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Work Underway At Ewood Park

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Work Underway At Ewood Park: Work is underway on the pitch at Ewood Park as Rovers prepare for life back in the Championship.

Head groundsman Trevor Wilkin admits preparations for the 2018/19 campaign are well underway and will step up over the next few weeks.

The Ewood groundstaff were highly commended by the EFL for the condition of the pitch during the course of the League One season.

And Wilkins, who has worked for the club for over 35 years, explained the process which will take place over the summer.

He said: “All that’s happening is what we do every season, which is stripping the old turf off, adding some fresh root zone, freshening everything up and reseeding.

“People get it in their head that it’s a brand new pitch, but it’s not. It’s more of a make do and mend job.

“Over the next few days, the old turf will be stripped off, then we’ll get the new root zone on, mix it all together and by the end of the week it should all be levelled and seeded.

“It will then be put to bed for two weeks, then hopefully it should be totally green and ready for me to start cutting again.

“Hopefully we get a decent summer and then we’ll be ready to go from mid to late July.”

Wilkin admits there has been investment from the owners on the pitches at the club’s Senior and Academy training centres at Brockhall with that work also underway.

And he hopes that will bear fruit for the players and coaching staff during the course of the 2018/19 season.

He told the club website: “There’s lots of work going on down at Brockhall as well.

“The owners have spent money on every single pitch this summer, which is great – a good investment.

“Every single pitch at the Senior Training Centre and the Academy is having some work done on it, and that’s the bread and butter for the players.

“We’ll be doing the best we can to produce training pitches as good as Ewood for Tony (Mowbray) and his staff.”

The club were two League One clubs to be highly commended by the EFL for the condition of the pitch, with the overall honours going to Rotherham United.

The rankings are based on marks from referees and away managers, as well as detailed pitch inspections and a review of management operations.

And Wilkin added: “This is a great achievement for everyone involved after what has been a difficult season fixture and weather-wise.

“We had a tough period from late January through to the middle of February, but the winter we had, as everyone knows, was horrendous, plus this season what really hit us was the amount of fixtures we’ve had.

“I think the last league game of the season against Oxford was our 40th fixture here at Ewood, which is an unbelievable number for this stadium, so overall we’re very pleased.”

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OARS PS Used At Le Golf National

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OARS PS Used At Le Golf National: AQUA-AID EU’s OARS Penetrating Surfactant (OARS PS) has been extensively used at Le Golf National as the club in Paris gets ready for the 2018 HNA Open de France and the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Golf courses and estates manager, Alejandro Reyes, was appointed to his position in 2013 and was tasked with creating a Ryder Cup landscape using the 7,331 yards of The Albatros course, and extensive product testing was carried out to find the best programme possible.

OARS PS Used At Le Golf National

Following recommendations from those within the industry Alejandro was supplied by his local dealer Jacques Laborier of Celtic France and tested the OARS PS for himself and has been using it ever since as part of a programme that had the course in spectacular championship condition through 2017.

“I first heard about OARS PS in Spain, but I didn’t use it until I came to Le Golf National,” Alejandro said. “I’d had good feedback about OARS PS from different colleagues and had quite few telling me to test it because it was working very well for them.

“With OARS PS we saw a reduction in dry patches and what I really liked the most was that I had the feeling, and still have the feeling, that it works and the water moves better throughout the profile, and for me, that’s the key.

“We use it every other week all around the course. We have two kinds of tank mix with a pure foliar, so we have all the package we need to give to the plant. Then on the alternate weeks to that, we are spraying an irrigated mix where we are using bio stimulants that we are mixing with the OARS PS.

“We have very little issues with dry spot on the course now but if we do we’ll use OARS Pellets for hand watering to fix local dry spots.

