Turf Matters March April 2021

THE INTERNATIONAL MULTIPLE AWARD-WINNING MAGAZINE

For all sports turf professionals in golf, football, rugby, cricket, tennis, horse racing, independent schools, universities and local authorities

MARCH-APRIL 2021 £4.95

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A light at the end of the tunnel Industry breathes again

THE WOW FACTOR AT MERCHISTON

FERTILISER AND CHEMICAL UPDATE

SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES TARGETED

BY STRI’S EPG

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54

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Where sport elite meet

Latest developments

Watering in spotlight

making turf matter

WELCOME

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iWelcome

Welcome shotSport… in the arm Don’t forget With vaccines finding their way into more grateful arms – I got mine at two months havepushing been a nightmare people in certain theThe endlast of February – we’re “a light atfor themany end of the tunnel” parts of the country and my heart goes out Webb to everyone dealing with line in this issue.

I’ve spoken with both Geoff and Jim Croxton to the aftermath of unprecedented flooding and devastating harvest their views on their particularly sporting sectors. erosion.

The best case scenario for many is months of temporary living. For While aware that the virus far from others,well lives will never return toiswhat they over, were.both Geoff and Jim wereWhile cautiously upbeat about what the future holdsmight for sport and sports the fate of sports grounds and golf clubs seem turf preparation. Indeed, bothofstressed how quality ofTurf sporting surface inconsequential in the face such hardship, we at Matters have a particular with everyone who has seen years or of so. agronomic had taken on aempathy new importance over the last nine months husbandry literally washed away in the space of a few weeks.

Yes, there be arehoped manythat more important things than sport outnot there, It must banks – the financial institutions, the whether be spectatory or participatory, but would be an impossibly things it which edge overflown rivers – take anlife understanding approach dull without it. Remember that first lockdown whenloans everyasday toplace sporting facilities which have been unable to service a was theresult sameof asthem the one before and were forced to spend our time watching being unplayable and so unable to bring in revenue.

CashAs inwe thehave Attic? seen with the recent Winter Olympics, sport has such a galvanising effect on society and can be the catalyst for so much good, So, hopefully, with more of usfacilities being vaccinated we can look forward that it is imperative sporting are not forgotten when the to a bit of a bounceback and while we may have masks and annual promised assistance is being allocated. vaccines for years to come, the country will get backwe to have somebeen sort On the issue at of least improving sporting facilities, of normality. invited by Briggs & Stratton to become involved in its Pitch to Win competition, which provides a £3,000 makeover for Normality is something that Tiger Woods will18s befootball dreaming of at what is judged to be the Under pitch in the most moment. Havingneed being– involved in a horrific car crash he is facing many, find out more on pages 16-17. I am on the judging many months of panel rehabilitation thattohis personalof bar set at and visitsand willI hope be made a shortlist deserving walking again, not soon. winning 16th pitches We a will beMajor. looking not so much at the DESSO but the desperate!

Our Golfing Nobody tribute to in his Blog atthe the On a final note, Ipays am thrilled byTiger the reception that backfirst of the magazine and I endorse his views on the matter. issue of Turf Matters received. Many people have taken time to say how much they liked the look of the Scott MacCallum, Editor magazine and how they enjoyed the articles. We’re all pleased you found it to your liking and we will work hard to maintain the high standards. Thank you all very much.

Distributed every two months to sports turf professionals, independent schools, universities, local authorities and buyers of turfcare machinery and products.

Editor: Scott MacCallum Distributed every two months to sports scott@turfmatters.co.uk turf professionals, local authorities Design/Production Editor: Tim and buyers of turfcare machinery andMoat tim@turfmatters.co.uk products.

Customer Editor: ScottRelations MacCallumManager: Sinead Thacker scott@turfmatters.co.uk sinead@turfmatters.co.uk Design and Production Editor: Tim Moat Sales Executive: tim@turfmatters.co.uk Marie Anderson Sales Manager: Pauline Thompson marie@turfmatters.co.uk

To advertise in Turf Matters, call Pauline onin07720 055676 or To advertise Turf Matters, email pauline@turfmatters.co.uk call Sinead 07841 927500

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All material © Turf Matters magazine 2021.

Turf Matters is published by Straight Down Turf Matters was awarded Best Writing and Best the Middle Communications Ltd. Design in the 2019 and 2020 Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) Awards All material © Turf Matters magazine 2014.

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Information contained Turf Matters can accept no anyeffort error is published in responsibility good faith and for every hasmisrepresentation. been made to ensure accuracy.

Turf or All its liability for loss, Matters can acceptnegligence no responsibility for any disappointment, or other error or misrepresentation.

All liability for loss, damage caused by reliance on information disappointment, damage contained in Turfnegligence Matters ororinother the event of caused by reliance information contained in any bankruptcy or on liquidation or cessation Turftrade Matters or incompany, the eventindividual of any bankruptcy of of any or firm or liquidation or of trade of any company, mentioned is cessation hereby excluded. individual or firm mentioned is hereby excluded.

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Inside issue Insidethis this issue News..........................................................4-22 News .........................................................4-15 Tea Break Teaser.......................................15 Pitch to Win........................................16-17 GroundWow. .......................................24-25 Mowing .................................19-22, 24-27 Merchiston Castle School...........28-33 Tea Break Teaser ......................................29 Pedestrian Mowers.........................38-42 Gleneagles..........................................30-35 Grass Seed...........................................49-52 BTME review ......................................36-41 Fertilisers and Chemicals............54-61 Diary of a Golfing Nobody.................42 STRI..........................................................62-65 As seen on Twitter..................................43 Buyers’ Guide.....................................67-69 Golfingout Nobody’s Blog..........................70 Check our website: The majesty of Gleneagles, pages 30-35 For the latest in pedestrian mowers, turn to pages 38-42 Subscribe FREE to our e-zine: Details at www.turfmatters.co.uk

Check out our website: www.turfmatters.co.uk www.turfmatters.co.uk Next magazine distributed 2 May Next magazine distributed May 2021

Turf Matters| |MARCH-APRIL March-April 2014 Turf Matters 2021| 3 |3

NEWS

SPRING READY WITH NUTRIGROW Nutrigrow Spring-Rise Fertiliser (104-4+TE) is an excellent option for any pre-season Spring maintenance programme.

Nutrigrow Spring-Rise is an organic based, high quality NPK fertiliser which is ideal for treating any area. A mix of both macronutrients and trace elements, this fertiliser will aid grass suffering from stress or deficiencies. This mini compound fertiliser is slow release over a six-week period ensuring grass stays lush and healthier for longer.

As well as providing essential macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium), Spring-Rise also contains the micronutrients calcium, magnesium, and iron. Each of these trace elements contribute to maximum nutrient uptake.

Due to the combination of macro and micronutrients, Spring-Rise is particularly useful on grass in need of some care.

The mini compound granules provide an excellent spreading pattern.

The Nutigrow range has nutrients to improve establishment, encourage seed growth, and maximise the quality of grass and turf.

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Data collection points to sustainable future Adam Witchell

The awareness of sustainable and carbon neutral turf maintenance is growing, and for those implementing this approach, data collection using GrasPro is a crucial factor.

Sustainability in terms of turf has direct environmental benefits, and in many cases, professionals can improve the condition of surfaces and reduce budgetary spend on water, electricity and fertiliser while lowering the wider carbon footprint of their club or course.

Adam Witchell, Project Manager for idverde Sports Surfaces, formally worked at Forest Green Rovers FC where he operated a vegan, organic programme. He believes that it is and will continue to be a fundamental aspect of sustainable programmes as we advance.

“There is a lot more awareness around the sustainable approach, especially with the aspects of being carbon neutral and water management,” explained Adam.

“There are a lot of ways to achieve it but collecting pitch maintenance data

using a system like GrasPro is really the starting point because you need to know your infiltration rates at different times of the year, soil temperatures, rainfall and nutrient inputs etc.

“With that information to hand you then know how much water to put on at certain times of the year, and it prevents over and under watering. The benefits here are three-fold because you’re leaving more air pockets within the soil for the roots to develop and you’re not wasting water and making your irrigation programme more sustainable. If you’re running off of mains water, you’re also saving money, and for many football, rugby and golf clubs that is a finite resource.

