Tag Archive for: excellence

Discover Turf Excellence with Agrovista Amenity at BTME

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Discover Turf Excellence with Agrovista Amenity at BTME: Agrovista Amenity is set to showcase two exclusive products within its portfolio at BTME 2025: the plant growth regulator Attraxor® and turf fungicide Maxtima®.

Visitors can find the Agrovista Amenity team in Hall One, stands 120 and 124, at the Harrogate Convention Centre from January 21 to 23, 2025.

Discover Turf Excellence with Agrovista Amenity at BTME

Discover Turf Excellence with Agrovista Amenity at BTME

Attraxor® – Redefining Growth, Take Control Today

Attraxor® is a highly effective plant growth regulator formulated with prohexadione-calcium, designed for managed amenity turf and grassland. By inhibiting the gibberellic acid pathway—a key growth-stimulating hormone—Attraxor® significantly reduces upward grass growth while enhancing overall turf quality. Key benefits include:

  • Regulates growth of all grass species evenly
  • Improves playing surface quality and turf appearance
  • Reduces clipping yields
  • Improves root development leading to healthier grass
  • Rapid growth regulation even at lower temperatures

Maxtima® – The Dawn of a New Era in Turf Protection

Maxtima® is a cutting-edge turf fungicide featuring the innovative active ingredient mefentrifluconazole. This powerful demethylase inhibiting fungicide binds more effectively to target sites, delivering comprehensive and long-lasting disease control while ensuring exceptional safety for turfgrass. Benefits include:

  • Controls the toughest turf diseases
  • Exceptional turfgrass safety
  • Low application rates
  • Long-lasting protection

Meet the Experts

The knowledgeable Agrovista Amenity team will be present throughout the show, ready to offer expert advice and tailor solutions to meet your specific requirements. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about these innovative products and how they can enhance your turf management practices.

Join Agrovista Amenity at BTME 2025 and discover the tools you need for thriving, high-performance turf.

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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OAS Help Colmworth Achieve Environmental Excellence

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OAS Help Colmworth Achieve Environmental Excellence: Colmworth is a golf club with a difference. Nestled in the tranquil countryside of north Bedfordshire, this inclusive and forward-thinking country estate stands as a beacon of sustainable excellence experience with its forward-thinking approach.

Under the stewardship of mother-daughter duo Julie and Tilly Vesely, this family-run golf course, retreat, and wedding venue has embraced and nurtured an organic approach to golf course maintenance with an unwavering commitment to environmental responsibility. Colmworth is a haven for the eco-conscious golfer.

OAS Help Colmworth Achieve Environmental Excellence

OAS Help Colmworth Achieve Environmental Excellence

Sporting an all-female management team, a rarity in this industry, they pride themselves on redefining the norm with an ethical and environmentally sensitive ethos that guides everything they offer at Colmworth.

Designed by John Glasgow in 1994 the 18-hole, Par 72 course boasts a peaceful, rural setting with a mix of raised tees with stunning views and some challenging water hazards on 4 holes including the signature 12th hole.

Proudly inclusive and forward-thinking, Tilly explains, “Colmworth is the people and planet friendly place to enjoy relaxed golf, great food, celebrate or holiday. Our focus is to be environmentally friendly; it is an ethos that has run through the business from the beginning. We do things differently here; we want to be known for being a friendly, affordable and inclusive venue, as well as a destination and club that focuses on sustainability.”

A key part of this strategy is the clubs’ organic approach to managing the golf course, choosing non-chemical options at every opportunity by utilising biological products from Origin Amenity Solutions. Over a decade ago, the club trialled biological products on the par 3 644-yard-long pitch & putt course; the improvements spoke for themselves with “brilliant results” explains Tilly.  “This led to a fully organic programme being developed for the main 18-hole course and has provided firm, receptive, and disease-resistant surfaces ever since.”

Bradley Jones, Head Greenkeeper, runs a small but effective team delivering the organic strategy by working closely with Julie and Tilly. He adds, “Our golf course is carefully nurtured by organic products. It is best known for playing exceptionally well throughout the winter and following extreme weather conditions.  Despite the British weather, we’ve never had to use winter greens, and we are proud of our excellent drainage, which enables our course to remain open year-round. We are passionate about protecting our planet and utilise organic products on the course.  For over 10 years, we have used biological products from the OAS group and brewed their Symbio microbial ‘compost teas’ to feed and maintain the turf which has also made our greens very strong and resistant to disease.”