“We’ve been testing many different products and 2017 was the last year for us to test anything, and it was a very good year for us when it came to maintaining the golf course. We were very happy with the condition, and how it was looking at the end of September was awesome. I have the confidence that we had found the winning formula and we need to stay with it, to maintain continuity of the condition of the course. We had a great 2017 HNA Open de France and really within this year it’s just about replicating those standards.”

OARS PS is a combination of the university researched, field proven and patented organic acid redistribution system, OARS, and multi-branched penetrant chemistry. OARS PS controls soil water repellency while providing uniform soil moisture for a longer period of time, providing a firm, fast surface.

The OARS pellets used at Le Golf National to combat localised dry spots work as a corrective approach and remove the build-up of organic acids that coat the surface of sand particles, which cause water repellence and localised dry spot conditions.

For AQUA-AID EU managing director Hans de Kort, having the opportunity to work with Alejandro alongside distributors Celtic France is a fantastic chance to see OARS PS in use.

“It is great to have professionals like Alejandro in the industry,” he said. “When it comes to products like surfactants you have to be able to judge it on its functionality, and Alejandro has done that with great success.

“We are very proud to support the green-keeping staff at Le Golf National in the lead up to this year’s golf events and like all golf fans we look forward to watching the 2018 Ryder Cup in September.”

Whilst Le Golf National, owned by the French Golf Federation, is no stranger to hosting major tournaments with 25 French Opens already played on the course since 1991, the scale of the Ryder Cup challenge is massive. The regular team of 30 increases to 80 for a French Open but for the Ryder Cup it will grow to 180 with the full support of Official Ryder Cup Supplier Ransomes Jacobson.

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Irrigation At Bush Hill Park

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Irrigation At Bush Hill Park: Bush Hill Park Golf Club is based a stone’s throw from Enfield Town in North London. Originally 9 holes, this 100-acre parkland course was designed by Open Championship winners James Braid and Harry Vardon and boasts a running reputation for being the best maintained in the area.

Much of the irrigation system was installed 25 years ago, had deteriorated and needed a complete overhaul. Head Greenkeeper Graham Careford has worked at Bush Hill Park since 1986 and explains,

Irrigation At Bush Hill Park

“The ground here is clay so very dry in summer. With only a small number of heads on tees, irrigation coverage was poor, combined with leaks and frequent system breakdowns. The challenge any club like us faces is that you can’t see how badly the irrigation system’s deteriorated because the pipework’s buried underground. Extra watering takes place in the early hours or at night, and staff working overtime to keep the course in the best condition won’t usually be seen by most club members and players. Keeping an unreliable and ageing irrigation system going becomes increasingly expensive.”

To help build the case for investment in a new irrigation system, Graham began keeping a detailed timeline, recording all system faults, breakdowns and overtime as well as taking photographs of course conditions. This information was presented to the management committee to inform decision-making and help the club properly evaluate its various options.

The club appointed Irritech Limited to undertake the irrigation system design and specification and to coordinate a competitive tender process for a fixed price contract including warranties and retentions.

The committee decided that the major investment of £300k in a new Rain Bird IC™ Stratus™ II Central Control System with Windows™ 10 functionality and mapping for greens, approaches and tees would provide the system reliability and future water efficiencies that would maintain the quality of the course for many years to come.

Irrigation At Bush Hill Park

With over 300 sprinkler heads, 7 miles of piping, 6.5 miles of cable and 3,500-man hours, the contractor, Irrigation & Water brought the project in within budget. The new system will be operational this spring.

Irrigation & Water Director Ashley Proctor, comments,

“Our biggest challenge has been heavy clay and high water table which meant adopting a more sympathetic approach to ground conditions. It’s taken a little more time and care but that’s been essential to minimise damage to the course. This is our first complete Rain Bird renovation and we’ve had a superb Rain Bird team working with us providing all the technical support, training and back-up we needed to make sure the system was installed to the right standards. We’re delighted to have been involved in what’s been a landmark project.”

