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Coventry Hearsall Benefits From Reesink Finance

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Coventry Hearsall Benefits From Reesink Finance: Coventry Hearsall Golf Club is one of the first clubs to benefit from Reesink Turfcare’s fixed term finance for irrigation.

Course manager Jonathan Oldknow says he is ‘delighted’ with the new Toro Lynx system including sprinklers for the tees, greens and approaches, which replaced a 40-year-old irrigation system struggling with constant leaks and breakages. In fact, Jonathan attributes the club’s ever-increasing reputation to the success of the ‘Total Solutions’ package it now boasts with its Toro irrigation system and fleet of machinery.

Coventry Hearsall Benefits From Reesink Finance

Jonathan says: “A new irrigation system is no light investment, but in this competitive industry we recognised the need for modern technology to stay at the top of our game. Miles ahead of anything we’ve ever had before, choosing the Toro Lynx system was a big statement from us saying ‘this is where we want to be heading.’”

Buying irrigation on finance takes away two of the biggest headaches Reesink Turfcare finds exist for those embarking on an irrigation installation: installation is sooner and there is less upfront capital outlay.

Brett Mander, Coventry Hearsall’s course chairman, explains further how the club arrived at the decision to go with Toro: “We launched a full tender evaluation, starting with a number of suppliers before whittling them down to three.

“UK distributor of Toro Reesink Turfcare won us over with its presentation, which gave us confidence that its package and aftercare support would best suit the needs of the club. Out of all the suppliers, Reesink offered the most flexible solution over a period of time that matches our investment and growth strategy at Coventry Hearsall.”

Gone are the days of fixing leaks, and with peace of mind that the club has water on demand: “The main beauty of the system is the accuracy it affords us,” says Jonathan. “We take moisture metre readings to identify where water is needed and adjust individual sprinkler heads accordingly, targeting areas with reassuring success.

“We are one step ahead with our new Toro system rather than on the back-foot with our previous one. As opposed to fighting fires just to keep the grass alive we are now able to focus on keeping the plant in optimum health, and will be able to do so for as long as I’m a greenkeeper, and then some.”

Flexible and transparent, Reesink’s strong relationship with a proven financial partner means it can offer some very competitive deals over one to ten years. Payment plans can be monthly, quarterly, or annually and clubs can finance through hire purchase (HP) or lease.

Alongside Toro irrigation, Coventry Hearsall plans to continue using Toro machinery long into the future, too. According to Jonathan: “Toro provides very useable machinery that is of the highest quality. With the best mowers on the market, we know we will always get the best results for our course.”

Brett concludes: “Our Toro ‘Total Solutions’ package has been instrumental in helping us to maintain and elevate our reputation as a premier golf club in the Midlands. Word is out about the quality of our greens and our membership is now full with a waiting list; put simply, the package has been successful in making us successful.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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September Update From Scott MacCallum

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September Update From Scott MacCallum: Well, the football and rugby seasons are in full swing once again and those with affiliations to a particular team – most of us – are experiencing the uncomfortable feelings we all get when our team is in action.

We might be engaged in a serious piece of conversation about potential new curtains for the bedroom, or watching the latest episode of Bodyguard, but what we really want to do is steal a look at our phone to check the score. You know full well it’s not going to go well – not the score, but the reaction from your other half to what is a display of less than 100% attention to the task in hand.

September Update From Scott MacCallum

I’ve said before, but the extent to which sport weaves its way into our every day lives, and dictates our moods, is never to be underestimated. My wife and I even got caught up in the World Cup and found ourselves not disinclined to share a smile when England scored. Even from north of the border the atmosphere created by a thumping of Panama and a penalty shoot out win against Columbia could be felt. The distant memories when Scotland qualified for five consecutive World Cups made those feelings all the more poignant.

Scotland’s qualification for the Women’s World Cup next year is small consolation and I’m sure the entire country will get behind the team but the, amended, famous Tartan Army chant “When you hear the noise of the Tartan Army girls” doesn’t quite work to the same extent.

I do live in eternal hope that the next generation of football’s superstars could contain the odd one with a Scottish accent, but living in hope is something I’ve become used to – living in expectation is something I leave to those south of the Hadrian’s Wall.

Anyhow, all of the above would not be possible without the pitches to perform on and with none of us knowing what sort of weather we are going to get to prepare those pitches it is a credit to all that standards are so high and that the limitations of budget are exceeded so frequently.

Scott MacCallum

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Performance And Longevity From Simplicity Products

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Performance And Longevity From Simplicity Products: Known for delivering mowing perfection, and this year is no different. Simplicity tractors are built to last with durable components, you can enjoy the experience further with comfort, superior traction and several attachments to make your life easier, and in 2019 Simplicity is adding new features to its Tractors.

The Regent Side Discharge Line UP is powered by Briggs & Stratton V-Twin engines, the NEW SLT260 is fitted with full width rollers, 15” contoured seat and Tuff-Torq® K46 transmission. Delivering the ultimate in all-round cutting performance.

Performance And Longevity From Simplicity Products

Simplicity rear discharge tractor is now available with front and rear suspension, introducing the SRD360, fitted with a 102cm/42” deck, Tuff-Torq K46 transmission and a 350 litre collector, a mulch kit is also included.

