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Raising the bar

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Raising the bar: Scott MacCallum headed to Hertfordshire to meet James Bonfield, a Course Manager for whom a change of club ownership has been a real tonic and a chance to set new standards.

Finding out that your company has been taken over, or that you have a new boss to whom you will be answering in future, is an unnerving situation. You see it in all walks of life. Your face no longer fits, or you find that your name appears on the list of potential redundancies.

Raising the bar

Raising the bar

It never ends well. Or does it?

James Bonfield, Course Manager at The Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club, found himself in that very position three years ago band went through all the anxiety and uncertainty that goes along with the territory. However, when we spoke in the ancient splendour of the mansion house around which the course flows, you could scarcely find a happier man.

However, there is no denying that the period before Elysium Golf Ltd, a company with no previous record of golf club ownership or management, was a worry.

“We knew that we were being taken over but didn’t have too much information about the people we would be working for or what their goals were – we knew they didn’t have a history in owning golf clubs. This is their first golf course and we didn’t know our position in their future plans. So, it was all up in the air,” recalled James.

What is never in doubt during these situations is that they inevitably become hotbeds for all sorts of rumours.

“In the months before there were rumours flying about. Everyone who was not working here seemed to have a direct line to the owner and knew what was happening,” said James.

“We were only going to be nine holes. We were going to be closed totally. We were going to be this. We were going to be that,” said James.

“We were only going to be nine holes. We were going to be closed totally. We were going to be this. We were going to be that,” said James.

Given that the land, north of London and in sight of the city of London itself, would be worth a fortune to developers, many of the rumours could possibly have carried some genuine mileage.

“The first couple of times that you hear it you think ‘Whatever’. Then, after we’d been hearing the same things for about six months, it got to some of the lads. I feel very fortunate that I still have half the team from 2019. My Deputy, my Mechanic and my First Assistant are still here,” said James, who stressed that he has no issues with those who left given the uncertainty of the times.

“You could say that we all took a chance and stayed, and we are very happy that we have. We have rebuilt team and added to the team.

We had six before the takeover and we are up to ten now – nine greenkeepers and a gardener. It is a sign of where we are moving.”

Raising the bar

Raising the bar

However, they didn’t know that their coin had come up ‘heads’ until they arrived for work the first day under the new owners.

“On that first morning they had no idea what to expect of what they were going to be told. But then we found Simon Doyle from Troon Golf was there waiting for us.”

Troon Golf had been brought in for six months during the transition and to assess the skills of James and his team. A very smart move by Elysium.

“Simon gave us an overview of what would be happening,” said James

“It was good to have Troon here. They were the contact to the owner and vice versa. Simon just came in that first morning and put everyone at ease. When Troon walk in it’s a sign that they are not going to be closing it down soon. You don’t get Troon in for no reason whatsoever.”

It was also a sign that Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club was going to change for the better.

“We were not to be dealing with mediocre – we’re going high-end. And every decision since then has been based on that objective.”

Simon sat down with the team and said this is the plan. This is where the owner wants to head and we went off and went through everything.

“Lucky for myself and my background we had a good chat and he soon appreciated where we came from, our abilities and collective drive to make the courses as good as we could make it.

“It was helpful to be able to achieve our machinery needs, what we would need going forward, as the machinery had in the sheds as a result of the sale, wasn’t fit for purpose.

“He helped us to get a machinery inventory together and get it across the line with the owners and start getting into it so we can move forward,” said James, adding that it was good that people were investing in them.

“The cost of the machinery fleet wasn’t cheap – Toro. And there were no corners cut.

Everything was Toro, other than a Kubota tractor.

“So that’s fantastic. Since then, machinery-wise, we’ve continued to add to it so we’ve got a fairway seeder, two Wiedenmann spikers – one for greens and one for fairways.

Also a trencher so we can do our own drainage works, and another tractor so that we would have more options. So we have got more and we are going to add next year.”

“Every year we continue to progress. It doesn’t always mean adding new machinery. We will not just get kit for the sake of getting it. But will get what we need to will make us more effective as a team and allow us to work more efficiently.

“I don’t want to waste the owner’s money. I don’t want him coming down and seeing a bit of kit that has been sitting around doing nothing for six months. That would kill me. I want him to come in and see that everything has been used and that it is all in good nick. That way we will build up trust.”

