Tag Archive for: Maintenance

COVID-19 advice for course maintenance

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COVID-19 advice for course maintenance: What is classed as ‘essential maintenance’ during the Covid-19 outbreak? The R&A and BIGGA have had their say.

How much maintenance does a golf course really need during the coronavirus pandemic?

After the Government put new curbs on personal movement as the outbreak intensified, greenkeeping teams were advised by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport they could still attend work for “security and essential maintenance purposes”.

That led the body that represents greenkeepers, the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association, to urgently seek clarification on what ‘essential’ actually meant. Now the R&A, in conjunction with BIGGA, have given their view. Here is the statement in full…

Essential Maintenance Statement for Golf Courses during COVID-19 Outbreak

The following industry statement sets out a reduced, essential maintenance regime for greenkeeping that protects workers, jobs and secures golfing facilities for the physical and mental wellbeing of millions of golfers who will resume play when social distancing rules are ended. The UK’s £2bn GVA golf industry is only sustainable if greenkeepers continue to work, safely and securely.

Our industry statement outlines those treatments considered essential for the safe maintenance a golf course during the current government restrictions. It is accepted that golf courses exist in many different forms, on many different soil types and in differing landscapes and that this guidance may require adaptation.

Working practices

The primary consideration must be the health and wellbeing of greenkeeping staff. All golf facilities should implement stringent measures to ensure staff members are not at risk. The amount of time that greenkeeping staff are at work should be kept to a minimum and be tailored to fit with the agreed essential maintenance programme.

Measures should include but are not limited to:

  • Focus on hygiene and social distancing
  • Ensure staff members work separately
  • Allocate individual machinery to one worker only
  • If multiple staff on site, then stagger working hours and break times
  • Limit or prohibit use of communal areas
  • Regularly disinfect any surface that is contacted e.g. door handles, fuel pumps, communal machinery
  • Ensure there is a robust lone working policy

Mowing

Greens should be mown according to the rate of growth to a maximum of three times per week. Dew removal should be considered on non-mowing days as required to prevent disease spread.

Tees and green surrounds should be mown according to the rate of growth to a maximum of once per week.

Fairways should be mown according to the rate of growth to a maximum of once per week.

Managed roughs and grass paths should be mown according to need to a maximum of once every two weeks (fortnightly). Only roughs considered to be in direct play should be mown allowing for naturalisation to areas largely out of play.

The height of cut adopted for all these areas is site specific but the elevation of the cutting height on fine turf areas is advised to minimise unnecessary stress on the turf. The aim of the above operations is to maintain uniformity, density, texture and health to allow surfaces to be quickly brought back to an appropriate playing standard once play resumes.

Irrigation and Nutrition

Irrigation and nutrition should be carried out as necessary but with the objectives of keeping the turf alive, maintaining a full sward and preventing turf thinning. Avoid excesses of either input which will only serve to promote unnecessary growth and necessitate more maintenance.

Machinery and Equipment Maintenance

This should be carried out as required to ensure that essential equipment is kept safe and operational.

Operations such as maintaining bunkers, penalty areas, wider practice facilities (other than greens and tees), aeration, top dressing and spraying are not considered essential at this time. However, it is conceivable that occasional spraying to control an acute pest, weed or disease problem may be considered essential at times and in some circumstances.

Updates

Given the fluidity of the current situation there may be a requirement to update and re-issue this guidance in respect of future government advice.

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ECB – Coronavirus and Grounds Maintenance

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ECB – Coronavirus and Grounds Maintenance: For the avoidance of doubt, due to the developing nature of the outbreak, all grounds teams must ensure that they are monitoring relevant Government and Public Health England (PHE) sites which may change and therefore have an impact on the contents of this document which is correct as of the morning of 25 March 2020.

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance

Should you decide that essential members of your grounds staff should continue to look after your facilities during this period of social isolation and are able to do so whilst keeping to the Government’s guidance, please be aware of several things that you should consider doing to minimise the impact of the virus on your teams and your business.

Things to think about with regards to your grounds:

