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Record Result For Barenbrug

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Record Result For Barenbrug: Grass expert, Barenbrug UK, has dominated the BSPB Turfgrass bentgrass trials this year, with a top rating for its new cultivar, Charles – making ALL BENT the No.1 100% browntop bentgrass grass seed mixture currently on the market.

Designed specifically for overseeding and species exchange in golf and bowling greens, the aggressive nature of this cultivar heralds new standards for course managers looking at long term sustainability using fewer chemicals.

Record Result For Barenbrug

For the majority of golf courses, particularly those on traditional “soil push-up greens”, replacing annual meadowgrass with browntop bentgrass could have significant benefits in year-round smoothness and trueness, as well as providing substantial savings in fungicide, fertiliser and water costs.

David Greenshields, Barenbrug Product Manager said:

”ALL BENT is a vital new tool in the armoury of a course manager looking to provide consistent and reliable colour and performance for players—but in a more sustainable way.”

The majority of golf and bowling greens in the UK are dominated by annual meadowgrass (Poa annua), which has inherent challenges in maintaining high quality surfaces, particularly for year-round play.

Record Result For Barenbrug

The STRI trials show that Charles breaks new ground for visual merit and shoot density, and promises to play a key role in outcompeting Poa annua in a close-mown green.

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

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Emergency Authorisation For Acelepryn

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Emergency Authorisation For Acelepryn: An Emergency Authorisation has been granted for the use of the Syngenta insecticide, Acelepryn, for the control of Chafer grubs and leatherjacket on golf course greens and tees, horse racing courses and airfields. The approval was applied for by STRI, on behalf of and with support from the amenity industry.

Chafer Grubs and leatherjackets cause damage to turf through extensive feeding on roots, which can be severe in localised patches. Furthermore, extreme damage can occur when badgers, birds and other foragers root through turf in search of the grubs.

The Emergency Authorisation permits Acelepryn use in situations where there is an acknowledged instance of economic damage and where the product has been recommended by a BASIS qualified advisor.

With the loss of available control options independent advisors, ADAS, has calculated the economic cost of Chafer Grubs alone at up to £85 million a year for golf courses in the UK, from lost income and damage repair. The report also highlighted that on the 40% of racecourses affected by the pest’s damage, lost income could amount to up to £605,000 per course.

‘”Since the withdrawal of effective insecticides, economic damage from chafer grubs and leatherjackets has been of major concern to many of us,” reported STRI Head of Research, Dr Ruth Mann. “Obtaining this Emergency Authorisation of Acelepryn enables us to manage the most damaging effects of these soil pests as part of an integrated turf management programme.”

Acelepryn UK Emergency Authorisation

The UK Emergency Authorisation for Acelepryn has been granted from 7 June to 30 September 2018, to cover the key Chafer Grub and leatherjacket treatment timing.

The Emergency Authorisation covers golf greens and tees, horse racing courses and airfields, specifically where there has been a history of pest damage or a recognised risk of damage. In all instances the use of Acelepryn must be recommended by a BASIS qualified agronomist.

The authorised label permits application at the rate of 0.6 litres per hectare, applied in 500-1000 l/ha water. Ideally Acelepryn should irrigated in after application. One application per year is permitted, with the latest time of treatment being 30 September.

Turf managers or owners who believe they have suffered economically damaging effects of Chafer grubs and leatherjackets are advised to contact their BASIS agronomist or ICL Area Manager in the first instance.

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New MD For Kubota

New MD For Kubota

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New MD For Kubota: Kubota Holdings Europe is pleased to announce the appointment of David Hart as Managing Director of Kubota (U.K.) Ltd.

