Tag Archive for: Chosen

Toro chosen by West Sussex Golf Club

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Toro chosen by West Sussex Golf Club: The intricacies of selecting and installing the right irrigation network are no more pronounced than for West Sussex Golf Club, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which recently completed the installation of a full course Toro irrigation system.

Set on the very rare terrain which is Lowland Heath with extensive heather, Scots Pine and birch, the club had very clear expectations of what it wanted for both the course and its members. The new system also had to meet the specific requirements of Natural England in their approval of the required work.

Toro chosen by West Sussex Golf Club

Toro chosen by West Sussex Golf Club

Kerr Rowan, course manager at West Sussex Golf Club, elaborates: “We are fortunate to be one of a small number of traditional heathland golf clubs in the country. Our players gravitate towards the firm, fiery and fast fairways.

“By their very nature, these areas turn brown, particularly in summer, and there was concern from the club that a new irrigation system would make them too green. However, the incredibly hot summer of 2018 proved that rather than turning areas green, irrigation was vital to keeping those naturally dry areas alive. As a result of that hot dry weather, we lost a lot of grass and it highlighted the importance of having a premium irrigation system in place.”

The system was designed by irrigation consultants, Irritech Limited, who used their expertise in understanding the resident natural flora and fauna to handle the challenges of the course.

Roger Davey, managing director at Irritech Limited, comments: “The project required an advanced level of diligence and care. This is because a large part of the course is within a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest and therefore Natural England insisted that water should not be sprayed or allowed to leach on to the heather areas, falling only on the fine grass fairways.

“Water throw had to be carefully calculated so a three-row system was installed on the fairways instead of a two-row alternative. This provided greater accuracy and efficiency. We couldn’t simply install pipe wherever we liked, it had to be planned with precision and out of respect for the natural surroundings. For example, we had to be mindful of large, deep tree roots when installing pipework along the tree lines. Plus, as the site is not blessed with an incredible amount of water, we had to design a system that was efficient and sustainable for the club.”

With these considerations in mind, the club, led by the Green Committee, undertook a thorough process to find the right products to replace the old system which at 40 years old didn’t cover the fairways. After a series of meetings, presentations and sourcing references from other clubs, the board at West Sussex opted to use the market-leading equipment offered by Toro.

Kerr continues: “What impressed me most about the Toro irrigation products was the Lynx central control system. Five of our greenkeeping team use the control system app, enabling us to do so much at the touch of a button including operating the sprinklers remotely.

“I like how Toro has constantly evolved its products, making them as efficient as possible. You can stop the sprinklers within a second which reduces water wastage, and if there are any technical issues the sprinklers are top-serviceable thus minimising disruption to our course and members.”

With Toro chosen and the design finalised, Irritech Limited worked alongside West Sussex Golf Club to appoint a contractor to handle the installation of the system. This was handled by Lancashire-based, Reesink-approved contractor, LS Systems, starting in October 2020 and finishing in May 2021. Despite some weather days which presented challenging conditions with heavy winter rainfall and spring frosts, the installation was mostly completed during weekdays, avoiding the club’s busy weekend periods. An unscheduled government-enforced winter lockdown also presented additional quiet spells for progress to be made.

The installation included over 27,000m of pipe, 27,000m of cable, 958 sprinklers and the state-of-the-art Lynx Smart Module; the brain of the system. Infinity sprinklers were used on the fairways, greens and approaches as well as the larger tees. T5s and T7s were used on the smaller tees.

Tim Griffiths, project manager from LS Systems, comments: “What’s key for an irrigation system of this kind is accuracy of application. In making this investment West Sussex Golf Club is now better able to manage its water resources, bringing about both environmental and cost saving benefits whilst allowing them to maintain the character of the course with pinpoint precision.”

When asked about the impact the new system has had on the club, course manager Kerr is resoundingly positive: “It has the precision we need to tailor the setup to suit the varying areas of the course. We can spot-target areas that need it and when we do water, we water less so the water goes exactly where we want it. This makes a significant cost-saving to the club.

“We appreciate the speed, responsiveness and ease of the entire system. With the Lynx app on my phone I’m able to turn on tailored irrigation as and when we need it, something which gives us ultimate control and flexibility.”

