Tag Archive for: Turf

Bernhard strengthens relationship with Delta Turf Care

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Bernhard strengthens relationship with Delta Turf Care: Industry-leader in turf sharpening equipment and management solutions, Bernhard and Company, has strengthened its relationship with Saudi Arabia-based distributor, Delta Turf Care, which has been appointed as the official distributor for the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain.

New to the UAE, Delta Turf Care has been the company’s distributor in Saudi Arabia for over a decade and has played a crucial role in the development of the Bernhard and Company brand and product presence in prestigious golf venues throughout the country.

Bernhard strengthens relationship with Delta Turf Care

Bernhard strengthens relationship with Delta Turf Care

This appointment comes as Bernhard and Company looks to ensure it can service current customers more efficiently, while also helping to increase sales through improved contact with new prospects. Delta Turf Care will be responsible for direct sales and customer relations in the Middle East and will demonstrate the knowledge and passion that Bernhard and Company possess for its grinding philosophy.

David Murphy, Managing Director of Delta Turf Care, said: “We are delighted to be strengthening our partnership with Bernhard and Company to help them take their business to the next level in the Middle Eastern region.”

Scott Purdy, Business Development Manager EMEA for Bernhard and Company, added: “It’s crucial to us that we align ourselves with partners that reflect our core values of support and education. Delta Turf Care has been a fantastic partner to us in years past and we are proud to be expanding our relationship.

“We look forward to growing our presence further in the Middle East and working with some of the area’s most prestigious venues to deliver first-class turf management solutions.”

Bernhard and Company grinding machines are used by more than 65 of the world’s top 100 golf courses to ensure perfect, tournament-ready playing conditions year-round, while the company’s turf management solutions and educational support are utilised at major sporting events around the globe.

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Turf Tank makes its mark at Nottingham Forest

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Turf Tank makes its mark at Nottingham Forest: Since their Turf Tank One arrived at the Nigel Doughty Academy, Nottingham Forest Football Club has marked every pitch and grid they have with the GPS line marking robot.

The club’s interest in the Turf Tank One began at the end of a hectic 2019/20 Championship season when a high volume of games were played before a short renovation window led straight into the 2020/21 season. With initially marking the pitches taking two or three days, the Turf Tank was brought in to mark everything comfortably within one. And after seeing it in action, it was difficult for Grounds Manager Ewan Hunter and Academy Head Groundsman Matt Tietjen to let it leave the site.

Turf Tank makes its mark at Nottingham Forest

Turf Tank makes its mark at Nottingham Forest

“I was very, very impressed. Obviously, I had never seen it before, and as soon as it started marking out, I was like, wow, this is brilliant,” Matt begins. “It’s very, very accurate, and every time it goes out, it’s spot on.

“It saves us a hell of a lot of time. To mark one pitch, it would take myself or two of my staff an hour, an hour and a half to two hours. But obviously, with the Turf Tank to mark one pitch alone, it takes 20 to 25 minutes. Another factor for us is it allows our staff to carry on with the other jobs that need to be done, and the machine can basically look after itself. Generally, we’d use five to six litres of paint to mark a pitch, but with the Turf Tank, we probably use four litres.

“If you are able to use a tablet or are reasonably good with technology, it’s very, very simple to use, and the programme is very straight forward. I’m not particularly brilliant with technology, but it takes five minutes to set it up, and then you can go and do other jobs while it marks out.

Adding the Turf Tank One to their team initially relieved pressure during a busy time, but the benefits of saving time, being able to work while the robot marks and the accuracy of the lines have all been vital during another packed season.

Using the Turf Tank tablet, custom grids are regularly overmarked within pitches, as well as custom goalkeeping areas and other pitch markings. This is just another reason why the robot has worked so well at Forest, but for Ewan, it’s the accuracy that really impresses.

“We have got some really good staff, and they can do some really good marking. And the lines looked straight, and they looked to be in the right place,” Ewan explains.

“It wasn’t until we used the GPS machine that it highlighted the fact that when you come to mark a line freehand, they creep a bit. And then they creep a little bit more. And then they creep a little bit more, and you don’t really notice the little bit of creeping until you get a GPS line marker overmarking the pitches that were already there. You realise that they’ve moved a considerable amount of distance, and it kind of highlights that the lines were actually in the wrong place.

“They managed to plot it with all of the additional markings on top of the pitches. So we’ve got dashes and little grids and five-a-side pitches and full-size pitches, and it can basically do whatever you plot it to do, and it takes care of all the markings on the whole site now.”

For more information on the Turf Tank One or to have a demonstration contact alex@turftank.co.uk (southern UK) or matt@turftank.co.uk (northern UK).

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Sports turf grass health struggling to keep pace

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Sports turf grass health struggling to keep pace: FairWay Awards has been monitoring the health of sport turf up and down the country using a satellite-based system that reads the amount and wavelength of light being emitted from vegetation.

The ratio of different light wavelengths from vegetation gives an indication of the vigour or distress of the grass canopy: more red light is emitted when grass is under stress. Below is an example comparing a fairway in spring (left) and winter (right).

