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Sale secured at Trevalgan Touring Park

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Sale secured at Trevalgan Touring Park: When Neil Osborne, a partner of the family-owned caravan touring park in St Ives, Cornwall completed his research into the Ventrac package he was considering, it didn’t take long for the local dealer, Devon Garden Machinery (DGM) and the UK distributor, Price Turfcare, to spring into action.

Rob Read of DGM takes up the story,

“It all started with a call from Neil: he had already completed some in-depth research on-line and was looking for prices for a Ventrac tractor unit and a range of attachments. We had a short timescale in which to organise a demo as the end of the financial year was fast approaching.

Sale secured at Trevalgan Touring Park

Sale secured at Trevalgan Touring Park

“I put in an urgent call to Rupert Price, the UK distributor, and a demo was scheduled for the following Thursday. Rupert, his sales demonstrator Tony Doe and myself arrived at Trevalgan with Ventrac’s 4500 tractor unit, an Aera-vator with overseeder, a Finishing mowing deck, Power Broom and Front Loader and put each attachment through its paces. This enabled Neil to see the versatility, safety and efficiency of the machine.

“Within a couple of days, we had refined the package and secured the deal, with all the equipment delivered within 10 days of the demonstration.”

Neil Osborne added,

“The main reason I was interested in the Ventrac package was because of the ease of changing the implements safely and quickly on my own. The compact size and manoeuvrability of the machine is ideal for our busy campsite and enables me to get in to all the tight spaces.

“The overall quality of the machine and implements are excellent. I have been very impressed by the Area-vator as this helps to relieve the compaction of the pitches caused by a five-month season of continual use by tents, caravans and motorhomes. At the end of the season, this versatile implement can also re-seed the pitch at the same time, which makes the Ventrac very time efficient and I have been more than pleased with the end result.

“It also works really well to fluff the bark around the play equipment. The mower and broom attachments are regularly used and perform their tasks well. I would not hesitate in recommending Rob from DGM and Price Turfcare and look forward to dealing with them again in the future.”

About Trevalgan Touring Park

Trevalgan is an award-winning, luxury, five-star, family camping and touring park with stunning coastal and countryside views, just two miles from St Ives. The Park, which is owned and run by Neil and Annette Osborne, is surrounded by open farmland, with gorse and heather covered hills behind, and is within walking distance of the rugged and beautiful South West Coast Path.

The latest recognition for the stunning facility was made at the Cornwall Tourism Awards 2021/22, when the park was awarded Camping and Caravanning Park of the Year – Gold.

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New lease of life for machinery fleet at Chorley Golf Club

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New lease of life for machinery fleet at Chorley Golf Club: Chorley Golf Club has got its 125-year anniversary off to a good start by updating its machinery fleet.

The course sits in 127 acres between Bolton and Preston, drawing players out of both major conurbations to be challenged while taking in prime views that extend as far as the Lake District and North Wales.

New lease of life for machinery fleet at Chorley Golf Club

New lease of life for machinery fleet at Chorley Golf Club

With both healthy membership numbers and a high number of visiting players, Head Greenkeeper Tony Grayson and his team of four – deputy John Cottam, Chris Riley, Stuart Angus, and Daniel Woan – are working to meet expectations every day.

“I try to produce the best course I can every day, as we have so many competitions”, he says. “It’s all about the presentation and of course – people want what they see on TV.”

Living up to the manicured greens and fairways seen on televised competitions is no mean feat in the north west of England, where consistent rainfall and clay soils present major challenges.

“The ground is very quick to get wet but also quick to dry as we are on a couple inches of topsoil and thatch on the fairways,” Tony said. “The Bunkers are really difficult to maintain in bad weather because the clay contaminates the sand and, although others might put in liners nowadays, on a limited resource it costs a fortune.”

Pests and diseases, particularly fusarium, anthracnose, worm casts and leatherjackets are an increasing challenge too, with many chemicals being taken off the market. Frequently warm and wet conditions make this pressure relentless.

Keeping the course in top condition takes attention to detail, and the team can afford little  machinery downtime. A breakdown can threaten to overwhelm the team so when they were handed the keys to a brand-new shed just before the first covid lockdown in March 2020, the impetus was there to invest in new machinery.

Tony said: “It had been difficult to invest in machinery because of the previous sheds in terms of their security and the environment – you don’t want to be keeping machines in damp conditions.

“We had an ageing fleet and the reliability, particularly of our previous rough mower, was going down. When you’ve got the grass growing like mad and a rough mower down, it’s difficult to manage.”

The team’s new shed now stores a John Deere 7500 fairway mower, a 9009A TerrainCut rough mower, an 8000A E E-Cut Hybrid fairway mower, a XUV86SM Gator, three 220SL SL PrecisionCut walk-behind greens mower and two 2500 greens mowers.

Tony said: “Looking at other brands, I found that John Deere, as well as being at the top, was offering value for money as well. Once I demoed everything, it was obvious what I was looking for. The machines are now specific to our course and environment so we can go out with more confidence, getting a nicer cut.

