Tag Archive for: golf

Awards galore for Carnoustie Golf Links

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Awards galore for Carnoustie Golf Links: The Championship Course at Carnoustie Golf Links, ‘Golf’s Greatest Test’ and host of The 147th Open in 2018, was named best golf course in Scotland at the 2023 Scottish Golf Tourism Awards.

Carnoustie Golf Links was successful in the Best Golf Course over £150 category for the third time in recent years and the awards didn’t end there as Carnoustie pipped the competition to take home the ‘Best Pro Shop’ Award for the second time in as many years.

Awards galore for Carnoustie Golf Links

Awards galore for Carnoustie Golf Links

The Championship Course at Carnoustie was up against a shortlist which included Castle Stuart, the King’s Course at Gleneagles and North Berwick.

Links Superintendent, Kevin Stott, said “This award recognises the hard work and effort that our whole team put in to looking after our world class golf courses and facilities every day. We are extremely proud to present the courses at Carnoustie in an outstanding condition to our local, national and international guests”

Rebecca Tully, Head of Merchandise, said: “Our Professional Shop has grown from strength to strength over the years. We picked up this same award in 2022 and couldn’t be more delighted to be awarded it again this year. We are committed to providing the very best offering and experience at Carnoustie, and this award is testament to the efforts that we put in every single day.”

Carnoustie Golf Links also picked up the Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality Award at The Courier Business Awards in late 2022. The last 12 months have seen a number of other successes at Carnoustie, including the launch of their research hub in collaboration with Abertay University and the launch of its brand-new High Performance Junior Programme. History was made at Carnoustie in August 2022 when they hosted the Boy’s and Girl’s Amateur Championships – where the finals were played alongside each other for the first time ever and late 2022 saw the near completion of the Seagreen development project stage at Carnoustie which will provide Scotland, and the wider UK, with critical green infrastructure and will become Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, helping to meet Scotland’s net-zero targets and tackle climate change.

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Major coup for JCB Golf Course

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Major coup for JCB Golf Course: A major tour event is set to make a welcome return to the prestigious JCB Golf and Country Club after the resounding success of its inaugural visit.

The first JCB Championship was staged at the Club this year as part of the Legends Tour’s international schedule, and some of the best-known names in golf competed for £600,000 in prize money. Today organisers confirmed that the event would be returning to the Rocester course in 2023 with a prize fund of £750,000 – the largest on the Legends Tour schedule outside of the Senior Open Championship. The JCB Championship is due to place from August 3rd to 5th 2023.

Major coup for JCB Golf Course

Major coup for JCB Golf Course

2022 Senior Open Champion Darren Clarke will once again host the event, with the Club bidding to attract a star-studded field. Among other big names already signed up to play are Alex Cejka, who won the 2022 Championship, Retief Goosen, Thongchai Jaidee, John Daly and Colin Montgomerie .

JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald: “We are thrilled to be hosting the JCB Championship for the second consecutive year. Last year’s event was a resounding success and with Darren Clarke hosting the occasion again, we aim to make the 2023 JCB Championship even bigger and better.”

Legends Tour Chief Executive Officer Phil Harrison said: “We are delighted to be returning to the JCB Golf & Country Club in 2023. The JCB Championship will undoubtedly attract some of the game’s biggest stars including Tour winners, Major winners, Ryder Cup stars and Hall of Famers.”

Darren Clarke said: “I was extremely proud to host The JCB Championship last year for what was a truly fantastic event. The JCB Golf & Country Club is a great venue, and we had such a great field in 2022 with so many former Major champions and legends of the game taking part.    I am really looking forward to returning in 2023 as host.”

More than 8,000 spectators attended the JCB Championship over three days, enjoying the action on a stunning course which is set in some of Staffordshire’s most beautiful countryside.  The prestigious Staffordshire club – the brainchild of JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford – has also successfully been a host venue for the Rose Ladies Series in both 2020 and 2021

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Golf clubs to become STEM classrooms

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Golf clubs to become STEM classrooms: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) are collaborating to have BIGGA exclusively present GCSAA’s First Green STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education programme in the UK.

Founded in 1997, First Green is the only STEM education and environmental outreach programme using golf courses as learning labs.

Golf clubs to become STEM classrooms

Golf clubs to become STEM classrooms

The First Green curriculum helps students apply their classroom knowledge in an outdoor setting. Using STEM concepts connected to golf course management and conservation, students find new inspiration in their schoolwork and learn about the possibility of a career in golf or a STEM-related field. Since its inception, First Green has reached students in the United States and Canada through learning labs that bring the classroom to life on the golf course. First Green also gives students a first-hand look at the important role greenkeepers (or superintendents as they are known in the US) play in their communities.

As part of the multi-year agreement, GCSAA will provide branding, training, insight and curriculum advice to assist BIGGA with establishing First Green in the UK. The two associations will share best practices and updates to ensure students will be part of programmes offering the best possible experience and learning.

This initiative was announced as part of the 2023 BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) in a joint event attended by representatives of GCSAA and BIGGA. Initial planning is underway and a schedule of First Green events presented exclusively in the UK by BIGGA will be available when they are announced at www.bigga.org.uk.