To find out more about the Toro range or the finance options available, call Reesink Turfcare on 01480 226800, email info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Pellenc Chosen By idverde

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Pellenc Chosen By idverde: Europe’s largest provider of grounds maintenance services and landscape construction projects, idverde, has purchased 20 Pellenc ULiB 1500 batteries and 20 Pellenc Excelion 2000 brushcutters all fitted with City Cut heads.

The new range of Pellenc equipment has been purchased by the company’s department in the London Borough of Bromley and Angus Lindsay, group head of assets and fleet management, says that the purchase reflects the company’s stance on becoming more environmentally friendly.

Pellenc Chosen By idverde

“We have purchased more electric equipment this year than we have done in all the previous years,” he said. “It is a mixture of being driven by contracts, clients and because ultimately it is the right thing to do. As a company, we have approximately 10,000 pieces of machinery out there and around half of them are all two-stroke or small four-stroke. That is a lot of emissions and we therefore need to start doing something about it.”

Since 2015 idverde has been responsible for the management of the parks, green space and countryside in the London Borough of Bromley and Angus, who has sole responsibility for the vehicles and machinery operated by idverde – from specifying, purchasing and whole life management through to disposal, explained his thinking behind choosing the Pellenc Excelion 2000 brushcutters fitted with City Cut heads.

“In the London Borough of Bromley we suffer a lot with thrown debris from traditional line cutters. It could be grass splatter on head stones or it could be stones flicked towards cars and houses – it is a big issue. So, when you weigh up the cost of damaged paintwork, broken windows and the emotional cost of having a loved one’s headstone splattered with grass, it made sense to look at an alternative.”

Designed for routine maintenance or intensive strimming, the Excelion 2000 is robust, powerful and lightweight. It perfectly eliminates tall, dense grass, woody weeds, brambles and shrubs and can be fitted with a range of five interchangeable heads, depending on the task required.

The idverde team in Bromley will be using the City Cut head which is particularly suited to the maintenance of urban spaces. The City Cut’s counter-rotation technology, which is exclusive to Pellenc, avoids plant, gravel, stones and debris from projecting and causing damage to surrounding areas.

“The City Cut head on the Excelion 2000 provides us with a solution to thrown debris along with the benefits of electric power in terms of noise and pollution,” said Angus. “The other sites where we will be using them are next to schools. We are not allowed to operate in school hours because of disruption to the classes but electric equipment is a lot quieter so you can extend your working hours. This also applies to hospitals and care homes because you are a lot less disruptive with battery powered equipment.”

The idverde team purchased the Pellenc ULiB 1500 batteries, which have the highest capacity on the market, to power their Excelion 2000 brushcutters. The battery is supported by an ergonomic and lightweight Pellenc harness which offers an ideal level of comfort when in use. Its weight is perfectly distributed over the key back support areas, so 70% of the weight rests on the hips, with only 30% on the shoulders. The entire carrying system, from the straps to the thoracic spine area, can be adjusted for any shape and working styles and the battery is watertight to IP54 for use in the rain.

“Battery powered products, in general, are getting so much better,” said Angus. “They have moved away from getting just 10 minutes out of them before having to go and charge them to getting a full day’s work. They are now professionally built and are certainly up to the task.

“Pellenc make a very good product and as a company we’ve taken more battery powered equipment on-board to address environmental issues. This equipment increases the working time and is better for the operators – they don’t have to wear the same amount of PPE (personal protective equipment) in terms of face protection and ear protection because it doesn’t have the same emissions and they don’t make the same noise as their petrol counterparts.

“Electric has to be the way forward,” he continued. “It is the environment, it is the workers – it is everybody that will benefit from it, so I think it is the correct thing to do morally as far as our industry goes. The government is pushing us to use electric cars and utilise the electric transportation system but they seem to forget that there are strimmers, hedge cutters, ride-on mowers and chippers that are omitting fumes everyday so therefore we must do every little bit we can do to help.”

Pellenc products are exclusively distributed in the UK by Etesia UK.

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.pellencuk.comYou can also follow Pellenc on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @PellencUK for much more news, reviews and insightful views.

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MM50 Chosen For Cricket Squares

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MM50 Chosen For Cricket Squares: After a successful trial, Jamie Foyster – owner of Sportsturf Management, has taken the decision to exclusively use Limagrain’s MM50 grass seed across each cricket square he tends to.

It is safe to say that Jamie Foyster knows a thing or two about cricket squares – he was introduced to the sport at the age of 10 as a player and was then helping to prepare and maintaining pitches by 15 at his local club. This continued over two decades and even though he was working in another job he still continued to work voluntarily on cricket pitches until he had an opportunity to join Sportsturf Management in 2008.