“The 8000AE is so versatile and it can even act as a backup fairways mower by quickly raising the height of cut. It is our key machine and the one that will make people notice in terms of the appearance of the surrounds and approaches. Now, the green-side bunkers are part of the surround and we’re able to cut around this area with the new machine, making the presentation so much better.”

For the majority of the new machines, Tony opted to use John Deere Finance. And with a strong relationship with John Deere’s specialist servicing dealer Balmers GM spanning  20 years, the team at Chorley has direct access to support to maintain the machines. For its flagship machine, the 9009A, Tony reasoned that an operating lease, whereby the team would only pay for the use of the machine, would be the best option.

“The club looked at the hours our machines were doing – and with the rough mower doing the most hours, we took it out on an operational lease as we have a lot of semi-rough, and will look to change after five years.”

Following a successful 2021 with summer on the greenkeepers’ side and armed with a new machinery fleet, Tony’s sights are now set firmly on future proofing the course – and the reliability of the new machines will be crucial to ensure this work can happen.

“Our aim now is to make the course longer by building a few more tee zones set right back onto the course’s boundaries to cater for an increasing number of golfers hitting the ball further. All this has to be done without disrupting golfers’ experience or making a mess with the heavier equipment required.

“Our industry isn’t without its challenges but investing in the machines has really given our greenkeepers more pride in their work, and the machines are doing a fantastic job at presenting the course in the best light.”

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Picture-perfect course at Killarney

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Picture-perfect course at Killarney: At Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, presentation is everything.

With breathtaking views out over Lough Leane and the undulating Killarney National Park beyond, players come from all over the world to experience the two, 18-hole Killeen and Mahony’s Point courses.

Picture-perfect course at Killarney

Picture-perfect course at Killarney

It’s a club steeped in 129 years of history which includes hosting the Irish Open four times, with Nick Faldo winning in 1991 and 1992, Ross Fisher in 2010, and Simon Dyson in 2011.

With such rich heritage and high expectations, the greenkeeping team has to maintain the highest possible standards to satisfy the 500-plus golfers who could arrive to play at the complex during its busiest days of the year.

Enda Murphy is in charge of the 18-strong team responsible for presenting the course. He’s in his 30th year working at the club after joining as an apprentice from school.

“I completed a four-year apprenticeship in Killarney and then worked a year at Wayzata Country Club near Minneapolis in the States,” he explained.

“It was wealthy club with 28 greenkeepers for one 18-hole course, but what struck me was how neat and tidy the whole place was. The machinery sheds were immaculate – everything was organised and every machine had its place with a back-up machine in reserve too.

“I thought the whole attention to detail was amazing and something I wanted to bring back to Killarney.”

Enda became head greenkeeper in 2013 and takes immense pride in setting up a course which will live up to members’ and visitors’ expectations.

“It’s all about the location here – when you’re out on the course on a beautiful spring morning there is no better place,” he said. “When every hole is neat, tidy and looking sharp, that’s what it all about and what we strive to achieve.”

Being such a popular destination for visiting players while keeping the large playing membership happy is not without its challenges.

Enda says he has 1.7 metres of annual rainfall, a herd of 40 Irish Red Deer, and a constant procession of players to contend with, plus the environmental responsibility of maintaining a course so close to the iconic Irish lakes.

“We have a high level of play which creates compaction, wear and tear, he said. “Having lots of rain on a busy course is also a challenge but we have to keep golfers happy – we have strong competition from the other fantastic courses in Ireland.”

Last year Killarney’s members’ council – with the support of the membership – put pen to paper on a new fleet deal to replace its aging mowers and other course machinery.

“It came to a point last summer when greens mowers were breaking down on the morning of a competition, and the back-up machines were cutting tees because the tees mowers had broken,” Enda said.

“We were working on fairway mowers that were 10 or 15 years old and the repairs were starting to cost more than what the machines were worth, so a change was definitely needed.”

Enda and his team are familiar with a number of brands and researched prices and specifications as part of the purchasing process, but decided to stay loyal to John Deere as their mowers and utility vehicles had served the course well for a long time.

For cutting they purchased two new 7700A fairway mowers with rear roller power brushes, two 2750E hybrid greens mowers with tender conditioners and 14-blade reels, and two 2750PC mowers for tees and surrounds. The club also took a new 1570 front rotary mower with 72-inch deck and a 9009A for tackling the rough.

For full course maintenance the new fleet also included a 2030A with ARC HD200 sprayer, three TS Gators and a 4066R compact tractor.

“A big factor in the decision was that we have a dealer on the doorstep in Seamus Weldon so parts, sales and servicing is right here which is really convenient,” Enda said.

“They are good machines but if something goes wrong I can get a new part in 10 mins and get the machine back up and running in no time. That’s really important for us here on a busy course where we need to get the job done and be out of the way so golfers can enjoy their game.”

So far Enda is delighted with the new fleet – purchased using John Deere Finance – and so is his team.

