Tag Archive for: Course

Toro Instrumental For Golf Course Reinvention

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Toro Instrumental For Golf Course Reinvention: Toro machinery has been instrumental in the reinvention of two municipal golf clubs located in the South Liverpool and Merseyside areas.

Managed by golf operators Green Circles Estates, there has been a heavy investment in the vision to create two venues providing accessible, affordable golf for all. As a result, Allerton Manor Golf Club in South Liverpool and Sherdley Park Golf Course in St Helens, Merseyside have both undergone significant transformations in recent years.

Toro Instrumental For Golf Course Reinvention

When Green Circle Estates became the Operating Partner with Liverpool City Council in 2015 for Allerton Manor Golf Course, it was an easy decision to purchase a fleet of Toro machinery to maintain the greens. Confidence in Toro was confirmed when Green Circle Estates became the Operating Partner of St Helens Council in May 2018 for Sherdley Park Golf Course and additional Toro machinery was purchased.

Significant investment has gone into the leisure facilities at Allerton Manor Golf Club, there is The Old Stables Restaurant, The Hay Loft Function Room and Fletcher’s Bar. There are plans in place for a new clubhouse at Sherdley Park Golf Course and both have benefitted from substantial investment to the golf courses.

Bryan Joelson-Mulhall, director of golf says: “The investment and redevelopment of each is in a bid to provide an affordable and accessible golf offering true to the courses’ pay and play roots, but with the kind of facilities and standards expected at private members’ golf clubs. We support public access and welcome anyone to play and enjoy the facilities at either of these fantastic golfing locations.”

Allerton Manor Golf Club has benefitted from new Championship tees, bunkers and reshaped fairways, and Bryan says: “The investment in state-of-the-art Toro greenkeeping machinery will now improve the playability of the course, focusing on raising the standard and improving the quality of the turf across the site. Only Toro was ever considered for this role.”

Toro is used exclusively at both clubs and Richie Shields, as Allerton Manor’s new head greenkeeper explains: “I’ve used all the brands in my career and I always revert back to Toro thanks to its exceptional track record for performance and for, time and again, delivering a good result. It has been great to join Allerton Manor Golf Club at this exciting stage in its development, with investment being made, plans being realised and a brand-new fleet of machinery, to ensure we achieve the objectives for the course.”

The fleet deal includes the Reelmaster 3100-D, two Greensmaster 1600 and two Greensmaster 1000 pedestrian mowers, a Greensmaster TriFlex 3400, a Reelmaster 5510-D, Groundsmaster 3500-D and two Groundsmaster 4000-D machines. These are joined by two aerators in the ProCore 648 and SR48, the ProPass 200 topdresser, two Workman HDX utility vehicles, a debris blower 600 and a TYM T353 compact tractor, all supplied by dealer Cheshire Turf Machinery and Reesink Turfcare, a UK distributor of Toro and TYM Tractors.

It’s the pedestrian mowers Richie is so pleased to see arrive: “I’m very much in favour of hand-cutting the greens, there’s less disruption, you can get a faster pace on the greens and it improves presentation.”

Allerton Manor Golf Club is the first municipal pay and play golf course in the UK to undergo this kind of high-level refurbishment. Alongside the work being done to reinvent the Manor House and put the newly refurbished leisure and dining facilities on the South Liverpool map, are plans for lengthening the par 67 18-hole course to a par 72 Championship course.

The next course operated by Green Circle Estates to benefit from similar refurbishment is Sherdley Park Golf Course. Aiding the large-scale improvement works there are a new Reelmaster 6700-D fairway mower, Groundsmaster 4000-D for cutting roughs and surrounds, Greensmaster TriFlex 3400 for pristine tees and greens and the durable Workman HDX utility vehicle.

Partnering with Green Circle has enabled Liverpool City Council and St Helen’s Council to bring to an end to the uncertainty over the sites’ futures, breathing life back into the community surrounding each and creating leisure resorts and golfing facilities for all to access and enjoy.

There are exciting future plans for both clubs, both on and off the course and Toro will play a key part in on-course developments across the Green Circle Estates portfolio.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Improve Your Golf Course With Limagrain

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Improve Your Golf Course With Limagrain: Visitors to the Limagrain UK stand (140), situated in the Blue Zone at BTME 2019, can expect to see a range of market leading products that can significantly improve both the quality and aesthetics of a golf course.

