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Future leaders step into the spotlight at SALTEX

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Future leaders step into the spotlight at SALTEX: The Grounds Management Association’s (GMA) future leaders and young professional ambassadors, GMA NextGen, are set to take centre stage at SALTEX 2025 with their first-ever takeover of the show’s renowned Learning LIVE programme. 

GMA NextGen is made up of talented young professionals dedicated to championing the grounds management industry and inspiring the next generation. Their mission is to attract and engage young people by showcasing the diverse, rewarding career opportunities available in the sector.

Future leaders step into the spotlight at SALTEX

Future leaders step into the spotlight at SALTEX

For 2025, Learning LIVE – the largest free educational event of its kind in the industry – will feature two dedicated NextGen sessions on the Spotlight Stage. Topics include Diversity in the Grounds Industry and a panel of NextGen alumni discussing youth engagement, change-making and their own journeys into the group and, most importantly, how the sector can continue to attract the next generation of grounds staff.

The takeover doesn’t stop there. The reimagined SALTEX Clubhouse will also play host to a confirmed under 35s meet-up for networking and Q&As. Afterwards, visitors should stick around for the 3pm Happy Hour, where a special sporting star will swap the pitch for the decks and DJ the afternoon away – more details coming soon!

Learning LIVE highlights

  • Wednesday 12 November, 1:00pm – 1:45pm

Youth Engagement: Hear from past members as they discuss the importance of bringing young talent into the sector, the changes they want to see and why they got involved. Hosted by GMA NextGen members Jack Langley, Jack Leather and Flynn Good.

  • Thursday 13 November, 12:00pm – 12:45pm

Diversity in the Grounds Industry: An open and candid conversation on inclusion and representation, exploring how the sector can continue to evolve.

Clubhouse Meet-up

  • Wednesday 12 November, 1:45pm – 2:45pm

Join the dedicated NextGen Meet-Up and Q&A in the reimagined SALTEX Clubhouse. The informal session is the perfect chance to network with peers and be part of their growing NextGen community.

“SALTEX is a fantastic platform to showcase what GMA NextGen is all about, and to highlight the real career opportunities available for young people looking to enter the industry,” said Jack Langley, Co-Chair of GMA NextGen and Deputy Head Groundsperson at Ashton Gate Stadium.

“Visitors will also get the chance to hear from NextGen alumni who are now thriving in established careers, which we hope will inspire others to follow in their footsteps. It’s no secret that this is an ageing industry, so being able to take over Learning LIVE is a real step forward in our mission to attract and retain new talent in grounds management.”

Sarah Cunningham, Director of Commercial, Membership and Events at the GMA, added: “We’re incredibly proud to be showcasing the GMA NextGen group at SALTEX. They’re already making waves within the industry and bringing fresh ideas to grounds management, so by providing them with a platform at Learning LIVE will allow them to highlight their achievements and show the important role young professionals will play in shaping the industry’s future.”

To find out more about GMA NextGen, visit thegma.org.uk/nextgen.

Register for FREE at www.saltex.org.uk and be in with a chance of winning a Cramer Tools Lawn Mower, complete with charger and battery, worth £2,240!

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The Power of Botanical Balance

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The Power of Botanical Balance: The spring of 2025 was the hottest and driest on record. Four heatwaves, rainfall 40% below the average and soaring evapotranspiration have left reservoirs low and much of England officially in drought.

For turf managers, this isn’t a one-off challenge — it’s the new pattern. Fairways, in particular, have taken a hit with heavy traffic and hydrophobic ‘dry patch’ soils slowing recovery and reducing the overseeding window. Beneath the surface, next season’s outcomes are already being decided so what can you do create surfaces than not only survive, but thrive? Stuart Yarwood, Regional Technical Manager at DLF Seeds explores.

The Power of Botanical Balance

The Power of Botanical Balance

Resilience isn’t about one species — it’s about balance. Each grass brings unique strengths and, when blended intelligently, they create swards that can survive drought, recover faster and maintain presentation. The deep roots and rolled leaves of Fescues provide natural drought tolerance. Slender & Strong Creeping Red deliver rhizomatous recovery, Chewings provides fineness and root mass while Hard and Sheep’s add density on poorer soils. The creeping roots of Bents provide stability, boost drought recovery and wear tolerance, all with low inputs. Ultrafine Ryegrasses provide rapid establishment and resilience to traffic, ideal for situations where fast cover is critical.

