Tag Archive for: Success

Turf Maintenance Live a success

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Turf Maintenance Live a success: Although the second day was plagued with heavy rain, this did not deter visitors to Turf Maintenance Live, held at St Albans School’s Woollam Playing Fields, on Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 October.

Over 130 delegates visited the event to see an eclectic mix of equipment that the 10 manufacturers and distributors had assembled at the superb venue, immaculately prepared by head groundman Ian Smith and his team.

Turf Maintenance Live a success

Visitors were able to visit each of the exhibitors – Agria UK, Ernest Doe & Sons, GKB Machines, Husqvarna UK, Iseki UK, Martin Lishman, Price Turfcare (Ventrac), Rigby Taylor, Wessex International and Wiedenmann UK – to see their equipment offering and in some cases ride and drive the machines on display.

“Considering the weather on the second day we were pleased,” said Val Graham from the TML team. “Some attendees came from as far away as south Wales, which proves the value of the event. With minimal opportunity to demo equipment at other industry events, this was a great occasion for our groundscare colleagues to see a wide range of equipment and, for some, the opportunity to ride and drive the machines.

“We are indebted to St Albans School, and Ian Smith in particular, for allowing us the use of their superb facilities, which were in pristine condition and looked fantastic.”

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Innovative App a Passport to Success

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Innovative App a Passport to Success: Passport365, a sport facilities management app developed in the East Midlands, has sold its Australian territory rights to synthetic grass specialist Tuff Group in a six-figure deal.

Passport365, an innovative mobile application, allows all of those connected with sports surfaces across the world to book in jobs, record their daily activity and upload images from the sites they manage and maintain, which can be viewed by asset managers in head offices across the globe in real time.

Innovative App a Passport to Success

The application is the brainchild of Garry Martin, Managing Director of Long Bennington-based synthetic grounds maintenance specialist Replay Maintenance, who developed the app over two years and launched it for global sale at the end of April this year.

Fraser Gehrig, Manging Director of Tuff Group Holding Pty Ltd, heard about the app soon after its launch and after trialling the software was immediately impressed by its potential benefit to his company, which specialises in the design, construction, installation and maintenance of synthetic grass and all forms of sport and recreation surfaces across Australia and New Zealand.

Fraser, a former professional Australian rules footballer, was so keen to make use of the app for his customers that he jumped on a plane to the UK to meet the Passport365 team and see the app working out in the field.

He believes that implementing Passport365 will significantly increase the capability of the business. Fraser said: “Passport365 will give us the ability to deliver a level of service not seen in Australia before.

“We operate across the entire surfaces industry, including retail, residential, commercial and maintenance. We will be implementing the system across all our divisions, allowing our staff to communicate more effectively and substantially improving the end results we deliver.

“Being able to report to our clients in real time from anywhere in Australia, on any job, will mean we are delivering innovation and new standards to the market here. The system provides real clarity to the client and helps mitigate risk in ensuring the customer is getting exactly what they pay for.

“We have invested heavily in technology and systems to support our growth and Passport365 complements this perfectly. As the sports field construction industry continues to grow across the country, Tuff Group will be using this system to ensure that every job we do is delivered to our own high standards and that our clients can see the progress every step of the way.”

Tuff Group was established in 2009 and supports clients such as the International Rugby Board, FIFA Football, IAAF Athletics, FIH Hockey and the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

Garry Martin said: “It’s been a hectic six months for Passport365, having launched for global sale in April this year.

“Our early adopters have given us amazing feedback and we’re now supplying the software to clients who are managing everything from single-use sports facilities all the way up to those running hundreds of surfaces across the UK.

“Having met Fraser and listening to his passion for delivering high levels of service to his customers, I knew that Passport365 would support him and his employees working within Tuff Group in delivering this.

“Having all of the information about any one site, in one place and accessible on the go will help his team manage the assets they install and service and will eliminate the need for paperwork – halving administration time and connecting Tuff Group to its customers for the lifetime of the surfaces.

“Passport365 allows everyone working on or managing a site to be able to view, update, share and collate reports from the app either through their phone or on their desktop and will display in real time through the bespoke portal application or on mobile if you are away from your desk.

“Most importantly, app users can check on each of their sites or team members while they’re hundreds of miles away at head office or even in another country.”

The application, which will be personalised with Tuff Group branding in Australia, also boasts a reporting system, making data, statistics and images available at the touch of a button.

The connectivity the software provides enhances all levels of service, from health and safety to quality assurance without the heavy administrative burden providers often have to implement.

Garry and the Passport365 team are currently in talks with sport and leisure surface specialists in other parts of the world who are interested in buying the rights to use the app in their territories.

For more information, or to register for a free 14-day trial of the app, visit: www.passport365.co.uk

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Rigby Taylor Success At Cromer LTA

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Rigby Taylor Success At Cromer LTA: One measure of the calibre of any sporting venue is not only the level of use of the site but also the number of favourable comments made about the quality of the playing surfaces.