With over 28 years of leadership experience, David Hart brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of the agricultural and construction industries. After graduating with a degree in Agricultural Engineering, David started his career in Agricultural Construction & Grounds Care Equipment at Ben Burgess & Co. In 1990 he joined John Deere and after several sales and marketing roles, became the Division Manager for Commercial and Consumer Equipment in 2004, managing both sales and marketing for turf and utility equipment (homeowner, commercial and golf). David built a strong commercial track record in sales and marketing for the UK and Ireland and in 2011 was appointed Regional Leader for Strategic and Key Account Management, responsible for John Deere’s agricultural and non-agricultural strategic and key account business in Europe, Near Middle East, North Africa and CIS. During this time he was also a member of the John Deere Ag & Turf Regional Leadership Team.

New MD For Kubota

Dai Watanabe, President & CEO of Kubota in Europe, states: “We are very proud of the fact that we have a leading market position in the UK & Ireland with our current product portfolio. Our ambitions reach even further than that. With David on board we have a leader that can support that ambition by bringing his extensive experience and knowledge to identify and exceed our dealers and customers’ needs and requirements.”

On his appointment, Hart said: “Kubota has a deserved reputation as market leader in many areas. We have a big opportunity to grow further and continue to diversify into new sectors, bringing our strong business values and quality delivery to match the demands and rightly high expectations of our dealers and end user clients. Kubota’s brand, values and proven quality are facets I have respected as a competitor over many years, and I am excited to be part of the team that will take these to the next level.”

For more information on Kubota UK visit www.kubota.co.uk or call 01844 268000.

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Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

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Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque: James Bledge, Course Manager at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, based in Deal, Kent, says he has successfully treated Dry Patch with monthly applications of Qualibra wetting agent.

Formed in 1892, Royal Cinque Ports is a Championship Links course situated on the narrow stretch of coastline between Deal and Sandwich Bay in Kent. The 18 hole course offers a stiff challenge to golfers of all abilities and in particular the last seven holes are reputed to be amongst the toughest in golf.

Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

With the course being so close to the coast, one would think that James and his team would spend most of the time trying to get water off the course, but situated in the driest corner of England, and with the aid of an artificial sea wall, Royal Cinque Ports has no such problems.

However, the course has repeatedly suffered from Dry Patch even with previous wetting agent programmes and as a result, last year James trialled Syngenta’s Qualibra – which is distributed by ICL.

“I’ve used a number of wetting agents before but I’ve always had a problem with Dry Patch, we are situated on sand with only around 3” of topsoil so infiltration rates are pretty high. We also lose a lot of moisture – Sometimes up to 10% Volume water content in a day. Therefore, I decided to look at Qualibra and trialled it last year to see how it performed. I’m a big believer in doing a full year’s trial with products, especially a wetting agent, because I think you are wasting your time if you do anything less than that. You need to see it consistently throughout every month to see how it is performing and also just give it a chance. – not just apply it on a turf nursery in June and see how it performs in one month.

Qualibra ‘Perfect’ for Royal Cinque

“Because I haven’t had much luck with wetting agents in the past, I was thinking that if it didn’t work out then we would just try something else next year. However, at the end of the year I remember telling Darren Hatcher (ICL Technical Area Sales Manager for the South, London and the Channel Islands) that it was perfect.”

James applied Qualibra to his greens, tees, approaches and fairways at 20 L/ha in March and continued with monthly applications until October. His goal was to optimise the use of water resources and move surface water down to maintain, firm, fast conditions, as well as improving the playing surface quality for members.

“We wanted the greens to play firm and fast and Qualibra has been a big part of that,” he says. “I also wanted to avoid the unsightly burnt off crests and lush valleys on the fairways and if you irrigate them the water just runs off the top. However, Qualibra reduces the surface tension and goes in from the very top. In June they were the perfect colour, consistently that transition between green and brown.

“I’ve got a guy who has been working here for 40 years and every morning he comes in at 3.30am and hand waters all of the greens before the golfers come out. He absolutely loves Qualibra and he says that throughout his time here it is by far the best wetting agent we have ever used. I really value his opinion as he’s seen it all so we discuss at length what products would make his life easier when it comes to moisture control, on a links course it’s one of the most important factors to success and that’s why we don’t sacrifice on quality.

