Tag Archive for: data

Data Access is Just a Click Away with Turfkeeper

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Data Access is Just a Click Away with Turfkeeper: For the last 18 years Course Manager Geoff Smith has been spending hours meticulously setting up and inputting into an array of spreadsheets to help him manage the greenkeeping staff and grounds at the beautiful Abridge Golf Club in Romford, Essex.

‘All my spreadsheets were stored on a USB stick which I guarded with my life. It recorded everything I needed to manage all areas of the golf course including budgets and provided the necessary evidence and reports to justify everything we did. It didn’t bear thinking about if it was to ever get lost!”

Data Access is Just a Click Away with Turfkeeper

Data Access is Just a Click Away with Turfkeeper

Geoff joined the Abridge 18-hole, par 72 Championship golf course in 1996 and knows the greens better than anyone. He was a customer of Rigby Taylor, Headland Amenity and Symbio for around 12 years before they merged in 2021 to form Origin Amenity Solutions (OAS). “I love working with Origin, it’s been around 15 years now, and can’t praise them highly enough. They have great reps and some fantastic products. I put nearly all of my business through them.”

The course was first designed, in 1962 by renowned maestro of English Golf, Henry Cotton, whose outstanding feature was that both loops of nine holes started and finished at the clubhouse. It is considered one of the finest in the county and is an Open Regional Qualifying Course. It has held various Essex tournaments and was host to the PDC EuroPro Tour event in 2022. Geoff uses a combination of non-biological and biological products as part of an Integrated Turf Management programme. “The OAS reps work with me to choose products that complement each other well and ensure the very best outcome.  We have around 750 members and our course and greens are expected to be in the best possible condition free of disease”, adds Geoff.

In 2023 Geoff was persuaded to trial the OAS TurfKeeper web-based digital platform which is designed to replace all manual spreadsheets and ledgers. He had a demonstration from Kevin Scarce, Turf Keepers Product Manager and whilst impressed was reluctant to move away from his trusted spreadsheets.

With greenkeepers and turf professionals facing mounting pressure to justify every decision they make, from equipment purchases to project proposals, and with costs soaring and resources dwindling, the need for data-driven insights is critical. TurfKeeper is being used in many golf and sports clubs across the UK and is equipping turf managers and greenkeepers with the tools they need to maximise resources, streamline decision-making, and manage turf maintenance.

Geoff implemented Turfkeeper in July 2023 and after a couple of hours of training set about entering his information into the system. Geoff considers himself “Old school” and wanted to try it alongside his existing spreadsheets. “I shouldn’t have worried, it’s such a user-friendly system and works brilliantly. I love it and dropped my spreadsheets at the end of 2023. I now use Turfkeeper exclusively for all my data.”

At the heart of TurfKeeper lies a robust suite, from staff management to inventory control, task planning to budgeting. TurfKeeper provides greenkeepers with a central hub to oversee every aspect of their operations. “I use it for everything”, adds Geoff, “It’s only as good as the information you put into it though, so I spent a few days inputting – staff wages, hours, stock information, budgets, maintenance programme, etc and now it’s so easy to pull off the information I want.  That’s the beauty of Turfkeeper. It gives you graphics and pie charts to show to management or the Greens Committee – everyone loves a picture – it’s so easy to understand and takes no time to produce.”

Abridge Golf Club is set in 240 acres of beautiful parkland with some of the finest views over the Essex countryside. It’s a close-knit club and its members and a Greens Committee are encouraged to interact, question, and offer their suggestions. Geoff has a wealth of knowledge and is held in high esteem, but he does enjoy knowing he has data at his fingertips that he can show to back up his decisions or support his capital requests. His members requested the tees be cut by hand for a better finish. In seconds Geoff had a report that showed the extra labour required to achieve this and the associated cost that management needed to sign off on additional staff recruitment.

Geoff is supported by a team of nine, there are currently 2 other people in his team with access permissions to the system, his deputy Ben Scrivener and first assistant Jamie Blagdon. They both assist Geoff with stock control, applications and help assist with planning tasks in Geoff’s absence. Geoff now spends 30-45 minutes to plan for the week and month ahead, rather than the couple of hours previously.  “I use TurfKeeper for everything but primarily organising tasks for the greenkeeping team, stock control, and budget control.”

One of the most significant benefits of TurfKeeper is its ability to save time and resources. By automating repetitive tasks and eliminating manual paperwork, Geoff can focus his efforts on strategic decision-making and turf maintenance. “I am delighted with TurfKeeper, it has saved me hours of labour and I only have one platform to enter information into and extract data from. The team likes it because they can view the full picture, they know what is planned for everyone for the weeks and months ahead. I can’t recommend it highly enough.”

If you would like a free no-obligation 30-minute demonstration, call 07850 638 508 or visit www.turfkeeper.com

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Data crucial for new Harlequins head groundsman

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Data crucial for new Harlequins head groundsman: Using data and the GrasPro system, Harlequins F.C Head Groundsman Adam Witchell has made a quick start to his first job in rugby.

With decades worth of experience in football, Adam brings extensive turf knowledge to the role, but knew there would be a learning curve with changing sports.