Jim Croxton, BIGGA CEO, said: “First Green is a brilliant tool with all the assets, lesson plans and resources that any golf course needs to host an event. We’re thankful to the GCSAA for the incredible work they have done to develop the programme and also for enabling us to bring it to the UK, where I am confident it will be a huge success.”

Rhett Evans, GCSAA CEO, said: “STEM education opens the door to a wide variety of career paths including golf-related careers. While our number one goal for First Green is to support the education growth of students, we also contribute to golf’s sustainability by showcasing golf facilities’ focus on preserving the environment and creating interest in a golf-related career. Over the years we have collaborated on many initiatives with BIGGA and created a strong working relationship. This long-term and successful relationship enabled our two associations to seamlessly bring the GCSAA’s First Green programme to the UK.”

For more information about First Green in the United States, visit thefirstgreen.org

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Ultimate INFINICUT® precision for golf courses

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Ultimate INFINICUT® precision for golf courses: BTME 2023 provided the ideal launch platform for the brand new 22” dedicated cutting unit from INFINICUT® – designed to meet the exacting requirements needed for the modern-day golf course.

Incorporating many of the features synonymous with the renowned INFINICUT® range, the new machine features a reconfigured yoke assembly making the cutting unit the most balanced mower for achieving low heights of cut and optimal compatibility for use with brush and groomer attachments.

Ultimate INFINICUT® precision for golf courses

Ultimate INFINICUT® precision for golf courses

The INFINICUT® 22” cutting unit has been engineered to suit the specific set of requirements for golf course maintenance, promising even more refinement for fine turf management. When married to the INFINICUT® traction unit, the new floating head model promises unbeatable cut performance and unparalleled contour following ability.

Known for the range of changeable parameters, the new INFINCUT® retains the colour coded attitude angle and BCD adjustment systems together with several new features such as quick and simple bedknife removal for easy servicing, grinding and maintenance.

With the focus firmly on the quality of finish, the cutting unit is equipped with INFINICUT’s SMARTCut™ reels, produced in-house from UK-sourced Boron and dynamically balanced for ultimate accuracy. The new model is also available with a choice of optional groomers and is fully compatible with the INFINIApp for wireless set up and control.

Commenting on the launch, Sales Manager Vinny Tarbox said, “This is really exciting addition to the INFINICUT® range and is reflective of our progression in the golf market. We’ve had this cutting unit out on various trials over the last 12 months and the pinpoint precision and superior performance of this cutting unit have not gone unnoticed, resulting in orders already from a number of prestigious links, parkland and membership courses. Following much interest in it on the stand at BTME, we can’t wait to now showcase it to more customers in the field.”

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Huxley Golf delivers security of play

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Huxley Golf delivers security of play: All members and visitors to Royal Troon Golf Club look forward to playing what is one of the most famous holes in golf, the Postage Stamp. The par 3 eighth hole on the 19th Century Club’s Old Course might be the shortest hole on the Open rota but it is one of the most challenging and revered.

That is why Huxley Golf was honoured to be asked to create an alternative winter tee for this iconic golf destination this autumn. The installation will help to ensure continuity of the Postage Stamp experience without compromise, using Huxley Golf Premier Tee Turf 2, the closest all-weather surface to natural grass. Royal Troon had previously trialled the idea of creating a separate winter tee from natural turf, but it was unable to withstand the extraordinary levels of wear and tear, as Course Manager, Billy McLachlan, explains:

Huxley Golf delivers security of play

Huxley Golf delivers security of play

“The Postage Stamp is an important feature of our Club. Being a short hole, the impacts of wear and tear on the tee are concentrated over a small area. This not only affects play during the winter, but it also impacts the start of the golf season because natural grass takes time to recover fully.

“Our recourse was to turn to Huxley Golf to help us find the optimal solution for our precise needs: one that would look good aesthetically and critically, live up to players’ expectations. As a result, we now have a permanent feature that we can switch to with minimal interruption when the landscape demands it. Over time, this will help preserve play to this exceptional hole.”

Huxley Golf used its superior Premier Tee Turf 2 to create the 12ft x 12ft (3.6m x 3.6m) tee, and supplemented this with a fringe surround, which will enable natural grass to seamlessly marry in around it.

Hugh Fraser, Scotland and North East England Area Manager at Huxley Golf, commented: “We understand that it can be a difficult decision for historic environments to work with the new generation of all-weather turf, but most now realise that Huxley Golf Premier Tee Turf 2 offers a superb option for winter play and to relieve wear and tear at any time of year. It has benefits to both the environment, the greenkeeping team and players, as it protects natural features, requires virtually no maintenance, and yet, offers golfers an incredibly realistic surface to hit from. Its unique surface gives players an excellent experience, even in the most demanding of situations and climates.”

The Huxley name has been synonymous with premium all-weather golf surfaces and products. Endorsed by the UK’s leading golf organisations as well as many legendary golfers and celebrities and their coaching teams, the Hampshire-based company’s artificial golf surfaces are in use all around the world at top-flight courses, resorts, and training academies. Across Scotland, Huxley Golf has also recently worked with St Andrews Links, Gleneagles Academy, the Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh, Gullane Golf Club and The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers Muirfield.

For more information visit www.huxleygolf.com or call 01730 829608.

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