Tag Archive for: years

Johnsons celebrate 200 years

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Johnsons celebrate 200 years: The Johnsons Sports Seed team were joined by members of the press and over 30 distributors and customers to toast their 200th anniversary at BTME 2020.

At a special drinks reception that took place on their stand in Harrogate, they celebrated the company’s rich and varied history since it was founded by 17-year old William Wade Johnson in 1820.

Johnsons celebrate 200 years

Reflecting on the event, Amenity Sales and Marketing Manager Derek Smith said, “BTME was a fantastic platform for staff and key contacts to raise a glass to mark such a huge industry milestone. Their drive to raise industry standards reflects the position that Johnsons has in today’s market, and this is very much testament to the passion of those involved with the brand over the years. We at DLF, look forward to continuing that ethos for many years to come.”

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200 Years of Johnsons Sports Seed

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200 Years of Johnsons Sports Seed: BTME in Harrogate signals the start of a year of celebrations for the Johnsons Sports Seed team, as 2020 marks the company’s 200th anniversary in the seed industry.

To commemorate, visitors to stand 214 in the Red Zone will have a chance to win big in a special ‘200 Years’ competition. It will also be the launch platform for the new ProNitro® Seed Coating from DLF, and a number of updated Johnsons Sports Seed formulations ready for the new season.

200 Years of Johnsons Sports Seed

ProNitro® seed technology was launched to much acclaim in 2016 and has proven itself to achieve a stronger germination and faster establishment, without the need to apply pre-seed fertilisers – saving both time and money. The coating now features DLF’s hydroactive water management technology which promotes sustainable water and nutrient availability through significantly improving the water distribution in the surrounding soil. Enhanced moisture availability during the early stages of plant growth gives each developing seedling the optimum conditions for strong root development and healthy, vigorous growth.

The new ProNitro® coating is available on a selection of mixtures across the Johnsons Sports Seed range, including J Premier Pitch and J Tee. Ideal for hard wearing, shaded golf tees & pathways, the 2020 formulation of J Tee now includes the new strong creeping red fescue Laverda. Laverda is the new number one rated fine fescue cultivar, that delivers unbeatable summer colour and shoot density. For golf, Laverda also features in the updated J Rye Fairway and J Premier Fairway mixtures.

For those turf managers with a focus on improving long-term sustainability, the brand-new J 4Turf 100 mixture will be of particular interest. A 100% tetraploid ryegrass mixture, J 4Turf 100 is ideal for the rapid renovation of worn sports turf areas. The increased chlorophyll density and greater root mass of DLF’s 4Turf ryegrasses optimise water and fertiliser inputs resulting in good looking turf, that’s cheaper to maintain and better for the environment.

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GM3 At West Herts 50 Years On

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GM3 At West Herts 50 Years On: The first Toro Greensmaster 3 ride-on mower was sold to the West Herts Golf Club in Hertfordshire in 1969. And fifty years later the GM3 is back at the club where it all began, united with the person who sold it all those years ago.

Rochelle Bedford, marketing manager at Reesink Turfcare, the sole Toro distributor in the UK for golf and sports fields equipment and irrigation products, says: “As Toro celebrates its centennial milestone serving the golf industry across the world, it encouraged us to look back at how it all began for Toro in the UK.

Andy Smith – Course Manager and John Cockburn – (former) Oliver Landpower

 

“We discovered that the very first GM3 sold in the UK was still going 50 years later! Also uncovered was the club that bought the machine and who sold it!”

The person in question, John Cockburn, tells us how it all came about: “I was working for Flymo in 1968 when I was told we’d be receiving a prototype of a new machine to trial and debut at a three-day exhibition in Meyrick Park in Bournemouth. That machine was the Toro Greensmaster 3.

“I was working with two demonstrators, Graham Pooley and Geoff Urquhart, at the time and seeing as none of us had used the machine, we decided to ask Meyrick Park Golf Club, which neighboured the exhibition centre, if we could trial the machine there. They kindly said yes, so early in the morning of the first day of the show we cut all the greens at the club to see how the machine performed.

“We were all really impressed, and with a better knowledge of how well the machine worked we cleaned it down and returned it to our show stand. We were able to demonstrate the machine with more confidence and got good feedback from customers.”

And it was this positive response which led to Flymo ordering 14 machines when they launched, the first of which John promptly installed at West Herts Golf Club. Many things have changed over the years, but there are some constants. Installation training upon delivery and the brand’s reputation for producing long-lasting, reliable mowers to name just a couple.

John says: “The machines proved to be extremely reliable, doing a first-class job and quickly building up a good reputation. We easily sold all 14 of the GM3 mowers in that first year, along with others that followed.”

Andy Smith, course manager at West Herts Golf Club since 1993, says it was a ‘blast from the past’ having the GM3 back at the club: “Seeing the GM3 really took me back to how things used to be. West Herts is a Toro club through and through. From the very beginning it recognised the quality of Toro and all these years later, we still consider it to be the brand to be beaten.”

In the early-80s Lely UK, as now Reesink, took over the distribution of Toro and what has built up since is a reputation centered on reliability, durability and support, says David Cole, managing director of Reesink.

“The Toro Greensmaster 3 was an innovative ride-on product born from Toro’s established golf focus and it projected the brand into the UK as a producer of high quality, innovative golf equipment. Since then a mutual trust has developed between our customers, us as distributor and Toro which can be truly viewed as a partnership. We’re extremely proud to have represented Toro and its product values for so many years and we thank our UK golf customers for their long-standing loyalty, confidence and trust.”

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Toro’s 100 Years In Golf

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Toro’s 100 Years In Golf: It’s doesn’t seem like five minutes ago the occasion of Toro’s 100 years in business in 2014 was marked. But now it’s time to celebrate the company’s centennial milestone serving the golf industry, and what a century it’s been.