Jimmy Sandison, Regional Golf Sales Manager for the UK, Ireland, Iceland and Scandinavia, adds, “We were thrilled to be awarded this project and Graham Careford and the project team were a delight to work with from the start. We all knew ground conditions were going to be a challenge but Bush Hill Park now has a highly efficient irrigation system that can be upgraded easily upgraded in future years, reducing the cost of overall ownership.”

For more information, visit: www.rainbird.eu/golf

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Aeration At Cumberwell Park GC

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Aeration At Cumberwell Park GC: Few course managers have the challenge of creating an aeration programme for 45 holes.  Step forward Matt James at Cumberwell Park GC who is responsible for five nine hole courses at Bradford-on-Avon, eight miles south of Bath.

The original courses – the ‘red’ and ‘yellow’ were created in 1994; ‘blue’ followed in 1999, while ‘orange’ in 2006.  Then, in summer 2016, a shorter Par 3 course was opened. Unlike traditional venues, the USGA based greens and tee constructions on the first four courses are generously sized, their design nonetheless still reflecting the natural contours and landscape of the 400 acre site.

Aeration At Cumberwell Park GC

Matt James’ aerator of choice is the Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi. Previously the club owned a Wiedenmann 1.4 m wide GXi6 but upgraded to the GXi8 HD when it was launched to take advantage of the productivity an extra 40 cm offered.

“With 36 holes we just about got away with owning one spiker,” said Matt James. “Jumping to 45 we were over stretched. In autumn 2017 we added a second; two brings flexibility.  Take last month as an example: we’ve had one machine set with hollow cores coring greens. The other is on solid tines for tees. So, two machines ready to go when weather permitted helped us catch up. Changing tines is fast on a Wiedenmann, even quicker now when you just swap machines.  Terra Spikes are recognised across the turf profession. You see users happily posting their results on Twitter. We’re pleased with ours and the support we get from Stuart Fry and T H White at Knockdown.

Some form of aeration is carried out at the Wiltshire club every two to three weeks.

The Cumberwell plan is to aerate tees at least once in the winter with 12 mm solid tines varying depth and heave as conditions allow.  A handful of areas displaying signs of more compaction might be given a second run as spring approaches.  During March, hollow coring takes place using 10 mm coring tines. Again repetition may be carried out. Over the summer the tees get lightly pencil tined with several passes.

The true-running expanse of USGA greens which Cumberwell is renowned are tined twice in the winter with 12 mm solid tines and then throughout the year receive maybe half a dozen passes with 8 mm tines. Fairways don’t get spiked.

Increasingly the Cumberwell Park team has been introducing multi tine heads for finer work and for coring throughout the year.  The GXi8 HD can be fitted with multi tine holders on all eight legs, each solid multi- tine head holding up to twelve 5 mm needle tines while each coring multi-tine head takes six tines per head with a coring diameter from 6mm.

“We certainly vary the tines. With the Wiedenmann we can always achieve the depth which is important. In the past we tried fitting tining units on our greens mower but couldn’t get the necessary depth.  Now we get finite control from just a few mm all the way to 250 mm depending on what tines are fitted.”

Cumberwell Park’s innovative and inspired approach to course layout delivers an excellent golfing experience to members and visitors alike. Yet maybe less apparent to the golfer is how in parallel, clever forethought means it delivers a perfect solution to accommodate its many maintenance needs.

“Our Par 3 is separate but in terms of the other four nine holes courses we are quite unique,” explained Matt James. “They all start and finish at the clubhouse. Our booking system is such that golfers play any combination of courses. We treat it as a four tee start.  Crucially I have access to the system.  With appropriate notice I can close an individual course for maintenance.

“For example, tomorrow one course is shut from first thing until 9.30 am for top dressing. It really helps to be able to shut for tining or top dressing.

