Tag Archive for: North

‘Augusta of the North’ Vandalised

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‘Augusta of the North’ Vandalised: Boy racers have taken to a golf course in Angus and caused significant damage.

Letham Grange Golf Club was previously kept open against all odds and honorary secretary Bruce Currie said the damage to several fairways was a “real kick in the teeth”.

‘Augusta of the North’ Vandalised

Opened in 1987 by Sir Henry Cotton, Golf Monthly once bracketed Letham Grange in Angus alongside Augusta National, the home of the US Masters.

Mr Currie said: “The louts who carried out this most recent attack, whoever they are, clearly have no care for the time, money and commitment that our members have invested in maintaining this facility for the benefit of the local community and golf in Scotland, and should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.”

Throughout the long-running legal wrangle over the ownership of the once-thriving hotel at the centre of the estate, the Letham Grange Golf Club, which makes use of the disputed facilities, has battled on.

The 19th century mansion house was at the centre of a title dispute that went through all levels of the Scottish courts system to the House of Lords over the past 15 years.

Members turned up at the course to play at the weekend and were disgusted to discover the fairways of several holes had been vandalised.

Holes on both the championship-standard Old Course and the Glens Course had been damaged by a vehicle or vehicles being driven recklessly across them, churning up the turf and leaving deep scars.

“This mindless vandalism is deeply frustrating,” said Mr Currie.

“The club’s members and greenkeepers have worked tirelessly in challenging circumstances, successfully, to keep the two courses open since the hotel closed its doors in January 2011.

“Just in the past few days, members and greenkeepers combined in a huge effort to tackle the after effects of Storm Ali, clearing masses of fallen branches from the heavily tree-lined courses.

“Both were open for play within 24 hours of the storm passing.

“To have this man-made damage inflicted immediately afterwards is a real kick in the teeth.

“This is not the first time we have been targeted.

“Earlier this year there was a break-in and robbery at the clubhouse for which one of the perpetrators was recently sentenced to a jail term and we have previously experienced theft of equipment on several occasions.”

A 15-year legal wrangling over the resort’s ownership finally reached its conclusion earlier this year.

A settlement was reached between the liquidator of Letham Grange Development Company (LGDC) and Peter Liu who was the owner of LGDC from 1994-2002.

Since April 2011, the golf club has maintained and operated the courses under a Licence to Occupy.

The Licence to Occupy runs until February 28 next year.

The Old Course is a 6,632 yard par 73 championship layout that features memorable water hazards on the eighth and 10th holes.

The Glens Course opened in 1992 and is a challenging, 5,528 yards, par 68 course.

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EcoBunker’s North America Arrangements

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EcoBunker’s North America Arrangements: EcoBunker, a global market leader in synthetic bunker edge construction, is making a number of changes to its distribution arrangements in North America.

From June 2016 until this month, EcoBunker marketed in the US exclusively via Binghampton, NY-based IVI Golf, the supplier of the well-known Sandtrapper bunker liner, with the product renamed PermaEdge. That exclusive arrangement has now lapsed, with EcoBunker now selling direct into the US and Canadian markets, and, to give full coverage across North American, is appointing new distributor and agents. The first of these is a new agent, George Fry, formerly superintendent of Kiawah Island’s Ocean course, covering Georgia and the Carolinas. Another appointment, to cover Canada, is Jay Morgan, a specialist in erosion control products, based into Ontario.

EcoBunker's North America Arrangements

“Opportunities exist for individuals and organisations to represent EcoBunker across North American, and we will be delighted to hear from interested parties,” said Richard Allen, EcoBunker’s CEO. “We have learned that the size and complexity of the American market needs widespread representation, and so we plan to build a substantial distribution network.”

Allen continued: “We have always maintained a presence of our own in the US – some of our best projects, such as at the Medalist club in Hobe Sound, Florida, and Secession GC, in Beaufort, South Carolina, have been won and delivered that way. But, as our business grows, and our brand becomes known across the world, it is important for us to have better control over our operations in the world’s largest and most dynamic golf market. From now on, we will operate solely under the EcoBunker brand in all geographies.”

Between 150 and 200 courses globally have now installed the EcoBunker solution.

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Toro Best For North Foreland

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Toro Best For North Foreland: Ten new machines are scoring top marks for results on the ‘Long’ and ‘Short’ courses at North Foreland Golf Club, based in Broadstairs, Kent.

The purchase marks a change in strategy by course manager Simon Grand, who joined the club two years ago, and greens chairman Mark Strand as Simon explains: “The frontline machinery was suffering from under investment and the number of breakdowns we were having were coming at a significant cost.”

Toro Best For North Foreland

The order of two Reelmaster 3575-D, four Greensmaster TriFlex 3400, two GreensPro 1260, a Groundsmaster 4700-D and a Workman HDX-D is the first lease deal for North Foreland, and has brought big differences to the courses’ appearance and the club’s maintenance regime.

