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Future of greenkeeping in safe hands

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Future of greenkeeping in safe hands: Toro, Reesink Turfcare and the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA), have revealed the finalists of their prestigious annual awards, which seek to uncover the UK’s leading student greenkeepers.

Each year the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards enable BIGGA, the UK’s only membership association for golf greenkeepers, to work alongside turf maintenance equipment manufacturer Toro and distributor Reesink Turfcare to celebrate the next generation of talented and dedicated greenkeepers.

Future of greenkeeping in safe hands

Future of greenkeeping in safe hands

A record 54 nominees from across the United Kingdom were put forward by educators, course managers and head greenkeepers and other mentors. From those candidates, a final 12 have been chosen to contest the grand finals this September.

For the first time, the finals of the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year will take place at Goodwood, the historic sporting venue located in West Sussex. The awards event will take place a week before the estate hosts Goodwood Revival, the famous weekend of classic racing. Goodwood is also home to the Downs Course, described by Justin Rose as a “truly inspirational” place to play golf.

September’s event will be the 33rd staging of the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards and just the sixth time the Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award, open to greenkeepers aged 21 or under, will take place. To be eligible to take part, candidates must be registered on a qualifying greenkeeping qualification and must be nominated by their course manager or college tutor.

The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists are:

  • Andrew Bate, Hesketh Golf Club
  • Tom Bromfield, Trentham Golf Club
  • James Gaskell, Ripon City Golf Club
  • Abi Laker, Frilford Heath Golf Club
  • Andrew Ritchie, St Andrews Links
  • John Thornton, Hellidon Lakes Golf and Country Club

The Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists are:

  • Jake Beech, Newcastle-under-Lyme Golf Club
  • Alfie Brookes, Gathurst Golf Club
  • Luke Charnley, Royal Liverpool Golf Club
  • Peter Pattenden, Carden Park Golf Club
  • James Stratford, Broome Manor Golf Club
  • Freddie Williams, Dudsbury Golf Club

More information about the finalists is available here.

The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year winner will receive: enrolment in the 10-week University of Massachusetts Winter Turf School; a two-week expenses-paid placement at Adare Manor, venue of The 2027 Ryder Cup; an all expenses paid trip to the GCSAA Conference and Show in Florida; and a visit to Toro Corporate HQ, R&D Centre and Equipment Operations in Wisconsin.

The Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year winner will receive: a two-week work placement at Vidauban Golf Club in France; a five-night trip to Continue to Learn at BTME including four days of education; and a gift voucher for Toro Training.

The runners-up and endorsers of the winners will also receive various prizes.

BIGGA Learning and Development Executive Deb Burnett said: “Each year the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards gain a little more prestige, as previous finalists go on to achieve wonderful things in their careers. I’m delighted that more student greenkeepers than ever before participated in the nomination process and all should be proud of how they performed during the regional interview stage.

“The 12 finalists are very worthy of their spot and I can’t wait to watch them overcome the challenges we set for them at glorious Goodwood this autumn. My thanks go to Toro and Reesink Turfcare for their continued support of this wonderful initiative.”

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Sustainability issues at the heart of Learning LIVE

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Sustainability issues at the heart of Learning LIVE: In the month that saw the UK climate reach unprecedented levels of 40°C for the first time on record, the Grounds Management Association (GMA) is highlighting the need to place sustainability and environmental issues at the heart of the grounds maintenance sector’s thinking – and at the heart of SALTEX’s Learning LIVE sessions. 

GMA Chief Executive, Geoff Webb said: “Those managing and maintaining sports turf and green spaces are already having to deal with the impact of climate change and industry suppliers are doing their best to innovate and help grounds people to minimise the impact of droughts and floods.

Sustainability issues at the heart of Learning LIVE

Sustainability issues at the heart of Learning LIVE

“Extreme weather conditions are becoming more frequent, and we need to continue to educate grounds staff and plan now to ensure that as a sector, we are equipped to deal with what lies ahead.”

Announcing speakers for Europe’s leading sports turf, amenities, and landscaping trade exhibition, SALTEX, which is free to attend and organised by the GMA, Geoff Webb explains the value of attending the show’s Learning LIVE sessions.

“Learning LIVE has been designed to provide support, insight, and real solutions to key industry issues, including those relating to sustainability and the environment and we are delighted to be confirming a growing line-up of impressive expert speakers.”

A presentation not to missed will be one from Tony Hanson managing director, Environmental Solutions International and Robin Price, director of quality and environment at Anglian Water. Geoff says: “Their paper on ‘Reducing the impact of future water restrictions on golf and sports turf’ is a timely subject as we deal with the results of climate change and approach drought restrictions in this country. Tony and Robin will look at the implications of temporary use bans and changes in water abstraction rulings, and how this will prevent turf irrigation in 2023 and the ways to implement water resilience practices.”

Tony Hanson explains the importance of this subject to the industry: “Due to climate change, population growth, and historically high personal consumption, there is simply not enough water available in the UK without action – the water sector will have to use demand management to ensure public supply. Turf irrigation must simply become less dependent on mains or direct irrigation abstraction.

“The Water Resilience Plan has been designed to guide users on what they

need to do and keep them informed of water industry funded seminars and workshops. If you irrigate turf you will need to review alternative water sources for irrigation, create water storage on site – water you control and can use in a drought to cover at least 21 days and review and assess your irrigation management and system.  I look forward to discussing all these elements at SALTEX.”

The SALTEX 2022 Learning LIVE schedule this year has been extended to over 30 sessions, with additional papers attacking the key issues for the grounds care industry of pay, career development, how to negotiate in the workplace and how to find out about the millions of pounds of grant funding available from sports clubs.

More information about the SALTEX 2022 Learning LIVE programme can be found on the event’s website at www.saltex.org.uk/learning-live. Free visitor registration is now open. Visit saltex.org.uk or register here.

Alongside the Learning LIVE programme visitors to SALTEX 2022 will be able to see over 400 industry brands in one place – all lining up the best products on offer for today’s growing needs. It also provides visitors with a great opportunity to network with industry colleagues and build new business relationships.

The show takes place at the conveniently central Birmingham NEC on 2-3 November.

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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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