Having been given the tools there must be pressure to achieve great things and meet the new found expectations for the golf course.

“This is going to sound big-headed but it’s not meant to be,” said James. “My Deputy, John Hart, and my First Assistant, Karl Vincent, and I have always tried to be better than where we were.

“We’ve always tried to push this place forward. We play a lot of golf at other courses. All the team play from +3 to me at 16 handicap we know what better looks like and, more importantly, what it feels to play it.

“The frustration wasn’t quite having the resources to get to where you felt it could be. That is not to fault the previous owners, that’s just the market we were in at that point.

We are not in that market any more.”

How that manifests itself involves doing exactly what they’ve been doing but adding to it.

Raising the bar

Raising the bar

“Areas we wouldn’t have thought about doing in the past – we can dress tees now and so we discuss if we are to be doing it what do we need? We need to overseed, for example. So we need to build it all into the budget.

“And the same for approaches, because we’ve always grouped tees and approaches together. Then it was how could we improve the course, so we’ve added swales and run-offs round the greens, because we’ve got really nice undulations.”

All this work, as soon as the team were let off the lease, combined to prove to Simon, and ultimately the owner, that James and the team could be left to get on with it.

“Simon is a very knowledgeable guy and runs a lot of golf courses and after about three days he realised that we were confident in doing what we were doing. We were speaking his language. And that got fed back to the owner and he then has more faith in what is going on.

“We love this place and are always thinking about what we can do to make it better.”

Etesia is the way for wet grass

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Etesia is the way for wet grass: Adam Patterson, owner of Patterson’s Gardening Services in Northern Ireland, needed a mower that would perform in the wet, and in his opinion, there was only one brand which was comfortably up to the job.

Over the past 30 years, Etesia ride-on and pedestrian mowers have become world renowned for being able to cut and collect – in all ALL weathers. Even in long and wet grass conditions, the mowers provide a quality finish with outstanding collection performance.

Etesia is the way for wet grass

Etesia is the way for wet grass

“We chose Etesia because it has a reputation for being the best at cutting and collecting wet grass,” said Adam. “When it comes to the design and build, Etesia has thought about all the things that other manufacturers simply have not.”

Adam set the company up ten years ago after revealing that it was always his ambition: “It was always going to be the career for me – grass cutting was my summer job and I absolutely loved it,” he said.

Patterson’s Gardening Services, now employs four members of staff, and is highly regarded throughout Lisburn and surrounding areas.

With a glowing reputation to maintain, Adam takes it incredibly seriously when it comes to purchasing new equipment. Therefore, when his pedestrian mowers needed upgrading, he phoned Etesia and had a lengthy conversation with the company to discuss what he was looking for.

He was recommended two models from the PRO 46 range; the PHTS3 – a single speed self-propelled mower and the PHE3 – a push variant.

Following the same concept of the PRO 46 range of pedestrian mowers first launched in the early 1990’s, both models feature Xenoy cutting decks for increased strength, shear washer crank protection, individual height of cut adjusters, a new 22mm handlebar design, the latest Honda GCV170 engine and are supplied complete with 80 litre grass box and rear deflector as standard.

One main feature of these models is the ‘one cut’ principle. This means the grass is only cut once before being sent to the grass box. The benefits of this are reduced power consumption from fast deck material ejection and secondly, as it is not multi chopped, the grass does not stick to the cutting deck in the same way as multi-cut grass does prevent unwanted blockages. The grass box is manufactured out of the same Xenoy compound as the cutting deck for maximum strength and comes complete with fill indicator.

Adam ended up buying two of each model from his local dealer RD Mechanical and hasn’t looked back since.

“They have an excellent build quality and the weight of them really appealed to me. They are just perfect for all our small amenity lawns. However, we find ourselves using them on the bigger lawns too, especially if it has been raining or there is a lot of dew. In these circumstances the Etesia’s are so much quicker because you are not stopping to unclog the cute after every stripe.

“The PRO 46’s are very reliable and user friendly,” he continued. “From a personal point of view, I really like the way the handles bend slightly down as well – it feels more natural to work with as opposed to your hands being in an upright position.

“We have received an excellent service from our dealer RD Mechanical throughout the process – from advising the correct model, to the delivery, so It’s safe to say I am one happy customer.”