Data crucial for new Harlequins head groundsman

Data crucial for new Harlequins head groundsman

Working on behalf of Nurture Landscapes at The Stoop, Adam started in July 2022. With the grow-in complete and no performance data to reference, he started collating information.

“The first thing I wanted was a data recording platform, and GrasPro is always the one I will go straight to,” he said.

“I’ve always been quite data-driven. If I don’t have the numbers, I can’t just look at the pitch and work it out. Without the numbers, it’s just an opinion.

“I think it’s beneficial straight away. For example, when recording the moisture levels and water, I could look back and think it seemed to get a bit more growth at these times. Using the weather reports, you can see the difference in temperature between the highs and lows and find out the evening temperatures were slightly colder at that time. So, it’s nothing to do with the products you’ve used. You just didn’t have the residual temperature in the evening that will help the grass continue.

“Regardless if there was performance quality data or not, I’d still be doing the same because this was all new to me. Even if there was data, I’d still want to see mine, because what I’m doing in rugby might not have the same outcome as it previously has on a football pitch.

“So, I’ll know the products that have and haven’t worked during the grow-in. Next year, I can look at what I’ve done on the GrasPro system and alter and change. Even if it’s just the amount of product I put down or the regularity of applying it.”

 Building Trust

For Adam, an early part of the job is gaining the trust of his new employers, Nurture Landscapes and Harlequins, and a large part of that is his monthly reports, which he sees as vital.

“I write a report to Nurture and Harlequins every month, and it details all the information on what I’ve done, when I’ve done it and the products and maintenance.

“I take that directly from GrasPro because you can download graphs, works and charts and put them in the report. It makes my monthly report writing much easier and much more in-depth.

“I could write a load down and bore them with war and peace and detail. But if you can see graphs and see what’s been done, it makes it easier and quicker for them. I find they are more receptive to visual reports.

“What I have found with rugby is the budgets aren’t quite as big as I’ve had with football. So, I have to get the most out of what I use because there isn’t the option of an unlimited budget.

“There’s always pressure to get it right the first time because I’ve got Nurture Landscapes who have employed me and Harlequins who have taken me on. Their previous groundsman was here for 12 years, and now, this new guy is coming who might do things a bit differently, which people will keep an eye on.

“You’ve got to get results or explain what you’re doing just to get that trust with Nurture and Harlequins.”

Setting Rugby Specific KPIs

Even though he is only six months into the role, Adam is in the early stages of collaboration with the playing and medical staff.

Moisture was one of the most significant learning curves early on, with Adam aiming for the standard 20%-24% used in football. He quickly discovered this caused digging up during scrums and mauls, and by referring back to his data, he was able to see a higher moisture level was required.

Sharing the data to prepare the pitch can also benefit the coaching staff, and eventually, Adam is hoping to benchmark the pitch to reduce injuries.

He explains: “I can look back on what was a good and bad game, then I can start speaking to the coaches about how I’m preparing the pitch.

“I’ll test it before just to let the coaches know the moisture, this is what it was like at this game, and this is how it held together better.

“Then they will find out going forward the more I take the data that they can set their players up slightly differently, maybe. So they are starting to engage a little bit more on the playing side with the data that I’m recording to help them set up for a game.

“Hopefully, moving forward, it will help with player recovery and development. If we find that players are cramping up at a certain time during games, we can start looking at hardness, traction and moisture as well. And when we start putting them together, I think we’ll start seeing data and values. And then working with the medical department and making it a bit safer, and then hopefully working to have a surface which they can use that does cause less injuries.

“That’s far off, and I haven’t got there with them, but I am hoping using GrasPro and all the data I record, I can push that forward and work with the sports scientists a little bit more in how we can set the pitch, so there are fewer injuries.”

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Soil carbon data added to product information

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Soil carbon data added to product information: In its drive to lead the industry in providing extensive product information to its customers, British Sugar TOPSOIL is measuring its BS3882:2015-compliant general purpose topsoil, Landscape20, for total soil carbon.

Soil scientists Tim O’Hare Associates have carried out a comprehensive audit of the carbon contained in a typical sample of Landscape20 and will now sample the soil every six months at the point of despatch to monitor its carbon content.

Soil carbon data added to product information

Soil carbon data added to product information

The focus on soil health and its role in mitigating climate change has drawn attention to the levels of carbon that can be stored in soil. In order to give British Sugar TOPSOIL’s customers useful data on Landscape20’s carbon sequestration potential – i.e. its ability to capture and store atmospheric carbon dioxide, which is a major contributor to global warming – Tim O’Hare Associates will be monitoring:

  • Organic Carbon Stock (tonnes/Ha)
  • Total Carbon
  • Soil Organic Carbon
  • Soil Inorganic Carbon
  • Soil Organic Matter
  • Total Nitrogen
  • Organic Carbon:Nitrogen ratio

National TOPSOIL Manager Andy Spetch said: “We believe this data on the carbon content of Landscape20 topsoil will be particularly useful to housebuilders, developers, and construction and landscaping professionals who need to evidence their approach to delivering environmentally sustainable homes to regulatory and other bodies. All this information is freely accessible and downloadable from our website and customers can call us if they require clarification on the carbon content or any other technical aspect of our products.”

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