“If you have a lot of rain and it flies through the pitch really fast, and you put a granular feed on you’ll find you won’t get as much usage or longevity out of that feed because the water will wash it through the soil profile or wash the prill down in size much quicker.”

While this approach may be new to some, there are

already strong examples Adam points to in the industry. Stoke City FC Head Groundsman, Andy Jackson, has maintained the Bet365 Stadium pitch without fungicides for six years, and a sustainability league table published by BBC Sport at the end of January 2021 saw Tottenham Hotspur come first based on several initiatives including water efficiency, energy efficiency and clean energy.

BBC Sport and the Sports Positive Summit first published the table in 2019, and while it focuses on clubs as a whole, Adam says pitch teams have a head start in making their departments carbon neutral.

“This approach scales up if you’re maintaining multiple pitches. It’s quite a simple thing to implement, but again it’s recording the data and knowing your emissions that is important.”

If you’re aiming to make your department carbon neutral or strive to work more sustainably, GrasPro is the perfect system to record, manage and report your data. www.gras.pro

BORDER CHAINSAW JOINS ETESIA IN THE SCOTTISH BORDERS Etesia UK has welcomed Border Chainsaw and Lawnmower Services to its expanding

dealer network.

Border Chainsaw and Lawnmower Services, based in Earlston,

4 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

was founded in 1974 by the Cowe family.

The business stayed within the family until January 2019 when it was acquired by Pearsons of Duns Ltd, who were picked as the perfect suitors for the business.

It was at this point that Allen Whellans was appointed as Groundcare Division Manager in a bid to increase the company’s commercial offering.

Allen knew immediately

where to start.

“In a previous role, I worked with dealers and end-users who had a large fleet of Etesia pedestrian mowers.

They always commented on how good they were,” said Allen.

“They never used to have any problems with them - it is that knowledge of knowing what the mowers are capable of doing that confirmed that I wanted to work with

Etesia,” he revealed.

“We only deal with premium brands and it was a case of looking at what Etesia offered in terms of the products but also how they work with the dealer.

“Etesia is focused on working with dealers as opposed to online discounting. Customers want support; they want to be able to speak to someone and they want to demo the mowers.” www.etesia.co.uk

NEWS

Collaboration for success Inter Milan training centre pitch, right, after their October renovation process.

Fantastic results achieved by the grounds team in conjunction with FLexGrass Group and Agronomic Services Ltd, using the Agronomics range and Floratine Foliars. Below, David Snowden

A partnership has been announced between FLexGrass Group and Agronomic Services Ltd, ensuring that FLexGrass will now supply its international customer base in conjunction with Agronomic Services.

FLexGrass can now deliver their quality sports grass solutions with all the plant nutritional requirements.

Pre-preparation, renovation, grow-ins and follow up to ensure stability and establish the ultimate playing surface.

With the full range of plant nutritional products to compliment FLexGrass sport surfaces they now offer the complete service package.

‘We are thrilled to be working with Fabio and Lorenzo Travaini of FLexGrass group, this is a very exciting development for

our business. Our first project together at Inter Milan has proved to be a tremendous success,” said David Snowden.

“FLexGrass have a fantastic quality offering of sports turf including hybrid and natural grass solutions, our combined knowledge and products make for a great

partnership,” added David.

Fabio Travaini, of Flexgrass, explained that after many years of trials using alternative, quality, fertilisers to produce our excellent sports surfaces, they had now found what they believed to perfectly fulfil our customers high standards.

“This collaboration with Agronomic Services Ltd. gives FLexGrass Group all the options to serve its customers, the very best products available today. With our joint expertise we can create a customised nutritional plan to meet the high expectations of our International clientele.”

Year-round fertiliser Stihl chainsaw wins top award The fertiliser industry has often been given a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to chemical products – sometimes labelled as one of the biggest contributors to global warming and the collective carbon footprint. However, that is not strictly fair – there has been a shift in the industry towards organic and plant-derived products which maintain the efficacy expected of more “traditional” fertilisers.

One such product is Onyx, which is registered with the Organic Farmers and Growers Association (OF&G) by premier turf care specialists Velvit.

Onyx Organic is a bio-stimulant fertiliser and an organic source of nitrogen, potassium and trace elements combined with significant levels of amino acids. This organic fertiliser can be used year-round and is especially effective at boosting plant health ahead of stressful conditions.

The natural cocktail of

8 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

biostimulants in Onyx helps plants to deal with a variety of conditions including drought, salinity and heat. These biostimulants encourage plants to keep growing by stimulating the natural stress-response, which in turn keeps the sward greener and healthier for longer.

Furthermore, the carbohydrates and organic substrates in Onyx can stimulate beneficial micro-organisms in the soil generating further benefits for soil structure and nutrient availability.

“Onyx is one of our most popular brands; both as a standalone and as an ingredient in our blended products. There is increased demand in the industry for organic/plant-based products which are just as efficient as their chemical counterparts, and Onyx manages to fit the bill on every level,” said James Whittick Sales & Marketing Director at Velvit.

The STIHL MS 400 CM, the world’s first chainsaw with magnesium piston technology, has been recognised by the International Magnesium Association with the Award of Excellence 2020.

The IMA’s Awards of Excellence is an annual award ceremony that brings together companies who demonstrate outstanding magnesium products and innovative manufacturing technologies.

“At STIHL, we have more than 60 years’ experience working with magnesium and fabricating it and we constantly strive to set new benchmarks in machinery development and production,” said Paul Hicks, at STIHL GB. “Although we use magnesium in many products, the desire to continue to enhance machinery performance led us to using magnesium piston technology in a chainsaw for the first time.”

The IMA Award of Excellence win quickly follows the MS 400 CM receiving the top prize at the Euroguss 2020 industry trade fair in the “magnesium components” category.

The MS 400 CM chainsaw has been designed with forestry and arb professionals in mind, offering the highest maximum speed (14,000 rpm) in the 60cm3 class. www.stihl.co.uk

making turf matter

Compo Expert opts for Agrovista Amenity German fertiliser manufacturer Compo Expert has appointed Agrovista Amenity as the ‘exclusive national distributor’ of its turf products in the UK. As part of this partnership, Agrovista Amenity will be involved in all Compo Expert turf product research and development – working closely with their Head of Turf – Dr Fritz Lord and Dr Mauricio Hunsche the Head of Research and Development.

Head of Regulatory Affairs Dr Thomas Leppin will also work with Agrovista Amenity on regulatory issues and Chief Marketing Officer Dr Ingo Mueller will contribute to joint marketing initiatives.

Compo Expert will supply its full portfolio of turf and

landscape products, through Agrovista Amenity’s distribution channels, containing controlledrelease fertiliser, slow-release fertiliser and nitrification inhibitor technology. The wide range of granulometry will also be available to turf and landscape clients.

“Compo Expert is delighted to be the preferred partner for the manufacture and supply of turf and landscape fertilisers to Agrovista Amenity.

Our unique and innovative controlled and slow-release chemistry will provide the most environmentally-friendly fertilisers to turf and landscape clients,” said Compo Expert Managing Director, Gerald Bonner.

“Agrovista Amenity is the

perfect turf agronomy partner for a chemistry and agronomy-led company like Compo Expert.

“We are delighted with the agronomy-led approach from Agrovista Amenity and we believe that this partnership will expand our leading European turf and landscape footprint in the UK.” John Marland, Head of Amenity, Agrovista UK Ltd, was equally delighted with the new agreement.

“Compo Expert supplies the highest-quality nutrition used at some of leading venues across Europe and the world.

We feel this partnership further signals Agrovista Amenity’s commitment to bring choice and technical excellence to the UK amenity market,” said John.

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It’s a full house for ICL All ICL Technical Area Sales Managers are now fully BASIS and FACTS qualified.

Matt Nutter (top) and Andrew Pledger, ICL Technical Area Sales Managers operating in South Central and South East England have both successfully completed the Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training Scheme. This means that ICL now boasts an entire team of BASIS and FACTS qualified staff.

FACTS participants demonstrate a full understanding of the role of fertilisers.

By becoming BASIS and FACTS qualified and by joining the Professional Register, staff commit to a Code of Professional Ethics and a programme of Continuing Professional Development which requires them to continue their training to keep up-to-date.

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 9

NEWS

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Terra Spike frees up time for Panmure A

very close neighbour to Carnoustie Golf Links, Panmure Golf Club, is widely acknowledged as a distinguished links course, and highly regarded for its immaculate fine turf and well kept fairways.

