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BTME in natural environment

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BTME in natural environment: The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) has launched registration for its annual exhibition, which returns to the Harrogate Convention Centre in January 2022.

The BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) is Europe’s premier trade exhibition for the golf and sportsturf industry and takes place on Tuesday 25 to Thursday 27 January.

BTME in natural environment

BTME in natural environment

Registration has today (Friday 8 October) opened for the event, which is free to attend and will feature a line-up of more than 150 exhibitors spread across four halls in the Harrogate Convention Centre. An unrivalled networking opportunity, BTME brings together many of the leading names in the sportsturf industry, with a number of exciting events and initiatives yet to be announced.

For more information about BTME 2022, head to the new, dedicated BTME website, https://www.btme.org.uk.

The launch has coincided with the unveiling of the Continue to Learn 2022 education programme. Taking place from Sunday 23 to Wednesday 26 January 2022, BIGGA’s world-leading learning programme features a spectacular range of professional development opportunities, each year providing the equivalent of more than two hours’ education for every golf club in the country. As such, Continue to Learn and BTME are considered among the most influential events in the golfing calendar.

BIGGA members can find out more about Continue to Learn and begin booking their education experience today by heading to https://www.btme.org.uk/continue-to-learn.html.

On the opening evening of BTME, BIGGA will be hosting the Welcome Celebration, an informal event that celebrates the achievements of BIGGA members throughout the previous year.

Announced at the Welcome Celebration will be the winners of the BIGGA Awards 2022 and nominations are being invited for each of the following categories:

  • Outstanding Contribution of the Year sponsored by Bernhard and Company
  • Greenkeeping Project of the Year sponsored by Baroness
  • Championship Greenkeeping Performance of the Year sponsored by Origin Amenity Solutions

The BIGGA Awards recognise that high performance levels from a dedicated and knowledgeable team are essential to the success of any golf course or championship. The Greenkeeping Project and Championship Greenkeeping Performance awards are an opportunity to showcase a team’s successes, both in the redevelopment or renovation of a course or through the hosting of a major event. Meanwhile, the Outstanding Contribution award celebrates a member of the association who has done exceptional work to support fellow BIGGA members, the industry or the wider community.

This year there are some brilliant prizes on offer in each of the three categories. More information and the nomination form can be found on the BIGGA website.

BTME 2022 and Continue to Learn 2022 take place from 23 to 27 January 2022 at the Harrogate Convention Centre in North Yorkshire.

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Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

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Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’: Coombe Wood Golf Club in Kingston Upon Thames is reaping the benefits of a tailored turf management programme from ICL and a dedicated greenkeeping team – according to Course Manager Laurence Fennemore.

“I knew the course needed a lot of work when I joined, but I saw it as an opportunity,” said Laurence. “It was a chance to test myself and put my name on the map. It helps having a great team around me too.”

Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

Laurence always wanted to be a Greenkeeper – ever since embarking on work experience at a local golf club at the age of 15. He has been an apprentice, a deputy and now he finds himself in the top seat at Coombe Wood Golf Club – which he admitted is not without its challenges.

“It is like managing two different courses,” he said. The top half of the course consists of 10 very gravelly holes and the lower half, holes 11-18, is on clay which hold a lot of water. As soon as I came here in 2019, we had a very wet winter, and the lower half of the course wasn’t open at all.

“I found that the grass had died off on the fairways and had been overrun with weeds and there was quite a lot of disease on the greens.”

Laurence explained it was at this point that he got in touch with ICL.

“My old Course Manager worked with an ICL turf management programme, and I saw the successful results from that first hand. With this in mind I got in contact with ICL to see how they could help me out.”

Matt Nutter, ICL Technical Area Sales Manager, worked with Laurence to put a specific programme together for a full season that was within his budget. “We needed to focus on the greens and fairways and take into consideration that it is a very wet site, without any irrigation,” said Matt. “The aim was to apply some controlled release granular fertilisers as base feeds; get some good growth and give the golfers a course that they could use.”

Starting with the greens, the programme first saw Laurence apply Greenmaster Pro-Lite Turf Tonic 8-0-0 – a micro-granular fertiliser before going onto a fortnightly tank-mix consisting of Greenmaster Liquid CalMag, Vitalnova Stressbuster, Primo Maxx II plant growth regulator and Syngenta’s Ryder turf pigment. As part of the programme, Laurence also relies on monthly applications of Vitalnova SeaMax liquid seaweed extract and H2Pro TriSmart wetting agent.

“The greens have seen a big improvement and there is a lot more grass coverage,” said Laurence. “Primo Maxx II is controlling the growth and we are not taking large amounts of clippings off every time we cut; we have a nice tighter sward, and Ryder has really helped visually – it gives the turf a fantastic green colour.”

Matt was in agreement and added that he feels that the tank-mix has been integral to the results on the greens: “This mix is so consistent,” he said. “You don’t get a massive flush of growth and you don’t see the colour dipping off – you get the full 14 days out of it until it is ready for the next application.”