New to the Zero Turn range is the SZT275 rear discharge model, fitted with half baffles and eliminator blades for mulching, a full baffle kit is available. SZT250 and SZT350 models are fitted with rear rollers, and front and rear suspension.

Easy to use controls, great traction and durable cast made for a lifetime without worries. Choosing Simplicity is about making the right decision.

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High Standards From MM Seed

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High Standards From MM Seed: Cheltenham College’s Christian Brain has praised Limagrain UK’s range of MM grass seed mixtures for their role in helping him to maintain the high standard of pitches in his role as head of grounds at the prestigious school.

Located in the heart of the Cotswolds, Cheltenham College is a leading independent boarding school which dates back to 1841. Well known for its classical, military and sporting traditions, Cheltenham has approximately 700 pupils between the ages of 13 and 18 with many of whom go onto world-class universities such as Cambridge and Oxford. The College also features a prep school with pupils aged between 3 and 18.

High Standards From MM Seed

Christian is the man responsible for maintaining the grounds at both the main site and the prep school, and was initially drawn into the world of groundsmanship through his involvement with club cricket. He went on to work in a number of deputy roles in public schools before getting his opportunity at Cheltenham College.

Christian now oversees a team of four and ensures that the sports and surrounding grounds are at a consistent quality all year round.

“As you would expect, we have cricket in the summer term and then we change into rugby which lasts pretty much up until Christmas,” he says. “After Christmas, it is mainly football and rugby sevens until Easter with hockey which is played on our artificial surfaces.”

Christian relies on both Limagrain’s MM50 and MM60 grass seed mixtures which he uses on the winter pitches, outfields and cricket squares.

“We overseed our winter pitches with MM60 and this is done twice a year,” he says. “Once in August so we are ready for rugby and then we apply again in the spring. We overseed with MM60 after we’ve scarified the smaller cricket squares during the renovation period – purely because it is a stronger mix and can withstand winter sport.”

As Christian says, Limagrain’s MM60 grass seed is renowned for performing incredibly well on winter pitches and produces an excellent playing surface. It is a 100% Ryegrass formula which is perfect for renovation and divot repair, has a high disease resistance, fantastic aesthetic qualities and offers extremely fast germination. MM50, is arguably a more popular choice for cricket groundsmen. This superior mix contains the perennial ryegrass cultivars, Venice, Alison and Malibu, which are renowned for providing a great sward. It features excellent shoot density along with tolerance to close mowing making it particularly suitable for cricket squares.

High Standards From MM Seed

“I’ve been using MM mixtures throughout most of my groundsmanship career and I don’t have any reason at all to change. Both MM50 and MM60 are very strong mixtures, we’ve never had any problems with them, the recovery is very good and they withstand a lot of wear.”

Both MM50 and MM60 are boosted by the inclusion of Headstart GOLD®. Developed using the latest scientific findings and field experience, Headstart GOLD® is a natural revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid germination and is perfect for enhancing performance on grass seed coatings for sports fields, golf courses, lawns and amenity turf.

“The seed is always quick to establish – it is strong and has good rooting. They are just great products which perform well and provide great colour all year round. The mixtures are always available and are easy to get hold of which is another benefit.

“I also have a good relationship with Matt Gresty who is always on the other end of the phone if I need him. He is also quick to offer technical advice as and when it’s required.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm

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An Update From Scott MacCallum

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An Update From Scott MacCallum: Most of the major sporting events for the year have concluded, the schools are back and the universities are preparing to welcome back their students.

So what to make of 2018? Well, from a sporting perspective it’s been pretty exciting. The World Cup was exciting, or being a Scot, I’m told it was exciting, with Gareth’s boys exceeding expectations. As it progressed through the knock-out stages, those expectations had shot up again and many thought the 52 years of hurt were going to end.

An Update From Scott MacCallum

Glasgow’s European Championships were a success while I don’t recall any of the regular sporting calendar highlights letting the side down in the football, rugby, tennis, golf, cricket, horse racing. That said, Andy Murray’s non appearance at Wimbledon did reduce excitement at SW19, but we are going to have to get used a life post-Andy going forward I’m afraid to say.

But the point I was going to make was that, as far as I can recall, there were no negative headlines from a turf management side of things.

No complaints from disgruntled losers, no injuries directly attributable to a surface, no Head Groundsman or Course Manager being named and shamed in public. That’s not to say that everything went perfectly in every instance.

Of course, things went wrong. You don’t need highly talented people in position if everything were to go swimmingly on every occasion. You guys are paid to resolve problems, but to do it, more often than not, quietly, efficiently, without fuss and without headlines.

Looking forward it’s hard to see how the quality bar can be raised much more but we can probably look to attain the same standards with fewer chemical applications – both for environmental reasons and the fact that it is likely that we will see costs rise as we stumble through Brexit.

On an artificial turf perspective the Rubber Crumb issue will continue to run. A six month consultation process on reducing acceptable levels of carcinogens has just started and I just hope that the safety of the end user – groundsman and sportsman – is placed before cost when a final decision is made.

So as greenkeepers start planning their winter programmes and groundsmen continue to turn out super surfaces in all conditions I wish you all well going forward.

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