Tag Archive for: Award

Groundsman Award Nominations

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Groundsman Award Nominations: Cambridgeshire FA are looking for nominations for this season’s Groundsman of the Year award.

Member clubs at Step 7 and below are invited to nominate their grounds people who give up hours of their time to provide the best pitches possible, often using very few resources. This competition is a great way for these volunteers to get recognition for their time and efforts on a local and national level whilst also having the opportunity to meet and talk with the professional groundsmen who conduct the judging.

Groundsman Award Nominations

The first ranked Cambridgeshire club groundsman will go forward to the national judging stage and undergo independent adjudication.

To nominate your groundsman please compete and return the form (click here to download) to Joanne Bull, Facilities and Participation Manager, by email: joanne.bull@cambridgeshirefa.com

Postal nominations:

Cambridgeshire FA
Bridge Road
Impington
Cambridgeshire
CB24 9PH

The closing date for nominations is Thursday 22nd February 2018.

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Nathan Hume Wins Sprayer Award

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Nathan Hume Wins Sprayer Award: Nathan Hume, Contracts Manager and Ecologist for national grounds maintenance experts, SH Goss Ltd, has won the prestigious Amenity Sprayer Operator of the Year Award (ASOY). 

ASOY rewards top sprayer operators across the amenity industry, with the aim to share their best practices to enhance standards for all.

Nathan Hume Wins Sprayer Award

Presented for the first time at BTME Harrogate this week (23 January 2018), the ASOY Awards are organised by the Amenity Forum, and sponsored by ICL and Syngenta, in association with BASIS.

As well as the overall top operator, Nathan Hume was the winner of the Landscape & Industrial using hand held equipment category.

Also recognised by the Awards were Chris Phillips of Complete Weed Control South Wales, as the top operator for Sports turf using boom sprayer or hand held equipment, along with the company’s Lee Harrison, winner of the Landscape & Industrial using vehicle mounted equipment category.

Nathan primarily specialises in the prevention of invasive non-native plants. He operates in a wide variety of sites including airports, railways, cemeteries, rivers, forests, nature reserves, construction sites and golf courses.

“It was an honour to receive the Award,” he said. “Myself and the company have always followed best practice so it’s a nice justification that we are doing things right,” he said.

Commenting on Nathan’s success, from a record entry in the third annual ASOY Awards, Professor John Moverley, Chairman of the Amenity Forum, said: ‘‘The Awards seek to recognise the quality and level of professionalism in our sector. They highlight how professional amenity maintenance Keeps Britain Moving.

“All of the Category winners have demonstrated an extremely high level of professionalism; picking an overall winner was extremely difficult,” he reported. “They have all demonstrated the exceptional skills of operators across the amenity sector – doing their jobs to an extremely high standard every day.

“Secondly they have exemplified the whole concept of the safe use of pesticides, being applied correctly and in a sustainable manner.”

ICL Landscape and Industrial Manager, Mark Pyrah, added: “Accurate application, ably demonstrated by the skills of all the ASOY entrants, is a key element of effective stewardship of products and helping to ensure they will remain available,” he said.

“It is all about sprayer awareness – maintaining good application to maintain the product so that the individual is promoting best practice.”

Daniel Lightfoot, Syngenta Turf UK Business Manager, believed that the Awards should be a shining light of the amenity industry’s approach to safe and sustainable spray application.

“The independent judging panel highlighted Nathan has shown outstanding skills and worked to very high standards to achieve the best possible results. He has proved a worthy winner by showing that best practice can deliver efficient, cost effective and, above all, safe amenity spraying.

“Syngenta recognises that the skills of the sprayer operator are paramount in achieving the full potential from all applications and assuring the future sustainable use,” he added.

For more information, visit: www.amenityforum.co.uk

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BIGGA Young Greenkeeper Award

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BIGGA Young Greenkeeper Award: Talented young greenkeeper Alistair Morrison is celebrating after being crowned winner of a BIGGA Award at BTME 2018.

Alistair (25) is head greenkeeper at Durness Golf Club and was announced as the winner of the BIGGA Young Greenkeeper of the Year Award sponsored by Textron Golf at an awards ceremony held this evening.

BIGGA Young Greenkeeper Award

Alistair began his career as an apprentice at Brora, before moving back to his hometown club at Durness. As the only member of the greenkeeping team at the most north-westerly course on mainland Britain, the role requires a huge amount of dedication and commitment to personal development and the development of the course.

During his three years at Brora, Alistair volunteered at three European Tour events, including the European Masters in Switzerland.

Alistair’s award was announced by television presenter and #ThisGirlGolfs ambassador Naga Munchetty at the BIGGA Welcome Celebration sponsored by Textron Golf. He was presented with his award by Andre Andrade, director of international sales at Textron Golf. The awards ceremony is one of the highlights of BTME 2018, the premier turf management exhibition in Europe.

Alistair said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have won, I certainly never expected this! I’m from a small village of around 300 people, we rely mainly on tourists, and I do have a good relationship with my club. As a small community you get to know everyone at the club, as they’re all friends, family, neighbours, and I’m delighted to have been able to represent them on such a massive scale.”

BIGGA Chief Executive Jim Croxton said: “I’m delighted that we have been able to recognise the efforts of Alistair, who has achieved professional and personal development despite the challenges faced of preparing a course in tough economic time. The fact Alistair is able to prepare a thriving course for his golfers, despite working on his own and in such a remote location, is no mean feat and he is an inspiration to us all.”

The other finalists of the award were Angus Roberts of Roxburghe Hotel & Golf Club and Carl Sharp of Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club.

