Tag Archive for: College

Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds: Myreside Stadium in Edinburgh is home to George Watson’s College and Watsonian rugby club. Regular fixtures held there include Tennent’s National League Division 1, FOSROC Super Six Championship and Tennent’s Women’s Premier League matches.

Beside the main pitch, Head of Grounds, Craig Eccleston, and his team of five, have eight other full size rugby pitches, two large training areas and three cricket squares to maintain, as well as the school’s estate.

Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

In September, they took delivery of a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD deep aerator from Wiedenmann UK’s Scottish dealer, Fairways GM.

Craig Eccleston said: “Aeration is a massive part of pitch playability and it’s important that we give all our surfaces best care. In summer I went to a demo at Dollar Academy, where the Wiedenmann team answered my questions. I thought the GXi 8 pricewise would be out my range, and we’d go for a smaller one, but I was pleasantly surprised when it came in under my budget.

“The long life of the Wiedenmann was a big consideration. The school plays so much rugby, and if you factor the FPs’ activity too, all pitches are busy right through until the summer term, when focus switches to athletics and cricket.

“We’ve relied on contractors to come in on a pre-booked day which can bring limitations. Sometimes the conditions don’t suit, or fixtures change, and it doesn’t get done. I made a financial case that if we owned our own machine, we could go out as often as necessary, making use of any windows of opportunity, especially as a full pitch can be done in just over 2.5 hrs. Having as many pitches, the numbers stacked up.

Craig, who took up his position almost three years ago had previous experience of working with Terra Spikes when he was head groundsman at Giggleswick School, North Yorkshire.

“This is a newer model to what I had before and I like that there are minimal grease points, so it is easy to maintain. This one is so quick and so smooth. When we look at the weather forecast for the week ahead, I say to the team, ’let’s get the machine on and we’ll pick a couple of pitches off each day and get around everything’. It makes such a difference.

“As soon as the GXi8 arrived in September we did all, rugby pitches with 20 mm tines at once. A few had a second aeration in November. During January or February, we will go again once, leaving them until renovations time, which for us is the end of July.

“Our cricket wickets only need to be done annually so ours were aerated at the end of October with 8 mm tines.

“I’m happy with its progress. Ultimately, we invested in the machine to improve the overall playability of the pitches to enhance their durability and performance. This enhances the enjoyment for the pupils, letting them play fast expansive rugby. The school has been particularly good investing in what we need.”

George Watson’s College is a single campus co-educational independent day school in the heart of Edinburgh, for young people from 3-18 years.

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SMARTCut™ and SpringRake™ at St Catharine’s College

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SMARTCut™ and SpringRake™ at St Catharine’s College: A 34” INFINICUT® FX, complete with SMARTCut™ cutting reel and SpringRake™ cassette from the TMSystem™ collection has become the newest addition to the machinery fleet at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge.

In the short period of time since its delivery in June, the set-up is making a massive difference to some of the site’s fine turf areas – albeit in quiet fashion, with the evident reduction in noise pollution another benefit thanks to the switch to battery power.

SMARTCut™ and SpringRake™ at St Catharine’s College

SMARTCut™ and SpringRake™ at St Catharine’s College

Under Head Groundsman Chris Tovey’s remit are hockey surfaces, tennis courts and pitches for rugby and football, which convert to host cricket throughout the summer months. “I’d first seen the INFINICUT® at a demonstration a couple of years ago and could tell that the quality of cut it delivered, together with the versatility of the cassette options available, would suit our site down to the ground” explains Chris, who has been at the college for 35 years. “Through the summer months, it will become our go-to mower on our cricket outfield and throughout the winter, it will deliver that next level of finesse to our main football pitch.”

“The quiet operation that comes with the battery-powered INFINICUT® has been a real breath of fresh air for us, having a number of aging and rather noisy pieces of equipment in the shed! This is so important not just for us as operators, but also the benefits that noise reduction brings to the more general educational environment.”

Alongside his 34” cutting cassette, Chris also purchased the new SpringRake™ cassette from the TMSystem™ range. Designed for a less aggressive approach to removing organic matter, lateral growth and/or debris, the SpringRake™ features both tines and nylon brushes to gently ‘scratch’ the base of the plant and move the collected material to the surface for dispersal or collection.