Head Greenkeeper, Gary Nicoll, took delivery of a Terra Spike GXi8 HD in early January, his first ever Wiedenmann.

“I’d been wanting to move to the next level with aeration for a while. We were due an upgrade. Our previous machine had done well but time was right for something faster, with a real clean finish. Wiedenmann’s GXi series is used widely across the industry and its popular for good reason.

“We have around 11 hectares of turf, seven of which are fairways. All aeration is done in-house, so, it’s down to our team

of six and no contractors,” explained Gary “Recently, we have borrowed a machine to have two going at once to get through it more quickly.

We do all greens, tees, shoulders and fairways, virtually the full course.

“The old machine was 1.6 m wide and just doing Panmure’s fairways took around four weeks. I’m confident the team with the GXi8 can knock at least a week off this as it’s 20 cm wider and a good bit faster.

Even just one week a month would make a healthy saving on greenkeeper time, on fuel and efforts to avoid play being interrupted,” he said.

Installation and induction training was by Wiedenmann UK’s lead demonstrator, Andy Kerr and Mike Lindsay, Area Sales Manager, from local Scottish dealer.

Fairways GM, at Kinross.

“It wasn’t a case of drop a machine at the gate and leave,” said Gary, “Andy cut the PTO shaft then he and Mike systematically showed us how to set every aspect to suit our course. It was as thorough a handover as I’ve known. There are lots of moving parts but despite that, it’s easy to set up and easy to maintain.”

The next day, Gary took the immediate opportunity to do all 18 of his greens and the practice green before a combination of rising water tables, thick ice, and then lying snow, halted meaningful work across the course for over four long weeks.

“In that first run out we got a real good taste of what the Wiedenmann can do for us. Instantly it was quicker than what we had been used to, neater and smoother.

“The clean finish is such a

benefit. At the demonstration we found on our fairways, even with a moderate amount of heave, say 10°-15°, the GXi8 makes no disruption to the turf surface; Nor does a departing tine lift up the ground. All disturbance is contained below the surface, just where you want it. The surface is left stable with no requirement for extra rolling.

“However, after our initial run, the rest of January and February’s ground conditions were so poor we didn’t have the opportunity to do as much as we had hoped.

“Extra runs are planned for several choice areas. In a few places standing water has remained, so once these patches are fully dried out, we will revisit them with a decent set of tines. The beauty of the faster machine is that we nip out at times of our own choosing; targeting areas that need more work.”

RIGBY TAYLOR WELCOMES NEW TEAM MEMBER Ben Morgan, pictured, has joined Rigby Taylor’s northern team as their area Technical Sales Manager for East Yorkshire, Humberside and North Lincolnshire.

Ben is a well-known and highly regarded figure in the 10 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

industry with over 20 years of experience, including periods at St Andrews Old Course, Whitby, Sandburn Hall and Drax. He also spent time in the US working at Pinehurst GC while undertaking an internship at Ohio State University.

With a Bachelor of Science Degree with Honours (Applied to Turf Grass Science) and a Foundation Degree in Turf Grass Management, Ben brings a high level of technical skills to his new role, which he can apply to his wide level of practical experience.

Ben holds a PA1 & PA6 Pesticide Spraying Licence and is FACTs qualified.

NEWS

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SISIS Litamina helps to save manpower at Gillingham GC

Mark Jaques

Leaf collection was once a three-man job but is now a one-man job according to Mark Jaques, Deputy Head Greenkeeper at Gillingham Golf Club – thanks to the SISIS Litamina 1200.

Gillingham Golf Club has been situated in Medway, Kent for well over a century. Originally constructed and owned by the army, the course was upgraded in the 1990s and presents a challenge for golfers of all levels.

“Due to the sheer number of trees, we have to constantly keep on top of the fallen leaves – hence the reason we bought the Litamina 1200,” said Mark.

Mark has been at the club for three years and admits that

this year has, unsurprisingly, been the most challenging.

“It has been a tough year. We lost a couple of greenkeepers due to the financial restraints of the pandemic and we are now currently down to three members of staff. On top of that, because no golf has been played, the members came back expecting the course to be in the best condition ever,” explained Mark.

“I would say that the Litamina has been absolutely vital – transformed the way we work in fact.”

Before the SISIS Litamina, Mark and the team used a tractor mounted leaf blower, in which they would blow the fallen leaves from one end of the course to another.

“It was a three-man operation and if the wind were to blow in a different direction, then we would find ourselves constantly blowing leaves around the whole course,” he said.

The Litamina 1200 is a compact sweeper for efficient collection for unwanted debris or leaves from fine turf and outfield turf, and from sand filled or rubber crumb synthetic surfaces. Ideally suited to follow ground contours it collects a wide

range of debris including leaves, pine needles, grass, thatch, cores, litter and its effective sweeping brushes help to keep surfaces free of contamination.

“Thanks to the Litamina, leaf collecting is now a one-man job – it sweeps and picks them up in one pass.

We then move them into the woods where they become compost and will be used for soil one day,” he said.

“The manpower it has saved us has been golden,” continued Mark.

“I like the brush on it too and you can see how it lifts the grasses up – we actually use it as an opportunity to go behind with a mower. This, for me, is an added benefit as it helps with presentation. I would say that the course is the tidiest it has ever been and it hasn’t gone un-noticed by the members – a lot of them comment on how easy it is to find balls now!

“It is also extremely easy to assemble on to the back of our tractor and because it is manufactured by SISIS you know it is going to be reliable. The Litamina offers a certain peace of mind – at the end of the day, the leaves don’t stop falling and we need to be on top of that to keep the members happy.” www.sisis.com

Cordless mower’s multi-blade system As a leading provider of cordless gardening tools, EGO Power+ is on a mission to deliver products that will surpass even the expectations of professional gardeners.

With the introduction of their latest product – the LM2130E-SP 52cm Self Propelled Mower – the company have created a product that delivers precision mowing with a host of useful features.

At 52cm, the extra wide cutting width is ideal for covering large areas quickly, while the 70-litre cutting bag with fill-level indicator means less time-consuming stops.

The Select Cut multi-blade cutting system consists of an Upper Blade used in combination with a lower blade to slice the grass into fine fragments; this greatly enhances cutting performance with all grass types. The Bagging Blade supplied 12 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

with the mower is a heavy-duty blade that ensures cut grass is collected and thrown efficiently into the grass bag.

EGO’s Self-Propelled Touch Drive Technology comes from years of research and development. Touch Drive Technology puts complete control of the self-propelled system in the palm of your hands by using pressure to engage the system.

Easily control the variable speed with a dial positioned at your fingertips for safe and convenient operation. www. egopowerplus. co.uk

NEWS

TEAwww.turfmatters.co.uk BREAK TEASER

making turf matter

Tea Break Teaser HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Where in the world will you find…

1. The Maracana Stadium 2. Happy Valley Racecourse

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

3. The WACA 4. Oakmont Golf Club 5. The Bernabeu Stadium 6. Archerfield Links 7. Flushing Meadows 8. Croke Park Stadium 9. Tony Macaroni Stadium 10. The Lauberhorn, Downhill Skiing Course 11. Mile High Stadium 12. The Bird’s Nest Stadium 13. Crooked Stick Golf Club 14. Scotiabank Saddledome 15. New York Stadium Answers on page 69

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 15

NEWS

Complementary knowledge brings powerhouse of expertise ProPitch has entered into a collaboration with Advance Grass Solutions to streamline pitch management and maintenance offerings, positioning ProPitch to attract more customers and increase its market share.

ProPitch is a familiar name in the sports industry, known for setting the standard for natural turf assessment, its trusted and innovative products, including scalable assessment kits, intuitive online portals, and an extensive, growing collection of apps and tools developed to assist ground staff, managers, and pitch owners.

The collaboration grants AGS an opportunity to make

use of the ProPitch suite of resources for testing and data collection, providing reports and results that can be analysed for more accurate recommendations.

ProPitch enhances the ability for AGS to ascertain the effectiveness of its products and pass that information to its clients, as part of the wider support package. The win here is the exponential amount of data this opportunity provides. ”ProPitch is pleased to be working with AGS in a unique collaboration, the objective of which is to enhance grounds maintenance knowledge by exponentially increasing data collection on the agronomic

and performance aspects of pitches and developing future innovations in the UK market,” said Eric O’Donnell, ProPitch Managing Director.

