Tag Archive for: Solution

The total solution from Toro

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The total solution from Toro: Stratford-On-Avon Golf Club in Warwickshire has chosen Toro for its new irrigation system, adding to its full fleet of Toro machinery and becoming a Total Solutions customer.

Having spent years building up a complete Toro fleet to maintain its 18-hole parkland course, Stratford-On-Avon Golf Club knows the value of investing in the brand, which is why course manager Chris Bromley opted for Toro again when it came to club’s irrigation needs.

The total solution from Toro

“We’ve had Toro Infinity sprinklers installed across the course on the fairways, greens, surrounds, approaches and the larger tees, as well as T5 sprinklers for the smaller tees and then the Lynx control system with weather station to top it off,” says Chris.

“To put it simply, Toro irrigation provides everything we need. The sprinklers are easy to maintain and easy to use, particularly the Infinity sprinklers. They’re top accessible which makes any maintenance simple, plus changing the arcs, nozzles and trajectory is all quick and easy to do.

“With Lynx, everything you need is all on one screen. With the click of a button you can set up the irrigation for your whole golf course and control watering to the second which has had a big effect on water savings. We also opted for the weather station, which is great, because it allows us to monitor the course more accurately and irrigate precisely.”

With the club’s previous system coming to the end of its life, the new irrigation system was a welcome addition.

“Our old system was 20 years old and not having the latest technology to hand was made all the more evident in the heatwave of 2018,” says Chris. “The weather was so severe the fairways burned up and we were doing lots of hand watering. Trying to do that across a 160-acre course is hard work, so it was vital we got a new system in place as soon as possible.”

Despite the need for a new system, for Chris it was important that thorough research was undertaken before making a decision on which brand and system to go with.

“We visited distributor Reesink Turfcare on stand at SALTEX and Harrogate to talk through the benefits of the Lynx system as well as going along to Toro roadshows and visiting other golf clubs to see it in action. The club was investing a large amount, so it had to be absolutely right.”

Since the quick and seamless installation by Full Circle Irrigation completed in May this year, it seems Toro has more than proved itself to be the right system for the club.

“From start to finish it’s been great. The installation and service from both Full Circle Irrigation and Reesink have been very good and the course has massively improved. Previously it could take up to half an hour to set up a sprinkler programme, with Toro that takes seconds, and the water coverage we’ve seen is superb,” concludes Chris.

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Bayer’s new weed control solution at SALTEX

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Bayer’s new weed control solution at SALTEX: The recent addition of Roundup® to Bayer’s amenity portfolio complements their new residual herbicide Valdor® Flex and provides contractors with the complete package when it comes to weed control.

Lewis Blois, Bayer national account manager, says the team will be on hand at SALTEX to talk about the recent changes to their product portfolio and provide advice around successful weed control.

Bayer's new weed control solution at SALTEX

“We can now offer the whole solution when it comes to broad spectrum weed control and our full treatment programme works on a wide range of surfaces from open soil to gravel, fence lines and railway ballast,” he adds.

“We’re always working hard to bring new innovative formulations and sustainable solutions to the amenity sector, and recent changes will help contractors to continue to successfully manage weeds at a time when many products are being lost from the market,” explains Lewis.

Our new product portfolio for the amenity sector includes Valdor® Flex, Roundup® and Ecoplugs, offering a wide range of solutions to the sector.

“Valdor Flex is a residual herbicide offering four months weed control. It can be applied as a pre-emergent herbicide or in post-emergent situations with Roundup®, which provides the initial knock down, while Valdor® Flex offers residual control, preventing subsequent weeds emerging.

“Ecoplugs, which can be inserted into tree stumps to avoid re-growth all year round, also join the Bayer portfolio,” he says.

“At Bayer, we’re continually investing in research and development to ensure we can provide our customers with a wide range of innovative solutions when it comes to weed control and recent updates to the product portfolio will provide many benefits to amenity contractors,” concludes Lewis.

For further information visit the Turf Solutions Team on stand G030 at SALTEX, alternatively visit www.environmentalscience.bayer.co.uk, call 00800 1214 9451, or email turfsolutions@bayer.com.