MM50 Chosen For Cricket Squares

Jamie took over the sole ownership of the business in 2012 and it was also at this stage that he first became acquainted with Limagrain UK.

“I wasn’t happy with my existing supplier – the seed just wasn’t performing as I wanted it to. We had an incredibly wet season that year and in the autumn I trialled MM50 on two cricket squares. Very soon it was apparent that the germination rate, the development and the root density was fantastic.

“However, the real test came in the summer of the following year, and for me the wear tolerance and the recovery rate was just superb. That sealed the deal for me and since then I have converted all my squares to MM50.”

MM50 possesses exceptional shoot density along with tolerance to close mowing making it particularly suitable for cricket squares. This superior mix contains the perennial ryegrass cultivars, Venice, Alison and Malibu, which are renowned for providing a great sward for cricket use. As Jamie reports, other key features of MM50 include fast recovery from wear and damage and high disease resistance.

It is products such as MM50 which is a direct result of Limagrain’s continual investment into research and development. The company is a major supporter of research partnerships with universities and institutes which will continue to help provide new varieties through plant breeding giving groundsmen and greenkeepers solutions in future turf management.

“Products and technology have come such a long way in the past decade,” says Jamie. “Machinery, seeds, fertilisers, you name it – they have all advanced massively. For example you just have to look at germination rates now compared to a few years ago. In this respect I would have to single out HEADSTART® GOLD seed coating.”

MM50 Chosen For Cricket Squares

MM50 is treated with HEADSTART® GOLD – Limagrain’s unique seaweed based seed treatment which helps to ensure rapid and even germination. This tried and tested grass seed treatment helps the seed get off to the best possible start – making it ideal to use in the less than favourable conditions that can sometimes be found on cricket pitches during renovations.

HEADSTART® GOLD is perhaps at its most beneficial when it comes to the fourteen squares that Jamie and his team carry out renovations on each year. In addition, they maintain a further eight squares all year round  – Jamie’s work has quickly caught the eye.

“Others have seen how well MM50 has performed on our squares and they have since started using it. To be honest, I recommend MM50 all the time now and quite a lot of clubs and schools I know of have switched to it.

“It’s just a tremendous package all round from Limagrain. Richard Sheppard (Amenity Seed Sales Specialist) will often come and see me, to see how everything is going and offer advice and support. I don’t even have to ask for that but it is a great service to have.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/amenity

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Toro Sprinklers Chosen For R&A

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Toro Sprinklers Chosen For R&A: Toro’s Infinity and T5 sprinklers have been selected to irrigate the golf practice area at The R&A’s Equipment Testing Centre in order to provide pristine greens and tees for golf equipment testing.

A focal point of the facility, which is located at Kingsbarns near St Andrews in Scotland, is the practice range which allows for human and robotic testing of equipment; the results from which directly affect the game of golf across the world. It is the two greens here that have benefitted from four Toro Infinity 35 sprinklers with TDC wall mount, while seven Toro T5 sprinklers have been added across two tees.

Toro Sprinklers Chosen For R&A

Paul Kimber from Kimber Golf, the golf course architect and contractor working with The R&A on the facility, says: “From its inception, this project has asked pertinent questions as to how and why things are done and how can they be improved. We applied some new techniques, developed a site-specific construction methodology for the greens and tried to create as many research opportunities as possible.

“I have used Toro irrigation for several years and found they provide a quality product with good customer service provided by Reesink Turfcare. This was considered a very important factor for the client, and had the irrigation designer, Callum, in agreement.”

Callum Oliphant, managing director of Applied Irrigation, one of Scotland’s leading irrigation specialists, recommends the use of Toro’s sprinklers because their “performance is reliable and consistent and the quality of design excellent”.

Callum knew he and the team who installed the sprinklers, could rely on Toro to deliver the results a customer like The R&A would expect: “Each year, The R&A’s Equipment Standards department tests thousands of golf clubs and balls to ensure they conform to the equipment rules and the turf needs to provide a true surface, which means it must be in top condition. Irrigation is of course instrumental to that.”

The turf, which the tests are carried out on by some of the leading scientists and elite golfers today and two cutting edge golf robots, need to be as near to perfect as it is possible to get. It’s easy to see therefore why Toro was picked to help achieve that goal.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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