Tag Archive for: Future

Earlestown Athletic look to the future

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Earlestown Athletic look to the future: Grassroots football cub, Earlestown Athletic JFC, has ensured the long-term quality and improvement of their four-pitch site, The Hive, with a New Holland Boomer 35 Tractor, Trimax Striker Mower and Sisis Quadraplay from Campey Turf Care Systems.

The Warrington based club has 21 teams from the ages of three to under-17 level, with a vast majority of games played at The Hive. The development of the five-acre site on what was the former St Aelred’s Catholic School field, which over the years was left derelict took place four years ago with the help of funding from The Football Foundation, Corby Environmental and Sport England.

Earlestown Athletic look to the future

Earlestown Athletic look to the future

With that money and a 99-year lease from the council, the club renovated the ground, installed drainage, a modular building with toilets, a kitchen and a car park. To this point, The Hive has become one of the best football facilities in the area, and it is the aim of Chairman, Carl Hollingsworth, that this can be improved thanks to the help of Campey Product Specialist, Ethan Yates, and their new machinery.

“I’ve been with the club for nearly nine years now, mainly as a coach, but it’s only been in the last year and a half since becoming Chairman that I’ve seen a lot more happening behind the scenes than I ever had before,” Carl explains. “It’s been a bit of an eye-opener, with plenty of ups and downs, but thankfully we have a fantastic committee who put the Club first. Between myself, Dave Edwards our Secretary, and rest of the Committee we’ve steered the club through some pretty tough times with the COVID-19 lockdown and the premature ending of last season. Credit also must go to our players families who have supported us throughout.

“During this summer we applied for and received the Pitch Improvement Grant to help us do the maintenance on the fields, and the latest money is from that programme again, but on the equipment side of things and without them we’d be up the creek without a paddle basically, I can’t thank The Football Foundation enough.”

“Our old mower kept breaking down and about two months ago the wheel fell off so we had to source new bolts and a new a wheel head, but the bolts weren’t right, so it fell off again and it was sat in the middle of a field. That really prompted us to push even more for the new equipment.

“Once we realised we could get it, and raise the money we needed, Campey were brilliant in bringing a mower to demonstrate, and Ethan especially has been great. He’s been brilliant in taking my phone calls after work as we went through the process, and on the day, he dropped the machine off, he spent hours going through it with the coaches and me.

“It’s going to get more use because more coaches are willing to use it whereas the old one it was a bit of a no-go area for some of them because they were a bit intimidated by it. Whereas this is brand-new equipment, and they want to use it, which is good because it takes the pressure off me.”

The quality of The Hive has been recognised over the last two seasons with the award of the Warrington Junior Football League Presidents Cup and Alf Holt Cup finals, with the third round of finals also due to be played on the site unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19.

Whether your club is striving to maintain or improve their pitch quality, Campey can assist you with advice on machinery and provide a full and comprehensive service of consultation and back-up to ensure you get the machinery you need to make a difference for your club.

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Planning for a brighter future

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Planning for a brighter future: These are challenging times for us all. First and foremost, everyone at SALTEX hopes that you, your colleagues, businesses, and your families are keeping safe and well. Recognising the challenges in front of us, we wish to assure you that planning for SALTEX 2020 continues to be in full swing.

After recent consultation with our strategic partners we are hopeful that the situation we face today will have passed and that SALTEX will take place on 4 and 5 November. We understand though that this is an evolving situation. Recent exhibitions at the NEC that were scheduled to take place this March and April have already promoted the fact that they have rescheduled for October and November this year. This provides us with added confidence to continue preparations for SALTEX 2020.

Planning for a brighter future

Planning for a brighter future

SALTEX has faced many challenges in its 74-year history and everyone associated with the exhibition – organisers, exhibitors, visitors – the groundscare industry, has always shown resilience. It is this strength and unity that defines this fantastic industry.

We are ever mindful of the government advice and guidance. We live in hope that after this period of darkness, SALTEX and the groundscare industry will be a shining light as we plan for a brighter future and return to better days ahead.

SALTEX 2020 will be a great opportunity for the industry to come together, to re-unite and to look ahead to the future. It is our hope that we can all gather as one and that SALTEX’s 75th anniversary will be the most vibrant and celebrated event in its long history.

In the meantime, we have already taken the necessary measures to ensure that our team can continue the work required to deliver SALTEX this November, while at the same time planning for every eventuality.

Of course, it is necessary to adapt to the uncertainty we are all experiencing, as government advice can change at any time. We are committed to keeping you up to date every step of the way.

Please take care of yourselves and loved ones and remember to offer extra support to those most vulnerable. Try and maintain a positive outlook and we look forward to brighter days ahead – because they will come.