“We are also definitely using less water now and we didn’t have any Dry Patch last year – which was the first time in years. To me that was a huge success because it was one of the driest years on record.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

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Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo: Mark Audin is preparing the green at the Waterloo Hotel, Blackpool, for the biggest national tournament in the crown green bowling calendar, with the help of the Dennis FT510 and SISIS Dart.

Regarded as the ‘Wembley’ of crown green bowling, The Waterloo Hotel has been hosting tournaments for well over 100 years. In particular, The Waterloo Championships has been in existence since 1907 and this year it sees a phenomenal 512 entries from all over the country. Qualifying starts in July and concludes with the final 8 competing to get their hands on the famous trophy on 26 September.

Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

Mark Audin has been working at The Waterloo for 10 years and for the last 5 he has held the position of bowls manager. He has a number of tasks under his remit but Mark’s main priority is to focus on the fabulous green at The Waterloo – which is a year round job, as he explains.

“Out of season when the green isn’t being played on, I cut down to about 7-8mm and during the winter we can leave it slightly longer at 10mm. From May onwards I like to keep it at around 7mm and that will gradually go down to about 6mm and possibly 5mm depending on how it is playing towards the end of the season. There is a misconception that you need to take the grass on a bowling green right down and scalp it, but that really isn’t the case as long as you regularly verticut and generally look after it all year.”

For the essential task of verticutting, Mark relies on the Dennis FT510, which is an interchangeable cassette cylinder mower. It offers the operator ultimate versatility by having the option of fitting twelve different cassettes including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers and slitters as well as 5 or 10 blade cutting cassettes.

“In the lead up to the Championships we will verticut with the FT510 once every four days in four different directions so that the playing surface will be completely smooth. Therefore, going into the Championships the green will become quicker and quicker to play on.

Dennis & SISIS Prepare For Waterloo

“We’ve got the sorrel roller cassette, the 10 bladed cylinder, the scarifier and verticutter Tungsten tipped cassette and it is all we really need here – it’s my complete maintenance tool. The FT510 is fantastic and it is so easy to use – one cassette out, one cassette in and off you go. In the past we have had machines which take half an hour just to change one cassette.

“I also really like the click adjustment on the FT510 for the height of cut, it is easy to set-up and is adjusted by 0.25mm with every click. Again, with other machines you will have to get a spanner out but on the FT510 it is adjusted in seconds. The fuel consumption also seems to be better than any others I have used in the past too.”

For reducing turf compaction at The Waterloo, Mark uses the SISIS Dart – which is an independently powered vertical action aerator. This popular bowling green aerator has a working depth of up to 100mm (4 inches) which can be easily adjusted from the operator’s position using the balanced depth control lever. Powered by a 6.5hp engine, the unit can also be fitted with a wide range of interchangeable tines to meet the operator’s requirements making it ideal as a bowling green aerator.

“We normally start using the SISIS Dart in July when the ground starts getting hard. We have a number of various interchangeable tines and we tend to go about 3 inches deep into the surface. It does a brilliant job at breaking the surface up, enabling you to get some moisture in and it really helps to reduce thatch and compaction. We’ve always had a bit of an issue with compaction because we have so many people on the green throughout the year,” he said.

“I would say that it is arguably the most used green in bowls and with all the games throughout the season, the green stands up remarkably well. That is, in part, due to the quality of the machines – I’ve tired others in the past but none are nearly as good as the Dennis and SISIS equipment.”

Dennis and SISIS are proud supporters of the Waterloo Championships and have a long history of supporting the sport of bowls. The British manufacturers of turf maintenance equipment host an annual series of free educational bowling green seminars throughout the UK, which have significantly grown year on year.

Further information about the range of bowls maintenance products available can be found by visiting www.dennisuk.com / www.sisis.com.

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