Tag Archive for: Club

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

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Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers: Nicklaus-designed, the Santa Maria golf club is a private club in Panama City, opened in 2012. Managed by Troon Privé, Santa Maria also includes a five star Luxury Collection by Marriott hotel.

Panama is a tropical climate, and this caused challenges for the club’s maintenance crew, especially given the large area of bunkers on the course, which total 150,000 square feet of sand. “Panama City receives a great amount of rainfall, particularly between the months of May and December, leading to sand washouts in the bunkers,” says general manager José Ignacio Olea. “Since the opening of the golf course, the frequent washouts have led to maintenance difficulties. Therefore, we needed to take action and, not only improve the bunkers, but change the style of bunkers and simplifying their maintenance, guaranteeing an overall improvement on the conditions and enhancing the playability.”

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

Santa Maria’s management resolved to install a new liner to the bunkers. “We teamed up with Troon Golf, Nicklaus Design and Capillary Concrete to discuss the options available, including the concept, the scope, the construction methods, technical assessment,” says Olea. “Capillary Bunkers was suggested and supported by Troon Golf, which has been involved in a number of bunker renovation projects, so its experience, coupled with the vision and expertise of the golf course designer, Troy Vincent, paved the path to the selection of the Capillary Bunkers. On its side, Capillary Bunkers has always been very accommodating and approachable when discussing the options, visiting the project and validating the quality of the product that was provided locally.”

Mexican contractor Roca Golf handled the installation. “After seeing the first few holes finished, the result is impressive, and we are extremely confident with Roca Golf and their ability to translate the vision of the architect into the final product,” says Olea. “We believe that Santa María is the best golf club in Panama and we try to stay ahead and provide the best golfing experience to our members and their guests throughout the year. We trust our partners and their expertise, and we are confident on the fact that our neighbour courses will be watching us, and it is just a matter of time that they embark themselves into the same solution. Our members are extremely pleased with the new look. We have had some rains and the bunkers have taken it very well, considering that the sand is not fully compacted yet.”

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Cricket club wins Toro Greensmaster 800

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Cricket club wins Toro Greensmaster 800: Westgate-on-Sea Cricket Club is the lucky winner of a Toro Greensmaster 800 pedestrian mower after entering distributor Reesink Turfcare’s competition at SALTEX. 

Raif Kelly, who has been at the club for 35 years having worn many hats along the way from president to secretary to community manager and finally, as head groundsman, is “incredibly pleased” with the result from the prize draw and can’t wait to put the Greensmaster 800 to work.

Cricket club wins Toro Greensmaster 800

Cricket club wins Toro Greensmaster 800

Overseeing three groundskeeping teams that work diligently on the square every weekend, Raif explains: “The Greensmaster 800 will come very in handy to cut the cricket strips to the standards to which we have accustomed our members. This is our first Toro machine so we’re very excited to try it and see what it can do.

“We make sure the square is always in good condition. A lot of work goes into it over the year, starting in May and finishing in September, at which point we put it to bed during the winter. There’s only two months in the whole year where we don’t do any work so the Toro mower will be put to a lot of good use!”

The Greensmaster 800 is built upon Toro’s legendary reputation of the Greensmaster 1000, with a cutting width range of 18 inches, heavy-duty 4.3hp Subaru Industrial engine, narrow mowing swath for narrow striping and a standard 14-blade cylinder. This walk-behind mower excels on the cricket square, providing a superior precision of cut and straight-line tracking for the perfect finish.

Raif continues: “We welcome this new greensmower and the technology it brings, it’s a great opportunity to try new things and new techniques and see where that takes us.”

Reesink’s South East branch will be delivering the machine to the club and branch manager Jon Cole says of the win: “Congratulations to the team at Westgate-On-Sea Cricket Club. We hope the Toro Greensmaster will help maintain your pitch to the highest level for this season and many more to come.”

To talk to someone about Toro technology and how the Toro range would suit your course, call 01480 226800.

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New lease of life at Chorley Golf Club

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New lease of life at Chorley Golf Club: Chorley Golf Club has got its 125-year anniversary year 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 at Chorley Golf Club

New lease of life at Chorley Golf Club

With 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 of the 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. Others might put in liners nowadays, but we’re on a limited resource and 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 the 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 players will 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 ensuring this work can happen.

“Our aim now is to make the course longer by building a few more tee zones set right back on 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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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.”

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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Deep aeration relief for Broadway Bowling Club

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Deep aeration relief for Broadway Bowling Club: Where once stood a croquet lawn and tennis courts, the Broadway Bowling Club opened its doors in 1919. It sits in an idyllic location in beautifully maintained grounds with scenic views towards the Cotswold escarpment and the Broadway tower; a ‘Saxon Tower’ folly that was the brainchild of 18th Century landscape designer ‘Capability Brown’.

The gently sloping banks of herbaceous flower borders and hedging change through the seasons and come days when the weather halts play, the club’s pavilion offers a pool table and an indoor skittle alley for members to enjoy.

Deep aeration relief for Broadway Bowling Club

Deep aeration relief for Broadway Bowling Club

It was during 2021 the weather brought matters to a head for Dennis Hall, Broadway’s Greenkeeper of ten years. Increasingly, the green was suffering from standing water after heavy rain, with one area getting progressively worse. Even in dry periods, it was noted the ground was frequently mushy when the mower went through the area. Avonmore Associates, the highly respected South Warwickshire sports grounds construction and maintenance company, regularly maintain the green with a regime of spiking and aeration. They suspected a deeper problem. As happens with many older bowling greens, the sheer volume of play over the years, combined with the substrate of the original construction, leads to compaction at a depth not reached by normal aeration. In Broadway’s case, there are mixed areas of stone and clay with insufficient release of standing water built up over time.

Avonmore suggested using Terrain Aeration, with whom they have worked on a number of projects, to bring in their Terralift machine to provide one metre deep aeration. At this depth, the ground is usually so compacted it requires fracturing to open up fissures and allow drainage. Terrain Aeration’s Terralift system works on the principle of hammering a hollow probe through the soil using a JCB road breaker gun, and compressed air is released up to 20Bar (280psi). At the end of the air blast, they inject dried seaweed, which sticks to the fissure walls. This expands and contracts with the moisture in the soil to keep the area breathing. Working to a grid with approximately two metre spacings allows the Terralift to create interlinked cracks and fissures deep underground to carry away the water. The 1.5-inch probe holes on the green are backfilled with Lytag aggregate and covered with topsoil, making it playable almost immediately. The work at the Broadway Bowling Club was carried out in November 2021 and Dennis Hall reports that they have had several periods of heavy downpour and the deep aeration has done the trick with no standing water to halt play.

Terrain Aeration 01449 673783 www.terrainaeration.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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