Tag Archive for: For

Greenkeeper Shortlisted For Golf Environmental Award

/in , /by

Greenkeeper Shortlisted For Golf Environmental Award: One of the greenkeepers at Cumberwell Park Golf Club outside Bradford on Avon has been shortlisted for a top golf environment award.

Jon Keepen, Head of Conservation and First Assistant at Cumberwell Park, has been shortlisted for the STRI Golf Environment Award for ‘Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year’, organised by the Sports Turf Research Institute based in Bingley, West Yorkshire.

The STRI Golf Environment Awards recognise, reward and promote outstanding individuals and golf courses, no matter how big or small, for the time and effort they have put into protecting and preserving their unique surroundings.

A spokesperson said: “Golf courses around the world are seeing tangible results from introducing environmentally sustainable management projects across their golf courses.

“These projects are achieving an increase in habitat varieties, improving playing experiences for golfers and providing a positive contribution to wildlife!

“With the ever-increasing spotlight on environmental matters, it is fundamentally important for golf courses worldwide to assess what they can do to achieve environmental sustainability protect while continuing to maximise the enjoyment of golf.”

Matthew James, the Cumberwell Park Course Manager, said: “This is fantastic news for Jon and the club as it recognises all his efforts towards our conservation work at Cumberwell Park.”

The pair will attend the STRI Golf Environment Awards dinner at the Bigga Turf Management Exhibition in Harrogate from January 21-24 to find out which of the three finalists will win.

Click here to read the original article

For the latest industry news visit turfnews.co.uk

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens

/in , /by

The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens: Toro’s new GreensPro 1260 arrives in the UK

 While there’s always a lively discussion to be had on the pros and cons of fast greens, one thing at the top of most golfers’ wish lists are smooth greens. With that in mind, the latest launch from Toro will now most likely top most head greenkeepers’ and course managers’ must-have machinery lists!

The Smoothest Roll For The Smoothest Greens

The new Toro GreensPro 1260 is the company’s latest greens roller. It takes all the excellent features of the previous Toro GreensPro models and adds overlapping heads for a consistent roll over every pass, a quick latch coupler and pivot handle to easily transition from roll to transport, many easy maintenance features including only one grease point and added comfort such as a bi-directional seat adjustment lever, armrests and a rubber isolation mount, to name but a few.

But perhaps most importantly, one of the key new features is split stainless steel smoothing rollers. The benefit of this is two-fold: uniform smooth greens are achieved in just one sitting and the risk of scuffing during turns is dramatically reduced.

Toro has also added a hydraulic drive system to the 1260. This replaces the hydro and chain drive and eliminates leaks and potential contamination of the grass as well as reducing the amount of maintenance required with chain drive systems.

Put it all together and the result is smoother greens with a more uniform appearance and the best playability. For the operator it’s a more comfortable ride, thanks to the isolated engine, which means minimal vibrations and the ability to perfectly place the seat and steering column according to individual requirements. For maintenance, well that job just got a whole lot easier – there’s less to clean and access is much easier, as is transporting the machine from green to green. For club management it’s an improvement in course perceptions and an increase in productivity.

Jeff Anguige, national sales manager at Reesink Turfcare, the sole UK distributor of Toro, says: “The new GreensPro 1260 is the next evolution of green irons, and it’s about to arrive here in the UK. The way this machine follows the contours and undulations of the greens no matter how slight the undulations are results in an exceptionally uniform smooth putting surface. Just like its predecessors it is unmatched in its roll consistency and now thanks to the split rollers it’s ability to turn without scuffing the surface is market-leading too.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfnews.co.uk

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Countrywide Advances With Solutions For All Grass Professionals

/in /by

Countrywide Advances With Solutions For All Grass Professionals: Further to the announcement made in October regarding Countrywide Farmers restructuring and subsequent exit from the Turf & Amenity market, we can now confirm the company has transferred the whole T&A division to an alternative provider, enabling the Turf and Amenity team to continue to service customers under new ownership.

From 1st November 2017 all current Countrywide T&A business will be managed through ADVANCE GRASS SOLUTIONS Ltd (AGS) based from their new HQ in Reading, Berkshire.

Countrywide Advances With Solutions For All Grass Professionals

Sam Honeyborne, Managing Director at AGS confirmed “We are all extremely excited by the opportunity that this new business presents and confident of a seamless transition from Countrywide, as we continue our growth plan in the UK amenity sector. The T&A team has made excellent progress in the past five years and has adapted to suit the evolution of the market, with the increased customer appetite for a high level of long term agronomic support. I would like to thank Countrywide for their help and guidance during this transition and assure our loyal customers and suppliers of service continuity throughout.”

AGS will provide a UK exclusive range of high quality turf maintenance products to include Sustane, Growth Products and Polyon in addition to established brands such as DLF Seeds, Farmura, Aquatrols and Bathgates. Technical support combined with exceptional customer service will be the company’s ethos. Sam offered an example of where he believes improvements can be made “Haulage and delivery has been problematic in recent years in the industry and most of our competitors presently outsource this requirement. Initially we are committed to delivering directly to our customers in the South but ultimately coverage nationally by 2020. Sam added “This will incur extra costs but will greatly improve our customer service and that is our number one priority”

Growth Products, who sponsored an award at the IOG dinner in November recently confirmed AGS as their UK exclusive distributor for amenity turf, horticulture and speciality agriculture. GP’s CEO, Clare Reinbergen was very confident about the future saying “We are extremely impressed with the AGS business plan and look forward to supporting Sam and the company’s key objectives. AGS’s field based technical team are undoubtedly one of the most comprehensively qualified and experienced units in the UK and will continue their reputation for sound advice and product recommendation.”