Starting as it meant to go on, The Toro Company made its entry into the golf sector with product innovation by developing the industry’s first motorised fairway mower for the Minikahda Club in Minneapolis.

Toro's 100 Years In Golf

By mounting five lawn mowers on the front of a farm tractor, Toro created the motorised golf course equipment industry and in doing so started a century of listening closely to its customers, developing innovative products based on feedback and available technology, long-standing customer relationships, and establishing a distribution network to deliver great local service and support.

Reesink Turfcare, or Lely Turfcare as it was, has been part of that journey as the sole Toro distributor in the UK for golf and sports fields equipment and irrigation products for almost half that time. And as Toro’s four pillars for success so closely match Reesink’s, it’s no wonder it’s been such a long-lasting and rewarding partnership for all these years.

But the biggest reason for marking the occasion is to say thank you.

Grant Young, general manager of Toro’s Commercial Business, says: “Without a doubt, we owe much of our success to the Toro employees who have helped shape the golf industry with countless innovations. But we wouldn’t be here today without the Toro customers across the globe who put their faith and trust in our products every day. As we celebrate a century in the golf industry, we simply want to say thank you to our customers and channel partners for continuing to put your trust in Toro people and products.”

David Cole, managing director of Reesink Turfcare, says: “The first Toro product to hit UK shores was the Toro Greensmaster 3 at the beginning of the 1970s. That innovative ride-on product was born from Toro’s established golf focus and projected the brand into the UK as a producer of high quality, innovative golf equipment in the UK.

“Since then a reputation has been built that centres on reliability, durability and support and a mutual trust has developed between our customers, us as distributor and Toro which can be truly viewed as a partnership. We’re extremely proud to have represented Toro and its product values for so many years and we also thank our UK golf customers for their long-standing loyalty, confidence and trust.”

For more information, visit: reesinkturfcare.co.uk

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Ian Darler Hits 40 Years

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Ian Darler Hits 40 Years: From eating a Sunday roast with Barry Fry in the centre-circle at London Road, to sing-along fishing trips with John Beck and rubbing shoulders with Herve Renard, it would be difficult to find anyone that has experienced the highs and lows of Cambridge United more than Ian Darler.

Having arrived at the Abbey as a fresh-faced 19-year-old in 1979, Darler is now celebrating his 40th anniversary with the club, which has coincided with the release of his book: Life’s A Pitch.

After admitted scepticism – it took a while for him to be convinced that the book deal wasn’t a wind-up – the long-serving stadium manager and head groundsman talked to CambridgeshireLive about his memories, good and bad, of his time at the Abbey Stadium and why he decided now was the right time to put it all down on paper.

While he said the book has made him feel proud of what he’s achieved, and unearth old memories, it has been important for him in another way, as it has helped to heal the physical and psychological scars which plagued him after a serious accident at work in 2013. He has come out the other side now, but the accident left him needing seven surgeries, and started a battle with depression and PTSD which lasted for several years.

“Being able to focus on something totally fresh and go back over your history brought some good times back for me and it was almost like the final part of the therapy,” he said.

“It gave me the opportunity to reflect on what I had been as a youngster, what I had achieved from being an apprentice groundsman and the trials and tribulations of a groundsman.

“Within the book, it’s given me the opportunity to go through the whole aspect of it again, even to the point of being able to tell some of the things that have gone on here, the good times and the bad times, it’s been refreshing.”

The Abbey is, of course, on the same site as it was back in 1979, but Darler said the current pitch is a world away from the one he inherited, which he likened to an “African safari”, with dust patches and divots littering it.

In 2019 you’re more likely to see Christmas trees and hearts cut into it, depending on the time of the year, examples of Darler’s ingenuity which makes him so popular with the fans and managers alike.

Yet despite earning national headlines for his on-field creations, he credited the volunteers and local businesses who provide help for his successes.

“We’ve had three people who have had coronaries in this ground, and all three are alive today,” he added.

“It’s not a fluke, it’s dedication. But it’s not the dedication from me, it’s the dedication of the staff, the stewards and the volunteers.

“I know this year there’s been comments about the stadium being old and untidy, but I think over the last 18 months we’ve raised the Titanic because the whole place has had a refurb and it’s through the volunteers, and all the companies that have chipped in.

“One of the reasons I didn’t go to Coventry when I had the offer in the 80s was because I would have missed the begging, stealing and borrowing. I love blagging.”

Former U’s manager Roy McFarland wrote the forward to the book, with Darler adding he was among the “highest calibre” of manager he has worked with, also believing that, despite criticism towards the end, John Beck was “ahead of the game”. Yet of the 28 managers and head coaches he worked alongside, it was his first, John Docherty, that he remembers most fondly for taking him under his wing when he was the youngest head groundsman in the Football League, creating a pitch for players that would go on to become club legends.

“I’ve described it in the book, but Roy was the best pedigree of manager you could work with in terms of every aspect of the job,” he said.

“Equally, Joe [Dunne] was like that with me, he just didn’t get the break on the park. Colin, in modern day managers, is identical to Roy.

“He has spoken to every single person, whether it be the cleaner, the groundsman, whoever, and made them feel part of the team. That is a unique person, and that’s how Roy was.”

Darler is set to retire in five years time, but admits that it would be hard to give up the job and has every intention of staying on in a part-time capacity and hit the 50-year mark in a job he called his “boyhood dream”.

“I’m already starting to feel disappointed [at the thought of retiring] because that patch of grass out there has been my baby for 40 years,” he added.

“I’ve spent more time with that than my family.

“The whole place has been a lifetime, but it’s the characters as well. It’s just been amazing.”

Life’s A Pitch – published by G2 Entertainment – is out now.

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