Sam Honeyborne, AGS Managing Director, can see the benefits which will come to both companies.

“Our partnership with Pro Pitch will offer our customers a market leading system that will allow them to quantify the performance of their inputs and measure pitch quality to a UEFA standard, as well as accessing independent advice on construction projects.

“The app is very userfriendly, the tools are market leading and will be

available to AGS customers as part of our wider support package,” said Sam. Matt Le Brun, AGS Business Development Manager, explained how the new arrangement would operate: “The companies hold a complementary wealth of experience and knowledge between them, creating a powerhouse of expertise and an exceptional overall offering.

ProPitch and AGS are committed to improving the industry, with an awareness to sustainability,” said Matt.

“The partnership plans to cross-train staff, transfer industry knowledge and host joint events to showcase the latest technology.’’

Campey’s dealer in Indonesia PT. Adam Elis Servis, operating as AESCo.SEA has been appointed as the sole dealer of Campey Turf Care Systems products for Indonesia.

Air 2G2, Imants, KORO by Imants and Campey Turf Care Systems products will all be available from the Jakartabased company which wants to give customers access to machinery that can help them enhance the standards of natural turf pitches and golf courses.

Football is one of the most popular sports in Indonesia with large participation professionally and recreationally, and FIFA has recognised the love of football in the country with the award of the Men’s Under-20 World Cup which is currently due to be played throughout May and June 2021.

Away from football, the country has just under 150 golf courses, with renowned golf course architects such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Robert Trent Jones Jr, and Gary Player designing courses in the region.

Campey Turf Care Export Sales Manager, Nick Brown, has worked closely with AESCo.SEA and is looking forward to working with 16 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

the company across the 18,000 islands that make up Indonesia.

“We are looking forward to developing our relationship with Adam and the team at AESCo.SEA and providing the turf professionals of Indonesia with Campey products,” said Nick.

“Sport is a massive part of Indonesian culture, as it is here in the United Kingdom, and the infrastructure to provide it is improving all the time, and that is where we want to be involved.

“For us, and all of our dealers, that involvement is more than just selling machines. The aftercare service is essential to us because we want to contribute to the education of the customers we work with, and that applies at all levels,” concluded Nick.

Adam Lenfield of AESCo.SEA added that having been a customer and worked on the sales side with Campey in the past, they were thrilled to be nominated as the Indonesian Distributor.

“Indonesia is a great market with huge potential given the right tools and advice, which we are able to supply with the backing and support afforded by the team at Campey,” said Adam.

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GMA expands its online training with winter pitches course The GMA has launched the latest addition to its online training with its new course, Level 3 – Winter Pitches ‘Advanced Turf Culture’ for experienced volunteers and professionals.

The new online course is ideal for experienced volunteers and grounds team members and will help participants understand the advanced technical aspects of turf maintenance, and how they form an integral part of a detailed maintenance programme.

The course will also support participants in getting the most from their playing surfaces in terms of quality standards and carrying capacity.

Upon successful completion, participants will have improved their knowledge of winter pitch care management by taking modules that cover soil

nutrient testing, grass cultivars and evaluation, control of threats to turf health, health and safety, and the influence of drainage, soil type and compaction, all of which will impact on the carrying capacity of pitches.

In addition, the course addresses key skills such as planning winter maintenance programmes and managing surfaces in order to optimise carrying capacity.

Level 3 – Winter Pitches ‘Advanced Turf Culture’ takes approximately six hours to complete and consists of 7 informative lessons with content produced by the GMA’s specialist technical and learning team. It is priced at £150 for non-members, but with GMA members receiving discounts of 30%, the course can be available for just £110. j“Our online learning has been a huge success, and we’re really pleased to

be launching this course not long after reaching the milestone of 1000 sign-ups to online training since we first launched it back in May 2020,” said Jason Booth, Chief Operations Officer.

“We’re determined to ensure that grounds staff at all levels have the opportunity to learn and develop their skills, despite the challenges that national restrictions and lockdowns create. With high rainfall and snow ahead of us, launching Level 3 – Winter Pitches ‘Advanced Turf Culture’ now was the clear next step to our online offerings.”

“Following our Level 1 and Level 2 online training

courses that cover the basics of grounds maintenance and management, we believe that those who already have some experience also have the opportunity to improve. It also offers inexperienced grounds staff the chance to improve their skills and capabilities through online modules that support their development.”

The GMA will continue to develop and introduce new online training courses for a range of sports as the seasons and weather change throughout the year.

To upskill your knowledge through the GMA’s training courses, visit www.thegma. org.uk/learning or email learning@thegma.org.uk

SoilScout looks to expand operations Soil Scout has introduced TurfCare as reseller of its wireless underground soil monitoring solution.

The new partnership starts immediately. Soil Scout VP of International Sales, Adam Sedgwick, said: “We are really pleased to be partnering with TurfCare and expanding our European distributor network to Ireland. The TurfCare team have shown an unbelievable amount of enthusiasm for the benefits that the Soil Scout solution can bring to Ireland’s golf and sports turf maintenance professionals.

“Soil Scout currently operates in more than 15 countries and this partnership is part of the companies’ plans

to scale up operations in Europe throughout 2021.”

TurfCare Sales Manager, Jim Holden, said: “TurfCare are delighted to partner with Soil Scout and offer these unique fully wireless sensors. We feel this technology offers end users excellent real-time data directly to your phone without having to go to the field.

“When managing moisture, soil temperature and salinity you can dramatically increase your efficiencies and inputs by using Soil Scout sensors. They are simple and easy to use and offer end users sustainability going forward in managing and improving their turf while saving money.” www.soilscout.com Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 17

NEWS

Why quality sand makes for healthy sports pitches A high-quality sand is vital to the overall health and performance of a sports pitch. Gary Cunningham, Football & Golf Sales Representative for Mansfield Sand, explains why...

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ansfield Sand has pioneered the development and production of premium silica sand-based products for over 170 years. The company provides a wide range of innovative products for sports, landscaping, and equestrian uses. These include stadium and training ground facilities; championship golf courses and world class show jumping arenas.

With a wide range of sand-based products available, it can sometimes be difficult to know which one will be most suitable. So, what should we be looking for in a good sports pitch dressing?

“Ideally a good quality silica sand dressing, aerated into the surface is all winter sports pitches require,” said Gary.

“However, it is important to select the right industry grade of sand which is suitable for sports dressing application.

“A quality washed sports grade silica sand will be graded between 30 and 45 and each grade will be proceeded by two letters which designate the quarry they are supplied from. The lower the number, the coarser the sand is and vice versa – the higher the number, the finer the sand.

“At Mansfield Sand, we predominately provide two grades of silica sand to the sports market, MM35 and MM40 – which are sourced directly from the company’s Two Oaks quarry in Mansfield.”

Gary spends most of his days travelling up and down the country

visiting a variety of sports clubs from world class stadia through to grass roots. The most popular choices are 29 tonne and 20 tonne loose tipped deliveries for full pitch dressings and one tonne bulk bags for when a little is required for touch up’s and divots.

“Post-match divoting is best done with a fork by teasing the surface back together with a light dusting of sand to aid surface levels. For bigger deeper scars, a small amount of sandy rootzone mixed with a little seed can be used to add a little body to prevent it being kicked out. As only a small amount/ hand full of rootzone are being used, it is possible to ensure it is stone free.

“Goal mouth areas are one such area needing extra attention – no amount of aeration and dressing will stop the grass thinning out on a sand soil surface. In severe situations if wanting to level the surface you can dig out the compacted rootzone and

replace with a depth of fresh rootzone or even a reinforced product. If the area is just experiencing general wear, then a normal renovation sand dressing can be OK with an overseed.

“Rootzones all contain small stones which can damage mowing machinery or cause player injury.”

Mansfield Sand sieve down to 6mm for rootzone products.

Gary recommends somewhere between 60-90 tonnes of sand for an end of season renovation on a full-sized playing area but stressed the importance of applying it properly.

“It will be important not to spread to much sand so as not to smother the grass plant or have a lot of sand laying over bare areas. It is good practice is to aerate during the sand dressing process, working the material into the upper rootzone profile.” www.mansfield-sand.co.uk

Spraying lance ideal for spot application The versatile 4MPS three-point linkage sprayer features a 70-litre capacity tank. The sprayer comes with an integral 12 volt diaphragm pump powered from the tractor battery, with a flow rate up to seven litres per minute.

