Tag Archive for: shade

Johnsons J Tee proves the solution to shade issues at

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Johnsons J Tee proves the solution to shade issues at: A trial of J Tee from the Johnsons Sports Seed range has now been rolled out course-wide at Knutsford Golf Club in Cheshire, after solving a number of issues on their heavily shaded tees.

The combination of high footfall and a lack of sunlight caused by trees have previously posed a number of problems when it comes to the maintenance of the small tees, which Course Manager David Jones now claims to be a thing of the past thanks to the ‘second to none’ results from the J Tee mix.

Johnsons J Tee proves the solution to shade issues at

Johnsons J Tee proves the solution to shade issues at

Knutsford Golf Club, once part of National Trust site Tatton Park, is somewhat unique with a 10-green layout. While this enables golfers to play a different 9 and 18th hole, for David and his team of four, this means double the traffic on the tees which he admits used to let the overall course condition down. “We knew that removing trees to allow for better light and airflow was not going to be an option accepted by the members so we had to find another way” he explains. “I put an SOS call out to Stuart Yarwood, our Regional DLF Technical Manager, to see what we could do and the support and advice we’ve had has been brilliant.”

Stuart recommended Johnsons J Tee – combining 4Turf® tetraploid ryegrass along with traditional ryegrass and strong creeping red fescue. The additional inclusion of 5% Sabrena rough stalked meadow grass makes J Tee truly unique, creating a mixture that delivers exceptional disease resistance, rapid establishment and a hard-wearing sward even under heavy shade, making it ideal for golf tees and pathways. The fineness of leaf and shoot density of Sabrena is comparable to a high-quality bent cultivar, while its speed of establishment is akin to that of perennial ryegrass – enhanced further by DLF’s Growmax seed coating which enhances overseeding results in difficult conditions. In shade trials, Sabena is amongst the hardest wearing varieties on the market.

“We began a programme with J Tee in the spring, which has really come to fruition over the summer. The biggest difference has been the wear tolerance, the team and I have seen a noticeable improvement in sward density which is withstanding and the wear and tear.” David continues, “The 4th tee is the most shaded and even here, we’ve achieved outstanding coverage.”

The successes of J Tee come alongside three years of fantastic results with Johnsons J All Bent on the greens. “Our greens are over 100 years old and where other varieties have struggled with the drainage and poor soil profile, the strike we had from the J All Bent made this a no-brainer to continue.” He adds, “We’ve also noticed that we require less water and chemical inputs to maintain the greens, even in the difficult weather conditions we’ve all had these last couple of years, while still retaining good plant health and little to no disease.”

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Leaving the Brits in the shade

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Leaving the Brits in the shade: Tuesday February 18 saw two high profile events on the UK calendar. Both had a superb venue, both had a stellar cast of “performers”, both were celebrating significant birthdays, and both had an appreciative audience, many of whom had travelled considerable distances to attend.

But while the 40th anniversary of The Brits, at the O2 in London’s Docklands, experienced its fair share of drunkenness, swearing and miscellaneous bad behaviour, the 10th annual Dennis SISIS Seminar at the Emirates Riverside, home of Durham County Cricket Club, was conducted in impeccable style and there was no need for anyone to resort to the mute button to shield the audience from fruity language.

Leaving the Brits in the shade

Leaving the Brits in the shade

The weather was superb, ironic as Storm Dennis had wreaked havoc in many parts of the country but Seminar Dennis seemed to be blessed, fitting as host for the day was Durham CCC Head Groundsman Vic Demain, the man who had approached Roger Moore, of Dennis SISIS, 10 years ago to float the idea of a cricket-focussed seminar.

In 2020, with an audience of 130 plus and a list of speakers out of the very top drawer, the Seminar has come a long way since that first event in Uxbridge School back in 2011.

Delegates and speakers gathered the night before at Lumley Castle Hotel, overlooking the cricket ground and under the stewardship of the Dennis SISIS staff, Roger, Alison Pickering and Ewen Wilson, everyone enjoyed a superb meal, sharing the sort of tales and gossip which wouldn’t be surfacing in the more formal environment the following day.

Ewen and Vic kicked things off with the latter introducing Marcus North, the Durham Director of Cricket and a former Australian Test batsman. Marcus talked of the need for a strong relationship between the Director of Cricket and the Head Groundsman and how best results were achieved through establishing such a relationship and keeping their respective office doors open.

Following Marcus was Dr Iain James, of TGMA, who spoke on the Construction and Maintenance of a Cricket Pitch. Ian was followed by Ian Powell, the IOG’s Regional Pitch Advisor, who discussed Decision Making for Pre-season preparations.

Among the messages delivered was that good groundsmanship should always be tried before pitch reconstruction and that waiting was invariably a sensible option before undertaking tasks because the addition time often allowed the pitch to dry out even more.

Groundsman’s Corner preceded lunch. Hosted by Vic, an illustrious group comprising Karl McDermott, Head Groundsman at Lords; Sean Williams, Head Groundsman at Gloucester CCC; Gordon Gill, Head Groundsman at Bath Cricket Club as well as two rugby infiltrators, Jim Dawson, Head Groundsman at BT Murrayfield, and Keith Kent, Head Pitch Advisor to Rugby Groundsmen Connected and former Head Groundsman at both Old Trafford (football not cricket) and Twickenham. They talked about how they had entered the profession and shared best advice and best practice with the audience.

The afternoon session was launched by Barry Glynn, who expressed his well known frustrations of a Groundsman. Barry, now retired and based in Brighton where he plays three rounds of golf a week, is such a well regarded speaker that he has been booked to speak at the 150th birthday of WG Grace’s very own cricket club.

Barry was on safe ground and the nods of recognition and guffaws from the floor when he highlighted a perennial gripe made for an entertaining talk.

Keith Kent then took to the floor and he pointed out the synergies which exist when it comes to maintaining cricket and rugby pitches and how often, because a rugby field becomes a cricket outfield in the summer, special care was needed to ensure rogue bounces were avoided as much as possible from a well struck cricket ball.

He also reminisced about his time at both Old Trafford – complete with a picture of him playing for the Manchester United staff team – and Twickenham, where he and his small team were responsible for everything green – with the exception of the seats!

The question and answer session which closed the day was one of the highlights and covered everything from avoiding inadvertently offering information which could be used by illegal betting gangs, to the latest information on worm eradication.

Sponsors for the day included your very own Turf Matters, Limegrain, Poweroll, CricketWorld, Boughton, Fleet, Thomas Sherriff, Headland Amenity Products, SIS Pitches, Stuart Canvas Products and Facility and Sports Club Development.

Big thanks to Vic, Roger, Alison and Ewen for all the work involved in pulling such an event together, and for putting those Brits in the shade!