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INFINICUT mark start of ‘Electric Era’

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INFINICUT mark start of ‘Electric Era’: Marking the start of a shift over to more battery-powered equipment, the University of Nottingham are now the proud owners of three 26” INFINICUT® FX mowers.

Along with completing the daily mowing on the campuses two cricket squares and bowling green, the purchase of additional UltraGroomer™ and ThatchMaster™ cassettes from the TMSystem™ means that the grounds team can now undertake multiple maintenance tasks – all with reduced hand-arm vibration and fuel costs.

INFINICUT mark start of ‘Electric Era’

INFINICUT mark start of ‘Electric Era’

In charge of the maintenance is Interim Grounds Manager Greg Smith, who specified the investment in the INFINICUT’s, delivered by George Browns in March 2022. “Sustainability is something that’s now at the heart of a lot of the decision making we do here at the university, but switching to electric is only an option if the equipment is up to the job” explains Greg. “With mowing a daily activity, this was an important step for us and, while we explored the alternatives, the INFINICUT® with its excellent battery life and quality of cut was the perfect fit for us.”

“Hand-arm vibration and noise are massive issues in our industry and these were things that improved instantly for the team with the purchase of the INFINICUT’s – they can’t believe how quiet they are! In a relatively short period of time, we are already also noticing the benefits in terms of big savings on our fuel costs.”

To get even more return from the three 26” Fixed Head machines, the University also purchased a set of UltraGroomer™ and ThatchMaster™ cassettes from the renowned TMSystem™ collection. Featuring over 80 tungsten carbide tipped blades, the UltraGroomer™ improves the plants immediate environment by removing Poa ingress, lateral growth and organic matter to enhance the movement of oxygen, moisture and nutrients. Also designed to prevent thatch accumulations, the ThatchMaster™ utilises 2mm thick tungsten blades to cut through stolons and rhizomes in fine turf.

“We specified these cassettes as part of the package and all of the training and support we’ve had from Oliver Hall at INFINICUT® and our local dealer George Browns has been fantastic. We’ve been passing over the cricket squares and bowling green with these once a week and the results have been superb.” Greg adds, “We’re a high wear site, with lots of community usage on top of that by the students and the combination of the INFINICUT’s and the cassettes mean that the facilities are healthier and presenting better than ever!”

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Three of a kind for Reesink

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Three of a kind for Reesink: Continuing with its firm focus on sales, servicing, training and parts for all brands with a locally-focused team, Reesink UK has opened its third branch in Burwell, Cambridgeshire.

The branch which serves the areas of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, joins Reesink Scotland and Reesink South East and opens up direct access to local turf machinery specialists in an extensive new area.

Three of a kind for Reesink

Three of a kind for Reesink

The brief for branch manager, Trevor Chard, was to set up a dealership that builds relationships on a local level, deals directly with customers and responds to specific customer needs for the area. Not only has that been achieved but surpassed, as he explains: “The pleasure of managing a branch is that the autonomy to make decisions in terms of what we stock, distribute and deliver is, to a degree, for us to determine based on the specific needs of customers in the area.”

Customers will be familiar with the brands Reesink UK distributes: Toro fine turf and groundscare machinery, STAR EV utility vehicles and golf buggies, Farmtrac tractors and TYM tractors which are all available through the branch, about which Trevor comments: “These brands, in particular STAR EV, are doing very well in this area, but breaking it down even further customers are particularly interested in the sustainable options offered by each brand. The all-electric Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 riding greens mower, Workman GTX Lithium Ion utility vehicle and the Reelmaster 5010-H hybrid from Toro, and the FT25G all-electric compact tractor from Farmtrac for example.

“As a result, we’ve been able to fine-tune the range we offer our customers, we’ve taken on board new brands specific to what the market here is responding to and that’s proving to be a winning formula.”

The wide-spread interest in reducing CO2 emissions by businesses in the area led to Reesink Burwell widening its offering since opening to include Cramer, the biggest amperage available for battery-driven power tools, and Biocircle for sustainable cleaning of turfcare machinery.

Alongside the brands it offers its customers, a large part of the branch’s business is servicing maintenance contracts. The ReeAssure scheme has three plans available for machines and what particularly appeals to customers is that you can put certain machines on different plans.

