Tag Archive for: New

New G860’s At Wolves

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New G860’s At Wolves: A fresh strategy devised by the owners of Wolverhampton Wanderers has led to the football club purchasing three new Dennis G860 cylinder mowers.

It’s an exciting time for the West Midlands based club; when the new owners took control last year part of their strategy was to place a big emphasis on the style of football they wanted Wolves to play. As a result they were committed to investing in the surface at Molineux Stadium.

New G860's At Wolves

A state-of-the-art Desso Grassmaster hybrid pitch, which is used by top clubs across Europe, was installed shortly after the new owners’ arrival. Secondly, it was time to look at upgrading the turf maintenance machinery.

“When the option came to invest in new machinery, we jumped at the chance of going back to Dennis,” says Anthony Parker, deputy head groundsman. “Certainly for me, I’ve come from a private school background where I have been brought up on Dennis machines. We also used to use the Dennis Premier here on our old fibre elastic pitch. However, the Desso Grassmaster is renowned for being a bit firmer so we decided to go for the Dennis G860 when the new pitch was installed.”

Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls for – throttle, parking brake, roller drive and cutting cylinder drive. The mower also features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion.

The Dennis G860 also features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks. With a simple one-minute changeover, users have the option of fitting thirteen different types of cassettes including scarifiers, verticutters, brushes, spikers, and slitters as well as six, eight or eleven bladed cutting cylinders.

“We purchased three G860’s with the full range of cassettes which gives us so much versatility,” says Anthony. “We use them on a daily basis. The verticutting unit is used quite regularly to clean out the surface and we really see the benefits from this. The brushes are a great option too and we use the machines at both the stadium and the training ground.

“With three mowers we now double cut on match days and the G860’s are perfect for presentation and getting a quality finish every time. They create the ideal pitch suitable for how the owners want the team to play.

“Dennis mowers are simply renowned for being a quality piece of kit and the equipment speaks for itself. They are really user friendly and since we’ve had them all of the team have been really impressed.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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New Turf Rewards

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New Turf Rewards: ICL and Syngenta have confirmed some exciting developments and an increased selection of rewards for the Turf Rewards loyalty scheme in 2018. 

Turf Rewards provides the opportunity for customers to earn points from purchases that can then be exchanged against a fantastic selection of agronomic or turf related items and learning opportunities.

New Turf Rewards

Turf managers across the UK and Ireland have been benefiting from the scheme since its creation five years ago and it continues to grow significantly year on year.

2018 sees the addition of some exciting new rewards added to the extensive range of items already on offer. The scheme can provide a great way to enhance education, improve operations and boost team morale. It can also help budgets go that much further.

New rewards for 2018 include:

  • Beepol Hive and Villa
  • 3M Peltor WS Protac XP Headset
  • iPad Pro 12.9” 64BG
  • MacBook Air 13.3” 128GB
  • £150 Machine Mart voucher

An updated and improved Turf Rewards website is now live, the site has a similar feel to the previous version but has some impressive new features such as product trackers and promotion trackers, designed to help end users maximise the number of Turf Rewards points that can be collected. Extra points for promotions will now be automatically be added to user’s points totals.

ICL and Syngenta have also announced that a new Turf Rewards App will be available to download shortly from both the App Store and Google Play.

The all new app will feature the same tracking bars as the website. To improve efficiency and speed up the claim process Turf Rewards users can now upload their invoices as proof of purchase (blanking out any information not relevant to the claim, including prices and other products not relevant to Turf Rewards). The app will make the verification process very easy and the current points total will be available at a touch of a button.

If you would to find out more about Turf Rewards visit www.turfrewards.com or contact the Turf Rewards team directly by emailing info@turfrewards.com

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New Pitch A Hit At Castle Park

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New Pitch A Hit At Castle Park: Several hundred thousand pounds was spent by Doncaster Knights on a brand new main pitch at Castle Park over the summer and it’s proving to be money well spent.