“We’ve been passing the SpringRake™ cassette over our grass tennis courts and cricket square on a weekly basis and it’s done a fantastic job at removing unwanted grasses on these fine turf areas.” Chris concludes, “The set-up is so simple to use and is going to be key to helping us take our facilities to the next level, to the benefit of both the college and the students.”

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Radley College extends Toro relationship

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Radley College extends Toro relationship: World-class sporting facilities are one of the cornerstones of prestigious boys’ school, Radley College in Oxfordshire, so it goes without saying that maintaining impeccable grounds is a must.

After 10 years of successfully using Toro, Radley College has once again renewed its arrangement with Reesink Turfcare to supply Toro fine-turf and groundscare mowers to keep the school’s 228 acres in pristine condition.

Radley College extends Toro relationship

Radley College extends Toro relationship

“Flexibility is key” cites head of grounds, Adam King, who has worked at Radley College for 20 years: “This is the second time we have renewed a five-year deal with Toro and this time we’ve opted for a slightly different range of machines. Rather than having a smaller number of larger mowers we have gone for a wider range of smaller machines. This gives us ultimate flexibility and enables us to work smarter.”

Adam’s 19-strong grounds teams are responsible for maintaining the school’s grounds and gardens, 30 hectares of which are pure sport pitches including rugby pitches, cricket-squares, football pitches, astroturf hockey pitches and tennis courts. Radley College also has a lake and a nine-hole golf course.

Adam continues: “We have 750 boys playing sport five days a week. Whether it’s rugby in winter or cricket in summer, there are seasonal demands on the facilities. Pitches not only need to be playable but immaculate, so in being able to equip the grounds team with the finest machines and deploy them according to the school calendar, we have the ultimate flexibility. We can work sharper and have more options.

“Working with Toro is a no brainer. Clearly we have a duty to look at all manufacturers but we continue to return to Toro based on the fact the mowers are reliable, comfortable and easy for the grounds team to use, and they produce an exceptional cut.”

Thanks to the latest renewal agreement the school now has a nine-strong fleet of Toro mowers which includes two Greensmaster 3150-Q, a Reelmaster 3100-D, a Greensmaster TriFlex 3400, two Reelmaster 3550-D and two compact and lightweight Reelmaster 3555-D mowers.

“Down time is not an option,” Adam continues. “We seldom have issues, but our lease agreement has back-up care built into it. If we have a problem I know I’ll have a mechanic on site the very next day. We’ve never had a machine down for more than 24-36 hours and that’s very important to us.

“It’s all about the machines” Adam concludes. “The finishing, the quality – it’s exemplary.  And with the reliability and performance of our grounds machines taken care of it’s only mother nature we have to worry about!”

Reesink Turfcare is the exclusive distributor in the UK and Ireland for Toro groundscare machinery. For further information on the range call 01480 226800, email info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk, or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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College Cup winners prepare Clásico pitch

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College Cup winners prepare Clásico pitch: After winning the 2019 SALTEX College Cup, four students from Myerscough College recently enjoyed an unforgettable experience at Real Madrid’s Bernabéu Stadium.

The annual SALTEX College Cup, sponsored by Toro and Reesink Turfcare, is a student-led sports turf challenge – an academic test of turf management knowledge for student competitors who are enrolled at a college on a relevant course of study.

College Cup winners prepare Clásico pitch

College Cup winners prepare Clásico pitch

Myerscough College, located in Bilsborrow, Preston, entered a team into the competition solely consisting of apprentices. Scott Danter (Warwick School), Ashley Hill (Warwickshire County Cricket Club), Ryan Harrison and Nick George (both from Leicester City Football Club) are all currently studying Level 2 or Level 3 sportsturf apprenticeships.

The competition consisted of paper-based multiple choice and short answer questions on turf management, plus a case study which required a more in-depth written answer. The students were also presented with live test samples in which they had to identify potential threats to the health of turf.

Myerscough College proved victorious and saw off competition from Askham Bryan, CAFRE, Bridgwater and Capel Manor to win the trophy. The Myerscough team was then presented with a prize that money can’t buy – a once-in-a-lifetime visit to Real Madrid’s Bernabéu Stadium, where they would get the opportunity to learn from Paul Burgess, Madrid’s director of grounds and environment.