Botanical diversity is an insurance policy: if one species falters, others fill the gap. This strategy forms the backbone of mixture formulation, with each Johnsons Sports Seed and Masterline mix from DLF a carefully tuned orchestra of grasses working in harmony to protect your surfaces from whatever the climate throws next.

Looking specifically at the Johnsons Sports Seed range, J Sustain Fairway is the ultimate ‘Climate Guardian’, with a five-fescue blend of Hard, Slender, Strong, Chewings and Sheep’s working together like a defensive line. J Fescue is a smooth, balanced and adaptable all-rounder for greens, tees, approached and fairways, while J Premier Fairway is a focused, premium fescue cocktail for fairways that provides consistency, density and top-class presentation. The new 2025 formulation of Johnson’s J Fairway is another gamechanger – featuring 5% Teetop Browntop Bent which equates to 10 million plants per bag! Its creeping roots stitch fairways together for outstanding resilience and accelerated recovery.

When traffic is high and recovery needs to be fast, the J Ultrafine Rye range is your emergency service – available with 25%, 50% or 100% ultrafine rye for superior play and presentation. For coastal conditions, you can consider the 100% Slender Creeping Red fescue blend of J Links – salt-tolerant, wind-tough and bred for true links authenticity.

The autumn brings warm soils, cool air and dews — perfect conditions for overseeding. Walk your fairways and study what’s survived to match seed choice to site conditions. Relieve compaction when soils soften, aerate to chase roots deeper and use wetting agents to re-wet profiles. Once overseeding is complete, protect seedlings from traffic and communicate realistic timelines with golfers.

2025 has been brutal, but intelligent overseeding is your defence. Combine botanical diversity, cultural best practice and DLF’s unrivalled seed purity to future-proof your fairways. Overseeding isn’t just repair — it’s an investment in resilience, playability and sustainability.

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Echo RP-1250 proves the perfect driving range partner

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Echo RP-1250 proves the perfect driving range partner: In just a few short weeks, an Echo RP-1250 from GroundTech has successfully streamlined the driving range operation at Kingsway Royston’s Golf Centre.

Operations Director James Watts explains how their new autonomous range-picker is working seamlessly with the club’s existing washer set-up and has resulted in up to 20 hours of labour being reallocated around the course every week!

Echo RP-1250 proves the perfect driving range partner

Echo RP-1250 proves the perfect driving range partner

Located on the outskirts of Cambridge, Kingsway Royston is a family-focused golfing destination offering a 9-hole golf course and Toptracer driving range alongside foot golf, pitch and putt, 18 holes of Jurassic Links Adventure Golf, Jamaica Blue café and AF Golf store. Like many, Kingsway has enjoyed a major boost in footfall post-COVID – good for business, but placing additional strain on their maintenance partners of nearly three decades, Turf Care Leisure.

To address the challenge, James engaged with GroundTech’s Marcus Glover to explore options. “I’ve been in the industry for many years and it’s been really interesting to watch the developments and refinements within the robotic arena” he explains. “Echo is well-established and well-proven so I had no doubt the technology, paired with the expert support and service from GroundTech, was going to be the perfect partner for our 30-bay driving range.”

The RP-1250 is capable of collecting up to 20,000 golf balls per day, silently and in all weathers. Optimised via GPS to target high density areas, balls are safely and efficiently collected and returned to a designated drop-off point – in this instance, a custom-fabricated holding tank designed and supplied by GroundTech. “It’s fitted seamlessly into our existing washer and Range Servant automated management system, and has reduced the time taken to clear the driving range from three or four hours every day to just one.”

James emphasises, “The time-saving is massive for us. Being able to redistribute close to 20 hours of labour every week enables us to focus our efforts on other projects and course improvements which has obviously been very well received by our customers.” He adds, “The service we’ve had from Marcus and GroundTech has been excellent throughout – everything from helping us provide a business case for the purchase, through to installation in early August and supporting us and our team through the initial set-up and induction period.”

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Baroness does the triple with top ranked ‘Notts Triangle’

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Baroness does the triple with top ranked ‘Notts Triangle’: It’s not just an NG postcode that Coxmoor, Hollinwell and Sherwood Forest Golf Club’s share, nor the fact that they all rank in England’s Top 100…. They also all swear by their respective mower fleets from Baroness!