  1. 1Public gatherings and use of facilities are suspended.
  2. Await ECB announcements regarding any regular cricket participation and return to business as usual activities.
  3. Avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.
  4. Most of what you do naturally means that you are physically distanced from one another anyway, however, you will need to be particularly mindful of those points where you are not.
  5. If you are a manager of others then do consider how to maintain effective communication.
  6. Do your own risk assessment. (For businesses with five or more employees, you are required to formally document risk assessments). When you have decided on the measures you are to take then record it, communicate it and stick to it. It is very important to consider your own working habits and setting and to assess where the risk of transmission is.
  7. Ensure that all surfaces and equipment are cleaned thoroughly as per government advice. Surface transmission is recognised now as the major source of spread and which can occur after prolonged periods.
  8. Do ensure that the right type of products are available for hand care.
  9. Some people may have drastically increased their hand washing habits and may be at risk from dermatitis. Barrier creams and skin moisturisers should be available as well as hand cleansers anyway but check and make sure people know how to use them properly. Hands are the main cause of the spread of the virus.
  10. Do consider splitting your people into distinct groups of essential workers who never come into contact with each other, ideally not more than two people at a time. This would include staggered shifts/days worked, break times or even separate rest areas. This way, if one member of the team catches the virus and those around them need to self-isolate, the other team pairs will be able to operate.
  11. Do maintain a minimum distance of two metres from each other, including at break times. If the weather is suitable then take the opportunity to take breaks outside. Do ensure that there is enough shade available to sit out of the sun if they wish to and that they can do so whilst maintaining their distance.
  12. Do not continue with tasks that require larger team efforts, such as pulling large flat sheet covers. Either use smaller covers or stop using them at all if it cannot be done safely with divided resources.
  13. Avoid using communal areas including clubhouses, toilets and kitchens unless absolutely necessary. If these are necessary, enforce heightened general hygiene measures in rest areas and communal areas. Establish regular (after each use) cleaning for all work surfaces, kettles, microwaves and sink areas etc. using disinfectant sprays.
  14. Cleaning cloths should only be used once before being properly washed in a hot cycle washing machine. Alternatively, use disposable wipes or blue-roll type products instead.
  15. Do not communally use mugs, plates, bowls etc and do make sure that each person has their own items with their name on or wash items in a dishwasher at a high temperature.
  16. Where essential to use changing facilities, you should bring your own towels and showering/changing items.
  17. Do establish a culture of cleaning machines thoroughly immediately after use, i.e. wash the machine down and disinfect the handles, grass boxes etc. Products such as kennel disinfectants are sold in bulk and are a cheap and effective way of doing this (and many of them smell nice!)
  18. Do make sure that you have suitable sprayers with which to apply the products and wipe down with blue roll or similar.
  19. Continue with normal best practice operations such as:
    a) Mowing would ideally take place regularly. A good rule of thumb to allow mowing operations to be kept to a minimum would be not removing more that 1/3rd of the leaf in any one operation.
    b) Mowing heights can be raised by around 1/3rd of normal summer heights without ill effects but turf would ideally be maintained at no more than 25mm/1inch or else turf density would be reduced.
    c) Growth regulators may be used to reduce the speed of grass growth, and hence reduce the frequency of cutting, but only where a suitably qualified person is available to apply them.
    d) Watering the turf would ideally continue, as needed, to prevent wilting or surface cracking.
    e) Fertilisation will still be necessary, if possible, in order to maintain the sort of relatively dense and resilient turf needed for cricket. Inputs of nitrogen could be reduced by somewhere in the region of one third to half of normal rates in order to control excess top growth and limit the likelihood of disease where monitoring of the surfaces is less frequent.
    f) Verticutting of squares and aeration of outfields is important, but only if you are able to do so whilst keeping within the Government’s guidance and adhering to the spirit of what we are being asked to do as a society.
    g) Removing the tops from domed covers and storing any flat sheets will protect them whilst not in use.
  20. Consider what will happen should we all be asked to stay at home.
  21. Individuals must not be at work if:
    a) they exhibit any potential symptoms; and/or
    b) they have been in contact with anybody exhibiting potential symptoms of coronavirus within the past 14 days.​

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
NHS COVID-19 Advice

An assumption throughout this document is that any ground staff member required at any work does not meet the current government guidance for self- isolation (as of 23 March 2020), per the PHE link included above.

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Win at winter maintenance

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Win at winter maintenance: With the winter season upon us, it’s important to keep golf course machinery up to scratch and capable of dealing with the challenges colder weather brings.

With Royal Norwich Golf Club’s new course in its first winter, estates manager Peter Todd, with 30 years of experience in the industry, explains why winter maintenance is so important.

Win at winter maintenance

“Golf is now very much a sport which is played 365 days a year,” he says. “It used to be that winter would signal a break in the level of activity, but more and more golfers want to enjoy golfing throughout the year and make the most of their membership. And their expectations of the course don’t change just because the weather has.

“In order to keep standards high, you have to keep your machinery in top notch condition and paying attention to parts maintenance is your first point of call in order to do that.”

It’s well known that the winter season provides many challenges for greenkeepers. For one, cutting turf in wet conditions makes it more difficult to get a perfect finish. So, sharpening cutting unit blades in winter is essential, says Peter.

