Tag Archive for: golf

Greenkeeper Shortlisted For Golf Environmental Award

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Greenkeeper Shortlisted For Golf Environmental Award: One of the greenkeepers at Cumberwell Park Golf Club outside Bradford on Avon has been shortlisted for a top golf environment award.

Jon Keepen, Head of Conservation and First Assistant at Cumberwell Park, has been shortlisted for the STRI Golf Environment Award for ‘Conservation Greenkeeper of the Year’, organised by the Sports Turf Research Institute based in Bingley, West Yorkshire.

Greenkeeper Shortlisted For Golf Environmental Award

The STRI Golf Environment Awards recognise, reward and promote outstanding individuals and golf courses, no matter how big or small, for the time and effort they have put into protecting and preserving their unique surroundings.

A spokesperson said: “Golf courses around the world are seeing tangible results from introducing environmentally sustainable management projects across their golf courses.

“These projects are achieving an increase in habitat varieties, improving playing experiences for golfers and providing a positive contribution to wildlife!

“With the ever-increasing spotlight on environmental matters, it is fundamentally important for golf courses worldwide to assess what they can do to achieve environmental sustainability protect while continuing to maximise the enjoyment of golf.”

Matthew James, the Cumberwell Park Course Manager, said: “This is fantastic news for Jon and the club as it recognises all his efforts towards our conservation work at Cumberwell Park.”

The pair will attend the STRI Golf Environment Awards dinner at the Bigga Turf Management Exhibition in Harrogate from January 21-24 to find out which of the three finalists will win.

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Woburn Golf Club Stays On Par With Sportag

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Woburn Golf Club Stays On Par With Sportag: World renowned golf facility, Woburn Golf Club is all set for whatever the weather may bring thanks to Sportag, Aggregate Industries’ revolutionary drainage material.

Established in 1974, Woburn Golf Club, which is located in Little Brickhill, Milton Keynes, is widely reputed as one of the finest golfing settings in Europe. Throughout the years the prestigious club has played stage to the European Tour’s British Masters, The Heritage, The Ricoh Womens British Open, The Open Final Qualifying, Ladies European tour, and more.

Woburn Golf Club Stays On Par With Sportag

Although the club already had a primary drainage system in place, it was decided that an additional one was required to optimise the performance and playability of the fairways.

As such, when it came to the material of choice, drainage contractors, Shelton, recommended their longstanding supplier, the Lytag® team who in turn recommended Sportag.

Launched earlier this year, Sportag is a lightweight, sustainable aggregate made from Lytag’s ground-breaking secondary aggregate, which offers the ideal solution for land drainage applications, particularly sports in grounds, pitches or golf courses, due to its rounded shape and material properties.

Core to the specification, Sportag is absorbent and gives excellent hydraulic conductivity thereby reducing the risk of flooding. It is able to transmit water up to 10 times faster than gravel, therefore making it the ideal choice for use in fairways on golf courses where firm dry surfaces are critical.

Completed during August 2017, Sportag was installed within trenches 25mm wide, spaced 2m apart and at a depth of 300mm, using the Shelton team’s advanced machinery. Quick and simple, the course was immediately available for use, damage to the course was minimal, therefore keeping disruption to a minimum.

John Clarke, Courses Manager at Woburn Golf Club comments: “We aim to provide first class playing surfaces year round, therefore when it came to investing in a new drainage system, it was important to ensure playability is possible regardless of the season or weather conditions – but also, a quick turnaround was key to minimising any disruption to the golfing calender. We were delighted with the solution provided by Lytag and Shelton Drainage equipment, having already experienced very wet spells we can really see the difference in terms of keeping the surfaces to a high standard.”

Steve Fisher, business development manager for Lytag at Aggregate Industries, commented: “With the UK weather more erratic than ever, it’s important that golf courses, football pitches and the like, have adequate drainage measures in place. Get it wrong and the water content of the turf can affect performance in terms of ball bounce, while poor drainage can also result in waterlogged greens and fairways. As demonstrated at Woburn Golf Club, Sportag ®, can make a huge impact in combating this with benefits that include effective drainage and high moisture retention while also being incredibly sustainable.”

For further information about Lytag or Aggregate Industries, visit www.aggregate.com

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Lees Hall The Latest Golf Club To Purchase Ventrac 4500

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Lees Hall In Sheffield Is The Latest Golf Club To Purchase A Ventrac 4500: Lees Hall Golf Club is the latest purchaser of a Ventrac 4500 compact tractor and attachments. Situated three miles south of Sheffield, it was designed by Alex Herd, the Open Champion of 1902, and opened in 1907 as a 9-hole course. It was remodelled to 18-holes in 1911 creating a 6,171 yard, par 71 parkland course with commanding views over the city.

Ian Whitehead is the Head Greenkeeper and heads a team of four dedicated greenkeepers. He has been in the job for 16 months, having previously been Course Manager at Hillsborough Golf Club for 23 years.

Lees Hall The Latest Golf Club To Purchase Ventrac 4500

 

“I’m really lucky to have a very supportive committee with the president and greens chairman putting their trust in me and providing the funds to help with my suggested improvement programme. It’s no secret that the course has been in decline for some years, but I see this as a challenge. We’ve implemented some immediate improvements and the members are making the right comments. We have upgraded various machines including a greens mower, tees mower and a greens iron.