The demand and pressure placed on the modern day greenkeeper to produce a consistent playing surface continually grows at a pace. Seed quality, purity and vigour are the essential ingredients of a first-class golf course and Limagrain’s MM range of seed mixture provides exactly these.

Improve Your Golf Course With Limagrain

For a number of years, greenkeepers and course managers have been reaping the benefits by choosing the MM brand. All the varieties in the MM mixtures are thoroughly tested at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) – ensuring that the finished product will meet your requirements for play, appearance and maintenance.

For greens, the traditional Chewings Fescue / Browntop bent mix, MM11, remains a popular choice in many cases and can be used from spring to autumn. It is ideal for new constructions and overseeding existing swards. A slight variation of which is MM10; both mixes are fine leaved, disease resistant and make good, dense putting surfaces. Where it is difficult to maintain fescue in the sward or where levels of wear are greater, many choose to use MM9 – a three way Browntop bent mixture – in late summer/early autumn for best results. For links style courses, sustainable golf or for early season overseeding, MM8 may well be the solution – a three way fescue mix with excellent disease resistance, drought tolerance and minimal fertiliser requirements.

If you are looking for a mixture ideal for tees then the all ryegrass MM50 should be considered. It is capable of rapid establishment and fast recovery from divot scarring. For large tees where play is less intense, MM22 is a viable option. Where damage and wear are minimal, use MM12 or MM13, both are suited to ‘Links style’ courses, are drought tolerant and have low maintenance requirements.

For fairways, adaptability is the key attribute because soil conditions, light and shade, contouring and wear will vary markedly in different areas of the course. Choose low maintenance, drought tolerant mixtures with creeping varieties where wear levels are low, such as MM12 or MM13 and select ryegrass mixes, such as MM22, on high divot or intense wear areas.

Visitors to the stand can also find out how Limagrain’s Wild Flower and Colour Splash mixtures have been benefitting countless golf courses throughout the UK and beyond. The mixtures are ideal for those wanting to bring a splash of colour to their golf course as well as attracting some fantastic wildlife.

With a wide range of mixtures available, both the Wild Flower and Colour Splash mixtures are extremely easy to sow and the resulting flowers are vigorous plants which are more than capable of competing with weeds. Their vigour is equally matched by robustness; resisting long periods of drought. They are also fast flowering and cost effective.

Limagrain’s amenity seed specialists will all be on hand at BTME to discuss the products in more detail and will also be available to offer their expertise on any queries you may have.

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

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Course Manager Unfairly Dismissed

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Course Manager Unfairly Dismissed: A former course manager has told Montrose Links golf management committee to “consider their positions” after emerging successful from an unfair dismissal fight.

Niall Bruce, 47, who spent 10 years in the post, was the victim of a restructuring exercise and said his “head was on the platter” before the process had even commenced.

Mr Bruce started as a greenkeeper with Montrose Golf Links Ltd (MGLL) in June 2002 before being promoted to first assistant in 2003 and course manager in 2008.

In January it was announced the jobs of course manager, first assistant and chargehand would no longer exist but would be replaced by roles for head greenkeeper, assistant greenkeeper and greenkeeper.

Mr Bruce said all three believed it would have been appropriate to simply slot them into these roles without having to go through a redundancy-type process and apply for the posts.

He was interviewed for the head greenkeeper job but was not successful and was made redundant, despite lodging an appeal that the redundancy process had been misapplied.

“I should have been matched to the new post of head greenkeeper without having to apply for the post,” he said.

“The roles of head greenkeeper and course manager are the same job and restructuring was merely a means to substitute a new face in place of myself.”

Mr Bruce was awarded £21,777 for unfair dismissal which included one years’ wage loss and two years’ loss of pension contributions following the conclusion of a two-day employment tribunal hearing in Dundee.

Judge Ian McFatridge said he could see “no real logical linkage” between the restructuring plan and the need to get rid of a course manager and replace this with the role of head greenkeeper “which seemed to have identical functions”.

He said he was not prepared to accept that MGLL “had overcome the initial hurdle of establishing a potentially fair reason for dismissal”.

Mr Bruce said: “It has become clear throughout this process however, that as already stated my head was on the platter before the process had even commenced.

“I am pleased by the employment tribunal outcome that I was unfairly dismissed as taking your former employer to court is a stressful business.

“I remain disappointed at how Montrose Golf Links Ltd (MGLL) acted towards me and hope in future they will learn to respect and value their staff.