Jim added: “Congratulations must also go to Angus and Carl who did incredibly well to reach the finals of the awards. With such outstanding candidates, it’s great to see that the future of greenkeeping is in safe hands.”

BTME 2018 runs until Thursday 25 January and features more than 150 exhibitors from all aspects of the turf management industry. Each year more than 4,500 greenkeepers, trade members, club managers and other representatives of the golfing industry come together to network and share news of the latest education and innovation.

Visit http://btme.org.uk/ for more information.

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BIGGA Award For Wentworth

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BIGGA Award For Wentworth: The Wentworth Club greenkeeping team in Virginia Water has been recognised for its incredible performance in preparing the course for the BMW PGA Championship 2017 by winning the BIGGA Championship Performance of the Year Award sponsored by Rigby Taylor.

The redesign of Wentworth’s famous West Course was conducted by European Tour Golf Design, with the support of Ryder Cup captains Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn and the Ernie Els Design group. But it was Director of Estates and Golf Courses Kenny Mackay and his team who were responsible for ensuring the changes were implemented ahead of the BMW PGA Championship in May 2017.

BIGGA Award For Wentworth

All 18 greens were stripped of the old turf and re-seeded with a new creeping bent, while four greens – on the eighth, 11th, 14th and 16th holes – were completely rebuilt. A sub-air system was also installed on all the greens, while new drainage and irrigation was introduced.

Furthermore, all the bunkers were redesigned and reconstructed, with 29 completely removed from play.

European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley said: “The greens are spectacular and aesthetically the golf course is considerably stronger. Stephen Gallacher was walking by and he said, ‘The golf course has significantly improved. It’s just absolutely fantastic and the greens are great’.”

Kenny accepted the award at the BIGGA Welcome Celebration sponsored by Textron Golf, held this evening in the Harrogate Convention Centre’s Royal Hall. The awards ceremony is one of the highlights of BTME 2018, the premier turf management exhibition in Europe.

Kenny said: “It’s a very close-knit team. The big challenge we’ve seen is preparing the greens from tournament.

“When the new owners came in we knew we had a plan together. There was a lot of work behind the scenes and all that research came off. It’s two years in the making to get to here.”

BIGGA Chief Executive Officer Jim Croxton said: “This was nothing short of a superhuman effort by the team at The Wentworth Club, who worked non-stop from the moment the 2016 BMW PGA Championship ended until the 2017 event began to ensure the course matched up to the incredible standards required when hosting the European Tour’s flagship championship.

“Well done to Kenny and to all his team on this spectacular achievement, and on being crowned winners of the Championship Greenkeeping Performance of the Year at BTME 2018.

“Congratulations also to the Dundonald Links and Moor Allerton teams, who were both worthy finalists after hosting exceptional tournaments during 2017. All are a credit to BIGGA and the greenkeeping industry as a whole.”

BTME 2018 runs until Thursday 25 January and features more than 150 exhibitors from all aspects of the turf management industry. Each year more than 4,500 greenkeepers, trade members, club managers and other representatives of the golfing industry come together to network and share news of the latest education and innovation.

Visit http://btme.org.uk/ for more information.

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GEO Award For Royal Dornoch

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GEO Award For Royal Dornoch: An internationally-renowned golf course has earned a coveted global sustainability accolade through its commitment to the community and natural environment.

Royal Dornoch Golf Club has been awarded the GEO Certified® ecolabel, an international symbol of ‘great golf environments’. This recognises clubs that have met high standards for performance in nature conservation, water and energy efficiency, ethical and environmental supply chain, pollution control and community engagement.

GEO Award For Royal Dornoch

An independent assessment of the famous club concludes: “Royal Dornoch is not only set within a stunning coastal landscape, but its course ranking demonstrates the commitment and expertise given to management, which together place significant responsibility on the club to manage efficiently and sustainably in all areas of working.”

The award not only further elevates the standing of the historic club, but also enhances its ability to host major events. The R&A, the game’s governing body, is a supporter of GEO (Golf Environment Organization) and the Certified ecolabel is now a prerequisite for clubs staging large competitions. All ten host venues for The Open are now GEO Certified®.

Richard Allison, Project Manager, GEO Certified – Facilities, said: “Royal Dornoch is an outstanding example of a golf club with sustainability as a natural extension of its operation.

“From habitat creation and steps to future energy independence among its range of sustainability work, our congratulations go to everyone at the club and we look forward to seeing what the next few years brings.”

The assessment highlights the “exemplary” management of a Site of Special Scientific Interest which adjoins the golf course and states the club’s energy resource management is “particularly impressive”.

A new maintenance facility runs on renewable electricity with solar-PV cells providing 12 kilowatts of energy for daily use with surplus returned to the National Grid.

An air-source heat pump provides hot water and underfloor heating for the offices and communal areas, while in the clubhouse major energy initiatives include a phased changeover to LED lighting, installation of smart meters to track consumption accurately, and motion sensors and push-button timers throughout appropriate areas. Electric vehicles are also being introduced to the club’s maintenance fleet.

The club regularly monitors wildlife on the course, with species including otter, snipe, woodcock and pine marten all resident.

Royal Dornoch’s support for the community includes making donations to a number of organisations through a variety of funds. The GEO assessment highlights money raised to provide defibrillators in the town and a community fund that has distributed about £20,000 to worthy causes in three years.

Royal Dornoch’s general manager Neil Hampton said: “This is a very important award for us. We take enormous pride in our environment and are committed to doing everything we can to act responsibly and sustainably.

“The club also takes seriously its role in the community and be as good a neighbour as we can be.

“The GEO Certified award is a prestigious international honour and we are delighted to receive this recognition.”

For more information, visit: system2.eu

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