Tag Archive for: GC

New Grinders At Sandy Lodge GC

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New Grinders At Sandy Lodge GC: Sandy Lodge Golf Club in Hertfordshire has reaped the benefits both on and off the course of the Foley United Accu-Master 653 and Accu-Pro 673 grinders.

The club is one of England’s finest golfing establishments and has regularly hosted the Regional Open Qualifying Rounds from 2015 and will do so until 2019, as well as being a recent venue for the English Women’s Senior Open.

New Grinders At Sandy Lodge GC

Head greenkeeper, Richard Elderfield, along with mechanic, Peter Cook, knew their previous grinders were coming to the end of their useable life and both had a strong desire to bring relief grinding to the club because of the overall benefits it has for the plant and the machines. But, Peter quickly realised the Foley models had other features that would streamline his operation and make for a better work environment.

“Although relief grinding was our first priority it wasn’t the only aspect that attracted us to the Accu-Master 653,” Peter explained. “We also like the enclosed cabinet on the cylinder grinder with the noise and dust protection it offered and we found the set-up of both grinders to be quick and easy, especially with the 653’s built in training programmes.

“Grinding is very important to us when it comes to the health of the course and the machinery. The quality and cleanness of cut will determine the smoothness and speed of the playing surface and it helps prevent turf infections and diseases.

“Relief grinding has made a lot of difference and the mower manufacturers also recommend it. We tend to put a lot more top dressing on our greens now and the relief grind allows the excess sand to be cleared away, so it’s not wearing the cylinder down and going off cut as quickly. It also means we have less potential contact between cylinder and bedknife therefore less heat build-up as there’s reduced contact area with the bedknife, so it makes the mower a lot more efficient overall.”

Talking about efficiency Peter adds, “We also see this in the grinders, as both machines are fully automated, with auto-start, traverse, infeed and shut down built in to the grinding programmes alleviating any need for any human input between phases.  We can have both grinders running at the same time allowing us to carry out other tasks therefore saving more time.

“I can now grind far quicker than before. If I’m doing a 5 head fairway machine once you set the 653 for the first unit it will then be set for the remainder.

“It’s easy to access the machine and I have a winch to lift the reels in and out which makes the entire process easier. There is also an option of a lift-table if you prefer.

The automation is a huge benefit and as we are limited for space in my workshop and with the 653 being fully enclosed means there is very little noise coming from the grinder, allowing me to comfortably work close by.

“I thought I would struggle with the relief grinding as I had never done it before, but the training was excellent, and I picked it up very quickly”

Both Peter and Richard have been impressed by the quick and reliable service they have received from Ian Robson of ProSport UK, the Foley United importer both throughout the purchasing phase and the aftercare.

ProSport UK focus strongly on aftercare with an emphasis on supporting their customers and training them how to operate grinders they may not be familiar with. All geared to getting the best out of their new machine as quickly as possible.

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Ransomes Jacobsen At Ipswich GC

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Ransomes Jacobsen At Ipswich GC: A fourth five-year exclusive supplier agreement has been signed by Ipswich Golf Club for Ransomes Jacobsen turf maintenance equipment. Bartram mowers, supply the machinery at Ipswich Golf Club.

Commenting at the official signing of the agreement, Ipswich Golf Club’s Course Manager Graham Brumpton said,

Ransomes Jacobsen At Ipswich GC

“We have had a relationship with Ransomes Jacobsen and Bartrams for more than 20 years now. The Ransomes Jacobsen manufacturing facility and the Bartrams depot are just a mile from our course, so that is very convenient. Having said that, the service and the quality of machinery that we receive is truly second to none, which is why we continue to keep our longstanding partnership in place.”

Kevin Lovelock, Director of Golf at Ipswich Golf Club said,

“I am delighted to continue the close relationship with Ransomes Jacobsen. As a club we are very fortunate to have one of the world’s leading golf course machinery brands in Ipswich and it makes perfect sense for the two of us to work together.”

Ipswich Golf Club have since made a few purchases under the agreement including a Jacobsen LF570 fairway mower, a Turfco WideSpin 1550 topdresser and a Turfco Torrent 2 blower.