If you have any questions, please email in the first instance:

Matthew Knight – matthewknight@rabdf.co.uk

Charles Neale – charlesneale@rabdf.co.uk

Luke Perry – lperry@iog.org

Geoff Webb
Chief Executive Officer
The Institute of Groundsmanship

For more information visit www.iogsaltex.com

Follow SALTEX on Twitter & Instagram @IOG_SALTEX and Facebook – www.facebook.com/IOGSALTEX

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Reesink brings the future to BTME

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Reesink brings the future to BTME: Reesink Turfcare is launching Toro’s most eagerly anticipated technology, the most advanced on the market, at BTME.

The all-new all-electric Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 ride-on mower with the industry’s first lithium-ion battery powered unit will be on stand 420, in the purple Zone.

Reesink brings the future to BTME

It’s the quietest ride-on greensmower and incorporates features that will revolutionise the market says Toro, and Toro’s innovation could not be more evident in this machine, even if you didn’t focus on its all-electric credentials for a moment, with a ream of patented or patent-pending features bringing a host of benefits and solutions for greenkeepers.

Toro’s ‘radius dependent speed system’ delivers an optimal perimeter cut by monitoring each individual cylinder and traction wheel speed during turns and that, in conjunction with the ‘lift-in-turn’ cutting unit levelling feature, standardises the clip rate of each individual cylinder and virtually eliminates the effect know as ‘Triplex-Ring’. The double A-Arm suspension system, with industry-leading Flex technology, means the cutting units float freely and closely over any terrain and deliver superior contour-following, while the ‘lift-gate footrest’ and ‘tool-free quick change’ cutting units simplify service and maintenance.

But back to that all-important all-electric point. Lower emissions and fuel savings, yet ample power to get the job done, the eTriFlex 3370, which will be joined on stand by its hybrid counterpart the eTriFlex 3360, means customers can respond to business demands for increased revenue by cutting earlier and therefore delivering earlier tee times to customers.

Not only that but responding to environmental concerns is a subject spanning the industries, and there simply has to be the choice for businesses to buy electric whether that be a car or a fine turf mower. No more damaging hydraulic leaks, no more emissions, no more pollution, the eTriFlex 3370 delivers the future to the fine turf sector.

The eTriFlex 3370 is not the only new machine Reesink is launching at BTME. Welcoming to the UK, the latest model in the Greensmaster 1000 series, the GR1026. Like the other models in the range, including the GR1021 which launched at BTME last year and will also be at the 2020 show, the GR1026 brings consistency to fixed-head pedestrian greens mowing. With the industry’s first telescoping handle, each machine in the range can accommodate operators of different heights and skill levels and now with the GR1026 can deliver the widest cut yet at 26 inches.

Representing Toro’s irrigation range will be the ever-popular Lynx Central Control system, with Infinity 35 sprinklers with Smart Access, FLEX 35, T5, T7 and 590G sprinklers with precision rotating nozzles, all from Toro. The Lynx Smart Module and Smart Hub which provide the flexibility of a satellite controller with the cost savings of a two-wire system and launched at the show last year will also be back.

For those managing ponds and lakes and needing to optimise oxygen levels to keep water healthy, there will be Otterbine’s best-selling Fractional five-in-one aerator and the Concept 3 aerating fountain.

Reesink will again have two stands with 211 in the Red Zone South being entirely dedicated to TYM’s range of compact turf tractors and 1st Products, the specialist range of tractor-mounted aeration equipment.

Rochelle Bedford, marketing manager at Reesink, says: “BTME is the perfect launch platform for these two new cutting-edge Toro machines. We look forward to welcoming everyone to the stand, where our specialist machinery team will be on hand to give help and advice about all our products.”

See all this – and more – on stand 420 in the Purple Zone.

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Toro Takes Northamptonshire GC Into The Future

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Toro Takes Northamptonshire GC Into The Future: Toro and Reesink Turfcare are delighted to welcome Northamptonshire County Golf Club as a Toro Total Solutions customer.

The Open Regional Qualifying club in the Midlands has committed to Toro as it brings back the feel of its past with Toro machinery and thinks to the future with a Toro irrigation renovation.

Toro Takes Northamptonshire GC Into The Future

Course manager, Rob Hay, who has been at the club for five years says the reason behind the commitment is twofold: “Over the years the course had been managed as a parkland course which it wasn’t designed to be. We’ve been working towards returning the course to its original heathland state as designed by Harry Colt, opening up each hole and giving it a flavour of the old days. Toro machinery is key to that.