“With wet grass and the increase in earthworm castings in the autumn and winter, it becomes more difficult to keep blades sharp,” he says. “Although you need to make sure your blades are sharp throughout the year to keep quality consistent, the winter season brings that more into focus. Plus, not cutting cleanly will increase the risk and spread of disease in your turf – so that’s an added reason to ensure the proper maintenance of your machinery parts in the winter.”

With a blade for all seasons, choosing Toro guarantees not only a perfect fit but one carefully crafted to suit specific turf needs. For example, the ‘Atomic’ blades are what’s best later in winter, perfect for mulching up leaves or for use with a recycling deck to mulch the grass.

The cold weather can also have an effect on machinery starting systems, says Peter. “Engines will take longer to start up in the cold and checking batteries and electrics, changing the oil and cleaning blocked air filters will save you time in the long run. Switching to new tyres to ensure you have improved grip in the face of unforgiving ground conditions as well as keeping a stock of replacement parts will ensure productivity remains high.”

However, just as preparing the turf for winter is a year-round endeavour similarly so is machinery maintenance says Peter. “There is a tendency to push the majority of machinery maintenance into the off season when there are fewer jobs to do around the course and cutting frequency has decreased, and while it does provide the time to do the machine’s ‘MOT’ if you like and a full service and deep clean, you’ll never regret paying attention to your machinery and parts maintenance throughout the year.”

Peter concludes: “Keeping on top of general maintenance ensures your machines are in the best possible condition. It can be tempting to cut corners when it comes to preventative service work, but breakdowns and downtime are more expensive and well-maintained kit tends to be trouble-free. In an ideal world maintenance should always be done as per the machinery manufacturer’s instructions in order to keep standards high.”

To stock up on Toro Parts or for winter machinery maintenance advice, customers can get in touch with their local genuine Toro parts dealer or service centre or contact Reesink via reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Turf Maintenance Live a success

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Turf Maintenance Live a success: Although the second day was plagued with heavy rain, this did not deter visitors to Turf Maintenance Live, held at St Albans School’s Woollam Playing Fields, on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 October.

Over 130 delegates visited the event to see an eclectic mix of equipment that the 10 manufacturers and distributors had assembled at the superb venue, immaculately prepared by head groundman Ian Smith and his team.

Turf Maintenance Live a success

Visitors were able to visit each of the exhibitors – Agria UK, Ernest Doe & Sons, GKB Machines, Husqvarna UK, Iseki UK, Martin Lishman, Price Turfcare (Ventrac), Rigby Taylor, Wessex International and Wiedenmann UK – to see their equipment offering and in some cases ride and drive the machines on display.

“Considering the weather on the second day we were pleased,” said Val Graham from the TML team. “Some attendees came from as far away as south Wales, which proves the value of the event. With minimal opportunity to demo equipment at other industry events, this was a great occasion for our groundscare colleagues to see a wide range of equipment and, for some, the opportunity to ride and drive the machines.

“We are indebted to St Albans School, and Ian Smith in particular, for allowing us the use of their superb facilities, which were in pristine condition and looked fantastic.”

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Turf Maintenance Live Registration Deadline

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Turf Maintenance Live Registration Deadline Approaching: Over 130 delegates have already registered for Turf Maintenance Live, the annual showcase of turf maintenance equipment from leading manufacturers and distributors, which is being held at the Woollam Playing Fields, Harpenden Rd in St. Albans on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 October.

Delegates who have already registered and are headed for St Albans represent an eclectic mix from across our industry including prestigious football clubs and stadia, tennis, horse racing, rugby and golf plus landscape contractors and local authorities.

Turf Maintenance Live Registration Deadline Approaching

Entrance to the event, now in its fifth year, is free but pre-registration is essential with BIGGA and IOG members able claim CPD points for their attendance. There’s still time to sign-up, but with registration closing on Monday 21st October, you need to hurry to secure your place.

If you’re interested in attending the event and seeing the latest innovations and equipment in action, register by completing a registration form online at: https://www.turfmaintenancelive.com/ or email register@turfmaintenancelive.com.

ISEKI have supported Turf Maintenance Live since its conception and commenting on the event David Withers said, “Turf Maintenance Live is an excellent opportunity for many groundscare manufacturers to showcase their machinery, allowing visitors the opportunity to see a wide range of products being demonstrated all in one place.  ISEKI will have large selection of machinery available for visitors to ride and drive.  From the top spec TG tractors suitable for all aeration and groundscare needs, to the compact TM range ideal for sports pitches where a lightweight footprint is required but lift capacity and power cannot be compromised.

Turf Maintenance Live Registration Deadline Approaching

“Alongside the tractors will be the highly renowned ISEKI mowers, designed to leave a professional finish whether cut and collected or mulched.  ISEKI machines cannot be beaten on quality and reliability.  So why not see for yourself at the Turf Maintenance Live event, we look forward to seeing you there.”

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