Cromer Lawn Tennis & Squash Club (LTA) can lay claim to both – thanks to the expert court maintenance regimes instigated by head groundsman Matt Jordan and his use of a range of Rigby Taylor amenity products. These, he says, “prove indispensable in enabling us to keep our grass courts playing well and looking good all through a busy season”.

Rigby Taylor Success At Cromer LTA

Based on the Norfolk coast, Cromer LTA is open for play on weekdays during the summer months from 9am to 10pm, and on weekends from 9am to 8pm during the summer and 9am ‘til 4pm in the winter. The facilities are heavily used throughout the year. The 10 grass courts are open from April through to September, when play switches to the two floodlit artificial courts and the pair of hard courts.

The summer schedule includes a number of major tournaments when the grass courts especially are at full stretch:

  • A Junior Week when 300 youngsters descend on the site and utilise all courts;
  • The Open Senior Week, with around 200 competitors on grass – which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary at the long-established (1907) club; and
  • The County Week, when the club welcomes a host of players from around the country on its grass courts.

For such tournaments, it is not unusual for Matt and his assistant Peter Cooper to be at the site every day from 5.30am to, for example, cut the courts (at 8 mm high) “though the daily use of the mowers is more for ‘hoovering up’ any debris on the courts as it is for keeping the grass height consistent”. They also attend at night, when necessary, to water the courts.

But they utilise a well-practised pitch care regime that, says Matt, begins when the tennis season ends in September as court renovations begin.

“We will start with a concerted programme of heavy scarification when most of the sward will actually be removed,” he says. “Then we spike and apply a light covering of Kettering loam before applying Rigby Taylor’s R9 ultra fine dwarf rye seed. We’ll keep off the surfaces for two/three weeks before we start cutting – to 14 mm high – and we’ll continue to cut to this height every other week throughout the winter.

He continues: “During this time we will apply various Rigby Taylor products and we’ll spike and slit once a month in preparation for the new season, which starts in April. That said, I avoid aerating and spiking after perhaps February/March, depending on the weather, to avoid encouraging cracking on the courts.

“I’ve worked with bents and fescues in the past,” says Matt who spent eight years as a golf greenkeeper (when he gained his Level 3 accreditation) before joining Cromer LTA in 2008. “But rye is, of course, the choice for tennis courts and I find R9 (treated with Germin-8T) provides excellent wear and disease tolerance, for example.

Rigby Taylor Success At Cromer LTA

The ‘T’ in Germin 8T identifies the content of the Trichoderma atroviride filamentous soil fungi that forms a mutual endophytic, beneficial relationship with grass plants. The symbiotic relationship delivers increased tolerance to the turf diseases leaf spot, pythium and rhizoctonia.

Pre-applied to each individual grass seed, Germin-8T contains a speciality surfactant that is activated when the seed comes into contact with rootzone moisture. This provides effective penetration of water through the seeds’ outer layer (pericorp) into the endosperm, by lowering the surface tension of the surrounding water molecules. Roots can also take advantage of the micronised mycorryhizal fungi that will deliver long-term plant benefits.

The result is that at the active germination stage, each emerging seedling has immediate access to a highly beneficial package of targeted nutrients, biostimulants and micronised mycorrhizal fungi that together aid early establishment, improved root mass development and accelerated leaf extension.

“I do trial competitor grasses against R9 but haven’t found anything to match it – for example, its germination rates are consistently 25% better than anything I’ve tried.”

Likewise, he pinpoints a number of other Rigby Taylor’s products as being ideal for his needs – and those of the courts – “including Premier HG slow-release granular and Fine Turf 6-0-18 fertilisers, SeaQuest liquid seaweed and Magnet Velocite liquid iron”, in combination with the company’s iGo line marker and its Impact XP paint “where every application consistently lasts for a week”.

The artificial courts are brushed as often as possible when the weather is dry, “and at least every other week”, while the hard courts are sprayed once/twice a year to keep the moss at bay.

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ICL School Seminar A Success

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ICL School Seminar A Success: In what proved to be the hottest day of the year, the 2019 ICL Independent School Seminar, hosted at the illustrious Cheltenham College, saw a record-breaking number of attendees soak up a memorable day of knowledge, networking and first-class cricket.

Over 70 turf professionals made their way to the historic spa town of Cheltenham to network and enhance their education on a variety of different turf management topics in a seminar tailor-made for those working within the Independent Schools sector.

ICL School Seminar A Success

The seminar was held in the College’s Thirlestaine House, which over the years has housed some of Cheltenham’s most creative and forward-thinking students. It was therefore an appropriate setting to discuss the future of turf care and explore new and innovative methods.

