Tag Archive for: GC

Vandals Target Castlerock GC

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Vandals Target Castlerock GC: Police are appealing for information following extensive criminal damage caused to Castlerock Golf Club’s course and green hut during the early hours of this morning.

A police spokesperson said “Those responsible have caused damage which will cost thousands to repair.  A deliberate fire was started on the long grass on the course and we believe smoke and flames would have been visible from Circular Road and further afar.

Please if you have any information which you believe may assist us in our investigation please contact Limavady Police on 101 quoting ref CCS 731 of 15/7/18.”

Commenting on the vandalism Councillor William McCandless said “The vandalism at Castlerock Golf club has not just been an attack on the club itself, it has a serious detrimental effect upon our Tourism Industry.

Our Council area relies heavily upon Tourism for jobs and revenue and golf is an important factor in this. Golf tourism is a key priority at Tourism N.I. and courses like Castlerock are crucial to this strategy.
Castlerock Golf Club established in 1901 is located at the mouth of the river Bann with panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean, the hills of Donegal and Islay.

A tough links course Castlerock can certainly compete with neighbouring Portstewart and Royal Portrush for an enjoyable days golf. Recently extensive work has been carried out by the club to improve many of the holes.

I would appeal to anyone who noticed anything unusual to contact PSNI to assist in apprehending those who carried out this damage. Arson and breaking windows are serious crimes and must not be tolerated.”

A spokesperson for Castlerock Golf Club said “Anyone with information please contact the PSNI or to the club direct by emailing bert@castlerockgc.co.uk.”

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Graden CSI Helps St Augustine’s GC

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Graden CSI Helps St Augustine’s GC: At more than 100 years old, Kent’s St Augustine’s Golf Club has changed a lot over the last century and is now far from the grazing land that once occupied its 60 acre site. However, the pop-up greens, on original clay soil, used to cause Head Greenkeeper Gary Kennington and his team a headache when it came to topdressing and drainage. That was until the club discovered the benefits of the Graden Contour Sand Injection (CSI) unit, which has helped to improve water dispersal and greens speed, all with minimum surface disruption.

“Though we’re not strictly a links course, as there’s a road between the club and the Kent coast, we do still have to deal with the climatic challenges our location brings” explains Gary. “One year in particular, going back now 7 years, the weather meant the usual tactic of tining and topdressing wasn’t getting sand down into the greens as well as the team hoped.  At the time the Graden CSI was a relatively new concept in the UK so we hired a unit and quickly realised that it could really help.”

Graden CSI Helps St Augustine’s GC

The Graden CSI is a 3-in-1 verti-cutter with the ability to aerate, scarify and remove thatch to any depth between 1mm-40mm, whilst simultaneously backfilling the grooves with either sand or a combination of sand and seed. Its ability to conduct multiple jobs in one pass reduces play downtime without causing any detrimental effect to the firmness of the ground. “With this CSI you’re getting the sand into the green, rather the putting it on the top, allowing you to get greens back into play in as little as half an hour.”

Gary and his team now use the CSI on all 18 greens twice a year and continue to see marked improvements. “From the very first use we reduced the thatch content of the greens and worked the sand down into the soil profile which helped with drainage and greens speed. With it being a pedestrian unit, we have great manoeuvrability and it means we can still go out and use it in conditions that may not always be ideal. Should we need that little extra advice or support we now have John Fitzpatrick of Charterhouse Turf Machinery who is great to have at the end of the phone.”

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Toro Stays At Yeovil GC

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Toro Stays At Yeovil GC: Yeovil Golf Club in Dorset has been a long-term Toro customer and that remains the case with the arrival of new course manager Jason Connaughton who, within days of his arrival, placed an order for a Toro Groundsmaster 4000-D.

Jason says it was an exciting time to join the 27-hole parkland course as the club was undergoing a management restructure. He says: “The club is in a very exciting position. There has been a management restructure and we are working together to move the club forward in a positive way. Plans to buy in new machinery are well supported, and we are all in agreement that investment should focus on our number one asset: the course.”

As mentioned, first up is a Toro Groundsmaster 4000-D, which Jason had the pleasure of using extensively at his previous club, Saffron Walden Golf Club in Essex: “I have experience with most machinery brands and for me the Toro GM4000-D is the number one rough mower. We had just replaced like-for-like at Saffron Walden, so when I arrived at Yeovil and spotted the gap for a roughs mower I turned straight to Toro and the GM4000-D again.”