“Before signing the agreement and making these purchases, we also looked at other brands and products,” Brumpton continued. “We had demonstrations of different fairway mowers, but the Jacobsen LF570 came out on top. It was a unanimous decision amongst all nine of my staff, that the Jacobsen mower had a far superior quality of cut, and they found the machine the easiest and most comfortable to operate.

Ransomes Jacobsen At Ipswich GC

“At Ipswich Golf Club we are part of the Natural England Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. The aim of this is to bring the course back to heathland vegetation, as there is a huge decline in heathland areas and golf courses in the U.K. We are now seven years into the scheme, and the results are superb. We work closely with STRI, and we are proud of our reputation for environmental sustainability.

“Our relationship with Ransomes Jacobsen is enhanced by our shared values of sustainability. This is shown in the company’s product offering with the Eclipse 322 hybrid mower, which we use on our greens; the machine eliminates things such as oil leaks and noise pollution.”

Ipswich Golf Club is one of Suffolk’s most prestigious courses, and it’s 27-holes are beautifully presented over 8,500 yards of heathland with additional practice facilities. The Club will host the English Women’s Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship in August 2019.

For more information, visit: www.jacobsen.com

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ICL Praised At Downfield GC

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ICL Praised At Downfield GC: ICL products have been a mainstay throughout John Watson’s 20 year greenkeeping career, and the Downfield Golf Club Course Manager has recently singled out H2Pro TriSmart and Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator for praise.

This beautiful parkland course in Dundee was once described by Paul Lawrie (1999 Open Champion) as ‘one of the finest inland courses in Britain’ and has played host to many prestigious events over the years. In 2016, Downfield was chosen as a qualifying course for the Senior Open which was played at Carnoustie. In the past, it has seen the Scottish PGA Open, the SPGA Masters, Scottish Amateur Championship 2014 and the UK Girls Home Internationals all take place. It was also the venue for the 1999 and 2007 Open Qualifying stage.

ICL Praised At Downfield GC

John has been in the industry ever since leaving school and after landing the Course Manager position at Downfield he revealed that he was keen to further improve the course.

“I’ve been a greenkeeper for 20 years and have used ICL products throughout my career. All three of my main areas (greens, tees and fairways) are covered by ICL products.”

John firstly focussed on his greens and has noticed a significant improvement since applying H2Pro TriSmart wetting agent.

“My greens have always performed well but I am of the mind-set that there is always room for improvement. I started using TriSmart and it has worked really well for us. The greens are not drying out as quickly as they used to and even the greens that are prone to drying out because of nearby tree roots are retaining moisture better.

“We go with our first application in April and continue to apply it on a monthly basis until September at 10L/ha. We try to get it on early because the greens tend to dry out in April when the spring winds start coming in.”

For his tees and aprons, John has reported fantastic results from using Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator 4-0-8+2MgO+4fe. Over recent years, Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator has gained a reputation as an outstanding micro-granular fertilizer for high quality, fine turf nutrition and just last year ICL launched  Greenmaster Pro-Lite Invigorator Plus 4-0-14+2MgO+8Fe. This new formulation features a higher iron and potassium content than the original Invigorator.

“We used the original Invigorator last year at the start of April after aeration work and we saw a very good recovery, good colour and it lasted for over six weeks which I was extremely happy with.

ICL Praised At Downfield GC

“This year, we had a prolonged spell of rain through the winter, so I decided to go with an application of Invigorator Plus as it has a higher iron content and because we had a bit of moss on the tees. In the past I haven’t used granular feeds on my tees but the more experience that I have gained, the more I have learnt about the course and what it needs.

“With the added iron content, we saw a good bit of colour within a couple of days and then we saw the growth within a week or so. I actually decided to apply it to the greens as well.”

The new Invigorator Plus contains the mineral polyhalite, which has been found to bring enhanced turf colour and quality responses. It is a complex crystal product discovered at a depth of 1300 metres below the earth’s surface under the North Sea and is mined at ICL’s own mine in Cleveland – a site which John has been fortunate enough to visit.

“I went down the mine recently and it is great to be in a position where I have seen how it goes from a raw product through to a final product suitable for an end user. I’ve also been over to the laboratory in Holland and after seeing both of these I would say that it gives you confidence in just how good the ICL products are. You see first-hand exactly what goes into a producing a bag of fertilizer for example. The research and science behind this process really is quite remarkable.”

