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Fertilisers Enhance Pitches In Russia

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Fertilisers Enhance Pitches In Russia: A specialist range of phased-release granular fertilisers is being used at all 12 of the Russian stadiums hosting the current FIFA World Cup.  Designed specifically for use on all sports pitches where a consistent and long-acting supply of nutrients is required, the Floranid®TWIN range of fertilisers from COMPO EXPERT provides up to 16-weeks of nutrients from a single application.

Due to the high demands placed on a World Cup stadium pitch, and the hot, dry conditions which are symptomatic of a typical summer in Russia, most of the 12 stadia hosting the tournament are using hybrid turf pitches which contain a combination of artificial fibres and natural grasses to achieve improved root zone and sward stability, a consistently even surface and optimal functionality.

Fertilizers Enhance Pitches In Russia

Pitches of this type, and indeed any hard-working sports turf facility, require specialist nutritional products to keep the natural turf in prime condition, not just during the tournament itself, but in the run-up to the opening match and after the final game has been played on 15th July.  All 12 of the World Cup stadia are therefore using specialist FloranidTWIN phased-release fertilisers from COMPO EXPERT.

These fertilisers are specifically designed to provide a consistent and efficient source of nutrients to enable the pitches to perform well under difficult weather conditions.

“Floranid fertilisers have been used by the majority of Germany’s Bundesliga pitches for several years, where they are chosen for their ability to give a phased release of nutrients over a 16-week period,” explains Richard Brown of Germinal – COMPO EXPERT’s UK distributor.

Floranid fertilisers contain a proportion of fast-acting nitrogen in ammonium and nitrate forms, as well as a phased-release element based on the advanced isobutylidene diurea (IBDU) or ‘Isodur®’ molecule.  They also contain a second phased-release element in the form of crotonylidene urea or ‘Crotodur®’.

The inclusion of Crotodur raises the Activity Index of FloranidTWIN fertilisers from approximately 95% to over 98%.

“By comparison, the slow release fraction in conventional methylene urea (MU) fertilisers only contains around 40-60% of ‘true’ slow release N at best, whilst many contain less than half.  Put simply, that means the remaining nitrogen is either quick release, and therefore no more value than standard fertiliser, or so insoluble that it may take years to be released,” Mr Brown continues.

“In contrast, Isodur and Crotodur fertilisers have an efficiency rating of 98-99%, meaning that almost all of the N supplied will be slowly and steadily released into a form which can be taken up by the pitches over a period of around 16 weeks.”

In addition to supplying fertiliser to each of the 12 World Cup stadia, COMPO EXPERT has also invested a great deal of time and resource into ensuring that each pitch performs and looks as good as possible in the run up to and during the tournament.  “COMPO EXPERT has been working with the groundsmen at each stadium since 2016 to provide detailed sward nutrient advice via a programme of seminars,” Richard Brown adds.  “As anyone who has been watching the tournament will know, the pitches have performed perfectly as well as looking incredible, and are a credit to the hardworking groundstaff who have produced excellent playing surfaces for the world’s largest sporting event.”

The FloranidTWIN range of fertilisers is available in the UK via an exclusive distribution agreement with Germinal.  For more information visit www.germinalamenity.com

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Terra Float Air Delights in Lancashire

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Terra Float Air Delights in Lancashire: In a previous life Stuart Hogg, Course Manager at The West Lancashire GC was among the first to own the Wiedenmann Terra Float & Terra Seed. Last year, more by coincidence than by design, he found himself back in the market for an overseeder just as the Terra Float Air was re-engineered and relaunched with an added computerised pneumatic unit.

“We bought one of the original launch Terra Float and Terra Seed combinations in autumn 2010 when I was Course Manager at St Anne’s Old Links, on the Fylde coast. They served extremely well. When I moved to The West Lancashire in April 2015, I inherited a more traditional type seeder. For the first couple of seasons we made do then we hired in equipment. Last winter a funding package allowed us to invest in a new machine. Darren Barker at dealers, Balmers GM, showed me some others but I liked that the three Wiedenmann drums are floating so cope well with undulations of a links green.  I knew I liked it before and the Air version was better again,” he said.

Terra Float Air Delights in Lancashire

Offering maximum accuracy at quantities as little as 1 g / m² the Terra Float Air, combines three units in one. A base unit aerates or loosens soil to 30 mm using either spikes or fine slits assuring a receptive seed bed either pre or post top dressing. Next the distribution of the seed is absolutely uniform via the air flow and deflector system.  Finally, a brush and roller combination incorporates top dressing materials to the ground before smoothing the surface.  With its very fine seed rollers exact calibration is achievable. Those with expensive or ‘rare seed’ can be confident of success while memory function on the control pad stores input and calibration data for the next use.