Jason didn’t have to wait long, Elliot Wellman from local Toro dealer, Devon Garden Machinery, was on site by Jason’s second day to discuss what was needed. Elliot says: “Over the last six years Yeovil Golf Club had gradually been filling the shed with Toro, and there is quite a comprehensive fleet now in place. Jason needed a roughs mower, and it’s no surprise his first order is a Toro GM4000-D, as he was already very familiar with its capabilities.”

Next, comes a bigger and more detailed decision to make: a five-year machinery replacement plan. Jason explains: “While the shed is looking good, the time comes when replacements need to be made. The board trusts us to pick the right machines for the right jobs, and we think a five-year plan will best serve the club and the results we want to achieve.”

In the meantime, we leave Jason and his greenkeeping team of eight continuing to move the club forward with the help of two Toro TriFlex 3400 mowers, a Groundsmaster 3500-D, two Workman MDX-D UTVs, a Workman with ProPass 200 sprayer, a Workman with ProPass spreader, a Reelmaster 5610, and last but not least a Reelmaster 3100-D.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Boughton GC Lease With Reesink

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Boughton GC Lease With Reesink: Boughton Golf Club in the Kentish North Downs, has become the most recent in a long line of clubs to see the value of a five-year lease deal with Reesink Turfcare and Toro.

Joining the 27-hole club is a fleet of Toro greens, tees, surrounds, fairways and rough mowers, a comprehensive selection to accommodate the club as it enters a period of expansion.

Boughton GC Lease With Reesink

Gary Debenham, course manager at Boughton for almost 25 years, says: “Investment from the owners Johnathan Callister, CEO, and James Tory is being made in the club that not only brings in the machinery, but expansion to the club and its offering.

“It made economic sense to go for a lease deal, the terms are better and it’s affordable. With that decided it only left which brand and distributor to go for, and that was an easy decision to make. Toro is the market leader, we’ve used them for years and have always been impressed with their value, longevity and reliability. I knew they were a safe bet.”

With these factors in mind, Gary opted for three Reelmaster 3100-D ride-ons to replace three older Toro models. Richard Wood, Reesink sales manager, says: “The three new Reelmasters replace three older Toros which were between 14 and 21 years old, and had accumulated 5000-6000 hours work. They were consistently reliable in front-line use, particularly because of the constant power to at least two wheels at all times providing unbeatable traction for the rolling countryside the club inhabits. There was no question of a different mower when you’ve experienced this level of reliability and longevity.”

Gary also chose two Reelmaster 5510-D fairway mowers for the first time. He was impressed with the way the machine performed in the demo: “The RM5510-D came with groomers attached. They’re something we haven’t had before at the club and they did so well on the finish, we didn’t hesitate to order them too.”

Gary is right about that. Groomers lift the turf and reduce the grain, help to knock off dew, disperse grass clippings and integrate clippings into the grass canopy to produce an improved quality of cut.

Completing the order for Boughton is a powerful Groundsmaster 4000-D, but also included for Boughton’s ‘sister’ club, Etchinghill Golf Club, part of Pentland Golf Group alongside Boughton, are another two Reelmaster 3100-D mowers and a TriFlex 3400-D greensmower.

Set amid 167 acres of rolling countryside in the Kentish North Downs, Boughton Golf Club is in the perfect scenic spot for weddings and events. Gary tells us a 40-bedroom boutique hotel is under construction. Due for completion in 2019, the hotel brings a pool, spa facilities, restaurants and a new outside area along with water features and fire pits to the club, and will surely see increased footfall and even more eyes on the grounds.

Gary says: “Every aspect of the course and grounds will need to be at their best, all the time,” says Gary. “Footfall will increase as hotel residents use the course and as the hotel hosts weddings and events. I have no doubt that Toro is the perfect partner for us to achieve the best with.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Aeration At Cumberwell Park GC

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Aeration At Cumberwell Park GC: Few course managers have the challenge of creating an aeration programme for 45 holes.  Step forward Matt James at Cumberwell Park GC who is responsible for five nine hole courses at Bradford-on-Avon, eight miles south of Bath.

