Tag Archive for: Praised

Castletown groundsman praised for commitment

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Castletown groundsman praised for commitment: The man responsible for Castletown’s much-admired football pitch has retired from his role as groundsman – 65 years after first volunteering at the club.

Robbie Keith (80) has spent countless hours looking after the pristine playing surface at Back Park, widely considered to be the best in the far north.

Castletown groundsman praised for commitment

Castletown groundsman praised for commitment

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Kubota M4073 praised for delivering power and productivity

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Kubota M4073 praised for delivering power and productivity: A Kubota M4073 has been praised by Meldrum House Golf Club, providing high capacity and productivity on turf tyres, ensuring a sensitive footprint.

Delivered alongside an L2452 with loader by HRN Tractors in August 2024, the addition of the higher horsepower model has given the team the ability to tackle larger and more specialist tasks in-house, to the benefit of both the golf course and wider estate.

Kubota M4073 praised for delivering power and productivity

Kubota M4073 praised for delivering power and productivity

Meldrum House was acquired by Apex Hotels in May 2024. As part of ongoing investment in the site, Golf Course and Grounds Manager Kenny Harper, was tasked with the replacement of the clubs tractor fleet – and he knew exactly where to turn, thanks to his longstanding relationship with local dealers HRN. “A major part of any equipment purchase for us is the back-up support we receive, and we know we have that in HRN” Kenny explains. “With that assured, we then needed to know that the machines themselves were up to task when HRN switched franchises to Kubota. They brought in demonstrator models and it wasn’t long before we decided that was spot on too.”

“Increasingly, we were finding implements were putting too much strain on the tractor, or the tractor itself didn’t have enough power or grip for some of the heavier tasks. The solution was to purchase two Kubota models – an L2452 which is a straight replacement for a similar size compact tractor we were using and the M4, which is a pretty sizeable step-up to give us greater scope and capacity.”

The M4 series from Kubota is a proven all-rounder, with an extremely spacious and comfortable cab and a reliable, efficient 4-cylinder Kubota diesel engine at its core. With 74hp, the M4073 model delivers maximum power and particularly strong rear hydraulics to provide full lifting power to suit all greenkeeping and estate management tasks.

“One feature the team and I particularly like on both tractors is the gear selection and constant speed controller which gives us pinpoint control over engine speed which is important for creeper tasks such as trenching or sandbanding.” He continues, “The pair have been pretty much non-stop since they arrived with winter aeration and renovation works and haven’t missed a beat.”

Another of the winter tasks the M4073 has taken in its stride is woodland management across the 18 parkland holes and hotel estate. Partnered with a new 8-tonne trailer, Kenny and the team now benefit from twice as much space and power than their previous set-up. “We had to hire-in equipment for large tree works and were dependent on what was available when we needed it. The Kubota and trailer now enable us to conduct the task in-house which, in itself, brings many benefits.” He concludes, “We’re yet to really find anything the M4 can’t do!”

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Greenkeepers praised after saving Dunhill Links

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Greenkeepers praised after saving Dunhill Links: Play at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship hung in the balance on Sunday night, until greenskeepers performed a miracle.

Read the full article from Bunkered here

Greenkeepers praised after saving Dunhill Links

Greenkeepers praised after saving Dunhill Links

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Trencher Hire praised by charity

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Trencher Hire praised by charity: A vital new conservation project called the Horstmann Trust has been launched in the unlikely location of South Wales to help preserve some of the world’s most endangered species of vultures, many of which are found in Europe, Africa and Asia.

The charity’s CEO Adam Bloch is a passionate conservationist, who is clearly concerned not just about the plight of vultures, but the ever-increasing number of animals joining the endangered species list across the globe, as their habitat is destroyed by man and the effects of climate change become ever more evident.

Trencher Hire praised by charity

Trencher Hire praised by charity

Trencher Hire UK has played a small but important role in the installation of welded steel fences within the site. Trencher Hire UK supplied a Vermeer RTX-250 on a week-long contract, but Adam said the machine was so efficient and easy to operate that the work was completed in just three days.

