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SAGE: The potential is massive

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SAGE: The potential is massive: A huge thank you to everyone who attended and supported the inaugural year of The Sports & Grounds Expo (SAGE), at The Three Counties Showground, 27 – 29 July.

The challenges of the last year have had a huge impact on events, and the support and positive feedback from our visitors, speakers and exhibitors is greatly appreciated, and vital to the future of the event. The foundations for SAGE have now been set and have provided a strong starting point, from which we can build from.

SAGE: The potential is massiveSAGE: The potential is massive

The central location of The Three Counties Showground, as well as the vast amount of space on offer, provides the perfect venue.

The huge amount of positive feedback received, from both visitors and exhibitors, has cemented SAGE 2022 in the calendar for next summer.

Over 75% of our exhibitors have said they would definitely return to exhibit, with zero saying they would not, which is a fantastic testament of support from our founding exhibitors. From the visitor surveys over 85% of visitors are looking forward to returning in 2022. The team are reviewing carefully the feedback from the exhibitors and visitors, to guarantee that we are actively incorporating the needs of the industry into SAGE 2022.

The potential of what SAGE is capable of is huge for the industry and we look forward to making 2022 bigger and better!

For more information, contact the team today by email: team@sportsandgrounds.co.uk or visit the website: www.sportsandgrounds.co.uk.

Dates for 2022 will be released over the coming weeks on the website and across all of our social media platforms.

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Real life scenarios to develop the Ranger Diesel

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Real life scenarios to develop the Ranger Diesel: Since its founding in 1954, Polaris has been inviting people to Think Outside and discover the joy of being outdoors.

The innovation, performance and growth that has allowed Polaris to become a global leader in off-road vehicles have been driven by the diversity and passion of its customers, staff, dealers and stakeholders across the world. To celebrate the people behind the brand, Polaris has launched a new initiative, called Polaris People, to showcase how, for many people, Polaris isn’t just a brand but a life choice.

Real life scenarios to develop the Ranger Diesel

Real life scenarios to develop the Ranger Diesel

Polaris People is a video series documenting the stories of individuals across Europe, Middle East and Africa, where Polaris plays an essential role in their lives, all united by a thirst for the outdoors.

EPISODE 2: Rhys Thomas, Hill Farmer in Wales

For more than 20 years, Polaris has been building off-road vehicles that represent years of research and development, allowing them to perform better, work harder and ride smoother. The launch of the new Ranger Diesel in 2019 was no exception: Inspired by its users, Polaris saw the opportunity to develop the Ranger Diesel into something specifically adapted to its European market. To do this, Polaris enlisted the help of existing customers to drive improvements in line with real-life requirements.

The second episode of Polaris People introduces Rhys Thomas – a hill farmer in Wales, UK, and a longstanding Polaris customer. Living in Wales – a country known for its rugged coastline, contrasting valleys and mountains and temperamental weather conditions – Pen Isa Dre Farm boasts endless rolling hills in a secluded area of Abergele, making it the perfect destination for testing the capabilities of the pre-production Ranger Diesel.

Rhys was one of four UK farmers selected to test the Ranger Diesel before it was launched. Being a hill farmer, he relies on his Polaris machines to reach all areas of his land, as well as making his daily tasks more efficient, like fencing, rounding up and moving around the animals with a trailer, towing the animal feeders, and even as a means of transport in snowy and adverse weather conditions when other vehicles are not able to access the farm.

“We were big fans of the previous diesel model, so we were a little cautious trying the new one,” said Rhys. “But we soon realised that it was indeed a much better, improved machine. My son summed the model up by calling it ‘The Beast’.”

Improved reliability, durability, performance and refinement were all key objectives for the project, and Polaris was keen to ensure the product had delivered on these before it made the final call to release the product into production.

With its new, powerful and durable diesel engine and lower cost of ownership thanks to an increased engine service interval to over 200 hours, plus a host of other design, capability and ergonomic enhancements, the satisfaction from the customer trials was overwhelming, leading to the launch of the Ranger Diesel as we now know it in April 2019.

“The Ranger Diesel is a godsend for us, and we were happy to be a part of its initial trial in the UK. Tried, tested and approved by us.”

Check out the second episode of Polaris People to join Rhys and his son on their family farm in Wales, as they give you an inside look at the beautiful Welsh countryside and how the Ranger Diesel helps their everyday life. Available to watch on the Polaris Off-Road International YouTube channel here.

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Grass is greener on the other side

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Grass is greener on the other side: Hillside Golf Club on ‘England’s Golf Coast’ in Southport knows only too well the importance of its biggest asset: its greens. As host to many tournaments including the British Masters, they are what’s most judged and why the club opted for Toro’s Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 all-electric riding greensmower to lead its frontline mowing fleet.