For further information, please contact Etesia UK on 01295 680120 or visit www.etesia.co.uk.

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

You can also view the latest Etesia videos by visiting www.youtube.com/EtesiaUK

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The Seeds of Success

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The Seeds of Success: MM Sports Seed, one of the most respected brands in the UK amenity industry, recently brought together their distributors for their MM distributor conference held at Hotel du Vin Wimbledon, followed by a tour of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

The conference provided the opportunity for distributors to interact with each other for the first time in two years following the COVID pandemic and give an insight in the recent acquisition of the MM and Designer brands by DLF Seeds.

The Seeds of Success

The Seeds of Success

The conference was the ideal opportunity to give distributors an insight into the Inkberrow factory upgrade and demo site at DLF’s UK headquarters, a breeding and portfolio update detailing the exciting new cultivars that are planned for the MM mixtures, the current market supply conditions, and future marketing of the brands as well as enhancing the communications channels within the MM Sports Seed network.

Neil Stubley, head of courts and horticulture at Wimbledon – The All England Lawn Tennis Club concluded day one of the conference with an entertaining update of the prestigious venue.

On day two, delegates were invited for an exclusive tour around the world’s oldest tennis venue to witness first hand the latest stadium developments and turf management practices.

The conference was hosted by Matt Gresty, sales and marketing manager for MM Sports Seed, who said: “Throughout the two days together we were able to discuss, the opportunities and issues that affect our businesses. It provided the perfect platform for an informed debate.

“The past two years have presented unique challenges to our industry. London was the ideal location for the event. A lot of preparation went into the conference to ensure we got the full benefit from our two days together and the feedback from the delegates was excellent; it’s been a very successful event.”

For further information, please contact MM Sports Seed on 01386 791102 or visit the company’s new website www.mm-seeds.co.uk. You can also follow the company on Twitter: @MM_Seed

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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

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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Ravens rave about the Dennis G860

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Ravens rave about the Dennis G860: Sean Kauffman, Head Groundskeeper for National Football League (NFL) side Baltimore Ravens has revealed how two Dennis G860 cylinder mowers have significantly helped the grounds crew to improve the standards of the pitch at the M&T Bank Stadium.

M&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL, and Sean has been working for the organisation for seventeen years.

Ravens rave about the Dennis G860

Ravens rave about the Dennis G860

After originally starting as a First Assistant, Sean finds himself in the top position overseeing a busy schedule.

“In the average season we generally have twelve NFL games and training sessions,” he said. “On top of that we put on concerts, events, soccer games, NCAA college football, lacrosse and monster truck shows.”

It is safe to say that Sean and his two members of staff have their work cut out and so therefore he admits to always being on the lookout for equipment that can make his maintenance programme easier and better.

“We were previously using a ride-on mower on the stadium pitch, but I felt this was certainly one area where we could upgrade.

“I first saw Dennis Mowers at the Golf Industry Show (GIS), and we got a good look at the machines. We felt the G860 cylinder mowers would be a better option than what we had and knew that it would certainly help to keep some weight off the pitch.

“A demonstration was arranged, and we really liked what we saw. I also spoke to some people who had worked with the G860’s and they encouraged the purchase. We ended up purchasing two.”

Sports turf managers have relied on the G860 to provide the perfect cut; and the popularity of the machines in the States is growing all the time. Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls for – throttle, parking brake, roller drive and cutting cylinder drive.

The mower features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion. The Dennis G860 also features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks such as including cutting, de-thatching, verticutting, brushing, spiking, and slitting.

Sean revealed that the spring tine cassette and the 8 bladed cutting cassette are the two that he most relies on.

“As one game ends, preparation for the next one begins immediately and this is where the G860 comes in,” he said. “Following games, both of the Dennis mowers will give the pitch a sweep to clean the debris off and then we will repeat the process a couple of days later.

Then we’ll use the 8 bladed cutting cassette to mow the pitch to prepare for matchday. We absolutely love the quality of cut and the presentation it offers. I also like how easy they are to manoeuvre; and it is very easy to switch the cassettes around.

“Our pitch has been better since using them,” continued Sean. “Everything has been great; the machines have been running brilliantly and hopefully that continues for a long time.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

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