“I have to make a judgement on operations I can do. You have to be organised and plan activities ahead. Key things get booked well in advance, for example coring is traditionally March time.  Naturally you plan around big events or tournaments. We wouldn’t choose to tine or top dress before something important but you’ve got to fit it all in. Fine tines leave negligible disturbance so it is not particularly disruptive. We wouldn’t do it days before a competition; but aeration is necessary so you fit it in somehow rather than avoid it.”

The scale of Cumberwell Park is not for the feint hearted. Its setting is enhanced by nine lakes, 34 acres of woodland and free-flowing streams.  The establishment has been awarded four stars in Golf World’s Top Courses in Britain and is also an accredited Golf Mark and Club Mark facility. Nine of Cumberwell Park’s 20 greenkeeping staff are trained on the aerators.

So, how does Matt James keep track of what’s been aerated?  “We keep detailed records for all operations carried out. Specifically with spiking, details include which tines used, depth, where on a particular course and the operator name.”

With another nine hole par 3 course in the pipeline, Matt James and his greenkeeping team strive to maintain their constant high standards.  Only last month the club won the Environmental category at the Bath Life Awards 2018 while Head of Conservation, Jon Keepen was announced as a finalist for Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year at this year’s STRI’s Golf Environmental Awards.

For more information, visit: www.wiedenmann.com

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ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

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ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC: After some shading issues were resolved at the exclusive Blackwell Golf Club located in Worcestershire, Head Greenkeeper Rhys Thomas has since restored the greens back to their full health thanks to a range of fertilizers from ICL.

Blackwell Golf Club may well be the most exclusive club in the Midlands. With approximately 170 members, but despite the club always having a small membership, it has never stopped the club from achieving. In fact, Blackwell has been ranked in the top 100 UK courses for a number of years, boasts three English Amateur Champions, has hosted the Open Championship Regional Qualifying Event six times and was home to the Midland Boys Championship, won one year by a 14 year old Sandy Lyle.

ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

Blackwell Golf Club will be celebrating its 125th centenary and throughout that time the course hasn’t changed much from the original 18 hole design. The truth is – it hasn’t really needed to, which is perhaps testament to the vision of Herbert Fowler and Tom Simpson who designed the course in 1923.

“Following a ecology report from the STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute), we decided to remove the trees around the greens and tees that had been planted 50 years ago,” says Rhys. “The trees had had little maintenance and the greens were in the shade and we’d struggle to get growth through the winter. Obviously, they would have a lot of wear during the summer and they never had an opportunity to recover.”

After the trees were removed, it was apparent that the greens would need a lot of attention after being in the shade for such a long time. Disease had crept in, which had resulted in a few scars and damage, and in Rhys’ own words – “If someone has a cold or is ill and they don’t take any medicine, then they don’t get any better. It’s the same with the greens – they need good products to keep them healthy.”

“ICL’s Greenmaster Pro-Lite Cold Start is great for the spring,” Rhys continues. “We know that the greens will kick-off immediately once we get it applied in March. Previously, members used to say the greens were not playing well until June. The right products are being used now and the members have certainly noticed the difference.”

Rhys was also quick to highlight Sierraform GT K-STEP 6-0-27+2MgO+TE, which has a high potassium content to harden the turf in particularly stressful winter conditions.

ICL Cure Greens At Blackwell GC

“In January or February, we turn to Sierraform GT K-STEP which trickles along nicely and we normally get a good amount of growth following application. We may also re-apply it in March if we are doing some renovation work just to give us a bit of recovery.

“Because of the microclimate we have here at Blackwell, it does make it hard to have a strict programme in place – we just have to judge it as and when. But I’ve been using ICL products for a long time and I use them because I know how they work and I can judge the timing of the fertilizers.

“The ICL fertilizers have significantly improved the greens because they are a lot healthier now.

On hand to offer Rhys all-year-round assistance is ICL’s Emma Kilby and he revealed that she has been instrumental in helping him bring the greens back to the standard expected by Blackwell members.

“I have a great relationship with Emma and she is always available if I need her.

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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