“We are into February now and the pitch is still looking good in the areas where you traditionally get some wear and tear despite Doncaster Phoenix also playing on it,” said head groundsman Lee Blagden.

“Whereas with a traditional grass pitch the grass roots are just below the surface the roots on our pitch go into a synthetic matrix mat and that makes them much stronger and less prone to damage.

“Everyone loves playing on a well-grassed pitch at the start of the season and what the new pitch – which is 100 per cent natural grass – is designed to give you is a similar surface throughout the season even though you do lose some of the grass.

“Due to the fact that we open the pitch up with a machine called a procore, which goes down five inches, it helps to avoid compacting the soil and softens the blow when players are tackled and hit the ground hard.

“The work we do also helps players’ boots dig in a bit more and gives them a better footing. With the pitch also being level and having no ruts it should help reduce ankle and knee injuries.

“We’ve been lucky with the weather so far this winter. We’ve had the rain but because of the new drainage system, which is absolutely fantastic, the rain drains away very quickly and we’ve had no puddles or soft areas.”

This week’s weather, as was the case in late December, has posed different problems.

“Because it is 100 per cent grass you have exactly the same situation as with a traditional pitch if you’ve got frost,” said Lee.

“As we’ve done in recent years we cover the pitch with covers, which we’ve done this week, if frost is forecast.

“The covers we use will generally protect against frost down to around minus 5.

“We also use them if snow is forecast.”

Although the end of the season is almost three months away, Lee and his team don’t intend to let the grass grow under their feet whilst doing just that.

“We are looking at doing an over-seed later this month at a time when the team haven’t got a home game which will probably take about two weeks to come through,” he said.

“We use a dimple seeder and that opens the ground up and lets you put a couple of seeds in and then it covers it to keep the birds away.

“We’ve already started to see some growth when we had a few warmer days towards the back end of last month.

“If I come across any areas showing wear during the winter months, and the weather is warm enough, then because of the new sprinkler system we’ve installed under the pitch we can put some new seed on the surface and it will germinate and grow.”

Although Lee and his staff are delighted with the way the pitch is looking, he says there is more work involved than with a traditional pitch.

“I would say there is double the work,” he claimed. “For a start you’ve got to make sure that the pitch is clean both after training and after matches.

“We’ve some mowers which are like a basic home mower and we go up and down and clear all the debris (old grass, mud) off the pitch so all the root base and leaf is all clean

“With it being a sand-based pitch you’ve got to try and keep your sand and plant clean.”

Lee and his staff are also charged with the upkeep of the five other pitches on the Castle Park site used by the junior section and the various senior teams below Championship and Midlands Premier level.

Knights also train on the outside pitches during the week in addition to two 40-minute sessions on the main pitch (weather permitting) and the weekly captain’s run on a Friday.

Doncaster RLFC have also used the facilities, though not the first team pitch, during the last couple of months for pre-season training

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New Environmental Commitment

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New Environmental Commitment: Ekerum Resort Öland was recently awarded the “World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility” at the World Golf Awards which took place at La Manga Club in Spain. The Golf Club which is situated in Sweeden has signed a five-year preferred supplier agreement with Jacobsen in which both parties have pledged to measure and publish environmental performance.

Jacobsen has ensured that Ekerum Resort Öland is supplied with the best environmentally performing machinery, which includes an Eclipse 322 diesel hybrid greens mower, a Truckster XD with SprayTek, an HR700 wide area rotary mower, an AR722 rough mower, 10 Cushman Haulers and 25 E-Z-GO ELiTE TXT golf cars.