The West Lancashire GC is a proud host of R&A and England Golf competitions as well as featuring in the Top 100 Golf Courses in Great Britain.  It is one of England’s ten oldest clubs and will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2023. The role earmarked for the Wiedenmann Terra Float Air has been well considered to help deliver incremental improvements to the quality of the course and take advantage of the machine’s versatility and potential.

“This purchase is not just about one area or one type of grass or indeed just limited to seeding,” said Stuart Hogg.  “We want to be able to do tees, greens, fairways and walkways with different grass species.  The fact that the seed delivery hoses are kept dry and clean with the airflow is a big plus. If we want we can brush the greens without overseeding or we can sarrel roll the greens. There is much that can be done. But for now we’re going with little and often; playing the long game. It will take a period of time before we see a change of any botanical composition in the grass but that’s where we want to be in seasons to come.

“So far the Air has had one outing around the pathways with dwarf rye fescue mix, a couple of passes on the tees and three passes on the greens both with a pure fescue mix but we’re on a break until after The R&A’s Open qualifying and the club championships.  During August, September and possibly October, weather dependant, I expect it to be constantly overseeding the greens every two to three weeks to let germination happen ahead of winter.”

Terra Float Air Delights in Lancashire

Where the Air comes into its own is its high performance air stream which effortlessly directs precise amounts of the seed to the prepared perforated holes A series of steel deflector plates ensures uniform depositing of the seeds from a short distance while lifting the unit automatically triggers a shut off.

“The in-cab control saves time and effort.  Our team really likes this. If one of the greens, or a specific area is a bit weaker there’s no requirement to get out and recalibrate the machine.  It’s a couple of presses of a button and the machine does it for you, storing the data for next time. You are far more in control of which green gets what and such versatility on a golf course makes the job a little bit easier,” concluded Stuart Hogg.

Stuart Hogg is one of a rare breed of course managers having spent his entire career on links courses.  He took up his Course Manager post at The West Lancashire GC after 11 years at St Anne’s Old Links and before that spells at two other links courses, Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC on the Black Isle and West Kilbride GC at Seamill in Ayrshire. At The West Lancashire he is supported by a team of seven full time plus three seasonal staff.

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Foley ‘Up The Game’ In Russia

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Foley ‘Up The Game’ In Russia: Twenty Neary grinders are upping the game at training centres and stadiums across Russia for the 2018 World Cup.

In March 2018, well before the latest festival of football kicked off at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Foley United’s / Neary European sales representative, Arjen Spek, delivered a grinding workshop at a Turf Professional event in Moscow, organised by the Russian Neary distributor Unisaw, with 130 attendees getting hands on experience with the Neary machines while learning the benefits of grinding to OEM specifications.

Foley 'Up The Game' In Russia

Arjen Spek was delighted with the interest shown and the subsequent installation of twenty Neary Grinders across the World Cup venues in Russia,says “Neary distributor for Russia; Unisaw, organised this event very well in March and all the groundsmen from the stadiums and training grounds attended, with the main goal to educate / train and the Neary seminar “quality of cut and after cut appearance” was a high topic during this event.

“The already highly qualified groundsmen went home with the correct knowledge of how to maintain a cutting unit according OEM specification.”

32 teams will compete in 64 games at the World Cup with hundreds of training sessions taking place in-between. The heavy usage of the pitches at the stadia and training centres over the four-week tournament makes a first-class cut imperative and the quick high-quality grind offered by the Foley United brand of machines stands to be the reason a majority of venues opted for Neary.

Tests carried out by leading manufacturers have established that relief ground cylinders stay on cut up to three times longer than spun ground ones and require less horsepower to drive the unit, resulting in greater fuel efficiency and less stress on the hydraulic power systems. In addition, a relief ground cylinder will with stand the abrasive effects of topdressing far better than one spun ground because the relief edge on both the bed-knife and the cylinder allows the topdressing to clear the cutting blades easily, helping to prevent the dulling effect seen on spun only units.

Foley 'Up The Game' In Russia

Continual relief grinding also decreases the squeezing and tearing of the grass as the units get dull and, most importantly, it allows the cylinder to be returned to a factory specification perfect cylinder as quickly as possible.

The overall cleaner cut achieved by relief grinding gives a better after-cut appearance, increased recovery rate due to the clean cut of the grass and reduces the stress on components because less horsepower is needed to drive the cylinder.

Foley United and Arjen Spek are proud to play a part in the preparation of pitches for the world’s biggest tournament.

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MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

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MM The Solution In Hertfordshire: In order to satisfy the members needs at Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club, course manager James Bonfield is using a range of Limagrain UK’s MM grass seed mixtures in order to produce the best possible playing surfaces.