Trevor continues: “This is a key part of the business – we have 77 ReeAssure Maintenance contracts of which 21 percent are Gold. As the customer puts individual machines on a plan and not necessarily the whole fleet, we have many customers with machines in all three plans. That takes some managing and it’s why we’ve staffed the division up with three really experienced mobile technicians. These guys can do everything from routine maintenance to scheduled servicing on mowers, sprayers, aerators, you name it. Our customers need to know that with their machines on plan with us, downtime becomes a thing of the past, especially with our parts distribution running as the head office’s does, on 24 hours delivery.”

Completing the offering available through the branch is training, with space on site to accommodate practical training in the workshops and forecourt and theory in meeting rooms. Trevors explains: “Again, we have the autonomy to produce and provide training specific to what our customers want and need, stepping away from the general plans available through head office. We can design our own packages, making training even easier for customers.”

What is next for the branch, which thanks to remodelling an office in COVID restricted times, is a little later than planned? Trevor says: “We just want people to know we’re here. That through us they can get access to the best international brands available on the UK market, but with the benefit of working with local turf machinery specialists. We’re independent, we don’t funnel into a system, we can respond instantly to local market changes and design our business to offer the right products for the local industry as it moves forward in new directions.”

To speak to Reesink Burwell about what brands, services and expertise it can offer, call 01638 594 340.

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Dennis G860 – King of the Kassam

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Dennis G860 – King of the Kassam: The Dennis G860 has ‘everything you need’ in a cylinder mower according to Kieron Jennings – Head Groundsman at Oxford United FC.

Kieron, who is employed by Grasstek and oversees the maintenance of the pitches at Oxford United FC’s Bangkok Glass Training Centre and the Kassam Stadium, felt the time was right to purchase a new cylinder mower. Somewhat of a turf perfectionist and a huge fan of the beautiful game, he revealed exactly why.

Dennis G860 - King of the Kassam

Dennis G860 – King of the Kassam

“Ultimately we wanted a better quality of cut,” he said. “We needed a mower which was going to give us a lot more definition. The first team like to play real football; fast one-touch football, and therefore the objective was to get that leaf down and as tight to the plant as we possibly could. We felt we could achieve this best with the Dennis G860.”

Kieron came to this conclusion after various cylinder mowers were demonstrated at the Kassam Stadium. As someone who highly values the team around him, Kieron was also keen to gauge feedback during the demonstrations.

“We’ve got a trainee that has never used a cylinder mower, but with supervision he jumped straight on the G860’s with no problem at all – he enjoyed every minute of using it.”

Lightweight at just 166kg the Dennis G860 is indeed incredibly easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. Furthermore, the handlebar console houses the controls for the throttle, parking brake, roller drive and cutting cylinder drive.

As one of the most renowned cylinder mowers in the grounds management industry, the Dennis G860 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 quality of cut is second to none and it gives us a precise cut each and every time,” added Kieron. “We didn’t quite get that with our last mowers so I’m glad we switched.

“The manager has never once complained about the pitch – in fact he is always complimenting it.”

Dennis G860 - King of the Kassam

Dennis G860 – King of the Kassam

Aside from providing a perfect finish, the G860 also features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks such as scarifying, verticutting, brushing, spiking, and slitting. Kieron revealed how some of the cassettes play a part in his maintenance programme.

“As you’d expect, we use the cutting cylinders a lot – perhaps once or twice a day throughout the week. The brush is used to clean the top surface out and we’ll use the verticutter cassette to cut into our laterals, to thin the grass out and to take any Poa out.

In the winter we’ll rely on this cassette maybe two or three times a month because it helps with how the ball moves across the pitch in terms of the speed and the bounce.”

Kieron purchased two Dennis G860’s and he would have no hesitation in recommending them.

“They are very good machines; they are built well, and the durability is fantastic,” he said. “The G860’s have helped us get to where we want to be, and they are above anything else on the market.

“I can confidently say that if you are thinking of changing your cylinder mower, then get a G860 because it has got absolutely everything you need.”

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

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow Dennis on Twitter and Instagram @DennisMowers and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/DennisMowersUK. You can also view the latest Dennis videos by visiting www.youtube.com/DennisMowers

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Singing the praises of an Agrovista tank-mix

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Singing the praises of an Agrovista tank-mix: A tank-mix designed by Agrovista Amenity is helping to control the weed population at the Singing Hills Golf Club in West Sussex.

Singing Hills features 27 holes in three loops of nine holes, allowing golfers to play any combination. Designed by Richard Hird, this parkland course, with its gently undulating fairways, spectacular water holes and the Sussex Downs as a backdrop, is one of the county’s top golf venues.