New Environmental Commitment

 Jacobsen has an ongoing commitment to ISO Standard 14001 which gives clear objectives for improving environmental performance and actively championing environmentally sound practices. Jacobsen and Ekerum Resort Öland have worked together to set a specific set of environmental targets. The targets agreed to by both businesses are:

  • Reduce waste removed from sites by 2% per year (10% over a 5-year period)
  • Increase waste recycling by 2% per year (10% over 5-year period)
  • Reduce energy use (total KW/h/ hours worked) by 2% on 2016 usage (10% over 5-year period)

Commenting on the partnership, Director International Golf Sales Andre Andrade, said:

“Firstly, I would like to congratulate Ekerum on winning the accolade of the World’s Best Eco-friendly Golf Facility. At Jacobsen, we are leaving no stone unturned as we strive to better both our production and the environmental performance of our machinery. As custodians of a fantastic facility in Öland, I am incredibly pleased that the team at Ekerum share the same environmental values and together, we are setting industry standards and pushing boundaries.”

Magnus Lagerlöf, CEO at Ekerum Resort Öland, commented on the new machinery and the partnership with Jacobsen:

“As our recent award suggests, we are committed to environmental sustainability, and a huge part of this is the machinery we use on the golf course. The E-Z-GO ELiTE golf car range is a huge technological advancement in the industry. The new cars have a 25% reduction in weight and reductions in energy consumption in the region of 30%. These are big savings which positively impact both the environment and our finances! We are very excited to be working with Jacobsen, and Textron more broadly, to keep improving our practices and the golfing experience for our customers.”

In addition to winning “World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility,” Ekerum Resort Öland also won “Sweden’s Best Golf Hotel” and was nominated in the category of “Europe’s Best Golf Venue” and “Sweden’s Best Golf Course” at this year’s World Golf Awards.

Find out more about Ekerum Resort Öland: http://ekerum.com/

Find out more about E-Z-GO ELiTE: https://www.ezgo.com/elite

 Find out more about Jacobsen: www.jacobsen.com

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IOG Pilots New Framework

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IOG Pilots New Framework: The leading membership organisation for people involved in the management and maintenance of sports pitches, landscape and amenity facilities in the UK, The IOG, is piloting a new framework to the ‘measurement’ of the standard of football pitches at grassroots level.

The new Pitch Grading Framework will not only highlight the level of an individual playing surface quality but also the appropriate training and education, and the recommended levels of qualifications needed by those who maintain it.

IOG Pilots New Framework

In terms of calculating the standard of a pitch, each level of the Framework has certain parameters and, after measurement, the overall result/level of a pitch will be calculated. It is a system that has been used successfully within cricket by the IOG and the England and Wales Cricket Board for over ten years.

The recommended appropriate training and education will match each level of the Framework. For instance, for pitch maintenance at the Basic level (volunteer), an IOG Level 1 course (or equivalent) would be the minimum training recommended. Training/education would increase through the levels with IOG Level 5 (or equivalent) being recommended for individuals maintaining pitches at the Elite level. At all levels, the experience of those in situ will be taken into account and catered for individually.

Working closely with the Football Foundation and Football Association Pitch Improvement Programme, regional pitch advisers from the IOG-led Grounds and Natural Turf Improvement Programme (GaNTIP) are now piloting the Framework to identify any potential improvements before the scheme’s full implementation in November, when it is envisaged that each grass sport will have its own specific pyramid.

A range of highly-experienced people have been consulted leading up to the pilot, including Sport England’s Framework Agronomists as well as leading professionals, volunteers and organisations attached to the groundscare industry.

Commenting on the development, GaNTIP director Jason Booth, said: “This really is an exciting time for the future of groundsmanship and to be part of it at the beginning is great for GaNTIP and the programme’s team.

“The system is not designed to identify what is missing; it is to identify where support and development is required, and the initial feedback from the National Governing Bodies of Sport which have viewed the concept has been nothing but positive.”

Geoff Webb, IOG chief executive, added: “The roll out of this revised framework for natural turf will bring much needed clarity to what constitutes a surface that’s fit for play, and it will lead to advanced knowledge and understanding of what input and experience is required to improve the quality of a playing surface and the enjoyment of sports in general.”

For more information, visit: www.iog.org

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