Tag Archive for: O’Gaunt

Playability impresses at John O’Gaunt

Playability impresses at John O’Gaunt: The Course Manager and Head Greenkeeper at the John O’Gaunt Golf Club in Bedfordshire believe that Attraxor® plant growth regulator has played a major part in all the positive feedback they have received this year.

The John O’Gaunt Golf Club is set in over 300 acres of tree-lined parkland and boasts two renowned 18-hole golf courses. The two courses are maintained by an outstanding greenkeeping team.

Playability impresses at John O’Gaunt

Playability impresses at John O’Gaunt

Nigel Broadwith is now in his 15th year as the Course Manager and while he admits to being very much hands-on, he still spends most of his time focussing on improving the playing characteristics of the two courses.

Nigel values the input from his Head Greenkeeper Kevin Armstrong, and together they identified Attraxor® as a product which could potentially signal some improvements.

“Poa annua seed heads are generally a problem in the UK and most courses suffer from them,” said Kevin. “We are no exception, and we were having to verticut weekly, if not more, just to keep on top of them. Mike Williamson from Agrovista Amenity suggested that we try Attraxor® and we started using it in March this year.”

Nigel said: “We had full confidence from the trial work we had seen from Agrovista Amenity. We have used other similar products, but we quickly found Attraxor® to be the best at supressing seed heads.”

Attraxor® is a plant growth regulator containing the active substance, prohexadione calcium and can be used to regulate growth of all managed amenity turf. This active substance inhibits the gibberellic acid pathway, which results in a reduction of turf height and turf biomass. Root growth is promoted whilst turf colour and quality are maintained.

Furthermore, using an innovative formulation for fast leaf absorption, the product provides almost instant results, as it is activated once diluted in water. Contrary to other plant growth regulators that need to be activated by the plant enzymes, Attraxor® can be used earlier or later in the season during cooler weather.

Both Nigel and Kevin elaborated on the success of the product.

“We have seen a massive seed head suppression,” said Nigel. “By the second application it was beginning to be highly noticeable. I do know from other courses in the area that seed heads have been rife this year, but we haven’t experienced that since applying Attraxor®

“A major improvement has been the playability, and the feedback we have had this year has been really positive in relation to the green speed and trueness. We believe that Attraxor® has had a major part to play in that positive feedback.

“It is such a good product, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to supress seed heads,” added Kevin. “We’d be happy to welcome anyone to visit our site so they can see how it has worked for us.”

Playability impresses at John O’Gaunt

Playability impresses at John O’Gaunt

Attraxor® can also be tank mixed with other products, something which Nigel and Kevin are particularly impressed with.

“We use Attraxor® in a tank mix with a liquid feed and this is a huge bonus,” said Kevin. “John O’Gaunt is a very busy golf club, and we don’t always have time to go out with a sprayer, so the more products we can apply at one time the better.”

Nigel agreed: “Back in the early days we would never have dreamed of mixing two products together, but due to the advancements in technology we are now able to. Plus, we are confident in Mike Williamson’s advice that we can mix Attraxor® with other products. We have found this to be incredibly beneficial in terms of the turf health and time and labour.”

In addition to the positive results from Attraxor®, Nigel was quick to point out the importance of working with key suppliers.

“I have been here 15 years and in my first couple of years we really struggled with disease and thatch. We sat down with Mike Williamson from Agrovista Amenity and he recommended some fungicide tank mixes. From that moment things started to improve dramatically, and ever since then we have been working together. I only work closely with a couple of suppliers, and I very much see Agrovista Amenity as part of my extended team.”

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

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Reesink At John O’Gaunt Golf Club

Reesink At John O’Gaunt Golf Club: Celebrating the signing of its third five-year exclusivity agreement with Reesink Turfcare and Toro is John O’Gaunt Golf Club.

After a ten year plan the club in Sandy in Bedfordshire has now established an ‘all red’ Toro fleet of machinery, installed Toro Lynx and dual trajectory series sprinklers on its Carthagena course and the truly innovative Infinity sprinklers on its John O’Gaunt course. And they turned to Reesink when needing aerating fountains for a new lake, for which Otterbine suited.

Reesink At John O’Gaunt Golf Club

Course manager Nigel Broadwith is the decision-maker with a plan in place and the full support of the club’s committee. He says of the signing, which will take the club’s relationship with Reesink and Toro to 15 years: “It was an easy decision to make. When you have a relationship with your machinery distributor which brings you a good product, good support and peace of mind, you don’t need to look anywhere else.”

Over the years Nigel has created a Toro fleet of machinery that brings the best results and the best value, he says: “When purchasing machinery in a five-year lease deal I try to juggle the budget to get the best value and the best productivity. People who know me, know it doesn’t matter to me how old a machine is, if it performs it’s got a place in the shed. We have brand new machines lining up next to 18-year old ones with over 4000 hours on the clock! It’s all about having a balance to ensure the best results for the best value your budget can bring.”

Mixing the old with the new is an approach Nigel says he’s able to with the reliable back-up of Reesink, Toro’s MyTurf fleet management programme which tracks maintenance, repairs and parts, and a full-time on-site mechanic: “This combination of support with a good product means that any issues are sorted out quickly and there’s little, if any, machinery downtime.

“Going with Reesink and Toro was the sensible and logical thing to do, it instils confidence in the team for the foreseeable future.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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