“I feel that Angus Council who own the golf course land that MGLL operate from should consider how MGLL acts in its duties to its staff and perhaps they should consider a more active involvement in the company particularly with regard to human resources.

“In short I feel that the entire MGLL Committee who bear responsibility for my unfair dismissal should consider their positions carefully and if they remain as committee members will hopefully will act more professionally and honourably towards their staff in future.”

Mr Bruce told the tribunal he did not wish to be reinstated and has since taken up employment as a greenkeeper at St Andrews.

A spokesman for Montrose Golf Links said: “We are in the process of considering the judgement.”

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Arrests After Golf Course Vandalism

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Arrests After Golf Course Vandalism: Two men have been arrested and charged in relation to vandalism at a golf club in Oamaru.

The North Otago Golf Club was vandalised overnight on Saturday when a 4WD vehicle was driven over several of the club’s fairways and greens.

Sergeant Blair Corlet confirmed men, aged 25 and 22, had been charged with burglary, and unlawfully interfering with a motor vehicle.

The 25-year-old, the alleged driver of the 4WD, had also been charged with intentional damage.

Club secretary Julia Knight said security footage showed one person appearing to try break into the club’s green-fee box.

“Luckily our green-fee box is very well secured so they couldn’t get into that,” she said.

The footage then showed what appeared to be a man trying to unsuccessfully hotwire one of the golf buggies.

Knight said a 4WD could then be seen driving about the clubhouse side of the course.

“It’s a substantial mess,” she said.

“Then they got in their big 4WD and broke down one of the fences and got onto to the course.

“They ran over greens and snapped about four pins that are in the greens and knocked over about three or four signs.

“Then they demolished one of the sheds … and then they did donuts around the course and made a real mess. The ground’s very soft at the moment because of all the rain.

“They’ve probably driven over at least half the fairways on that side of the course. We’ve got 14 holes on that side and they actually went to the furthest point, which is where the shed was.”

Knight said the club only has one greenkeeper, and the rest of those who look after the grounds are volunteers. Pleasingly, she said the course was still usable.

“It’s very pleasing too that we’ve got good cameras and we picked the two guys up on the cameras.

“We’ve got our greenkeeper assessing the cost at the moment.”

Corlet said the men will appear in the Oamaru District Court next Wednesday.

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Course Manager Brian Owen Retires

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Course Manager Brian Owen Retires: As Tadmarton Heath Golf Club’s course manager Brian Owen retires after 44 years in the industry, 25 years at the club and 15 years using Toro machinery exclusively, he looks back at the biggest change he has seen in his accomplished career.

Brian has worked at a variety of courses across the country, beginning at Southerndown Golf Club’s championship links course in Wales and finishing at the Oxfordshire-based, heathland course of Tadmarton.

Course Manager Brian Owen Retires

And throughout almost 50 years in the business, it’s the dealer support and service Brian thinks has changed the most and made the biggest difference to working life. He recalls: “Working at a remote Cornish links golf club in the eighties, you were lucky to get any service at all; we had to be very self-sufficient. Nowadays you can completely rely on your distributor or dealer for all your maintenance needs, just as we have at Tadmarton with Reesink Turfcare and Toro for many years.”

Changing the way Tadmarton purchased and maintained its machinery has also made a big difference. When Brian joined as course manager in 1992, the club was buying one machine a year, had a fleet twice as big as it does now, and yet the condition of the course still needed a lot of work.

Brian explains: “I convinced the board to lease hire instead of owning machines, meaning service came fully included, and gradually turned the fleet completely Toro to keep the course in the best possible condition. When it comes to machinery, quality over quantity is key, as is reliability.”

And so it happened that five years after becoming all-red, Tadmarton switched to Toro UK distributor Reesink Turfcare for back-up services who, Brian says, have been incredibly supportive: “Reesink offers the best support in the industry. I’ve worked with Reesink’s Robert Rees for ten years and he’s been brilliant on a professional as well as personal level.

“In fact, we met at a local pub the other day with Reesink’s regional manager John Pike and they presented me with a Toro decanter for all the work we have achieved together. It was a marvellous surprise and I shall think of them every time I pour a glass of port.”

On a personal level, a particular highlight of Brian’s career was driving the recently completed bunker renovations forwards at Tadmarton: “The bunkers hadn’t undergone any big changes since the course was established in 1922, so they needed to be brought up to the same standard as the rest of the course. The renovations began five years ago and, this year, we completed the 64th and final bunker. To see it finished is the perfect sign off to my career!”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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