“However, the purchase of the Ventrac 4500 from local dealer, Russells Groundcare, has been the real bonus. It’s a powerful, multi-purpose compact tractor on which you put many attachments. Glen Sawyer of Russells recommended it to me and I trust his judgement. We had a demonstration and it was a no-brainer; we had to have it. We had intensive operator training when it was delivered so everyone can get the maximum out of it.

“Like other recent purchasers of Ventrac, I was sceptical when I first saw the machine, it’s a bit quirky, but once you’ve sat on it you realise it’s a powerful and versatile tractor, very smooth to drive and the articulating Contour mower deck leaves a great finish. Its hill climbing is excellent and that’s a prime consideration here.

“We’re already looking at other attachments as we prepare our 2018 budget. There’s so much that this single machine can do with its selection of accessories which include a Tough Cut deck, Stump Grinder, Edger, Blower and more. I’m really excited about this machine and the challenge ahead; the perception of the club is already changing in the local area and membership is moving in the right direction. Good greenkeeping practices and the equipment to carry them out are essential. With the continued support of the club, we’ll get there.

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Damage To Green And Missing Flags Frustrates Golf Club

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Damage to green and missing flags frustrates Timaru’s Highfield Golf Club: Highfield Golf Club wishes people would just leave their course the way they found it – in a nice tidy manner.

A number of flags used for on the greens have been going missing, while damage was also done to the green on the par 5 third hole on November 2.

Damage To Green And Missing Flags Frustrates Golf Club

The club’s greenkeeper Damian Rodgers said he couldn’t understand why people take the flags and hack at the greens.

“It’s just silly. I can’t understand why they’d do that. I mean why would you take a golf flag, what are you going to do with it.

“Some weeks we’ve had two or three flags go missing, other weeks none and at about $100 each to replace they’re aren’t cheap. It’s costing the club money.”

An insurance claim was looked into but with a steep excess the club opted against the idea.

Rodgers, who noticed the divots when he arrived to mow the third green about 8am on November 3, said the damage to the green was the first he’d since he started there 18 months ago.

“We’ve had plenty of flags go missing but that’s really the first bit of major damage to the greens.

“It’s honestly just a pain, it puts your day out and it meant I took a couple of hours trying to repair the green.”

The hole was out of action for most of the day on Friday and while it is now playable again, the divots from where the vandals hacked the green can still be seen.

“They’ll take a bit to fix completely but they hacked all round the holes and a couple of other parts on the green but we have fixed them so people can play the hole.”

Rodgers said they have an idea on who may have done it but isn’t certain.

“It’s in a secluded area the green, most of the stuff happens down this way because they often can’t be seen.”

He couldn’t understand why people would do those things at a golf club.

“It’s here for people to play. I don’t know why you’d do that it hasn’t done anything to them, it’s just really disappointing.”

Rodgers said they hoped this sort of stuff wouldn’t continue to happen.

This vandalism follows damage to the sports fields in Pleasant Point and at the Celtic club in Timaru that were badly damaged back in May and the smashing of war memorial panels at Caroline Bay on November 3.

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Exciting times for Boston West

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Exciting times for Boston West – Set in the Lincolnshire countryside just a short drive away from England’s scenic east coast, Boston West at Hubbert’s Bridge in Lincolnshire was established in 1995 and features an 18-hole parkland golf course, a 20-bay floodlit driving range and a six-hole, par-three academy course. It also offers an on-site three star hotel with multi-purpose business and wedding facilities, and a modern brasserie style restaurant.

Exciting times for Boston West

Proud of its high standards and top quality greens surfaces, this proprietary owned golf club is now benefiting from three new John Deere machines delivered by dealer F G Adamson & Son, which has outlets in Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire. Bought using a John Deere Financial package, the kit includes a 2500B triplex greens mower, a 9009A TerrainCut semi/rough five-deck rotary mower and a 36hp 3036E compact tractor equipped with a D160 front loader.

Boston West’s new joint owners Jon Portess and James Mitchell took over the club in May 2016, and immediately asked course manager Tom Luffman what he needed to replace and upgrade the course’s older machines to help bring the overall course maintenance regime back up to speed. The decision was made to invest in John Deere equipment, as managing director Jon Portess explains:

“Following Tom’s recommendations, we conducted the usual tender process, and had a good look at what’s around on the market. We brought in demonstration machines, checked their quality and what was most suitable for the course and our business. The whole package from John Deere and the dealer was simply better than anyone else,” says Jon.

“Adamsons provided the quality we were looking for, and we thought the John Deere machines were the best ones out there. We also felt that the sales approach and the quotation from Adamsons area manager Steve Blanchard were right for our business, and that the machines were right for the various jobs we wanted them to do, and to improve on what we had before.”

Course manager Tom Luffman adds: “It’s an exciting time at Boston West with the purchase of these three new John Deere machines. The 2500B greens mower delivers a superb quality of cut, which will enable us to provide members and visitors with faster and truer putting surfaces.

“In addition, the 9009A TerrainCut mower with TechControl will present the rough to a higher standard – I believe its ability to follow the course contours and maintain an even cut is second to none. The 3036E compact utility tractor is also a fantastic addition to our fleet for its all-round abilities, from loading sand to slitting greens.”