenc. In the last five years, Pellenc has gained market recognition by offering a unique range of ‘zero emission’ battery-powered handheld tools, thanks to the development of Lithium-ion ultra-high performance batteries. This technology, which is exclusive to Pellenc, guarantees non-polluting, odourless operation with quick start-up and long lasting battery life.

In reflecting on a successful event, Thomas believes that it was essential that the students got a first glimpse of the products that they could very well be using on a regular basis in the future.

“I would anticipate that in five years from now this kind of equipment will be the norm throughout the industry. By the time the students graduate and get jobs no doubt the two stroke fuel equipment will become less and less common and the battery powered equipment will be more dominant in the workplace.”

“This event has given them experience of using this type of equipment, of being able to understand how it works, how to hold it and use it properly. Hopefully they will have learned something and benefitted from this demonstration. Even in the job interview process there is every chance that they will be asked about their experience with this type of equipment so no doubt this event has been a great first step and I’d certainly look at hosting more of this type of event in the future.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.com

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Gripclad At Kings Hill Golf Club

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Gripclad At Kings Hill Golf Club: Kings Hill Golf Club in Kent had a problem with people slipping on wooden surfaces around the golf course and clubhouse. Old railway sleeper have been used on golf courses from the 1930s and provide an ideal material for many situations whilst maintaining a natural feel in the landscape. Many golf courses today use them either in bunkers or grassy hollows or more often than not to provide stepped access to elevated or steep sided tees. The advance of soft spikes and moulded sole golf shoes away from traditional steel spikes has led to an increase of slips on wooden steps and in the early 2000s this was becoming an increasing problem.

Having searched for many years and looked at various ideas at other golf clubs, including carpet, astro, chicken wire, tar and chips and chainsaw cut grooves, all in their various ways trying to eliminate the slip issue and presenting a trip issue or a higher than expected replacement schedule on wooden sleeper steps, a chance advertisement in a trade magazine highlighted a new product called GripClad. That was back in 2006. The club decided to obtain some samples and look at the benefits of the product more closely. Following that initial assessment a trial set of steps were chosen and the product installed. Installation was easy and straight forward, GripClad arrived in pre-cut lengths and to the dimensions that had been specified, only holes had to be drilled and the cleats screwed down with a mastic to act as a cushioning agent. A set of steps could be easily completed in a couple of hours and a large set in a day, much quicker than some of the other products mentioned. In addition if a sleeper had to be replaced it was simply a case of unscrewing the cleat and replacing it onto a new sleeper.

Gripclad At Kings Hill Golf Club

“Since that first installation we have purchased GripClad every year to complete all of our wooden surfaces around the course, which includes 10 sets of very large sleeper step installations, four sets of sleeper rails around teeing areas and ancillary surfaces including service and mobility ramps and so on around the clubhouse,” said a club spokesman. “The performance of the product has been outstanding, not only did it cope with the wear and tear of traffic, it performs in all weathers and has not deteriorated in the 10 years that the initial batch has been down, it still looks as good now as it did 10 years ago. We will continue to use it around the golf course as it provides the most cost effective solution for both time and longevity. I wouldn’t hesitate to rec
ommend this product out on the golf course or around the clubhouse.”

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