Designed by Jack Niklaus II, the 6,266 yard course winds through ancient parkland, blending beautiful contours with trees and water to present an enticing challenge to golfers of all abilities. The club is under the Crown Golf umbrella, which boasts 23 prestigious venues around the UK.

MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

James has been in his current role as course manager for eight years and claims that he has assembled the best team he has ever seen in all his years of greenkeeping. The team all play regularly on the stunning course in Hertfordshire, which James believes is essential as they need to understand the course from a player’s perspective: “As a team, we are all very passionate about this place and are always striving to make improvements where we can,” he says.

So, when James was not achieving his desired results from a previous grass seed he used, he decided to look for an alternative, as he explains.

“I had been using a different seed for a couple of years and it hadn’t really worked out, so I met Richard Sheppard (amenity seed specialist for Limagrain UK) at BTME in Harrogate and we arranged an appointment for him to come in and see me.

“We walked around the 18 holes and looked at what I needed from a seed on various parts of the course. In particular we focussed on the fairways because at that time they were suffering after a season of very little rain and a lot of play. Richard suggested MM22 and MM25 – which was dependant on the position of the fairway as well as other factors such as acidity levels.”

Limagrain’s MM25 is an ideal mixture for the construction and renovation of sports pitches, whereas MM22 is great for divotting, repairing, overseeding and construction of tees, fairways and outfield areas that are subjected to high levels of wear. The course in Hertfordshire is divided by a road, of which, one half is old farmland so the soil is very rich and the other side being parkland tends to grow more efficiently. With both MM22 and MM25 at his disposal, James had the flexibility to apply the two mixtures where he felt most appropriate.

“The results have been most dramatic on the fairways because normally they don’t do very well in the summer,” he said. “We have limited irrigation which doesn’t allow me to water fairways as often as I would like and we have an evaporation rate of about 30mm at the height of the summer – which has always been an issue. This year, however, the fescues came through incredibly fast on the 17th, the 3rd and the 5th which was amazing. It’s provided me with really good results and they just look much healthier. They are better to present and the members have noticed a massive difference – they are really pleased.”

MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

James also relies on MM22 for his tees and uses a slightly higher application rate due to the complexity of them.

“We are trying to get as much seed as possible on the tees so we go as high as we can possibly go, maybe 20g per square metre depending on the location. For example, on our par 3’s we have seed coming through to replenish what is going out. Our tees here are tiny (under a hectare of tees) and part of the Niklaus design is that they are all round, so you lose a bit of teeing space there as well. It can be a hindrance because you are up against it when you are trying to keep things looking as best they can. You don’t want to stand on the tee and see divots everywhere. Therefore, we go quite high when overseeding with the MM22 and, again, we have seen great results.”

Where it is difficult to maintain fescue in the sward or where levels of wear are greater, many greenkeepers and course managers choose MM9 – a three way browntop bent mixture, which James applies to his greens shortly after renovations in late September in order to get more bents into the surface.

Completing his range of MM products, he applies the all ryegrass mixture MM50 to his walk off areas “just to give them a bit of love towards the end of the season.”

In reflecting on his use of the Limagrain products, James said: “From the MM seed mixtures 9, 22, 25 and 50 I have had the results that I wanted from each one of them – which is all I want. As a course manager you want to know that what you use is going to work because you don’t want to waste money. I want to make sure that I get value for money and good results and with the MM range I feel that I am.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm

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Rink Scores Perfect Ten In Russia

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Rink Scores Perfect Ten In Russia: With groundwork well underway for this years summer of football in Russia, over 80 pitches (including stadia and training facilities) are in the final stages of preparation. The 2018 tournament has seen a change to previous years in that each facility was made responsible for their own maintenance programmes.  This allowed the head groundsman at each facility, along with their sub-contractors, to choose what equipment they wanted to use to perfect their playing surfaces – when it came to Topdressers most turned to Redexim and their Rink 1010.

Head Groundsman Vitaly Belonenko at Kaliningrad Stadium has regularly been using the ultra-light and accurate Rink 1010.  The stadium, which was built specifically for the Russia 2018 World Cup, is based on the design and concept of the Allianz Arena in Munich and, amongst other matches, is due to stage a crucial group game between England and Belgium.

Rink Scores Perfect Ten In Russia

The Rink 1010 offers a spreading width of up to 1.5m, at a thickness of up to 10mm. the combination of its light weight build and floatation tyres mean ground pressure is minimised. Regular topdressings are taking place at the stadium to firm up the surface, including 10 tonnes spread the week before the inauguration of the stadium in April. It is being used in combination with a Redexim Verti-Drain 7215 aerator to work the sand down deeper into the soil profile.

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