Colmworth Golf Club has a programme from OAS compiled in consultation with Brad to

promote soil biology and enhance microbial products. It includes a granular microbial thatch degrading product, OAS Thatcheater. Supporting this are microbial compost teas, fungal and bacterial additives, liquid aeration, and microbial-enhancing bio-stimulants.

In addition to the club’s ‘green greens’ programme, Colmworth’s approach to water management has been said to be ahead of its time. The basis of the drainage system is to gather rainfall collected over the course and direct it through drainage into holding lakes to be used as the water source for the irrigation system. Tilly adds, “We have excellent drainage, which all feeds into the lake on the 12th hole. This then acts as a reservoir for the summer months to keep the greens watered, playable, and healthy.”

Innovative practices such as organic turf management, water conservation, and community engagement have secured the club two prestigious accolades. In the governing body’s centenary year, Colmworth Golf Club won the England Golf Sustainability Project of the Year 2024.

They also emerged as winners at The Golf Environment Awards, held at BTME 2024, being crowned the UK Environment Golf Club of the Year. These awards are for golf clubs in the UK that are leading the way in sustainability across nature conservation, turfgrass management, and waste and water management.

Tilly adds, “Colmworth Golf Club not only exemplifies sporting prowess but also serves as a testament to the power of conscientious stewardship in preserving our planet’s natural beauty. We are passionate about protecting our planet and the awards show that you don’t have to be a huge golf course with a big budget to make the right decisions for the environment.  From installing solar and utilising renewable energy to implementing organic turf care, recycling and re-purposing wherever possible, and supporting local – there is so much we can do, and there is so much more we want to do! I would like to collaborate with like-minded businesses to host corporate days where they can invite their customers to a venue and play on a golf course that showcases that sustainability and the environment matter.”

Colmworth Golf Club focuses on revolutionising the golfing experience with its sustainable ethos. Through organic turf care and water conservation, they’ve garnered acclaim and their approach not only enhances the game but underscores the vital role golf courses can play in environmental preservation.

For advice and assistance on using biological products as part of your turf management programme, contact Origin Amenity Solutions on 0800 138 7222 or visit www.originamenity.com

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50 years of excellence

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50 years of excellence: Irish Farm & Garden Machinery (IFGM) celebrates 50 years of business this year. The company, one of Europe’s leading independent distributors of outdoor power equipment, remains family owned and run, now managed by second generation Paul Butterly (Managing Director), and brother Kieran (Technical Director). Although retired, Mum (and co-founder) Eileen, continues to pop into the Dublin office around three days a week – just to ensure that the business continues to operate smoothly.

“We’re thrilled to have reached this milestone” says Paul. “This is a tough industry and the fact that we’re here in 2024, bigger and stronger than ever, is simply amazing”.

50 years of excellence

50 years of excellence

Asked how IFGM has successfully navigated multiple recessions, turbulent trading conditions and technologically driven changes in consumer demand over the past 50 years, Paul says: “We’ve always focused on keeping the company very nimble and this gives us a lot of flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions. We’ve been careful in the rate of our expansion, gradually building the business over time, only working with the very best brands in the industry. No matter what is happening in the economy, people will always buy quality product that offers the best value-for-money.”

In 2006, the business purchased U.K distributor Claymore Grass Machinery, now known as FGM Claymore, an acquisition that greatly extended the reach of the company. In 2022, the business was awarded U.K distribution rights for ECHO which, following the appointment in Ireland a few years earlier, made IFGM the third largest ECHO distributor in Europe.

The team at IFGM celebrated the anniversary during a special event held on the 28 February in Athlone. Dealers from all over the country, alongside special guests from Briggs & Stratton and Yamabiko, joined the Butterly family to celebrate this important anniversary.

Paul gave a special presentation that covered the history of the company, sharing anecdotes alongside the major milestones that made up the IFGM story. There were congratulatory video messages from garden machinery suppliers in New Zealand, Japan, and Italy, alongside special in-person presentations from Briggs & Stratton and Yamabiko.

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MM Seed: A Key Ingredient for Golf Course Excellence

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MM Seed: A Key Ingredient for Golf Course Excellence: Attendees at BTME 2024, visiting DLF’s stand 126 in Hall B, can anticipate a showcase of cutting-edge products from the world’s premier grass seed breeder and producer.

In the face of increasing demands and pressures on modern greenkeepers to maintain a consistent playing surface, the pivotal elements for a top-tier golf course are seed quality, purity, and vigour. The MM range of seed mixtures stands out by utilising materials from the DLF Select programme, ensuring high purity and germination rates.