As part of the prize the four students enjoyed an invaluable groundscare work experience placement in the run up to one of the biggest domestic fixtures in world football, El Clásico, between Real Madrid and Barcelona. During their weekend visit the group enjoyed a full, behind-the-scenes experience of just what it takes to prepare the playing surface for such a prestigious fixture, and even got the golden opportunity to be part of the team that maintains the Bernabéu’s hallowed turf.

It was an experience that will live long in the memory according to student Ashley Hill: “This was a real honour,” he said. “Seeing in detail what the grounds team do at the training ground and at the stadium was inspirational. Mowing the pitch at the Bernabéu was the icing on the cake.”

Ryan Harrison believes that opportunity to learn from Paul Burgess has helped to improve his skill set and will enhance his prospects in the grounds management industry: “Paul and the team were brilliant with us all and I learnt so much. Helping to prepare the pitch for the El Clasico was a real privilege and I am going home a better groundsperson.”

The Bernabéu tour follows three extraordinary SALTEX College Cup prizes in previous years. In 2017 the winning students were part of the Wembley grounds team at the FA Cup Final and the following year the winners enjoyed an unforgettable experience of helping with pitch preparations at the 2018 Six Nations Championships at BT Murrayfield Stadium. Last year saw the winning College win a behind the scenes tour at The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), Wimbledon in which the students received an in-depth look at court preparations the week before The Championships 2019 took place.

The SALTEX College Cup continues to go from strength to strength and Dan Prest, head of technical and learning at the Institute of Groundsmanship, believes it is a fantastic platform to encourage and inspire the younger generation.

“This competition is all about raising standards in our industry. Young people should see this opportunity as a viable career option and that there is a progressive career path for them to follow,” he said.

All colleges interested in participating in the 2020 SALTEX College Cup should email Dan Prest at dprest@iog.org for more details.

SALTEX 2020 will take place at the NEC, Birmingham on 4 and 5 November.

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

Follow SALTEX on Twitter @IOG_SALTEX and Facebook – www.facebook.com/IOGSALTEX

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Reesink To Sponsor College Cup

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Reesink To Sponsor College Cup: Toro and Reesink Turfcare are delighted to announce they will be sponsoring the SALTEX College Cup 2019, managed by the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG).

The SALTEX College Cup is a student-led sports turf challenge, testing teams of students on their turf management knowledge with paper-based questions, a presentation and live test samples. The competition held during SALTEX, the industry’s leading turf management exhibition at the NEC Birmingham from 30-31 October, presents a real challenge to its young contestants but with the promise of big rewards.

Reesink To Sponsor College Cup

To celebrate the inaugural partnership, a once-in-a-lifetime prize with Real Madrid Football Club has been planned. The winning team of the 2019 competition will travel to Spain at the end of February 2020 for an invaluable groundscare work experience placement at the club’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the run up to a major international game.

Working to raise awareness of academic rigour in turf management, the SALTEX College Cup is a fantastic way to reward those dedicated to and passionate about the industry while promoting the importance of education.

Commenting on the challenge, Dan Prest, Head of Member Services – Learning and Consultancy at the IOG, says: “This is a fantastic opportunity for turfcare students to witness the working practices at an elite venue and draw inspiration from Paul Burgess, a respected UK grounds manager. The winning team will have proven their knowledge in the competition and will also be able to add to their practical skills under the guidance of Paul and his team at Real Madrid.”

As companies dedicated to supporting the grounds sector and to encourage younger people into the industry, Toro and Reesink, an official Toro distributor in the UK, have teamed up with the IOG once again, to complement their successful partnership as sponsors of the IOG Young Board of Directors.

Reesink Turfcare’s marketing manager Rochelle Bedford says of the sponsorship: “By sponsoring the SALTEX College Cup, we are demonstrating Toro and Reesink’s long-term commitment to the development of the industry and providing valuable learning opportunities for the brightest young groundsmen out there, which we hope will help them further their careers. Young talent and excellence in the groundscare industry is where the future lies and this latest partnership with the IOG will, we hope, help ensure progression in the sector. We are delighted to be involved.”

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