Sports turf grass health struggling to keep pace

Sports turf grass health struggling to keep pace

Having analysed satellite data from 50 golf courses across Great Britain from 2018, Mike Heisig from FairWay Awards comments on recent findings: “We have been looking at the health of grass by tracking exactly the same areas of sports turf from 2018 to today. This gives good insight into actual changes on the ground. What we have seen at the end of March 2021 is that grass health is gradually lagging further and further behind the levels that we saw at the end of March in 2020. Historic data shows that normally in March we should expect to see a major up lift in grass health as it comes out of the winter period.”

“This year however, much of that did not happen and UK grass health slipped back around 5% lower in March 2021 compared with March 2020. Much of this downturn can be attributed to the South East, which seems to be struggling more with grass health levels than any other part the country.”

“Looking ahead at this time of year we expect to see increasing grass health through March and April, leading to a peak in May. It remains to be seen how far grass will recover through the year and what the knock on effect will be for autumn grass management”

The good news is that there is plenty of time for greenkeepers to fine-tune the agronomy to help close the gap. Satellite grass health data is easily accessible and simple to use with huge benefits for turf management.

2021 may be the ideal year to join the Precision Sports Turf Revolution.

Regular updates on grass health through 2021 at www.fairwayawards.com or follow @FairwayAwards on twitter

Join the Sports Turf Revolution contact Mike Heisig: Mike-Heisig@btconnect.com

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Nutrigrow expands sports turf range

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Nutrigrow expands sports turf range: Nutrigrow has expanded their Sports Turf range of fertilisers with the introduction of Nutrigrow CRF, a controlled release fertiliser that has been specifically designed for sports turf.

NutrigrowCRF has been formulated to release nutrients for 4‐6 months, based on an average temperature of 20C. In testing Nutrigrow have seen a significant longer release period during the cooler months, which has led to Groundsmen applying the product in late Autumn.

Nutrigrow expands sports turf range

Nutrigrow expands sports turf range

As there are still growing days over the Winter months then the nutrient will be released and feed the turf. This has led to far healthier pitches and other sports surfaces going into the Spring when turf generally looks very weak and poor.

Nutrigrow CRF is formulated from 60% polymer coated urea, 2% MgO, and has an NPK content of 20‐0‐15. It is spread at a rate of 25‐50g per m² and can be spread by hand or more accurately using a mechanical fertiliser spreader. The granule size is typically 2‐3mm and a single 25kg bag can cover 500‐1000m².

Available in both 25kg and 1000kg bags, Nutrigrow are thrilled to supply this to sports organisations across the country, along with free advice and treatment plans.

www.nutri‐grow.co.uk

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BIGGA announces Festival of Turf dates

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BIGGA announces Festival of Turf dates: The British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association has confirmed that its first Festival of Turf will take place this summer, with a new date intended to provide an improved experience for attendees and exhibitors.

The Festival of Turf is a two-day event that will take place in the predominantly outdoor setting of the Warwickshire Event Centre and will bring together golf greenkeepers, groundsmen and many others for the first time since BTME 2020, over 18 months previously.

BIGGA announces Festival of Turf dates

BIGGA announces Festival of Turf dates

BIGGA had initially announced a June date for the Festival of Turf and was confident event could be hosted with COVID-safety measures in place. But with the Prime Minister recently announcing the Roadmap out of lockdown, BIGGA has explored the opportunity of rescheduling the Festival of Turf for later in the summer, when social distancing restrictions are anticipated to have been removed.

As such, BIGGA is delighted to reveal that the Festival of Turf will now take place on 21 & 22 July 2021.

The Festival of Turf will welcome BIGGA members and others in the turf industry to the 30-acre Warwickshire Event Centre, with a wide range of vendors and trade stalls and entertaining twists that bring to life the ‘festival’ element of the event.

COVID-safety measures will remain in place, such as enhanced cleaning regimes and hand sanitising, plus any other requirements as defined by government guidelines. However, limits on visitor numbers and social distancing measures will no longer be required.

BIGGA CEO Jim Croxton said: “The Roadmap out of lockdown announced by the Prime Minister provided incredibly welcome news for the country and the association’s members, not least because it provided a date for the reopening of golf courses in England and a potential return to normality for us all. It also presented an opportunity for BIGGA to host the Festival of Turf as the spectacular of sports and amenity turf maintenance that we had hoped for when we first announced this event last year.

“We entered into negotiations with the Warwickshire Event Centre and were delighted to come to an arrangement with regards new dates for the Festival of 21 & 22 July. On this date England is anticipated to be at Step 4 of the COVID-19 roadmap, which will see legal limits on social contact removed. Although the published roadmap only serves as a guideline and the timings are subject to change, everyone at BIGGA is excited about the opportunity to provide an improved exhibition experience for our attendees.

“We always intended the Festival of Turf to be an opportunity for BIGGA members and their colleagues in the turf industry to reunite after so long apart and I’m delighted that these new dates will allow even more people to attend what promises to be a fantastic few days of exhibitions and entertainment.”

For more information about the Festival of Turf, head to the BIGGA website.

Keep up to date with the latest announcements and updates on Twitter by using the hashtag #FestivalofTurf

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