Singing the praises of an Agrovista tank-mix

Singing the praises of an Agrovista tank-mix

Course Manager Mark Lunday and his Deputy Tom Granite have improved the course each year and are proud of the fact that golf can be played all year round without the need of temporary greens. However, the course does have somewhat of an Achilles heel according to Tom.

“We have suffered here for years with a really bad weed problem on our fairways and green surrounds,” he said. “In the past we have trialled all the different herbicides you can think of at different rates; we’ve tried it with wetters, stickers, pH adjusters and have done everything we possibly can but have not been successful.”

“Following the unsuccessful trials, we spoke to Joseph Dormer from Agrovista Amenity and he put together a special tank-mix,” added Mark. “We trialled it on two fairways and it worked well so we then chose to spray the entire course.”

The three-way tank-mix which Joseph Dormer recommended consisted of Praxys (2L/ha) – a systemic, post-emergence herbicide, containing clopyralid, florasulam and fluroxypyr which combines three active ingredients and two modes of action; GoGreen Select (25L/ha) which is a complex iron sulphate for rapid greening; and Evolution Xtra Soluble (20kg/ha) – a stabilised urea product which is a cost-effective nitrogen source giving 2-3 months longevity. The mix is applied with water at a rate of 320L/ha.

ALS Contractors were brought in to spray the Agrovista Amenity tank-mix on all 27 fairways and green surrounds with a view of controlling the troublesome weeds while also improving the condition and health of the turf.

Mark and Tom were suitably impressed with the process from start to finish.

“Singing Hills is such a large site, and we physically can’t get round to do the spraying,” said Tom. “Therefore, we needed the professionals to come in and get it all done in one morning rather than us trying to do a little bit at a time, and not get anywhere. The process went really well – the guys knew exactly what they were doing, and we couldn’t ask for more.”

“It is down to Agrovista Amenity’s scientific research that has enabled us to control the weed population at Singing Hills Golf Course,” said Mark. “Hopefully we will continue to see a lot more vigour and colour on our fairways, therefore enhancing the golf course.”

There is also a video with Joseph Dormer and the team from Singing Hills Golf Club which can be viewed by clicking here.

For more information about Agrovista UK, visit www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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One-in-three greenkeepers looking for work outside of golf

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One-in-three greenkeepers looking for work outside of golf: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) has issued the results of a major industry survey, with some of the findings representing a stark warning to the golfing industry.

More than 1,300 members of BIGGA, representing golf clubs across the United Kingdom, responded to the survey, which asked them to provide details of working conditions at their facilities, in addition to commenting on their job satisfaction.

One-in-three greenkeepers looking for work outside of golf

One-in-three greenkeepers looking for work outside of golf

With talk of difficulties regarding the recruitment and retention of staff common, BIGGA undertook the survey to gain solid evidence of the challenges at UK golf clubs, and the results have raised a number of concerns.

Although 56% of respondents said they were happy working within the greenkeeping profession, 35% admitted they were currently looking for opportunities outside the industry.

With regard to issues of recruitment, 53% are running with teams at less than full strength, while 83.5% said they struggle to recruit new staff.

The boom in golf that followed the coronavirus lockdowns in the past two years has translated to a general increase in staffing numbers, with golf clubs having on average one extra full time greenkeeper compared to the previous poll in 2019.

However, investment in staff welfare facilities hasn’t materialised, with, for example, only one in five facilities offering single sex changing facilities and toilets for female team members. Despite increased reliance on technology, nearly half of clubs don’t provide internet connectivity within the greenkeeping facility.

Further details and a results breakdown is available on the BIGGA website at: https://www.bigga.org.uk/news-listing/greenkeepers-bigga-workforce-survey.html

BIGGA CEO Jim Croxton said: “I’m pleased to be able to present robust data to the wider golfing industry that lays bare some fairly frightening statistics on the challenges that exist within our profession.

“We know anecdotally that there are major challenges regarding the recruitment and retention of staff and also that pay, conditions and welfare are major contributors, but to see in black and white that nearly 35% of greenkeepers are looking for work outside the industry is truly a concern.

“Equally, finding out that only one in five facilities are equipped for female staff members shows that the sport’s laudable ambitions to improve equality and diversity are not translating into our side of the game.

“But the key question is what does the game of golf does with this information? It is widely known that there is currently a general challenge in recruiting and retaining staff across society. In order to continue functioning, many sectors have responded with significant pay increases and improvement in working conditions. Golf requires an integrated approach by the entire sport to overcome the challenges laid out by this survey. This approach will need to clearly lay out the challenges, create targets and devise plans to achieve our ambitions.”

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