When it came to the fairways, Laurence applies Sportsmaster CRF Mini fertiliser and monthly applications of H2Pro AquaSmart wetting agent.

“The plan was to get moisture in the ground and to make the most of the wet in the spring,” he said. “AquaSmart at 10L/ha every four weeks from March until June really helped to keep enough water in the ground when the dry spells came in August and September. As a result, we didn’t lose any grass coverage.”

Without any irrigation, Laurence was forced to apply AquaSmart when it rained and that meant that he had to be flexible.

Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

Coombe Wood GC the ‘best in decades’

“We had the plans and everything in place but if it didn’t rain on the day I wanted to apply AquaSmart, then I needed to apply it as close to that day, within the four week window, as possible. This often meant coming in on my days off, but it was worth it because we have a nice even growth now and the moisture meter readings are proving that we have a high percentage of water being retained in the fairways.”

Buoyed by the successful results, Matt is now devising a new programme with some additions and tweaks. In the meantime, Laurence is not the only one to be impressed at Coombe Wood.

“The members are very happy with many commenting that it is the best it has been in decades,” said Laurence. “It is reassuring to have ICL and Matt on-board – I am always asking for suggestions and he is happy to talk it through and give me his opinion.

“It’s great to be able to bounce ideas off one another and the fact that I can have a tailored maintenance programme to suit my budget is invaluable.

“I would also like to add that my team have worked incredibly hard to turn the course around. Some of their practices have really maximised the results of the ICL programme.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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Tyre-Line – Experts In Groundscare

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Tyre-Line – Experts In Groundscare: Tyre-Line will again be exhibiting at this year’s SALTEX show at the NEC Birmingham, stand D082, bringing their extensive knowledge and product portfolio to the UK’s Premier Turf Management exhibition.

Aftermarket Tyres, Wheels & Specialist Services

Tyre-Line’s Aftermarket sales and support division pride themselves on their vast knowledge and extensive experience supplying the aftermarket tyre and machinery markets with tyres, wheels and associated accessories. They are able to offer services such as tread pattern conversions (Agri to Turf and vice versa), bespoke wheel and tyre fitments along with specialist patterns and fitment advice for all Groundscare, ATV/UTV, High Speed Trailer, Compact Agricultural and Construction machinery.

Tyre-Line – Experts In Groundscare

Tyre-Line – Experts In Groundscare

Being Official UK Distributor of Carlisle & ITP Tyres and Wheels gives Tyre-Line un-restricted access to one of the world’s biggest, specialist tyre suppliers for Lawn & Garden, ATV/UTV and Agriculture & Construction tyres. With a heritage of supplying many prestigious names with O.E. fitments including John Deere, Countax, Polaris, Can-Am, Toro, Cub Cadet and more, Carlisle & ITP have been at the forefront of tyre development and technology for over 100 years and Tyre-Line are proud to be Official UK Distributor.

This year, Tyre-Line will be showcasing their extensive range of Carlisle Lawn, Garden & Golf Tyres at SALTEX, including the new range of Versa Turf speciality Turf tyres, along with new ATV/UTV tyres Duracity & Trail Tamer HD from Carlisle sister company ITP.

Original Equipment Tyres & Wheels

Over the past 30 years, Tyre-Line’s Original Equipment Division have partnered with many of the industry’s biggest names in Groundscare, Trailer and ATV/UTV markets including the likes of John Deere, Kubota, Logic, Nugent & Ariens. Supplying customer specific tyre and wheel fitments from their centrally located, 50,000 sq.ft purpose built facility in Daventry, Northamptonshire, Tyre-Line have a wealth of experience, coupled with a comprehensive product range from industry leading brands allowing them to offer application specific solutions.

Visit Tyre-Line Aftermarket on Stand D082 at this year’s SALTEX show at the NEC, Birmingham on 3rd & 4th November or contact the team on 01458 250350.

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Milestone in sustainable golf development

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Milestone in sustainable golf development: Second edition of the international voluntary sustainability standard for golf developments demonstrates golf’s continuing proactive leadership and progress in the construction industry.

Developed through close collaboration, both within and outside the golf industry, the release of this latest edition of the Sustainable Golf Development Standard represents another major step forward in golf’s journey to becoming a leader in sustainable sport, land use and development.

Milestone in sustainable golf development

Milestone in sustainable golf development

Available to all new developments from September 2021, this simplified new edition raises the bar on sustainability expectations and focuses on the most relevant issues and challenges in the current climate. Renewed emphasis is placed on areas such as increased transparency, carbon impacts, flexible construction timelines, circular economy and the impacts of agronomic decision-making.

Facilitated by GEO Foundation (GEO), six months of open public consultation and dedicated work by the international expert working group for sustainable golf development has led to the release of the second edition of this credible, accessible and relevant voluntary standard for any golf development. The milestone document provides a tighter framework, which can guide the process of delivering any new golf developments and renovations, from site selection through to opening day – delivering positive social and environmental value throughout.