The 2440mm spraying width allows for vast areas to be covered in minimal time, and is supplied with a four nozzle spray boom and hand lance.

The lance is ideal for spot application of weed killers to nettles and docks. The hand lance and boom are easily changed 18 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

over by means of quick release couplings.

All SCH mounted sprayers are supplied with a five litre fresh water washing bottle to dilute any spillages when mixing chemicals, should they occur.

The 70L sprayer can be made with alternative hitch types, included mounting on an ATV or attaching to the 48” grass care system, which allows you to care for your grass in every possible way, all in one cost-saving machine. www.schsupplies.co.uk

NEWS

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Pitch maintainers make marks W

ith 54 pitches, including Salford City Football Club’s training ground and stadium, owner of NW Pitch Maintenance, Andy O’Sullivan, brought the Turf Tank robotic line marker on board to improve the efficiency of his line marking operation.

Andy, who was initially sceptical about robotic line markers, arranged a demonstration of the machine at one of his most challenging grassroots pitches with Matt Murray, Northern Area Manager for Turf Tank. After seeing the accuracy of the lines despite the difficult undulations, he knew it would be an asset.

“When Matt from Turf Tank came out to me, I took him to one of the worst pitches I have to look, after in

terms of we can’t always get on it because it’s always a bit rutted,” explained Andy.

“It was raining heavily, but the lines were really, really straight, and that convinced me to buy it because I thought if it can do that on there, then I’ve got a chance with this thing.

“The difference with the Turf Tank right now is really apparent because no-one is playing football. Previously we would have had to keep the lines otherwise we’d lose them and need to set them up again which is another three-hour job on every pitch. With the Turf Tank we have set the pitches up, and we won’t have to go back and overmark them until the pitches are required again.

“Now we turn up, put the base station up and off we

go because the pitches are already set-up on the tablet and it’s only 20 minutes to mark. The time we save being able to do that justifies the robot alone. And I’d say the lines are undoubtedly better because when you’ve got a grassroots pitch with undulations, even when you string a pitch with an undulation, you’re going to follow that yourself naturally and the string doesn’t stay on the ground, it rises above that dip. Whereas the Turf Tank will follow that dip down because it’s low to the ground as well.

“I can send my son, Liam, off to another site, and he can be cutting, and I can take the Turf Tank with me and the tractor to cut as well. I cut one pitch at the training ground and set the

Turf Tank off on the other one. I’m then cutting while that’s doing its work, we finish at similar times, and I set it off on the pitch I’ve cut and by the time I’ve packed my trailer up it’s ready to go. It’s like having another staff member with me, and in total, I’d say it’s saving us 20 to 25 hours a week on line-marking time.”

Since having the Turf Tank, Andy has been able to diversify his line marking offering and is scheduled to line a lacrosse pitch and plans to mark running tracks in the summer. Templates for a large number of sports are pre-loaded into the tablet to make marking them quick and easy, with the operator simply having to plot them and push go. www.turftank.com

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 19

NEWS

Covid closures offer a silver lining to ClearWater system During the past year – probably as a positive consequence of Covid closures – ClearWater has experienced a surge in orders for their washpad water recycling system.

ClearWater’s Matthew Mears commented: “The largest proportion of our sales come from golf courses or other sports related facilities. With these closed during lockdown periods, this has enabled staff more time for maintenance and other projects, often sooner than anticipated. ClearWater systems have always been offered with a “self-install” option and closures have led to many more taking this”.

Another driving factor to increasing orders has been client’s needs to reduce costs. ClearWater systems recycle up to 97% of water used, as Matthew puts it “Everyone needs to save money. Washing with ClearWater saves water, saves money!” One local authority in the Northwest has recently ordered nine systems, deciding washwater recycling with ClearWater to be the way forward.

The self-install option offered by ClearWater enables further savings and each comes with comprehensive

instructions and step-by-step photographs. Everything about ClearWater is designed for easy use.

For example: in periods of warm weather, there’ll be some loss of water by evaporation. Topping up is not a problem, as all water flows from the washpad by gravity into the system (no complicated sumps, pumps or waterfalls). Rainwater falling on the pad will, therefore, top up and at no cost, with no need for a mains water feed! Despite ClearWater’s legendary wash-off performance

greatly appreciated by clients (each water gun provides up to 8 bar pressure washwater from its own submersible pump), a pump could fail. Not an issue as only one wash gun is affected; the system can still be used whilst quick-fit fittings, enable a replacement to be installed within minutes by the customer; no need for an engineer callout!

To help prospective purchasers, ClearWater is offering a 2 year in house interest free payment plan along with other options .

Invisible solution for irrigation sprinkler Reesink Turfcare brings invisible and complete top access in-field irrigation to Toro’s B Series sprinklers with a new natural turf cup.

This innovative addition to the popular sprinkler head allows grass to grow in the cup on top of the sprinkler to create a seamless and continuous area of turf.

The quick release rubber cap pops up allowing all the access needed to service the internal parts of the sprinkler without digging it up and it’s available in full-circle or adjustable part-circle configuration.

Designed to fit perfectly on the popular Toro B Series sprinklers, this turf cup further enhances the many benefits the B Series sprinkler is known and appreciated for. In action, the heads evenly irrigate a span of some 13 to 29 metres and the volume can easily be altered to deliver 20 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

exactly what’s required with adjustment from 25 or 15 ‘Dual Trajectory’ options without having to change the nozzle.

Robert Jackson, Water Division Sales Manager at Reesink Turfcare, commissioned and helped design the new turf cup.

“This new turf cup has been engineered to deliver issue-free, cost-effective invisible in-field irrigation. It provides precise and flexible control for watering no matter what the weather conditions are, giving head-to-head coverage even in windy conditions. We’ve also utilised the flexible rubber compound from our original TS90 range to prevent damage to the cup from pitch renovations or more importantly a player.

“The benefit of in-field irrigation like this immediately improves irrigation

uniformity, ensures player safety and guarantees best pitch playability and field aesthetics. And this combination of Toro B Series sprinklers with the Turf Cup from Reesink is ultimate for that.”

Built to withstand the tough environment of the typical UK sports field, this turf cup has been designed and tested to ensure the highest levels of reliability and durability demanded by the market today.

“As we all know, something as simple as a sprinkler update can make all the difference. The same theory applies to the addition of this simple turf cup. Bringing maximum performance, minimising sprinkler interference and eliminating the need to dig up your pristine pitch during maintenance makes this product your man of the match week after week,” added Robert.

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Top-Brush effectively tackles worm casts Constructed on a heavy clay soil profile, the two 18-hole courses at Welwyn Garden City’s Brocket Hall Estate fell victim last year to what arguably has become one of the biggest challenges for fine turf managers – worm casts.

Without available curative chemistry, Golf Course Manager John Moorhouse turned to his local dealer for advice who recommended the Redexim TopBrush. Three months on from taking delivery, the Top-Brush has proven itself to be a true multi-tasker – not only tackling the issue of worm casts but leaves and surface moisture too.

“The combination of our heavy soil and milder, wetter autumns has seen a huge spike in the number of worm casts we’re seeing” explained John.

“I spoke with David Fisher of George Browns to see if there was a way of removing the casts prior to cutting. He straight away organised

a demonstration of the Top-Brush.”

The Redexim Top-Brush is a sixmetre-wide poly-brush, comprised of three sections, that can quickly and effectively rid large areas, such as fairways, of worm casts, organic matter and dew. Because the brushes can rotate in or against the direction of travel, it can be used to remove lateral growth and stand the plant upright contributing to better airflow into the canopy and a cleaner quality of cut.

“It’s really easy to hook-up via the 3-point linkage and it’s quick and straightforward to adjust the rotation direction and working depth. It has not only done exactly as we hoped in clearing surface casts, but it also played a major part in leaf clearance, giving us a great, clean finish.”

When used with clockwise rotation, John has been impressed with the Top-Brush’s ability to remove dew

and improve course presentation.

“It has given us a quick and effective method of reducing surface moisture, especially early mornings, not only contributing to improvements in plant health but giving us a beautiful striped finish on the fairways.

“As we head into the spring, in addition to all of its existing uses, we plan to use the Top-Brush to help with incorporation of topdressing material.

The versatility demonstrated by this piece of kit means it has done exactly what we hoped for, and so much more.”

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 21

NEWS

DLF’s John Hughes retires

One of the most well-known names in the seed industry, DLF’s John Hughes, retired at the end of February.

After spending most of his working life at some of the country’s leading seed providers to the golf and sports turf markets, John has made many friends and contacts who will miss his invaluable support, knowledge and advice.

For the last 18 years, he has been a fundamental part of the sales team for DLF Seeds in his role as Regional Technical Manager for the North.

“The last year has been challenging for the obvious reasons which has also meant that, sadly, I have not had the opportunity to say my farewells in the traditional way. I wish to thank all of my customers for their ongoing support and help over the years – many of whom I can say I now consider to be friends,” said John.

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Three-hole course is key to Jacobsen testing Since transferring the production of Jacobsen mowers to the Turf Care Centre of Excellence in Ipswich, the company’s three-hole golf course has become more important than ever to product development and testing.

The beginning of 2021 has seen a quick start for new product lines with the new AR530, Eclipse ELiTE 360 and HR800 all in the later stages of testing and development.

It is at this point the 3-hole course comes into its own, with the product development team able to test the mowers in real-world situations and often pass the machines onto Golf Course Greenkeeper, Justin Hunt.

Justin, pictured, began his working life as an apprentice at Ransomes before becoming a product demonstrator in the UK and Europe. Despite leaving the company, he stayed in the turf industry working with Ernest Doe and Bartrum Mowers before joining Woodbridge Golf

Club as a greenkeeper where he eventually became Course Manager for six years.

During his time as a demonstrator, he and others at Ransomes knew the land could be a useful asset for product

testing, but he couldn’t imagine just how well it could be developed.

“Initially, I found preparing a golf course in the middle of an industrial estate a bit strange. Where we’re sat in the main building now would have been our workshop back in the day, and the land across there that’s now the golf course was wasteland,” said Justin.

“That whole area was full of ploughs ready for sale because agricultural machinery was still made here then, and over time all of those ploughs disappeared, and we as demonstrators needed somewhere to test the equipment we were going to take out. We actually built in the loosest terms a little golf course. We fabricated a green out there so we could test greens mowers before we took them out. We knew its possibilities, but several years later it turned into what we see out there today, which is a fantastic facility.”

Atmospheric night golf in Phnom Penh

The Troon-managed Vattanac Golf Resort celebrates the opening of the spectacular “The Dragon Turn” night golf.

The night golf is an addition to the recently opened West Course and offers golfers a unique opportunity to play in the breathtaking surrounds of Phnom Penh under the cover of darkness.

The Dragon Turn is aptly named by the lake’s shape that sits in the middle of three holes

22 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

of this 9-hole floodlit course.

The launch of The Dragon Turn night golf comes after a successful end to 2020 for the resort following the opening of the second Faldo Design course, the West Course, and the East Course being named Cambodia’s Best Golf Course at the 2020 World Golf Awards.

The East Course has received praise from golfers the world over.

Set within natural surroundings, the

East is a golf course that utilises water features, creative bunkering, and various forms of native fauna to challenge golfers of all levels..

The West Course contends with the East as not only one of the best in Cambodia, but also one of the best in Asia.

Distinctive differences are defined by narrower and more undulating fairways, a variety of unique water features and testing Paspalum greens.

GROUNDWOW

Complete stadium Scott MacCallum meets up with David Pritchard, Chief Commercial Officer for GroundWOW It was at Saltex in late 2019 that we first met. Neither of us had a crystal ball at the Show but 12 months on how is everyone at GroundWOW? Safe and well and finding a way to work…?

Amazing how quickly the year since Saltex has passed and I am pleased to report that we are in fantastic shape. As for our way of working, the team is well organised and ahead of the first lockdown, we put together a detailed plan that supported our transition to home working for as and when we’ve needed to.

The faith we had in our team and our processes through that period was paid back times over. Remote working during lockdown worked especially well on areas that sometimes struggle for airtime in a busy production setting.

David Pritchard: Looking forward with great optimism

That all sounds very positive.

Does that mean you have you already reconciled the last 12 months and moved on?

Absolutely. Despite the many positives that occurred in GroundWOW during this difficult time, such as new products for the sports sector and in healthcare, I think we are all looking forward to moving on.

Looking back, what we ended up seeing was a split between organisations that were forced to wait for the pandemic ‘storm’ to pass versus others who had decided they would maintain business as usual as best they could. We saw two very different approaches to life “behind closed doors” and to be fair, both were entirely understandable.

For anybody less familiar with our business, outside of core sports marking products, we

24 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

manage a pipeline of development projects, some that we will deliver in to sport and others that leverage our modular technology and state of the art factory into other sectors.

It is an approach we envisaged from the outset, endorsed and encouraged by our backers who are profoundly bought into the vision of our core autonomous robotic technology, and our wider RAAS (Robotics As A Service) offering. For them, that is all part of investing in a deep technology business. For us, it is this diversity of opportunity that minimises our exposure to any single sector.

Can you tell us any more about these other opportunities for your core technology?

Outside of sport, we are approached regularly with alternative use suggestions for GroundWOW’s multi-patented technology (now eight patents and counting!). A quick look through the newspapers and you can see that RAAS Technology businesses everywhere have continued to grow massively despite the pandemic.

In our case, it is easy to see how autonomous robotics might transition into transportation infrastructure or last mile delivery for example.

So, while our primary focus today is sport, it was our constant review of analogous markets that led us into discussions with the NHS in 2020.

Appetite is all the way to the top of Government and as a result, we are delighted to have an offer currently under consideration for the whole of the Worldwide health care market.

Coming back to opportunity in sport, something we are regularly asked of our technology is, can it service any of our other wider needs. Well, I

am pleased to exclusively announce that we’ll be unveiling something new for the sector very soon that will excite and delight everyone in sport – from the grounds crew to the Executive Board. As a self-sufficient manufacturer, we can take a project from the design phase to production readiness in literally a matter of days.

But just because we can, doesn’t always mean that we will. Every idea must go via a rigorous research protocol to establish a meaningful strategic benefit, or otherwise.

How has the company grown over the last 12 months?

Commercially, we have continued to build relationships around the globe including with organisations who are either keen to deploy our technology or collaborate with us in their part of the world on one project or another.

In the same way as so many others during the lockdown, we developed different ways to demonstrate our technology remotely, but hand on heart, I cannot wait to get back to more in person face to face conversations.

Team wise, we have recruited heavily over the last 12 months, building out a multi-national team of engineers and developers all based at our HQ, and we are still actively recruiting. The unwavering commitment to recruitment was also a clear signal to everybody else at GroundWOW that their livelihood was secure and the business still building proactively despite the biggest downturn in history.

Finally, with a larger team comes a larger space requirement and so we decided that we would accelerate our plans to create the Smart Factory we had envisioned from day one. We

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branding solution are thrilled with the result and the reactions from visitors. We occupy a large facility with an indoor test track in the middle and if you walked through the door today you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Silicon Valley rather than South Manchester.

World class teams deserve world class environments and we have taken huge steps in that direction to invest in our people and our customer journey.

The return of televised sport plays into your hands and I know you had big success at Cheltenham and Soccer Aid. Can you talk a little bit about those and some of the other major relationships you build during these difficult times?

Yes, Cheltenham and Soccer-Aid were like the book ends of a springsummer period that is normally the prime time for sport in this country.

At Cheltenham, we installed for The Jockey Club’s headline sponsor (Magners) one week before the Festival and we ended up in lockdown a week after the actual event.

The Jockey Club were brilliant partners and hugely excited about new inventory facilitated by GroundWOW technology. As you might imagine, when you deliver an event of that profile, there is an inevitable spike in interest in the weeks and months that follow.

It was during Cheltenham week when Soccer Aid for UNICEF made their initial approach to ask if we would be interested to deliver pitch side branding for their main event sponsors at Old Trafford. As you now know, the original June date was postponed but we picked up in summer and delivered in September. Exactly like Cheltenham, delivering on a major stage like Old Trafford supercharges the level of inbound interest – but it is a nice problem considering these times of general uncertainty across the sector.