Christian Brain, Head of Grounds at Cheltenham College, was the first to take to the stage and proceeded to offer a wonderful glimpse into the College’s rich history in which he reflected on the years, the great changes that have taken place, and the significant marks that history has carved in its life.

It was then down to business as Henry Bechelet, ICL Technical Sales Manager UK & Ireland, delivered his thoughts on The Future of Fertilizer. After nearly two years of negotiations the European Parliament have agreed on a new regulation for fertilizers. Set to commence in 2022, many questions have been raised as to how the new regulations might affect the industry and Henry was on hand to clarify the situation.

“The whole point about the regulations is to protect the end user,” he said. “The other key aim of the legislation is to bring into play added transparency and more sustainable and circular economy ingredients. At ICL we view the new regulations as being progressive because we can always demonstrate the performance of our products, but they are going to have a big impact on how some companies sell their products. No longer will companies be able to falsely market their products – which is a step in the right direction because hopefully it will take out of the marketplace those companies that don’t have the evidence to support their product claims.”

After addressing the new forthcoming fertilizer regulations, Henry discussed the use of the new Pearl granules that ICL is incorporating into the renovator grades in the SierrablenPlus range.

“These are slow release forms of nitrogen but mainly phosphorus which have been proven in trial work to really encourage root development. We are very excited about these new materials because we feel that they will massively enhance renovations and encourage better rooted plants,” he said.

Attendees then got the opportunity to receive a tour of the grounds and Christian explained how he and his team prepare for the Cheltenham Cricket Festival. At over 140 years of age, Cheltenham is the world’s oldest cricket festival and has, over the years, witnessed some legends of the game such as Wally Hammond, Allan Border and WG Grace. Taking place every July, over a two-week period, the festival now features a selection of T20 Blast games – something which the delegates would later enjoy.

As everyone gathered back in Thirlestaine House and re-took their seats, student Tamsin Williams captivated the audience with an insight into ICL’s unique four-year research project which is exploring the effects of seaweed products on turfgrass plant parasitic nematodes.

The project, which is taking place at Royal Holloway, University of London, was founded due to the apparent rise of nematodes. As it stands, there are few options available for the turf manager who has a nematode problem but ICL is currently researching whether seaweed could offer a solution. Tamsin is of the opinion that when the right seaweed is applied to a grass plant it could change the resistance of the plant to disease and insect attack and she revealed her current findings.

“The research into the nematodes and how seaweed can be used as a preventative was very interesting,” said Matt Wharton, Grounds Manager at Reading Blue Coat School. “The technical detail was outstanding – Tamsin is working on something really special that will increase our knowledge and benefit the whole industry.”

At the 2018 ICL Independent School Seminar held at Edgbaston Stadium, Andy Richards, Grounds Manager at Shrewsbury School revealed how he uses data recorded from his weather station and moisture metres to improve playing conditions and to identify what equipment he needs in order to continue to make improvements. Inspired by Andy’s seminar, Glenn Kirby, Syngenta’s Technical Manager for UK Turf & Landscape unveiled a year’s worth of recorded data which undoubtedly piqued the delegates’ curiosity.

“The talk from Andy last year ignited my excitement to get out there and have a look for myself,” said Glenn. “It was an opportunity to talk to the delegates about the limitations I have found within some of the data and how I feel it could help people manage their turf moving forwards.

“Weather conditions are changing all the time and due to this turf managers are becoming under increasing pressure so having a really firm hand on exactly what is going on in the soil can only help them. It is going to be very challenging and will be very different to what they have seen before.”

Glenn’s presentation seemed to strike a chord with attendee Carl Reeves, who is enjoying his first role in a Head Groundsman position at Bradfield College. “I think the last seminar about climate change and how it’s continuing to adjust was a real eye opener because we have obviously affected the planet quite badly. Yes, we have some huge challenges ahead but this seminar demonstrated how to use certain technology to ensure that we are always that one step ahead.”

As the delegates reflected on yet another insightful ICL seminar, keeping on top of turf management and looking to the future in an ever-changing industry seemed to be the general consensus.

“I think that a lot of the research and the projects ICL are working on are key to how we change turf management in the next ten years,” said Charlie Seager, a Groundsman at Warwick Independent Schools Foundation. “You have got to be ahead of the times because of the way technology is changing so it is very beneficial to come to events like these.”

Charlie was one of four grounds staff from Warwick who attended and Duncan Toon, Grounds Manager, explained why it was so important to make the seminar a team outing.

“These seminars are essential because it isn’t just all about what we learn in the seminars – it’s also about networking and what you get from chatting to other groundsmen. I can guarantee that we will be sitting round the table on Monday and I’ll have twenty new ideas from everyone who attended and that is why I like to bring the whole team.”

Gary Austin, Deputy Head Groundsman at Radley College, praised the event for simplifying what can potentially be some incredibly overwhelming topics.