Sam Thomas, Director of Golf Development for GEO, the international organization dedicated to helping advance sustainability in and through golf said: “The process of working with public comments and the international expert group’s knowledge was a great insight into what we’ve seen change in the sustainability space over the past five years. There were invaluable inputs shared into the ways in which everyone felt that golf developments, done in the right way, can continue to make real positive contributions to their environment, climate and community. Going forward, we are excited to adopt this 2nd edition of the standard at all new golf development sites seeking to gain GEO Certified Development status and, over the next five years, see how we can all push on to deliver even greater positive impacts.”

The seven members of the International Expert Working Group, which helped shape this latest edition, included representatives from the Society of Australian Golf Course Architects; American Society of Golf Course Architects; The European Institutes of Golf Course Architects; Golf course builders – through Landscapes Unlimited; Australian National University, Former European Commission representatives and Wetlands International.

Richard Holland, Director, Operations and Network Development, Wetlands International commented: “Congratulations to all involved in this significant milestone for the golf development industry. The 2nd edition builds on the solid foundations of the original standard and raises the bar for new sustainable golf developments. These voluntary standards can also provide valuable guidance for policymakers and regulators in their responsibilities to deliver the best possible outcomes for the environment and local communities.”

The revision of the standard was carried out in line with ISEAL Alliance’s Code of Good Practice for Standard Setting. GEO has been part of the ISEAL Alliance since 2015 and the rigour and credibility of that code are central to the revision of the voluntary sustainability standard. These same codes of good practice are followed by other well-known sustainability bodies including Fairtrade, The Rainforest Alliance and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Tom Mackenzie, Director at Mackenzie & Ebert and Past President of European Institute of Golf Course Architects stated: “It is great to see the release of the 2nd edition of this standard. It now better represents the current sustainability issues we face as designers and I was very pleased to be able to represent the European Institute of Golf Course Architects (EIGCA) on the expert working group. Along with EIGCA’s Raising the Standard of Sustainable Golf Course Design educational programme, which was created with GEO, this renewed sustainability standard represents another meaningful point of connection with GEO for our members.”  

The document and further explanation can be viewed here along with information on the OnCourse Developments programme, which provides practical support to assist all types of golf developments and the GEO Certified Developments mark, which provides credible recognition to new projects.

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Change in approach to managing amenity spaces

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Change in approach to managing amenity spaces: Withdrawal from the European community, and the consequences of a pandemic, are already substantially impacting on all who manage amenity and sports spaces.

The pandemic has highlighted just how important these areas are to all and especially in the urban and sporting environment. BREXIT has heralded new requirements in trading, changes in resource sourcing and more. For those charged with maintaining areas, those involved operationally and indeed anyone with an interest in amenity, these are times when it can be difficult to keep up with policy announcements and new innovations and approaches.

Change in approach to managing amenity spaces

Change in approach to managing amenity spaces

All this means that the timing of the 2021 Amenity Forum conference, to be held on October 21st, could not be better and its title ‘Facing the Future’ very apt indeed. The conference will focus on policy change and its impact. The event will commence with keynote senior speakers from Defra, the Chemicals Regulation Department of HSE (CRD) and the Environment Agency. Defra will address change resulting from the recent review of the UK National Action Plan relating to weed, pest and disease management. The CRD speaker will address changes in pesticide regulation and enforcement approaches. The Environment Agency will look at the ever tightening of regulation relating to water and its quality. Each area is crucially important and reason in itself for conference attendance.

These will be followed by some eminent speakers involved operationally who will look at what more integrated approaches might mean including a specific contractor and a distributor view. There will then be a focus on the vitally important area of education and training. Policy change will bring more requirements for both training and CPD and increased innovation in how this can be delivered. The conference programme will conclude with some individual perspectives on the future for amenity and sports space management. This will include a focus on parks, on the environmental impact of various management approaches and what is involved in creating and maintaining surfaces at an international sporting venue.

To complement all of this will be an exhibition area where supporters will be on hand to showcase and describe what they do and new developments. There will be the announcement of the category winners for the Amenity Sprayer Operator of the Year and John Moverley will provide a presentation of his thoughts looking forward.

A day not to be missed and, given the support from organisations, very competitively priced at £95 per delegate. For further information, please contact Kate at admin@amenityforum.net

Some comments from participants at last year’s event were:

‘’I would just like to say a huge thank you for putting on a great conference, along with some excellent speakers in their various fields of expertise from across the sector. The whole conference was well organised, fast moving and held my attention throughout’’

‘’Congratulations on such a successful and well run event.  As usual the standard of presenters and presentations was incredibly high, although we’ve come to expect that. .  It was an incredibly worthwhile day, very enjoyable and I learnt new things’’

‘’Just to let you know that I thought the conference yesterday was really excellent – the content and speakers were very good and their topics were very relevant.  Very well managed making great use of the time, an event not to be missed’’

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