Relationship wise, our travel plans to certain parts of the world were put on hold. However, we found we were suddenly receiving a major level of interest from football. Typically, our discussions have been with proactive leaders looking for innovative logo and large-scale branding solutions to support their event delivery.

The other notable and enjoyable feature of our process is the sheer variety of discussions we are having with organisations who differ wildly

in terms of available resources. Our technology is not cost-prohibitive and so we are able to engage prospects from all levels of sport.

What can you offer sporting events or sporting venues as revenue generating options during their televised/behind closed doors events?

This has always been the central proposition of GroundWOW, enabling a partner to drive revenue streams by printing sponsor brands and advertising logos on their real estate. Ie. sweating their asset. The main topics for discussion are either about selling pitchside real estate to matchday sponsors or in other cases, activating the pitch perimeter to drive added value for existing sponsors. We have all heard about spikes in TV audience figures and we know the value is always in fixed positions in front of the cameras.

That is what ground printed logos are.

The fact too that we run an autonomous vehicle and don’t rely on huge teams of people to carry out our work is also noteworthy given current stringent controls around stadium access.

What about opportunity outside of game day? You talk a lot about being a complete stadium solution, are these two elements related?

The main point here is that our conversations are not rooted in game day activations only. While conference and exhibition are largely stalled for now, non-game day brand activations are core GroundWOW opportunities.

In football for example, there may be 30 to 40 game days each year (depending on cup runs) but on the other 320 days, it is not uncommon for stadia owners to host multiple events every single day. In many cases, companies that hire out a venue are willing to pay for brand presence in incredible environments like stadia.

GroundWOW makes this possible, as the World’s first enterprise-wide ‘ground printer’ solution that literally anybody in the club can use. Not just the Grounds Team but also the marketing department, the sales department, the conference and exhibition team, and the charitable foundation. Teams have brought to us their own list of desired applications including end of season pitch days, stadium tours, car parks, media use,

training grounds, concerts, wayfinding, grand scale art, product launches, partner films – that is what we mean when we talk about a complete stadium solution. Suddenly, the concept of a fully branded campus becomes a year-round reality.

For interested parties, what can they expect of a technology product business model?

Our business model is a really simple monthly subscription for Robot/ Software As A Service. Easiest analogy is a person’s mobile phone subscription. All relevant hardware and software are provided to the client including access to our full cloud infrastructure. How exciting is that?

You have grown the company significantly during the toughest economic downturn in our lifetime.

What opportunities do you see for yourselves when we do get back to some sort of normality – whether that be in 2021 or heaven forbid, beyond that?

We feel good about where we are but we are sensitive to the proper process of emerging from lockdown safely. When the time is right, we’ll operationalise our growth plan further in sports marking and whole campus activation and we will also open offices this year in Australia and the United States. In the meantime, our new products in sport and healthcare, will continue to build value for us.

As history has shown, lots of innovative businesses have emerged and thrived as the result of a downturn exposing a need for things to change. We are looking forward with great optimism to whatever 2021 has in store. Watch this space.

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 25

GMA

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So, how are we doing?

by Ian Mather-Brewster, Key Account Manager/Regional Pitch Advisor at the Grounds Management Association

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his year has been particularly difficult for everyone. Sport clubs and organisations have dealt with sudden openings and closures, along with furloughs, adverse weather conditions and relentless uncertainty.

However, throughout the upheaval, grounds staff – whether volunteer or professional – have continued to work hard each day, holding sport together by ensuring pitches are ready to go at a moment’s notice. At the GMA, these challenges are the reason we felt that this year was the perfect time to launch GroundsWeek.

This inaugural celebration week was an opportunity to give all those in the industry the much-needed credit they deserve, while welcoming others into the sector. Here’s a run-down of how the sector’s doing as sport begins to unlock, and why grounds staff are so central to making sport possible.

Volunteers at the helm The importance of outdoor exercise has been hugely emphasised as a result of Covid-19. While gyms and other indoor sport facilities have been closed, outdoor facilities have acted as a lifeline for the public to go out and exercise during this turbulent period. Grounds staff have played a pivotal role in making this happen.

Volunteers at local clubs have used their permitted daily exercise to ensure these local pitches continue to be ready to be used at a moment’s notice, giving the public a place to exercise and play. It’s no secret that sport has a transformative impact on our wellbeing – after the past year, the need to supercharge both our mental and physical health is going to be paramount. With the pandemic having had a devastating fallout on mental wellbeing, it’s essential that the public have access to outdoor sport facilities once we’re permitted to play.

After the initial national lockdown was announced last year, volunteer grounds staff had to get surfaces back to a top standard after facilities had been unused for quite some time.

Volunteers had to suddenly adopt different skills and learn new ways of working. With industry guidance about how to return and when it was safe to do so, grounds volunteers across the country were able to get back out there and provide high quality, playable surfaces.

Getting the professional game back on Professional sport resuming during the pandemic has also been a lifeline for many – something to focus on and enjoy, it has also acted as a conversation starter for many who’ve been sat at home with very little to do or talk about.

While many are keen to get back to playing 26 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

themselves with their local teams, friends and family, being able to watch your favourite team play on TV has been a welcome distraction from the outside world. With professional sport having the power to lift us up in times of turmoil, grounds managers and staff’s role in making that possible has been pivotal.

Some staff have worked completely on their own throughout the pandemic, without the help of volunteers or a team, yet still have managed to produce immaculate surfaces which have been televised for professional games. They’ve also had new, additional responsibilities: sanitising all equipment before and after large-scale games in huge venues – many have miraculously managed to do this single-handedly. Reduced budgets from the previous season have meant smaller renovations for many professional sport facilities, however, grounds managers and volunteers have still managed to produce top-standard playing surfaces, despite the condensed season leading professional sport grounds to be used far more often than usual, multiplying the workload for grounds managers and volunteers.

Due to the pandemic, clubs and organisations within professional sport have also had to increase the number of areas used for training to comply with safe distancing rules, with some lower league clubs having had to train at bigger stadiums to reduce risk – this has meant grounds staff have had an even bigger job to do in making sure all these areas are ready for use, time and time again.

At cricket clubs, grounds workers have had to start preparing and covering practice areas far earlier than usual – usually, cricket players would get flown overseas for international fixtures, but currently they are stuck in the UK, meaning these pitches need to be in top condition consistently.

The unsung heroes of sport Despite the strain put on grounds managers and volunteers at a grassroots and professional level, they have continued to keep facilities in top condition so that we can continue to play after lockdown. Grounds staff are the overlooked upholders of sport, without whom, the game simply could not go ahead.

Among furloughs taking place, budget cuts and a lack of investment, as well as the shorter seasons but the same number of games on the pitches, the grounds industry has had to put more effort than ever before into keeping sport pitches playable, and have managed to do an incredible job. Without grounds staff, sports pitches would be non-existent, compromising the future of sport as we know it.

Grounds staff have also gone beyond keeping sport pitches immaculate – to giving up space at their grounds to allow for Covid-testing to take place, and local clubs have helped set up food banks as well as assisted in delivering food to the vulnerable. The grounds community has had to become more resilient than ever, sticking

together in the face of unwanted criticism, and keeping sport going through these difficult times.

Joining the sector Despite this, we know the sector is facing a crisis – without a new generation of grounds staff and volunteers, there will be a knock-on effect both for the public wanting to get active, and on professional games. Grounds maintenance requires considerable knowledge, time and dedication to provide a pitch that meets rigorous standards set out by professional sporting bodies, with year-round attention to detail, and intensive labour to ensure surfaces get enough care.