“What I like about these seminars are that you can tell that ICL are genuinely trying to help groundsmen like us – they are on our side. I also think ICL present all of their data and research in a non-scientific manner which general groundsmen can understand. They break the research data down really nicely for you, in an easy to understand way and you can then go ahead and put it into practice.”

The day was rounded off in style as the delegates joined a sell-out 5,000 strong attendance to watch Gloucestershire inflict a first defeat on Middlesex in this season’s Vitality Blast.

Organiser of the event, ICL’s Emma Kilby, first launched the Independent School Seminar back in 2011 and is pleased to see just how far it has come over the years.

“This is a huge sector and consists of a very particular group of people that look after schools which have a multitude of different surfaces – all of which require very different approaches.

When I first joined ICL eight years ago I just felt that they were not receiving the kind of support they needed. It was at that point I started discussing the idea of an event with various school groundsmen and we launched the first seminar in 2011 at Radley College.

“The event has run every year since at different venues and the bar is raised each time. These guys are real experts in lots of different disciplines and their requirements are quite individual so to actually focus on them and to get them along to an event where all the seminars are aimed at topics they are interested in is one thing but also the opportunity to get them all together so they can talk with one another and network is invaluable.”

Please contact ICL on 01473 237100 or visit www.icl-sf.co.uk or www.icl-sf.ie if you are in Ireland.

For more news and insightful views, you can follow ICL on Twitter @ICL_Turf

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Limagrain A Success At Glamorgan

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Limagrain A Success At Glamorgan: Glamorgan County Cricket Club head groundsman Robin Saxton believes that a range of Limagrain UK grass seed is helping the venue stand up to the demands of modern day sport and the constant scrutiny that pitches are under.

Sophia Gardens Cardiff, a 16,000-seater stadium, is the home of Glamorgan Cricket and an established venue for international cricket. In an average season, the venue will host four day championship games, T20 games, international and domestic fixtures and a mixture of local and corporate games. Robin estimates that there are approximately between 45-50 days of cricket played at the venue each year and this is in addition to pre-season concerts and events.

Limagrain A Success At Glamorgan

It is safe to say that Robin, who has been at Sophia Gardens since 2013, has his work cut out and that is without the increasing pressure grounds personnel are under, as he explains.

“Due to the demands of modern day sport and because of the TV cameras, pitches are always under scrutiny and it needs to be at its best at all times.

“Even the outfields used to be the square’s poor cousin not so long ago but that has all changed now. What you don’t want is a square that looks great and an outfield that looks patchy because it will be quickly noticed.”

For his outfields, Robin overseeded with Limagrain’s Action Replay which is a 100% Ryegrass hard-wearing mixture.

“The Action Replay is a winter sports mix, designed for the likes of football and rugby so we thought that this mixture would be ideal for the outfield,” he said. “It is wear and disease tolerant because it is a broad, robust seed.

“We first applied it last year and we had a fantastic take with it which excelled during a particularly hot summer. Since using Action Replay we have seen a lot less burn off and a lot less dry out on the outfield.”

When it comes to the 15 wickets and practice pitches on the square, MM50 has stood the test of time and has been used at Sophia Gardens for as long as Robin can remember.

“I’ve been here since 2013 and even before I arrived MM50 was being used,” he said. “It shows that myself and others before me have always had faith in the seed and deservedly so because we have tried other seeds against it in side-by-side trials. MM50 has always come up better, nothing has ever beaten it.”

MM50 is the ideal seed for cricket squares. This hard-wearing mix has rapid germination, a very fine leaved appearance, high shoot density and is tolerant to very close mowing, along with high disease resistance. All these attributes together produce a fantastic sward that has great colour all year round. It is also widely praised for its rapid recovery – something which Robin quickly noticed.

“MM50 is by far the best seed in terms of recovery. When trialled against the others, it has proven to be stronger, it has come through thicker and it is more wear tolerant. It has consistently outperformed other seeds we have trailed.

“You are left with a stronger plant that is going to take the activity across the square better than a slightly finer plant – which with a full calendar of cricket is a big bonus. With MM50 you just have the confidence in knowing that it will handle the stresses of four-day cricket where we can’t really water the square as much as we would like to.

“There has never been any reason to change the seed,” continued Robin. “In fact it has probably been the one constant product we have stuck with over the years – we may have changed the fertilisers, the chemistry and the biology but not the actual grass plant because it has always been a great base to work from.

“For me, the consistency of MM50 is the best feature. I don’t remember one year where we have had a batch that has not performed how we would like it to. It has got to the point that if something isn’t right then we look at things we might have done incorrectly because it is no doubt a mistake on our part rather than the seed because we know how good the MM50 is.”

For further information, please contact Limagrain UK on 01472 371471 or visit the company’s website www.lgseeds.co.uk/mm. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

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