The original courses – the ‘red’ and ‘yellow’ were created in 1994; ‘blue’ followed in 1999, while ‘orange’ in 2006.  Then, in summer 2016, a shorter Par 3 course was opened. Unlike traditional venues, the USGA based greens and tee constructions on the first four courses are generously sized, their design nonetheless still reflecting the natural contours and landscape of the 400 acre site.

Aeration At Cumberwell Park GC

Matt James’ aerator of choice is the Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi. Previously the club owned a Wiedenmann 1.4 m wide GXi6 but upgraded to the GXi8 HD when it was launched to take advantage of the productivity an extra 40 cm offered.

“With 36 holes we just about got away with owning one spiker,” said Matt James. “Jumping to 45 we were over stretched. In autumn 2017 we added a second; two brings flexibility.  Take last month as an example: we’ve had one machine set with hollow cores coring greens. The other is on solid tines for tees. So, two machines ready to go when weather permitted helped us catch up. Changing tines is fast on a Wiedenmann, even quicker now when you just swap machines.  Terra Spikes are recognised across the turf profession. You see users happily posting their results on Twitter. We’re pleased with ours and the support we get from Stuart Fry and T H White at Knockdown.

Some form of aeration is carried out at the Wiltshire club every two to three weeks.

The Cumberwell plan is to aerate tees at least once in the winter with 12 mm solid tines varying depth and heave as conditions allow.  A handful of areas displaying signs of more compaction might be given a second run as spring approaches.  During March, hollow coring takes place using 10 mm coring tines. Again repetition may be carried out. Over the summer the tees get lightly pencil tined with several passes.

The true-running expanse of USGA greens which Cumberwell is renowned are tined twice in the winter with 12 mm solid tines and then throughout the year receive maybe half a dozen passes with 8 mm tines. Fairways don’t get spiked.

Increasingly the Cumberwell Park team has been introducing multi tine heads for finer work and for coring throughout the year.  The GXi8 HD can be fitted with multi tine holders on all eight legs, each solid multi- tine head holding up to twelve 5 mm needle tines while each coring multi-tine head takes six tines per head with a coring diameter from 6mm.

“We certainly vary the tines. With the Wiedenmann we can always achieve the depth which is important. In the past we tried fitting tining units on our greens mower but couldn’t get the necessary depth.  Now we get finite control from just a few mm all the way to 250 mm depending on what tines are fitted.”

Cumberwell Park’s innovative and inspired approach to course layout delivers an excellent golfing experience to members and visitors alike. Yet maybe less apparent to the golfer is how in parallel, clever forethought means it delivers a perfect solution to accommodate its many maintenance needs.

“Our Par 3 is separate but in terms of the other four nine holes courses we are quite unique,” explained Matt James. “They all start and finish at the clubhouse. Our booking system is such that golfers play any combination of courses. We treat it as a four tee start.  Crucially I have access to the system.  With appropriate notice I can close an individual course for maintenance.

“For example, tomorrow one course is shut from first thing until 9.30 am for top dressing. It really helps to be able to shut for tining or top dressing.

“I have to make a judgement on operations I can do. You have to be organised and plan activities ahead. Key things get booked well in advance, for example coring is traditionally March time.  Naturally you plan around big events or tournaments. We wouldn’t choose to tine or top dress before something important but you’ve got to fit it all in. Fine tines leave negligible disturbance so it is not particularly disruptive. We wouldn’t do it days before a competition; but aeration is necessary so you fit it in somehow rather than avoid it.”

The scale of Cumberwell Park is not for the feint hearted. Its setting is enhanced by nine lakes, 34 acres of woodland and free-flowing streams.  The establishment has been awarded four stars in Golf World’s Top Courses in Britain and is also an accredited Golf Mark and Club Mark facility. Nine of Cumberwell Park’s 20 greenkeeping staff are trained on the aerators.

So, how does Matt James keep track of what’s been aerated?  “We keep detailed records for all operations carried out. Specifically with spiking, details include which tines used, depth, where on a particular course and the operator name.”

With another nine hole par 3 course in the pipeline, Matt James and his greenkeeping team strive to maintain their constant high standards.  Only last month the club won the Environmental category at the Bath Life Awards 2018 while Head of Conservation, Jon Keepen was announced as a finalist for Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year at this year’s STRI’s Golf Environmental Awards.

For more information, visit: www.wiedenmann.com

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