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Imants ShockWave The Solution

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Imants ShockWave The Solution: Kyles Athletic Shinty Club has turned to the Imants ShockWave 100 from Campey Turf Care Systems to solve their drainage problems.

The club is based on the west coast of Scotland in Auchenlochan, with their facility at the edge of the Kyles of Bute – a narrow sea channel. They are often subjected to heavy rain, and when combined with a drainage issue on the field a number of games were called off with some having to be played at other clubs at a cost to the Kyles Athletic. Because of this, they decided to have drainage installed.

Imants ShockWave The Best Solution

Tom Whyte is the sole volunteer groundsman at the club. He explains that the field was in good condition before the drainage issues started to appear, and after unsuccessful attempts to resolve it, he thinks the ShockWave could be the solution.

“Two years ago, the committee decided to get a contractor in to install drains, but they weren’t a success, and it was put down to the stone being too close to the surface. Because of the compaction, they couldn’t go further down without causing a lot of hassle to the field. We spent a significant amount of money to have the work done, and it wasn’t a success, so we had to look at other ways of fixing the issue.

“The council tried to use a tine aerator, but after covering about a seventh of the pitch, they said it was too wet and never came back. I was recommended a ShockWave, and I spoke to Richard Heywood at Campey and he explained to me that when the ShockWave hits the rock, it rides it, it doesn’t try to break its way through, but it will go through the small stuff.

“For us, it was all down to money, I spoke to Richard Campey, and he did us a deal with the ShockWave, a New Holland Boomer 125 and a fertiliser spreader. That led to me approaching our district council and Clackmannanshire District Council. Both of them gave us money towards the machines, and that made it affordable for the club.”

The Imants ShockWave is the perfect solution for Kyles Athletic because it is designed to decompact heavy wear areas by relieving soil compaction using 12mm thick knives. This makes it the ideal aerator on fields that have stone near the surface because the blades won’t break and cause further damage to the machine.

While the main aim of purchasing the machines was to eliminate the drainage issue, Tom also wanted to be able to plan his maintenance. In the past, the club relied on borrowing equipment from others, but now they own their machines Tom feels able to raise the standards with plans already in place to hire the machinery out to provide income for the club.

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MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

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MM The Solution In Hertfordshire: In order to satisfy the members needs at Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club, course manager James Bonfield is using a range of Limagrain UK’s MM grass seed mixtures in order to produce the best possible playing surfaces.

Designed by Jack Niklaus II, the 6,266 yard course winds through ancient parkland, blending beautiful contours with trees and water to present an enticing challenge to golfers of all abilities. The club is under the Crown Golf umbrella, which boasts 23 prestigious venues around the UK.

MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

James has been in his current role as course manager for eight years and claims that he has assembled the best team he has ever seen in all his years of greenkeeping. The team all play regularly on the stunning course in Hertfordshire, which James believes is essential as they need to understand the course from a player’s perspective: “As a team, we are all very passionate about this place and are always striving to make improvements where we can,” he says.

So, when James was not achieving his desired results from a previous grass seed he used, he decided to look for an alternative, as he explains.

“I had been using a different seed for a couple of years and it hadn’t really worked out, so I met Richard Sheppard (amenity seed specialist for Limagrain UK) at BTME in Harrogate and we arranged an appointment for him to come in and see me.

“We walked around the 18 holes and looked at what I needed from a seed on various parts of the course. In particular we focussed on the fairways because at that time they were suffering after a season of very little rain and a lot of play. Richard suggested MM22 and MM25 – which was dependant on the position of the fairway as well as other factors such as acidity levels.”

Limagrain’s MM25 is an ideal mixture for the construction and renovation of sports pitches, whereas MM22 is great for divotting, repairing, overseeding and construction of tees, fairways and outfield areas that are subjected to high levels of wear. The course in Hertfordshire is divided by a road, of which, one half is old farmland so the soil is very rich and the other side being parkland tends to grow more efficiently. With both MM22 and MM25 at his disposal, James had the flexibility to apply the two mixtures where he felt most appropriate.