“This is our first fleet lease deal, but we’ve been using Toro since before I started, and Toro is instrumental in this vision taking shape. Toro has made a big impact and brought about noticeable change in the direction of the course’s maintenance and members are seeing the difference. Many have commented on how the course now looks like they remember it from the early 1970s and plays with a true running heathland style from those days too, which we’re delighted to hear.”

When it comes to the irrigation, Rob says the club’s commitment to Toro is a nod to the future: “We’re not in a predicament with our current system, but we’re forward planning so we’re ready for a seamless transition when the time comes. What we noticed in the heatwave of last year was that there are areas that could be improved upon, more efficient and better managed. In the midlands we’re water scarce and as we irrigate from a local river the goal is to get ourselves into a position where we’re using our water better and utilising every drop. We believe Toro is the partner to make that happen.

“I’m conscious this is a big outlay – one of the biggest a course can make – and it’s important we get this right. We’re currently working with Reesink and Adrian Motram finalising the plans for what’s exactly needed and if the quality of the irrigation system is anything like that of the Toro machinery, I know we’ll be in for a great experience using Toro Irrigation.”

As one of only 13 Regional Qualifying courses in the UK, Northamptonshire County Golf Club has high standards to maintain, plus the challenge of an unusual 21-hole layout to contend with. “We appreciate we’re in the company of a select few being a Regional Qualifying course and take great pride in the fact that we resumed our status last year for the 147th Open,” says Rob.

Retaining that position comes with hard work and dedication, which Rob and his greenkeeping team of nine have in abundance. “Every year there are new projects to undertake and as a team we look forward to this as much as we do the usual high season maintenance work. It’s a good challenge for us all and having Toro on board has really made a difference.”

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Montrose Invest In The Future

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Montrose Invest In The Future: Montrose Golf Links has announced details of one of the largest investments ever made in the celebrated east coast course. Completed earlier this year, the new, far-reaching irrigation project will enable significant improvements to be made across the links and coincides with Montrose receiving the most comprehensive sustainability award in golf.

The new automated irrigation system addresses a swathe of issues that have affected the presentation of the course, which twice hosted Final Qualifying for the Open Championship. It replaces the previous system that had been in situ for more than 30 years and suffered from insufficient pressure, poor and uneven water coverage and limited irrigation options.

Montrose Invest In The Future

“The new irrigation system is a significant improvement on what we had before,” said Jason Boyd, PGA professional and operations manager at Montrose Golf Links. “It addresses a lot of on-course issues and will enable our greenkeeping team to present the 1562 course like never before. This is a massive investment that will have a huge impact on golf at Montrose.”

The introduction of the £100,000 irrigation system follows the renaming of the world’s fifth oldest golf course in 2018. More importantly, it will free up the Montrose greenkeepers to present the 450-year course to the highest possible standards.

“Because so much time was spent hand-watering greens, the new system will have a number of knock-on effects, especially for the greenkeepers,” explained Boyd. “The time released by the new system will now be spent improving greens, tees, fairways and approaches as well as focussing on smaller, detailed jobs that are so important.”

Although largely unaltered, the classic Scottish links at Montrose has been adapted and tweaked by the likes of Willie Park Jr, Old Tom Morris and Harry Colt. With a run of seven spectacular cliff-face holes, it has also become a destination course for many visitors to Scotland and is widely regarded as one of the country’s most natural links.

According to Darren McLaughlan, head greenkeeper at Montrose, the addition of the new irrigation system is hugely significant. “The need for a fully functioning irrigation system was overwhelming,” he says. “The new system will not only allow greenstaff to concentrate on course improvements while reducing disruption to play, it will also provide the foundation for producing true and consistent putting conditions and a more sustainable approach due to using less water.”

Towards the end of 2018, Montrose Golf Links was awarded the Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) certificate – an accreditation the club had been working towards since 2007. Mike Wood, GEO accredited verifier, highlighted a number of key strengths during Montrose’s verification process. These included “committed ecological stewardship of an authentic setting of duneland topography and landcover, within which the high-quality playing surfaces harmoniously fit”.

McLaughlan, who has a wealth of links golf experience after holding the position of course manager at Machrihanish Golf Club, says the new irrigation system ties in perfectly with the new CEO certified status at Montrose. “We are committed to delivering a world-class golfing experience that is sympathetic to the surrounding environment and spectacular coastline,” he said. “Montrose is a special place full of history and outstanding golf holes. We want people to enjoy Montrose, but we want to achieve that responsibly. This latest investment in the infrastructure that supports the course will help us do just that.”

The Medal course was renamed The 1562 Course during the 2018 season and is the fifth oldest golf course in the world. It has hosted a number of prestigious tournaments including the World Hickory Open (2013); The Europro Tour (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018) and Final Qualifying for the Senior Open Championship held at Carnoustie (2016).

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