“When you’re going out and everything is working it’s just a pleasure to do the job. The team gets frustrated when something takes too long and things break down – we’re just trying to get everything done to a high standard and then move on as quickly as possible.

“You can really notice the difference in the quality of cut and the reliability of the new machines. We now want to get into a rhythm of replacing them every five years, ideally.

“Bookings for the summer are looking really strong so it’s going to be another busy year as we, hopefully, come out of covid and look forward to welcoming players to Killarney.”

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Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

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Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge: After trialling various tractor mounted scarifiers, Steven Harvey, Head Greenkeeper at Stourbridge Golf Course, concluded that the SISIS Veemo MK 2 was by far the most suitable for his fairways.

Stourbridge Golf Club in the West Midlands was formed in 1892 progressing from the original 9 holes laid out on the former Pedmore racecourse to 18 holes in 1909. The basic outline of that course remains today, and marks somewhat of a divide according to Steven.

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

“There are essentially two halves to the course,” he said. “The old common ground at the bottom where the racecourse used to be and then you have more of a parkland course at the top. It really is chalk and cheese.

“It is also a small course; in fact, it was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as being the course with the ‘longest yardage over the smallest acreage’. Being a small plot of land to look after, it comes with both positives and benefits.”

Steve oversees a team of four members of staff and full credit must be given to the team for achieving a course which is highly praised by members and visitors alike.

With a humble budget and unfavourable weather conditions to work with, Steve claims that he is always looking at new methods to achieve best results and over recent years, he has largely focussed on the fairways.

“Historically our non-irrigated surfaces such as the fairways do tend to struggle and fail to hold on to moisture. No work has ever really taken place on the fairways other than slitting so they are heavy on organic matter. When it is hot, they really do bake and we have lost a lot of grasses, particularly the fescues.

“A couple of years ago, knowing that we wanted to scarify the fairways, we begged, and borrowed machines just to get the ball rolling,” he continued. “However, the problem always came on the undulating common land and whichever machine we used, it basically scalped them, didn’t hit the low spots and was very hit and miss. But we knew that if we had the right one then it would help us achieve exactly what we wanted to.

“Then we came across the SISIS Veemo.”

The SISIS Veemo MK 2 is a tractor-mounted scarifier used for removing thatch from large areas of turf, such as golf course fairways. The Veemo’s strong cutting blades are designed for minimum surface disturbance and maximum thatch removal via three floating heads which are independent from the main frame. The heads each move in all degrees of motion and follow any undulations of the ground on a fairway without any danger of damaging / scalping the turf, whilst the tungsten tipped hook blades with variable spacing cut effectively through the thatch layer.

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

“The Veemo simply stood out from all the others – mainly for its durability and the way it hugs the ground, particularly on the fairways on the bottom half of the course.” said Steve. “It is fantastic the way it hits every part of the surface we want it to hit, due to the floating heads. The way it connects to the back of the tractor is also so simple.

“It is well built, and I can’t envisage any issues with damage or maintenance. The Veemo basically does everything we want it to do.

“We use the Veemo anytime between March and November, and the beauty of it is that not only can I use it on the fairways, but I can get it onto our tees and the approaches as well. I’m also going to be looking to use it on the greens very soon, and I think it will do a great job. I want to use it to its maximum capability.

“Overall, I’m very impressed with the Veemo and we are seeing the improvements from using it already.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter and Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

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Barenbrug seminar at BTME

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Barenbrug seminar at BTME: A highlight at BTME this year is a presentation by Barenbrug’s Dr David Greenshields, explaining how the latest ryegrasses open-up new opportunities for golf course managers to improve both sustainability and performance on the course.

Ryegrass breeding is developing at a rapid pace, and programmes aimed specifically at the needs of golf courses are delivering new grass varieties with a range of valuable characteristics. The seminar looks at the latest varieties, how they were bred and how their traits can be best exploited for sustainable turf management and improved turfgrass performance.

Barenbrug seminar at BTME

Barenbrug seminar at BTME

“It’s pretty hands-on,” says Dr Greenshields “I’m also going to be covering practical issues such as how you can renovate various turf surfaces with ryegrass, and how you can incorporate more sustainable grasses into your courses, using actual case studies.”

Entitled ‘Modern ryegrasses for golf course management’, the seminar will take place in the Blue Zone of the Harrogate Convention Centre from 12 ‑ 12.45pm 23rd March. It is part of the event’s Continue To Learn education conference and earns one CPD point.

As the leading provider of grass seed to the golf industry, Barenbrug will also be exhibiting on Stand 315 in the Green Zone, where their team will be able to discuss specific solutions for individual golf courses. BTME (The BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition) returns to Harrogate after a two-year gap.

Specialising entirely on developing innovative UK grass seed solutions, Barenbrug UK is now recognised as the leading grass seed breeder and grower in the UK. As part of the wider Barenbrug Group, grass experts since 1904, their worldwide research and plant genetics network includes dedicated UK trials of amenity varieties and mixtures, providing a solid testing ground while drawing on knowledge and expertise from across the globe.

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