He commented: “We dug slots to a depth of 900mm to make sure that animals couldn’t dig under the welded steel fencing we were installing. The trencher made short work of this and backfilling was quick and easy. If we had tried to do the work with a digger, it would have created a whole lot of mess and incurred a lot of time making good afterwards.

“Trencher Hire were really helpful and I couldn’t fault the service. They turned-up at the allotted time, explained how to use the machine and the unit itself was excellent.”

The work of the Horstmann Trust is to develop an ongoing breeding programme with the primary focus on hooded, Egyptian and bearded vultures, as well as the Andean Condor. Adam commented: “There are 23 species of vultures around the world, with the majority facing rapidly falling populations and some facing extinction. We are creating a strong, genetically diverse captive population with some of our birds going on to be released back into the wild, whilst others will be given to other conservation organisations working together in these breeding programmes.

“We have to look to the future and our programme has to be a very long-term one. Many of the vulture species lay just a single egg each breeding season, so producing young can be slow. Condors can live up to 80 years in captivity and don’t reach sexual maturity until they are at least 6-8 years old but, in some cases, can be much longer!”

He is supported in his work by Holly Cale, who is Curator and Head of Research, along with a small number of staff and volunteers.

If you would like to make a donation to support the work of the Horstmann Trust you can contact Adam via email: adam@horstmanntrust.org.

To find out how Trencher Hire UK call help, contact us on: 0121 751 9319, or email: team@trencherhire.com or visit our website: www.trencherhire.com

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Headland programme praised by Gillingham GC

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Headland programme praised by Gillingham GC: After previously suffering with the side effects of excessive thatch content, the Course Manager at Gillingham Golf Club has praised a programme from Headland Amenity for its role in transforming the health and presentation of the greens.

Together with a comprehensive cultural regime, the improvement in course condition has seen a reduction in disease activity and reduced reliance on fungicides, and saw Gillingham proudly play host to a Kent Golf Captains event for the very first time.

Headland programme praised by Gillingham GC

Headland programme praised by Gillingham GC

John Hunnisett joined as Course Manager just over a year ago, where he was faced with a course that lacked any definition – with multiple areas including bunker surrounds and tee banks left completely unmaintained. To make the transformation project even more challenging, the greens team consisted of three trainees and, 13 months on, John remains the only qualified greenkeeper out of the team of five. “I pretty much had to start from scratch in all areas” explains John. “I’d used a few Headland products previously but had the benefit of seeing a full Headland programme in action during a stint spent at The London Golf Club. It opened my eyes to a whole new range and so called in our Headland Technical Manager Andy Ward to help with the monumental task at hand.”

Soil analysis taken by Andy highlighted high levels of organic matter in the top 20mm which, combined with an increase in aeration, scarification and topdressing, has been improved with a new nutritional regime. “Our summer programme consists of Protec® Plus, TeMag™ Elite, Turfite® Elite and Ascoflex® Plus. This combination of products delivers a long-lasting, balanced supply of nitrogen together with maximising health and recovery following periods of heat and/or stress. We have received lots of positive comments from the members about the presentation, with many saying that the greens have never looked better!”

“In the autumn and winter we switch to Headland’s 20-20-30 tank-mix which is probably my favourite discovery and has made the biggest difference to the greens. The combination of reducing organic matter and enhancing plant health with monthly applications of 20-20-30 between September and March drastically reduced the amount of disease we registered – and what we did get was easily recoverable and didn’t lead to scarring.”

Headland’s industry-leading 20-20-30 tank-mix combines Liquid Turf Hardener, Turfite® Elite and Seamac® ProTurf Fe, proven to deliver enhanced plant strength and disease resistance when applied as part of a preventative approach. John continues, “The course emerged in the spring of 2022 healthier than ever, which was great as we entered preparations to host the Hampshire County Match at the end of June. Being selected for this for the first time was testament to just how far we’ve come, with the right products and the pure passion of my team.”

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