The R&A, which together with the USGA governs the sport of golf worldwide, provides best practice guidelines on all aspects of golf course management to help grow golf in an environmentally sustainable way. And this was one of the facts that contributed to Chris Ball’s decision-making process when choosing the club’s new greens mower this year.

Grass is greener on the other side

Grass is greener on the other side

Chris, the club’s links manager has been in the industry for 31 years and has been associated with Hillside Golf Club for over 20 of those years; he says: “The R&A is rightly pushing clubs to make the correct environmentally-friendly choices wherever possible so when we had a hydraulic leak earlier this season, the club asked can this truly be avoided in the future? The answer was yes and that led us to consider the all-electric option.”

Of course, this option has been provided to the industry by Toro in the form of the Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 and despite reservations Chris couldn’t be more glad he decided to look at the all-electric mower.

“My reservations were based on this being a bit of an unknown quantity in terms of costs,” says Chris. “But Steve Halley from Cheshire Turf Machinery who sold us the machine and our club secretary/manager Chris Williams did some number crunching and presented the costs over three years and it alleviated my concerns on that count. What the process concluded was that you can’t base your decision on the purchase price, total cost of ownership plays a huge part here.”

So, what of the machine and it’s performance? Chris says the clubs along the coast don’t have much Toro equipment, but what they all have is the impressive technology of the ever-popular ProCore aerators and the Sidewinder machines for mowing round bunker tops and fairway gathers, but could the performance of the electric greensmower be the next piece of Toro they all have?

Chris says: “I can’t find fault with it. And the more we use it the more positives we find. But first and foremost is the members’ feedback. They love the idea of the all-electric mower on their course, and all take great interest in it when it’s out on the course. Quality of cut is excellent and specifically highlighted by many golfers was that the ball roll appears far superior, even though we are now mowing at 5mm through the summer which is higher than previous years. It’s great for the club as they are doing all they can to see the return of the desirable grass species on the greens and at this height its very achievable.

“It’s incredibly user-friendly and definitely my preferred option for mowing the greens on a daily basis. The quietness and not needing ear defenders means you notice everything the mower is doing; it provides a totally different mowing experience and of course you can work quietly around the golfers.

“Maintenance is really easy – there are no grease points and the bearings are sealed for life, there’s nothing for us to do – apart from keeping the cutting units sharp by regular grinding. There is a small service at 800 hours and even then, that’s just topping up the coolant. And in terms of productivity, it can easily do all our 20 greens before we charge overnight but during our first weeks with the mower, we thought we’d see how far the mower could go and we managed to get 39 greens out of it before charging, which in a linear straight line is some distance for a mower.”

Chris confirms: “It seems to be the way of the future and I genuinely believe it won’t be long before the switch over to electric is more commonplace.”

A true Championship Links course and host to many events in the past, Hillside continues to invest in its primary asset and has recently completed two major phases of course improvements. Chris concludes: “The time was right to invite Toro to bring their electric technology to the course. I feel it matches our ambitions as a club going forward, giving us that extra something on the greens.”

Steve Halley, managing director at Cheshire Turf Machinery, comments: “Jeff Jago from our sales team has worked hard to make the breakthrough at Hillside where Chris and his team have really bought in the many features and benefits of the eTriFlex. Their enthusiasm for the machine has been really satisfying and is sure to be noted by other potential users.”

To talk to someone about Toro’s electric and hybrid technology and how the Toro range would suit your course, call 01480 226800.

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Ventrac exposure at The Game Fair

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Ventrac exposure at The Game Fair: Rupert Price and the team from Price Turfcare had a superb response to their first visit as exhibitors at The Game Fair, held at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire at the end of July.

With almost 120,000 visitors across the three-day event, the exposure for the Ventrac brand was outstanding. It was the busiest ever opening day in The Game Fairs 62-year history, with a three-day total of 119,378 people enjoying the return of the festival of the Great British countryside.

Ventrac exposure at The Game Fair

Ventrac exposure at The Game Fair

Commenting a couple of days after the show, Rupert Price said,

“This was our first time as exhibitors at The Game Fair and it was an incredible experience. Visitors to this event are a prime section of the target audience for our Ventrac all-terrain compact tractor together with its range of attachments and there was huge interest. We marketed it as the Estate Manager’s Swiss Army Knife and it certainly drew a lot of attention.

“I think it helped that we had moving demonstrations on our stand, which enabled visitors to get a glimpse of what the machine can do. We had ramps at 20 and 30 degrees to demonstrate its unique climbing ability and also had a bit of fun when we balanced a football in the airflow of one of the leaf blower attachments, which tended to stop people in their tracks. This is a family-friendly event and it was great to see so many young children besotted with machinery, especially tractors. We had hundreds of photos taken with them sitting on our static display and we exhausted our supply of ‘Venny Ventrac’ colouring books midway through the second day.