“The results have been most dramatic on the fairways because normally they don’t do very well in the summer,” he said. “We have limited irrigation which doesn’t allow me to water fairways as often as I would like and we have an evaporation rate of about 30mm at the height of the summer – which has always been an issue. This year, however, the fescues came through incredibly fast on the 17th, the 3rd and the 5th which was amazing. It’s provided me with really good results and they just look much healthier. They are better to present and the members have noticed a massive difference – they are really pleased.”

MM The Solution In Hertfordshire

James also relies on MM22 for his tees and uses a slightly higher application rate due to the complexity of them.

“We are trying to get as much seed as possible on the tees so we go as high as we can possibly go, maybe 20g per square metre depending on the location. For example, on our par 3’s we have seed coming through to replenish what is going out. Our tees here are tiny (under a hectare of tees) and part of the Niklaus design is that they are all round, so you lose a bit of teeing space there as well. It can be a hindrance because you are up against it when you are trying to keep things looking as best they can. You don’t want to stand on the tee and see divots everywhere. Therefore, we go quite high when overseeding with the MM22 and, again, we have seen great results.”

Where it is difficult to maintain fescue in the sward or where levels of wear are greater, many greenkeepers and course managers choose MM9 – a three way browntop bent mixture, which James applies to his greens shortly after renovations in late September in order to get more bents into the surface.

Completing his range of MM products, he applies the all ryegrass mixture MM50 to his walk off areas “just to give them a bit of love towards the end of the season.”

In reflecting on his use of the Limagrain products, James said: “From the MM seed mixtures 9, 22, 25 and 50 I have had the results that I wanted from each one of them – which is all I want. As a course manager you want to know that what you use is going to work because you don’t want to waste money. I want to make sure that I get value for money and good results and with the MM range I feel that I am.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm

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‘Augusta Syndrome’ Solution

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‘Augusta Syndrome’ Solution: Each year, `Augusta Syndrome` can cause greenkeepers grief as the new golf season gets underway.

Those pristine greens and fairways millions marvel at during the Masters tournament can trigger despondency in even the most upbeat greenkeeper.

'Augusta Syndrome' Solution

Not at Harpenden Common Golf Club however, where, on the eve of the first of the Majors, the turfcare team is gazing over lush greens to rival those of Augusta National itself.

“We are enjoying our fastest-ever start-up to the season in our history,” states Course Manager Steve Brocklehurst. “The recovery we are experiencing is fantastic. Our greens look magnificent and members are amazed by the quality so early on in the year.

“In terms of colour, grass growth and coverage, the greens are in their finest condition in my 45 years at the club.”

The transformation follows the club’s switch to a soil biology management approach introduced by treatment specialists Soil Biology Ltd.

“We’ve applied products unique in the sector to reduce and control rootzone pH,” explains Soil Biology lead scientist Hillery Murphy. “This allows the grass plant to take up vital nutrients such as calcium, manganese, silicon and magnesium more readily, even in cold conditions. It is these nutrients that support the biological process.”

Head Greenkeeper Sean Brocklehurst adds: “The course looking this good this early gives us a head start in retaining members and attracting new ones.

“Subscriptions fall due around this time of the year and if golfers can see a level of visual definition between greens and approaches they would only expect to see at the end of April or early May, they may well want to join up now.

“Also, we can start management practices earlier in the year as the sward is already strong enough to take our triple mowers and we can begin Verticutting sooner.”

Hillery Murphy continues: “The pH in the rootzone on many courses is simply not low enough to promote thatch degradation and soil biology. Our Springload rootzone and Flex foliar treatments with added biostimulants reduce the pH of the spray water and that of the rootzone to trigger the early start-up.”

As another cold front threatens to push back onset of the 2018 golf season, Harpenden Common and other courses that adopt Soil Biology’s twin-pronged turf and rootzone treatment can enjoy watching top golf on Augusta National’s manicured holes without the notorious sector syndrome gripping them.

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