Sam Honeyborne was also pleased to announce that Sustane Natural Fertiliser market share in the UK continues to grow and has prompted the recent appointment of Russell Riley as Sustane’s UK Business Development Manager effective from November 2017. “Russell will do a fantastic job and I wish him all the best for the future” said Sam. “Our exclusive contract with Sustane means we will be working very closely with Russell to further increase customer awareness, at a time where chemical use is under growing regulatory pressure.”

AGS is presently developing a high quality web site and this, in addition to the AGS 2018 Product Guide, will be available in the very near future.

For the latest industry news visit turfnews.co.uk

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

Wiedenmann Terra Spike Makes Aeration Faster For Knighton Heath

/in , /by

Extra 40cm Wiedenmann Terra Spike width makes aeration ever faster for Knighton Heath GC: When Alan Magee, Course Manger at Knighton Heath GC, upgraded his existing Wiedenmann Terra Spike, he simply chose a wider version thanks to having a bigger tractor.

The Bournemouth club enjoyed the excellent service of its GXi 6 which had been both nimble and quick.  However, in August a switch was made to the 1.8 m wide GXi8 HD, hoping those crucial extra 40 cm would make the operation even more efficient.

Wiedenmann Terra Spike Makes Aeration Faster For Knighton Heath

After full course circuits in August and September, Alan Magee couldn’t praise his new Terra Spike highly enough.  “On its first outing it got round all 18 greens and the putting green in seven hours when previously the narrower machine took 12.  The tees and approaches were virtually done in a day, just spilling into an extra hour the following morning to finish the final two. Time saved there was six hours – even using the 22 mm tines. ”

Fewer passes and turns speeded up the whole process but didn’t detract from the neatness and negligible disturbance.

“We’re very pleased indeed. The machine is quiet, smooth and exceptionally balanced. During the playing season on the greens we’ll use 10 mm tines and 12 mm in the winter, with tees and approaches the 22 mm.”

At the same time Alan Magee and his team of six  also took delivery of a Whisper Twister, Wiedenmann’s all-action blower with 180* of swivel and an airflow rate of 200 m³/minute.

“Can’t fault that one either,” he said. “Primarily it’s for managing the broader leaves and then  later in the season the pine needles.  Every day we find more tasks.  Last week we cut the rough and scarified the fairways. Tidy up would normally have involved four people with back pack blowers.  But after letting it dry a little we followed through with the Whisper Twister which required only one person on the tractor, again making everything more efficient.”

On hand throughout the sales process was, Andy Frost, grounds care specialist from Wiedenmann dealer, EG Coles at Shaftesbury.

For more information, visit: www.wiedenmann.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfnews.co.uk

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.

New Life For Old Greens With Terrain Aeration

/in , /by

New life for old greens with Terrain Aeration: The original course at Hartley Wintney Golf Club dates back to 1891 when it was laid out as a traditional 9 hole parkland course.

An extra 9 holes were added in 2000 to offer a well laid out variation of both traditional and new designs. Whilst the new holes and six of the original ones have sand based greens three of the old soil greens, what became the 11th, 12th and 17th, were retained and these date back to when the course was first built. The 17th for example is a lovely Par 3 protected by a channel of trees and a small green.

As one of the original holes it is regarded as a gem and most peoples’ favourite hole on the course. The original greens however, did have a drainage problem and in winter particularly were holding onto too much moisture.

New Life For Old Greens With Terrain Aeration

To alleviate this, for both aesthetic and cost-effective considerations, Hartley Wintney GC called on the services of Terrain Aeration. The greens are cut using a John Deere 2500E, which reduces triplex ring with exclusive offset cutting units, and a Baroness LM55 Pedestrian. Prior to the Terrain Aeration treatment a Verti-Drain was used with 12mm diameter tines to a depth of 250mm to open up the surface and allow the compressed air to escape during treatment. A Toro ProCore was also used to remove thatch from the surface. Following preparation Terrain Aeration moved in with the specialist Superscamper Terralift deep penetration aeration system, working two metres apart, to blast air at 18 bar pressure to break up the compaction and panning. Where the ground is exceptionally hard the specially incorporated JCB hammer drives the probe down to the one metre depth, where it releases the air blast, followed by the injection of dried seaweed. This serves to maintain the aeration to get oxygen to the grass roots and continue to relieve compaction as the seaweed swells with moisture, keeping the fissures open. The compressed air exits through the previously created Verti-Drain slits.

“The greens were back into play immediately,” says Matthew Rolls, the club’s Course Manager. “One green needed a little levelling to deal with some high spots but that was to be expected. We then backfilled the holes with Lytag and topped up with rootzone. The two guys from Terrain Aeration were very good, exceptionally helpful and a pleasure to have on the site.”

Terrain Aeration have been treating golf courses, sports pitches, amenity areas, trees and gardens for over twenty-five years using the Terralift deep penetration aeration system and have a long history of testimonies to the effectiveness of the treatment.

Terrain Aeration 01449 673783 www.terrainaeration.com

For the latest industry news visit turfnews.co.uk

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters.