Tag Archive for: Stourbridge

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

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Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge: After trialling various tractor mounted scarifiers, Steven Harvey, Head Greenkeeper at Stourbridge Golf Course, concluded that the SISIS Veemo MK 2 was by far the most suitable for his fairways.

Stourbridge Golf Club in the West Midlands was formed in 1892 progressing from the original 9 holes laid out on the former Pedmore racecourse to 18 holes in 1909. The basic outline of that course remains today, and marks somewhat of a divide according to Steven.

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

“There are essentially two halves to the course,” he said. “The old common ground at the bottom where the racecourse used to be and then you have more of a parkland course at the top. It really is chalk and cheese.

“It is also a small course; in fact, it was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as being the course with the ‘longest yardage over the smallest acreage’. Being a small plot of land to look after, it comes with both positives and benefits.”

Steve oversees a team of four members of staff and full credit must be given to the team for achieving a course which is highly praised by members and visitors alike.

With a humble budget and unfavourable weather conditions to work with, Steve claims that he is always looking at new methods to achieve best results and over recent years, he has largely focussed on the fairways.

“Historically our non-irrigated surfaces such as the fairways do tend to struggle and fail to hold on to moisture. No work has ever really taken place on the fairways other than slitting so they are heavy on organic matter. When it is hot, they really do bake and we have lost a lot of grasses, particularly the fescues.

“A couple of years ago, knowing that we wanted to scarify the fairways, we begged, and borrowed machines just to get the ball rolling,” he continued. “However, the problem always came on the undulating common land and whichever machine we used, it basically scalped them, didn’t hit the low spots and was very hit and miss. But we knew that if we had the right one then it would help us achieve exactly what we wanted to.

“Then we came across the SISIS Veemo.”

The SISIS Veemo MK 2 is a tractor-mounted scarifier used for removing thatch from large areas of turf, such as golf course fairways. The Veemo’s strong cutting blades are designed for minimum surface disturbance and maximum thatch removal via three floating heads which are independent from the main frame. The heads each move in all degrees of motion and follow any undulations of the ground on a fairway without any danger of damaging / scalping the turf, whilst the tungsten tipped hook blades with variable spacing cut effectively through the thatch layer.

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

“The Veemo simply stood out from all the others – mainly for its durability and the way it hugs the ground, particularly on the fairways on the bottom half of the course.” said Steve. “It is fantastic the way it hits every part of the surface we want it to hit, due to the floating heads. The way it connects to the back of the tractor is also so simple.

“It is well built, and I can’t envisage any issues with damage or maintenance. The Veemo basically does everything we want it to do.

“We use the Veemo anytime between March and November, and the beauty of it is that not only can I use it on the fairways, but I can get it onto our tees and the approaches as well. I’m also going to be looking to use it on the greens very soon, and I think it will do a great job. I want to use it to its maximum capability.

“Overall, I’m very impressed with the Veemo and we are seeing the improvements from using it already.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter and Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

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TriCure™ delivers strength at Stourbridge GC

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TriCure™ delivers strength at Stourbridge GC: A fateful combination of high footfall, hot weather and a failing irrigation system has seen the tees at Stourbridge Golf Club struggling to retain all-important grass coverage in recent years.

That was until Head Greenkeeper Steve Harvey switched to a granular feeding programme with trusted nutritional partner Headland Amenity. This, coupled with the increased field longevity and flexibility of application of TriCure AD™ Granular wetting agent, has resulted in a transformational improvement in tee strength and playability.

TriCure™ delivers strength at Stourbridge GC

TriCure™ delivers strength at Stourbridge GC

Previously holding the Guinness World Record for the smallest acreage 18-hole course, the maintenance of Stourbridge for Steve and his team of four is challenging – with the sites free-draining nature only compounding issues with footfall crossover and compaction. “A wetting agent and fertiliser programme has always been available to us throughout the season but being liquid-based previously, we seemed to struggle to get applications out due to a mixture of staff availability, sprayer pressure or weather windows” explains Steve.

“The well-documented drought of summer 2018 really took it’s toll on the tees. We didn’t have irrigation capacity to maintain these as well as the greens, so we lost massive amounts of grass cover which in turn led to a lot of weed ingress, particularly Yarrow which really took hold. 2019 saw record rainfall and an increase in visitor numbers which meant that when we got to the spring of 2020, where COVID restrictions also began limiting the mechanical maintenance we could carry out, the tees were not in a good way.”

Steve switched the tee programme over to C-Complex® 5-2-10 and Xtend® 15-2-20+MgO later in the season, with TriCure AD™ Granular wetting agent, applied in five applications at a rate of 12.5g/m2 through the hottest and driest months. “The ease of application and logistics compared to trying to manoeuvre the sprayer round the small, misshapen, push-up tees has resulted in a more targeted approach and results which speak for themselves. We have the freedom and flexibility to apply TriCure when spray windows wouldn’t have previously allowed, and the field longevity we get on our free-draining profile is significantly improved. Following the success of the programme last year, continuing it this year is a no-brainer to sustain the strength and resilience the tees now demonstrate.”

Containing the same active ingredients as in liquid TriCure AD™ soil surfactant, TriCure AD™ Granular offers an effective alternative to spraying – preventing hydrophobic conditions on areas that may otherwise be hard to access. TriCure AD™ Granular utilises DG-Lite dispersible granule technology as a carrier to ensure fast solubilisation with no pick-up or residue left after normal irrigation.

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