Tag Archive for: R&A

An R&A appointment for ETL

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An R&A appointment for ETL: ETL, a Labosport Group company in Central Scotland, are proud to announce that they are now the official testing laboratory for The R&A, supporting testing for all Professional & Amateur event venues.

Sharon Singleton-Bruce, Managing Director of ETL says “this is an amazing opportunity for the laboratory, and we are looking forward to working with The R&A’s agronomists, Alistair Beggs, Richard Windows and Adam Newton.”

An R&A appointment for ETL

An R&A appointment for ETL

Testing for The R&A includes several of ETL’s Golf Green Health Testing (GGHI) tests using bespoke sampling kits. This service is providing course managers and agronomists with data for the performance of their golf greens, including undisturbed infiltration rates, organic matter content at incremental depths and nutrient analysis.

ETL is A2LA-accredited in the field of “Geotechnical, Putting Green Materials” since 1997, with an unrivalled experience of testing venues from all over the world. Adhering to the rigorous protocols of the accreditation provides the industry’s most reliable laboratory data.

Alistair Beggs, Head of Agronomy at The R&A said “we are delighted to be partnering ETL laboratories, and we are looking forward to working with Charles and Sharon who are able to give us the supporting information and knowledge we need to ensure the venues we use are maintained optimally and provide first class surfaces for member and championship golf. “

About ETL

European Turfgrass Laboratories Ltd (ETL) provides an independent and unbiased service for the analysis of soils, sand, peat, gravel, rootzone and other materials specifically for the turfgrass and landscape industries.

Formed in 1996, we have been testing materials for many of the world’s leading golf clubs, football clubs, national stadiums, racecourses and other natural grass sports surfaces
ETL’s market began in the UK and Ireland and has rapidly expanded across Europe into Africa, Middle East, Australasia and South America.

Golf course architects, agronomists, material suppliers, contractors, local authorities and government agencies use our testing services extensively during project planning and construction to ensure that all materials are conforming to their project’s specifications.

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New R&A Greenkeeping Scholar

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New R&A Greenkeeping Scholar: A Carrickfergus student has become the first in Northern Ireland to be awarded an R&A Greenkeeping Scholarship. Callum Burnside is currently undertaking a two-year foundation degree in Horticulture (Sportsturf) at the Greenmount campus of the College of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE)

The R&A Greenkeeping Scholarship Programme was established in 2004 to help boost the careers of those undertaking higher level greenkeeping and sportsturf qualifications. CAFRE is the newest addition to the approved educational establishments participating in the programme, joining Scotland’s Rural College (Elmwood Campus) and Myerscough College in England.

Callum joins more than over 320 scholars worldwide across 30 different countries. He was previously awarded the Golf Union of Ireland cadetship in 2017. This involved mastering greenkeeping skills and achieving a work-based Level 2 Diploma in Greenkeeping while undertaking duties at the Greenmount’s Greenkeeping and Golfing Academy.

Wendy Cole, manager of Sustainability at the R&A, said: “Our rigorous application and interview process ensures that only the best candidates are chosen to be R&A Greenkeeping Scholars. Callum demonstrated his passion and commitment to the sportsturf industry admirably and I am delighted that he is our first Greenkeeping Scholar from CAFRE and indeed Northern Ireland.

“We hope to further develop our links with CAFRE moving forward and hopefully we will see more scholars being appointed.”

The R&A organises The Open, golf’s oldest major championship.

Paul Mooney, head of Horticulture at Greenmount, said: “With just months before The Open returns to Royal Portrush in July there has never been a better time to consider a career in greenkeeping.”

For more information about the scholarship programme see the Greenkeeping support section on: https://www.randa.org

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Toro Sprinklers Chosen For R&A

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Toro Sprinklers Chosen For R&A: Toro’s Infinity and T5 sprinklers have been selected to irrigate the golf practice area at The R&A’s Equipment Testing Centre in order to provide pristine greens and tees for golf equipment testing.

A focal point of the facility, which is located at Kingsbarns near St Andrews in Scotland, is the practice range which allows for human and robotic testing of equipment; the results from which directly affect the game of golf across the world. It is the two greens here that have benefitted from four Toro Infinity 35 sprinklers with TDC wall mount, while seven Toro T5 sprinklers have been added across two tees.

Toro Sprinklers Chosen For R&A

Paul Kimber from Kimber Golf, the golf course architect and contractor working with The R&A on the facility, says: “From its inception, this project has asked pertinent questions as to how and why things are done and how can they be improved. We applied some new techniques, developed a site-specific construction methodology for the greens and tried to create as many research opportunities as possible.

“I have used Toro irrigation for several years and found they provide a quality product with good customer service provided by Reesink Turfcare. This was considered a very important factor for the client, and had the irrigation designer, Callum, in agreement.”

Callum Oliphant, managing director of Applied Irrigation, one of Scotland’s leading irrigation specialists, recommends the use of Toro’s sprinklers because their “performance is reliable and consistent and the quality of design excellent”.

Callum knew he and the team who installed the sprinklers, could rely on Toro to deliver the results a customer like The R&A would expect: “Each year, The R&A’s Equipment Standards department tests thousands of golf clubs and balls to ensure they conform to the equipment rules and the turf needs to provide a true surface, which means it must be in top condition. Irrigation is of course instrumental to that.”

The turf, which the tests are carried out on by some of the leading scientists and elite golfers today and two cutting edge golf robots, need to be as near to perfect as it is possible to get. It’s easy to see therefore why Toro was picked to help achieve that goal.

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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