MM Seed: A Key Ingredient for Golf Course Excellence

MM Seed: A Key Ingredient for Golf Course Excellence

For over three decades, greenkeepers and course managers have reaped the benefits of choosing the MM brand and its superior quality varieties. All MM varieties undergo thorough testing at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), guaranteeing that the final product meets the requirements for play, appearance, and maintenance.

Leading the way for golf greens is MM9, a three-way Browntop bent mixture that remains a top choice for renovations and species exchange. MM8, designed for links-style courses and sustainable golf, offers a three-way fescue mix with excellent disease resistance, drought tolerance, and minimal fertiliser requirements. MM Coastal is a great alternative to MM8 where salt spray is a concern, providing excellent salt tolerance for golf greens, tees, and fairways with its 100% Slender Creeping Red Fescue mix.

For golf course managers seeking a 100% Ryegrass Greens mix option, MM Supreme Ryegreen mix is the answer. It includes Singapore Perennial Ryegrass, known for its fine leaves, good shoot density, high disease resistance, and wear tolerance. This mix embodies the main benefits of perennial ryegrass, including fast establishment and wear tolerance in close mow situations.

If you’re in search of a mixture ideal for tees and fairways, consider MM50, a 100% ryegrass blend. It boasts rapid establishment, quick recovery from divot scarring, high wear tolerance, and an extremely fine appearance. Meanwhile, for links-style fairways where damage and wear are less prevalent, MM13 is well-suited. With a high percentage of Crystal Hard Fescue, it offers excellent drought tolerance and low maintenance requirements for this challenging environment.

DLF’s stand also provides information about the DLF Pro Flora and Colour Boost range of Wildflower mixtures, perfect for those looking to establish a traditional perennial flower meadow or create a vibrant display of annuals and perennials.

The MM team of amenity seed specialists will be present at BTME to discuss these products in more detail and offer their expertise to address any queries attendees may have.

For further information, please contact DLF UK on 01386 719758 or visit the MM website www.mm-seeds.co.uk.

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Equestrian excellence from Mansfield Sand

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Equestrian excellence from Mansfield Sand: SE Hill, a highly regarded company which specialises in the design and construction of equestrian manege facilities, has revealed why it has relied on Mansfield Sand products for over fifteen years.

Over the years SE Hill has built a reputation of a company that can deliver a professional and reliable service. As well as providing drainage, access tracks, earthworks and landscaping and numerous other constructions works, the company also specialises in equestrian facilities – and that is where Mansfield Sand comes in.

Equestrian excellence from Mansfield Sand

Equestrian excellence from Mansfield Sand

“We’ve been working with Mansfield Sand and have been using their products for over fifteen years,” said Managing Director Steve Hill. “I wouldn’t dream of using anyone else.”

Steve relies on Fibresand and Equestrian Silica Sand for his various manege projects.

Fibresand is a simple but highly effective concept, of using synthetic fibres to stabilise a silica sand in order to produce a free draining yet relatively firm, sure footing surface.

The rot proof, polypropylene fibres stabilise the silica sand by providing a high degree of resistance to sand particle movement when the surface is subjected to compressive and/or shear forces from the horses’ hooves.

Fibresand is a cost effective, durable and resistant surface which works as an excellent base layer that is free draining with a sure footing.

Alternatively, Equestrian Silica Sand provides an excellent riding surface which is free draining. Ideally suited as a base sand, it is recommended that the Equestrian Silica be incorporated into a fibre stabilising product to provide structure and further stability.

Commenting on SE Hill’s use of Mansfield Sand products, Louise Barrington-Earp, Equestrian and Landscaping Sales Representative, said:

“Steve finds the Equestrian Silica Sand as a very good sub-base which he then blends a stabilising fibre into.

“The Fibresand, on the other-hand, comes pre-mixed so it means contractors can apply the product immediately with no on-site mixing.

“Overall, Mansfield Sand is delighted and proud to have SE Hill as a customer. We have built a very good business relationship over the years and Steve’s workmanship is second-to-none.”

Steve was equally complimentary: “There is a reason I have been using Mansfield Sand for so long,” he said. “The products are of great quality and are always consistent; the haulage aspect is fantastic and obtaining quotations from Louise is a professional and speedy process.

“From products to service, I put my trust in Mansfield Sand.”

For more information visit www.mansfield-sand.co.uk

You can also follow the company on Twitter – @MansfieldSand and Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MansfieldSandSportSurfaces/

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