Please contact ICL on +44 (0)1473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

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H2Pro Praised At Blairgowrie GC

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H2Pro Praised At Blairgowrie GC: The Lansdowne course at Blairgowrie Golf Club in Perthshire, Scotland, have been reaping the rewards of using ICL’s H2Pro, with Course Manager Craig Stewart full of praise for the moisture management products.

Craig Stewart is the man responsible for maintaining the magnificent championship course and has six full-time staff with two seasonal workers alongside him. As a long-term user of ICL products, Craig first started applying the H2Pro range of products five years ago after a successful trial.

H2Pro Praised At Blairgowrie GC

“Essentially, our aim was to keep the surface and the profile dry on the greens and approaches throughout winter. We tried a few products and then Jamie Lees (ICL Technical Area Sales Manager, Scotland) suggested trialling H2Pro TriSmart. We trialled it for two months in the middle of that summer, saw great results and we just carried on from there. I like the fact that you can go from TriSmart to FlowSmart carrying on the moisture management programme all through the year.”

Craig first applies H2ProTriSmart in April at a rate of 10L/ha. He continues with monthly applications before switching to H2Pro FlowSmart in September or October depending on the weather conditions.

“As soon as the weather begins to change and it turns a bit cooler then we know that it is time to switch to FlowSmart. We then use that for as long as it’s needed just to pull the moisture through the surface and the profile to dry the greens out.

“It is such a flexible programme and you can tailor it to your everyday conditions rather than having a fixed plan. If we get a wet spring or summer then we use FlowSmart until it starts to dry up a bit and then we switch back over to TriSmart, but it can work both ways.

“We’ve also noticed a big reduction in irrigation and hand watering. Since using H2Pro TriSmart we very seldom use another wetting agent because quite simply we have no need. It is labour saving because we no longer have guys out with hoses looking for dry patches on the greens and of course we are saving money on water usage too.”

The H2Pro range of products are not the only ICL products that Craig uses and he gave his reasons as to why the company plays such big role in his maintenance procedures.

“The majority of the products we use at Lansdowne are from ICL. Jamie helps me put a programme together every year and if we ever have any problems then he is always around for support. From a technical point of view, I just cannot fault the advice I get.

“We know the amount of money and research that goes into their products and I think that gives you confidence. Every product is consistently good. For example, when we get a bag of fertilizer from ICL we know exactly what we are getting – it is always consistent.”

Please contact ICL on +44 (0)1473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie

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Trilo A Help At Mid Herts GC

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Trilo A Help At Mid Herts GC: Located in the Hertfordshire countryside, Mid Herts Golf Club is one of only a few heathland courses based in Hertfordshire. After being neglected for a number of years, a project is underway to re-establish the native heather around the 18 holes by Course Manager Jody Wilson. Assisting Jody in creating the ideal growing conditions, is his team of five greenkeepers, and a fleet of machinery from Trilo. 

“I first came across the Trilo product during my time at Woburn Golf Club, where we purchased one of the first machines in the UK” explains Jody, who has now been at Mid Herts for 13 years. “In my opinion they are leading the market for leaf and debris collection so when our previous machine started causing us problems, I turned to Trilo to look at alternatives.” With two Trilo BL740 blowers already in the shed, he added an S4 vacuum sweeper to his collection over the winter of 2017/18.

Trilo A Help At Mid Herts GC

The club has been working closely with Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust on a plan to open up woodland areas to encourage the regeneration of heather, which has been a big project for Jody. “We have a lot of oak trees which have encroached on the course over the years which means our leafing season goes on and on. Heather and long grasses don’t like organic matter, so in an effort to create the right conditions, we collect every single leaf that falls – a daily task in the winter. We use our BL740’s to blow the debris off the course where it is then collected up in the S4.” In use from the moment it arrived, the S4 collected over 140 loads (or 560m3!) of leaves over the autumn/winter period.

While mainly used for leaf collection, Jody also has the flail attachment for the S4 meaning they can now cut and collect the long roughs in one pass, which was previously conducted by two separate machines. “Now we can do both jobs simultaneously, we’re saving time and manpower and the interchangeable attachments make it a versatile, year-round machine.”

“Where we’ve been clearing the leaves away, the heather has been naturally reoccurring across the course. It’s been an ongoing project for me for the last 10-11 years, but we’re now making real progress. Both us as greenkeepers, and the players, are delighted.”

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