“At this type of event you don’t expect to sell large price-ticket equipment such as ours, but it does provide the opportunity for exposure and to talk to prospective purchasers. I have to say that we have come away with some superb leads and it’s going to take quite some time to follow them up, but that’s a nice problem to have. We’ll definitely return next year.”

The Ventrac all-terrain compactor has over 30 different attachments that can be front-mounted to provide an extremely versatile machine for a wide range of estate management applications. With a choice of eight mowing decks, it can maintain grassed areas ranging from fine turf to thick brush. Other attachments include aerators, aera-vators, brushes, blowers, overseeders, rotovators, buckets and grabs, stump grinders, trenchers and snow removal accessories. In its eight-wheel configuration it can operate on slopes of 30 degrees – the only ride-on machine in the UK certificated for such steep gradients.

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Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists

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Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists: After a year’s hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards are returning for 2021, with the search on to find the country’s best up-and-coming greenkeepers.

Each year the awards enable BIGGA, the UK’s only membership association for golf greenkeepers, to work alongside turf maintenance equipment manufacturer Toro and distributor Reesink Turfcare to celebrate the next generation of talented and dedicated greenkeepers.

Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists

Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists

A record 49 nominees from across the United Kingdom participated in regional interviews. These candidates were nominated by their employers or colleague tutors and from those candidates a final 12 have been chosen to contest the grand final this September.

For the first time, the finals of the awards will take place at Celtic Manor Resort, providing an incredible backdrop to the event and giving the opportunity for the finalists to learn more and be inspired by the maintenance of the championship venue.

September’s event will be the 32nd staging of the Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year Awards and just the fifth time the Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year Award, open to greenkeepers aged 21 or under, will take place. To be eligible to take part, candidates must be registered on a qualifying greenkeeping qualification and must be nominated by their course manager or college tutor.

The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists are:

  1. Leon Brant, assistant greenkeeper at Wexham Park Golf Club
  2. John Le Cappelain, apprentice greenkeeper at Royal Jersey Golf Club
  3. Daryn Curtis, greenkeeper at Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club
  4. Matthew McCreadie, greenkeeper at Daventry & District Golf Club
  5. Matthew Milligan, first assistant at Rudding Park Golf Club
  6. Michael Russell, greenkeeper and ecology manager at Preston Golf Club

The Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year finalists are:

  1. Rhian Barton, apprentice greenkeeper at The Wisley Golf Club
  2. Greg Manson, apprentice greenkeeper at Mortonhall Golf Club
  3. Callum Marjoribanks, apprentice greenkeeper at Mortonhall Golf Club
  4. Ross McKie, apprentice greenkeeper at St Andrews Links
  5. Will Pallister, apprentice greenkeeper at Cleckheaton & District Golf Club
  6. Cameron Shanks, apprentice greenkeeper at Bothwell Castle Golf Club

The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year winner will receive an eight-week all expenses-paid scholarship to America when restrictions allow, including a six-week residential turf management study course at the University of Massachusetts, a trip to the Golf Industry Show in San Diego, California, and a visit to Toro manufacturing facilities.

The Toro Young Student Greenkeeper of the Year winner will receive a work experience placement at the exclusive Vidauban Golf Club in southern France. They will also receive a trip to Continue to Learn at BTME and enjoy a five-night package that includes hotel, four days of education, travel and £125 expenses, plus a Toro training voucher.

Sami Strutt, head of learning & development at BIGGA, said: “I was delighted to learn that a record number of student greenkeepers had been nominated for this year’s award, especially after the challenges of the past year. For so many employers and tutors to recognise the commitment of the students, despite the difficulties we have all faced, is testament to what a wonderful industry we are working in. There can be no better introduction to the greenkeeping community than a nomination for these awards and, these 12 finalists should be incredibly proud of everything they have achieved thus far.

“Taking place in the grand setting of Celtic Manor Resort, this year’s finals will be unlike any other and I can’t wait to meet everyone this September for what stands to be a wonderful few days. My thanks go to Toro and Reesink Turfcare for their continued support and also thanks go to everyone who took part or nominated a candidate this year.”

David Cole, Reesink Turfcare managing director and award sponsor, said: “From the interviewing process to identify our finalists, we can take that the greenkeeping profession continues to be in bright and focused hands. Reesink Turfcare and Toro’s long support of this educational award is constantly rewarded by the enthusiasm, career passion and commitment to personal development that we come across every year. That is the significant element that sustains these long-standing, career-enhancing awards.”

The Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year finals take place at Celtic Manor Resort on Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 September 2021.

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