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Prestigious Club Goes All In For Toro

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Prestigious Club Goes All In For Toro: At the pinnacle of St George’s Hill Golf Club sits its iconic clubhouse, casting an eye over its three nine-hole courses widely regarded as Harry Colt’s crowning glory, and now in the hands of Toro to uphold.

Set within an exclusive private estate in Surrey, the club was in need of a fleet of turfcare machinery to maintain the high standards of the course, and it was a complete Toro package that proved to hit the mark with the club signing its first ever five-year agreement plan with Toro and its distributor Reesink Turfcare.

Prestigious Club Goes All In For Toro

The historic club provides one of the most exclusive golfing experiences, currently ranked No.63 in the World by Golf Digest Magazine. With so much history and expectation, course manager Chris Godsen says the pressure to provide the very best is always on.

“Every day here is a big day,” he explains. “Everyone who comes to play is looking for the best and wanting an experience like no other, so we have to work to provide that every day, no exceptions.”

With the club boasting 500 members and the estate home to 420 houses, having a comprehensive and efficient fleet is vitally important.

“The fleet here was already about 90 percent Toro,” Chris says. “But we wanted to invest in new machines, so we’d be up to date with the latest tech and innovation.”

Despite looking at a range of options with other brands before making a commitment, for Chris, Toro was the only choice.

“We did look at a couple of other brands, but there would always be one or two unreliable machines that would really let the package down. But with Toro, there isn’t one piece of kit I can see doing that. Toro always has far superior machines that are durable, reliable and state-of-the-art, which is just what a prestigious club like St George’s Hill needs.”

And club secretary Gary Peddie agrees: “The decision to choose Toro was a relatively easy one. They are recognised in the industry as a leading manufacturer of golf course machinery. That position sits very well alongside St George’s Hill Golf Club, as we look to deliver the best in golf course conditioning.”

With the package deal comprising near thirty pieces, including three Greensmaster 3250-Ds, three Reelmaster 3555-Ds, two Groundsmaster 4300-Ds, four Workman HDX-Ds and a ProPass 200 to name a few, Chris is excited to put the new comprehensive fleet to work.

“We’re particularly excited to trial our new lightweight mowers as we haven’t had them before. The Multi Pro 5800-D sprayer is also going to be a big help. It’s bigger and faster than what we have now, so we’ll be able to get more coverage in less time.

“I’m confident this agreement is just the start of an ongoing partnership,” says Chris. “The service from Reesink has always been great and now with a full fleet of Toro equipment, I have total peace of mind that the course is in good hands.”

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Ransomes Sponsor Suffolk FA For Seventh Season

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Ransomes Sponsor Suffolk FA For Seventh Season: The Ipswich-based turf maintenance company are to once again sponsor the Groundsman of the Year competition and also the Suffolk FA Awards Ceremony.

The Groundsman of the Year competition is held annually in the county and is open to clubs at Step 7 and below.

Ransomes Sponsor Suffolk FA For Seventh Season

The Suffolk FA Awards Ceremony is also held annually and as well as the Groundsman of the Year winners, presentations will be made to county winners of The FA and McDonald’s Grassroots Football Awards plus there will also be Long Service Awards.

The Awards Ceremony is taking place next month at Portman Road before Ipswich Town’s SkyBet League One fixture with Rotherham United.

Ransomes Jacobsen Sales Director, William Carr, is proud the company continues to recognise the invaluable contribution of Grassroots groundsmen and other volunteers.

“Local football wouldn’t function without pitches, and often Suffolk’s groundsmen work far above the level required of them,” he said.

“We’re very lucky to have some fantastic volunteer groundsmen in the county and the Groundsman of the Year competition is a brilliant way of recognising the work they do and awarding them for their dedication.”

Suffolk FA Chief Executive Richard Neal said: “Ransomes Jacobsen’s continued support for the Groundman of the Year Award demonstrates the essential role this largely volunteer workforce plays in providing a quality playing experience.

“I’m delighted such a significant local company is again joining us in celebrating the expertise and dedication of Suffolk grounds staff.”

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Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

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Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs: SGL is introducing a brand new grow lighting product line which makes grow lights possible for sports clubs who never had the budget before.

With the SGL Basic line they aim to enable grass quality improvements in different layers and levels of sport. This will lead to better and safer playing surfaces throughout the year for lower professional sports leagues and training grounds, but also schools and local sports clubs.

Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

SGL have taken different measures in the engineering, production and shipping process to reduce costs to a minimum, while still delivering high quality and durable products. SGL product developer Kristel Meijer: “For the Basic line we designed every part from scratch, in order to optimise the use of materials, increase efficiency and keep the SGL quality demands. We use these same parts for all products within the product range, which makes production more efficient and cheaper. In addition, the products are shipped to the customer in an ‘Ikea style’ self-assembly package. This reduces shipping space by 90%, meaning an extensive reduction of shipping costs.”

The first lighting system in the Basic line is the BU50. Its seven HPS fixtures promote photosynthesis by applying PAR light and additional heat, which enables and reinforces grass growth on all sports playing surfaces under all circumstances. The BU50 treats a surface of 50 square meters and recovers grass after games and events, to ensure pitch quality throughout the year regardless of climate conditions.

Grow Lights For Schools & Local Clubs

In due course, more products within the Basic line will follow. SGL founder Nico van Vuuren: “Almost 20 years ago we introduced grow lights to the world of football, which then started a revolution in premier league pitches. Now, we can offer this opportunity to clubs throughout all levels of sport and we hope to do the same for them.”

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400 Up For Mant Family

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400 Up For Mant Family: A son who followed in the footsteps of his dad by becoming head groundsman at Fontwell Park Racecourse is celebrating his 400th race meeting at the racecourse this weekend.

Paul Mant, who took over the role from dad Roger 16 years ago after learning the ropes and working alongside him for more than 20 years, has earned plaudits from leading jockeys including Richard Johnson for his work in making Fontwell one of the country’s most popular courses among jump jockeys.

Paul, 54, first started working with his dad on the course as a schoolboy during the summer holidays – he even learned to drive a tractor at the age of 11 – and then as his assistant after leaving school in 1981.

However, it wasn’t until 2003 that he took over the reins from his dad, now 81, who retired after 44 years in the job. Between them they have now clocked up 60 years in charge of the famous figure-of-eight course.

Paul was born in one of only two houses built on the racecourse in 1959 where he still lives with son Aiden. He said: “I’ve been lucky enough to have been part of Fontwell Park all of my life and fortunate to have learned the ropes from my dad.

“I guess I picked up lots of tips and hints on how to do things over the years from just following him around but I’ve developed my own way of doing it. I worked with him for over 22 years so I picked up quite a bit in that time.”

“I’ve only ever missed two race meetings since I became head groundsman. The first was when I was sent on a groundsman’s course and the second one was when Fontwell was given an extra race day during the season and I had already booked a holiday to Spain. I managed to find a bar that was showing it on the TV though!”

His preparations for this Friday and Saturday’s Oktoberfest meeting, one of the highlights of the racing calendar at Fontwell, include mowing the course every two days, which takes him up to four hours, and making sure all of the fences across course are in the best possible condition for jockeys, who he has developed friendships with over the years.

He added: “I always go into the weighing room after every race to and chat to the jockeys and I’ll be doing it this weekend. They will tell me if anything is wrong and what could be improved. They are the ones who put their bodies on the line so it’s important part of my job.”

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BASIS Seek Chair For Board Of Trustees

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BASIS Seek Chair For Board Of Trustees: National charity BASIS is seeking to recruit a Chair for the Board of Trustees, starting in April 2020.

BASIS CEO, Stephen Jacob, explains the Chair will play a vital role in the running of the charity, that looks to support and develop the agricultural and associated industries with training and professional development.

“We’re looking for an experienced manager who can demonstrate being a team player, and potentially has experience of land-based or related industries, but this isn’t vital. It’s essential the candidate is independent and not involved in those industries which BASIS serves,” says Stephen.

“In total, the role requires a commitment of 20 to 40 days a year, including three Board meetings per annum.

“In addition, the Chair will be expected to attend the finance and remuneration committee and meet regularly with myself and other senior staff members,” he says.

The role may be fulfilled from any location in Great Britain, and as with all trustees of BASIS, the Chair will be appointed for an initial three-year term and may then, subject to annual Board approval serve up to four more years.

An honorarium will be paid along with reasonable out of pocket expenses for travel and accommodation.

BASIS current Chair, Chris Clarke will have successfully completed the maximum seven year term when he retires in 2020.

“Being Chair of the BASIS Board has been a very enjoyable role,” says Chris.

“As Chair, you get to work across various sectors and organisations who are represented on the Board of BASIS, across agriculture, horticulture, crop protection, crop nutrition and covering amenity and pest control.”

For an informal and confidential discussion to learn more about the position, please email Stephen Jacob on stephen@basis-reg.co.uk to arrange a mutually convenient time.

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