A range of hand mowers, fairways mowers and greens triples have clocked up almost 20 years of loyal service across the three clubs, with all citing it’s the outstanding quality of cut that keeps them among the top golfing destinations in the county.

Baroness does the triple with top ranked ‘Notts Triangle’

Baroness does the triple with top ranked ‘Notts Triangle’

Aspiring to always improve on the high standard heathland course at Coxmoor Golf Club is Course Manager Ben Cumberland and his team of nine. After initially ‘dipping a toe’ and purchasing their first Baroness hand mower seven years ago, they now run four LM56 and four LM66 pedestrian mowers, three LM315’s and two LM551’s for fairways making Baroness the dominant brand of mowing equipment at the club. “Some clubs will opt for equipment purely based on a badge. For us, we prioritise quality of cut above everything else and with Baroness, it’s just exceptional!” Ben explains. “The fleet is ensuring our turf is presenting well and is the healthiest it can be but more than that the build quality of the mowers themselves and the blades require so little maintenance, that any downtime has been significantly reduced.”

Baroness has been present at Hollinwell Golf Club since 2018 – the same year Shaun Bullin joined the team before taking over as Course Manager earlier in 2025. One of the original LM2700 fairway mowers remains in the shed, joined by an LM56 for tees, LM331 for surrounds and approaches, two LM315’s and, most recently, two LM551 fairway mowers. “Over the years, the cut quality from model to model has remained remarkably consistent. While they’ve never been uncomfortable, we’ve noticed our new machines have really stepped up on operator comfort which has scored massive brownie points with the team.” Shaun continues, “We’re partway through a big sward conversion programme so the finesse of the Baroness cylinders plays a big part in supporting our efforts to promote the finer grass species.”

Completing the ‘Nott’s Triangle’, a Baroness LM315 and LM551 fairway mower, four LM56 and two LM66 hand mowers are keeping maintenance on course at Sherwood Forest Golf Club. “It was during the COVID pandemic that we were first introduced to Baroness in our hunt for a new fairway mower” says Deputy Head Greenkeeper Keir Taylor. “Where lead times for other brands were ludicrous, we were able to get our hands on Baroness in good time – and what a decision that turned out to be! The build quality, the cut quality and all-round operator experience is fantastic. The maintenance, in particular the need to grind the blades, is straight forward and is needed much less often than we’re used to with other brands” he adds.

Ben, Shaun and Keir also note the fantastic advice and support from James Robson and the wider team at Henton & Chattell. “The back-up with every machine is excellent. If we have a question you can guarantee it’ll be answered quickly and easily either over the phone or in person” Keir says. “The team are always friendly and, alongside Andy Darley from Baroness, they’ve together been a great help and support in my step up to the head role” Shaun concludes.

For more information on the full Baroness range of mowers and implements for fine turf, visit www.baronessuk.com

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ZLine bunkers at The Rose

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ZLine bunkers at The Rose: The Rose is a new golf club, located close to the city of Athens in Georgia, due to open in 2026, and being developed by two-time All American and 2001 Walker Cupper Nick Cassini and his brother Dimitri, and designed by Oklahoma-based architect Tripp Davis. And The Rose’s bunkers are being lined using the ZLine system, which Davis has used on several of his recent projects.

“We are now grassing the course, and will be doing so until into the fall,” says Davis. “And the bunkers are being lined at the moment as well. Our team have been trained by ZLine in how to install the product, and they’re hard at work doing so.”

ZLine bunkers at The Rose

ZLine bunkers at The Rose

The Rose will be private, and a healthy number of members have already been enrolled. “It is a beautiful site, fairly open,” says Davis. “200 of the 300 acres we are using for the golf course were harvested for pine trees, so we have mostly cleared lesser quality hardwoods and volunteer underbrush. The land has a Shinnecock feel to it, with really nice rolling contours. It will have 105 acres of turf and 195 acres of thinner native grasses near play and what we are calling our ‘heathland’ areas of native grass and small indigenous shrubs more out of play. The developers want the course to be in the style of early American classics, so the sand lines on the bunkers are very high. When you have a high sand line, you need to be sure that the sand will hold on the bunker faces, and ZLine holds extremely well. Additionally, the bunker sands used in Georgia need to drain quickly to perform well, and ZLine drains better than any other bunker liner product I have come across.”

“The course has turned out really well, and I can’t wait to see it finished – I think members and their guests will love it,” he says. “And the ZLine bunkers will play a significant role in that.”

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