“This investment, which is spread over five years, has solved all our equipment issues,” says Simon. “It’s made us competitive and efficient, and the change in the presentation of the courses is undeniable – members noticed a difference within weeks.”

And that’s down to the quality of the machines, as Simon explains: “It’s been said many times before, but you really do notice the difference when it comes to Toro. The quality of cut and reliability it offers makes a big difference to the way we do our job; it’s so much easier now. We’ve also been impressed by the increased operator protection provided by the addition of the new Toro golf ball protection cages we have fitted to all the mowing machines, as well as the way using Toro is changing the way we manage the cutting of certain areas. For example, with the Reelmaster 3575-D we can close-cut the run-off areas around the links-style greens because the machines are so lightweight and benefit from ‘no tread’ balloon tyres.”

The deal comes as the club, which is one of only six designed by two of golf’s pre-eminent golf architects, Herbert Fowler and Tom Simpson, enters a period of restoration as Simon tells us: “We’re restoring the course to its original downland design, including the refurbishment of the bunkers. This will be aided greatly by all the Toro machines at some point, but especially the Workman HDX-D for transportation.”

Richard Wood, from Reesink, an official UK distributor of Toro, says this is a classic example of how easy it is to catch up on machinery replacement: “This deal marks North Foreland’s return to machinery leasing and is already making a significant difference. It’s provided a huge boost to the club, the course and the team.”

Simon agrees: “Investment reflects and demonstrates the value placed on the work we do. It’s been great to see the way the team has responded, and how much more enjoyable and less frustrating the work is.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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GKB North of the Border

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GKB North of the Border: When your heritage as a machinery manufacturer and dealer dates back to 1816 you expect nothing less than the best. The Groundcare Division of Thomas Sherriff, which began in 1986, is based in East Lothian and with a further six branches provides comprehensive sales, parts and service support for commercial, agricultural and consumer equipment. The company has now become an official GKB Machines dealer, taking delivery of the first three machines, a Combiseeder, Sandfilller and SP100 Sandspreader.

Sherriff’s had seen GKB products at a number of events and were impressed with the build quality but needed to see how they performed. “When we met GKB they came across as a forward-thinking company,” says Thomas Sherriff’s Groundcare Manager, Richard Scott, “and with a background in contracting and maintenance they have an exceptional insight into what groundsmen and greenkeepers need from products for maintaining sports turf and golf courses.” Thomas Sherriff arranged with GKB’s Operations Manager, Tom Shinkins, a series of product demonstrations for customers locally where the three machines were put through their paces.

GKB North of the Border

The GKB Combiseeder was developed to meet market demand for a fast, efficient way of seeding and surface aerating with virtually no surface disturbance. The Sandfiller provides a fast solution to drainage with economic and environmentally friendly intensive aeration and sand filling in a one-pass action. The SP100 Sandspreader is a top dresser that conveniently mounts onto a turf truck such as the ProGator, Truckster or Workman.

“Seeing these machines in action the results were obvious and the quality exceptional,” says Richard, “from the day Tom came and met us we have all got on well and he’s always there with support should we need it. We’re very pleased to be selling the product as GKB dealers.”

For more information, visit: www.gkbmachines.com

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TYM Expands Sales Team With Appointment For The North

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TYM Expands Sales Team With Appointment For The North: Reesink Turfcare has appointed John Addy to its TYM tractors team as northern regional sales manager.

This appointment is, says Steve Haynes, TYM sales manager, part of a strategy to accelerate growth of the TYM business in the UK. John has vast sales experience in the sector, having worked at dealer level for some time, not only in the groundscare market, but also working with construction equipment sales.

TYM Expands Sales Team With Appointment For The North

Steven says: “John has experience in all the key areas important for this role, he has a good understanding of the tractor market and a proven track record for sales having worked within the dealer network for some time. It’s this knowledge of working with dealers that makes John ideal for the role and our plans to grow the TYM dealer network and further strengthen and support the relationships that already exist.”

2017 has seen the TYM brand grow exponentially with the appointment of John, the introduction of a range of rear mounted tractor attachments including finishing mowers, flail mowers, wide area mowers and rotary tillers, and the new mid-duty T393.

Concluding the news from the brand is that Scott Turner, who had previously held the position of TYM product specialist takes responsibility for sales in the south.

Steven says: “Scott moves from his role of TYM product manager where he used to work with all dealers across the UK to now focusing on dealers in the south. This new structure focusses on the skills of two individuals who are tractor specialists. By splitting the sales area between the two guys we can now fully focus our efforts on the day to day tractor activity and developing our dealer network to further grow the TYM business in the UK.”

Steven concludes by saying: “Reesink Turfcare introduced the TYM brand to the UK five years ago and it’s been very well received by the market in that time. Brand development has been progressive and we’re now in the perfect position to enhance our focus on the opportunities for our dealers across the country.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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