GMA’s new research* shows that young people aren’t considering grounds management as a career, and the grounds sector is facing a significant skills gap as a result. Our research shows that 40% of the workforce is over 50, and 9% of grounds managers and volunteers will be retiring in the next five years. If things continue the way they’re going, unfortunately, 5,120 pitches across the UK could be left without a grounds person soon. However, hope is not lost: 6,000 young people are needed to join the profession, to help the turf care sector get on the road to recovery. #GroundsWeek was a call on the nation to celebrate the vital contribution of grounds staff, while urging young sports fans to consider the profession. The week was set up to celebrate the vital role that professional grounds staff, volunteers, and the turf sector plays in making sport possible. After what has been a really difficult year for the sector and beyond, we wanted to use this celebration to showcase grounds staff and the brilliant work that they do – and have continued to do – despite sport stopping and starting. #GroundsWeek, which will continue each year, is an opportunity to celebrate our sector, and emphasise the vital role grounds staff play in driving sport forward, from grassroots to a professional level. We’re hoping sports fans and the general public have been inspired to consider volunteering at their local pitches or joining the sector as professionals in the future. *(Data gathered from Sport England’s Active Lives report, GMA’s Sports Vital Profession Report and Back to Play)

Ian Mather-Brewster

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MERCHISTON CASTLE SCHOOL

Introducing a factor

WOW 28 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

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SCOTT MACCALLUM TALKS WITH MICHAEL YAN HIP AND DISCOVERS WHY MERCHISTON CASTLE SCHOOL IN EDINBURGH ATTRACTS – AND PRODUCES – ILLUSTRIOUS SPORTING ELITE

T

here are some things that are perceived to be quintessentially English. The jangling Morris Dancers parading down a high street; the strains of Jerusalem and the sound of leather on willow.

All paint a Vicar of Dibley image of England, whether real or imagined, but that last one, leather on willow?

Can England lay claim to the game of cricket? Yes, there is huge heritage going all the way back to WG Grace and the home of the game is recognised as Lords, but can it be claimed as English?

Well, one man, Michael Yan Hip, Head Groundsman at the exclusive Merchiston Castle School, in Edinburgh, makes a great case for Scotland’s place in the cricketing firmament.

“People, particularly from down south, say that Scotland is not recognised for its cricket, but there are more cricket clubs in Scotland than there are rugby clubs,” explained Michael, who has been in charge of preparing high quality sports surfaces at the school for the last 10 years, having moved to the school from BT Murrayfield, where he was a member of the ground staff.

“More people play rugby in Scotland than cricket but that’s because there are 15 in a team for rugby. Take Edinburgh as an example. In the Premier League there are Carlton, Grange and Heriots } Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 29

MERCHISTON CASTLE SCHOOL

PROUD: Merchiston won the IOG’s Independent Schools Grounds Team of the Year in 2019. Centre is Michael Yan Hip, Head Groundsman

30 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

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“That was what got me into groundsmanship. The minutiae and nuances of what goes into producing a good cricket wicket was what got me really excited.” } and then there are seven leagues

below that. It’s the same in Glasgow.”

It was cricket that pulled Michael into groundmanship, at the age of 30, after a career in insurance and advertising. He’d already developed a taste for groundsmanship acting as a volunteer at Penicuik Cricket Club.

“The love of cricket came from my father, who was from the Caribbean, born in Trinidad. He was a very good cricketer. I was a pretend cricketer. He had an excellent eye while I didn’t at all. I had to wait for the ball to come to me and deflect it down to fine leg because I didn’t see it early enough.

“I had to work very hard with my limited ability, but what I did have was a real passion for the game,” said Michael.

“I played a lot of cricket in the Border League but being a short man of five foot five, I wasn’t very comfortable

with getting close to the ball. The pitches were generally uncovered and lacking in clay or loam so the ball was always going to jump and spit at you on some of the pitches we played on,” said Michael, who was quick to list the cricketers – Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Sunil Gavaskar, even Don Bradman – who were on the diminutive side.

“I wanted young cricketers learning the game to be comfortable getting their head over the ball and not worried that it would be jumping up and hitting them. I was hit quite a few times as a youngster and it sets a trend and you lose confidence.”

It was all the more worrying that back in those days helmets hadn’t been invented!

“So I didn’t have a helmet back in 1976, but then my father was old school even frowned on a thigh pad

His view was that you had a bat so why would you need a thigh pad.”

Michael gives great credit to a legendary figure within Scottish cricket – Willie Morton, a superb spin bowler, coach and national selector, who captained Scotland, played County cricket for Warwickshire, and was Head Groundsman at George Watson’s College, in Edinburgh, for over 30 years.

“It was the great Willie Morton who had me playing for five years longer in the first team than I should have. I was playing National League cricket on the better pitches in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

“That was what got me into groundsmanship. The minutiae and nuances of what goes into producing a good cricket wicket was what got me really excited,” said Michael, who was extremely proud when Merchiston won the IOG’s Independent Schools }

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 31

MERCHISTON CASTLE SCHOOL

ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS: England Rugby training on the Merchiston pitch

} Grounds Team of the Year in 2019.

“Dave Stewart and Stuart Chalmers have been with me virtually from day one and they do remarkable jobs here at Merchiston. They both fully deserved the Team of the Year Award.”

Michael actually began his groundsmanship career at Merchiston, in March 1995, and via a short stay at another Edinburgh school, Stewarts Melville, arrived at Myerside, home of George Watson.

“Willie Morton came in for me, because I am a qualified cricket coach, he wanted me to coach a bit of cricket on top of working on the grounds and knew I was an experienced groundsman. So, I coached the second 11 and was Assistant to Willie for six and a half years.”

Via spells at another Edinburgh school, Loretto, and King Edward’s School, in Birmingham, plus a period on the Ground Staff at BT Murrayfield he returned to Merchiston as Head Groundsman, 10 years ago.

Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding and day school for boys, and is open to boys between the ages of seven and 18, either boarding or day.

A range of sports and activities is available at the school; most notably in rugby union, which 70 Merchistonians have played at international level. Hooker Dave Cherry

32 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

became Merchiston’s latest Scotland cap when he took to the field against England at Twickenham in February.

The former 1st XV coach, Frank Hadden, who was at the school from 1983-2000, was the head coach of the Scottish national team from 2005-2009, while Rob Moffat, another international level coach, and current coach, Roddy Deans, ensure high quality pupil input and that the conveyor belt of high quality Scottish players is in good order.

“We have 97 acres at the school of which around 20 are woodland,” explained Michael, who is head of a team of five.

“We have eight rugby pitches, two smaller football pitches while we recently had a 2G sand-based hockey pitch installed. Our main pitch is 130 metres by 68 metres wide while the rest are all of varying sizes including the 80 metre by 40 metre pitch for the under 11s.

“For cricket, we have five grass areas – the main one on which we spend most of the time and the others where we spend as much time as we can, given we are a team of five,” said Michael, who explained that he had also introduced a scheme whereby Old Boys working as seasonal help in the summer.

“Recently, we have had Chris and Tom Sole, who have gone on to play cricket at a high level, and who are

sons of Scottish rugby legend and 1990 Grand Slam winning Captain, David.

“We have two sets on cricket covers, the latest set arriving a couple of years ago which help our pitch preparation while the old set are used to keep a wicket dry to give the boys somewhere to practise.”

A football pitch is transformed into an athletic track in the summer.

Michael is well versed with coping with the Scottish weather and can think back to his induction in ’95 and how since then the industry has evolved and developed since then and taken in the requirements from various parts of the country.

“I was given a photocopied piece of paper which explained that we should start rolling our square in mid-March. My view was that you could perhaps do that in the south of England but if he were to take his roller out in March it would get stuck!

“Up here our cricket wicket doesn’t start growing until the middle of June.”

His fertiliser programme has evolved over the last 10 years and working with his industry partners he has been able to remove his summer feed.

“I’ve recently started using a new product because it gives a longevity of 20-24 weeks. So, we are hoping that when we put it on in March it will take us all the way through to September, because it takes longer to break down.”

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“We have eight rugby pitches, two smaller football pitches while we recently had a 2G sand-based hockey pitch installed. Our main pitch is 130 metres by 68 metres wide.”

Having seen the level at which his English-based colleagues operate Michael is refreshingly frank.

“When you see schools hosting county second team matches or Premier League football clubs for their summer training you wouldn’t be much of a groundsman if you didn’t have a little bit of the green-eyed monster when you see the facilities they have and the standards that they reach.”

However, Michael and the team have had their fair share of illustrious guests. England, pre Calcutta Cup, the All Blacks during a visit to Scotland and Pakistan and Afghanistan cricket teams, during short tours of Scotland..

“Coach, Mickey Arthur, was particularly complimentary about the pitch on which his Pakistan team practised.”

Michael is a huge advocate of groundsmanship across the board

and believes that not enough credit is given to the work that is done.

“We create the pitches which enable high quality play to take place sometimes that is only noticed when planned renovations are shelved for whatever reason.

“We are as key an element of performance as the nutritionists and physios at a club. If a pitch is too soft, or the sward too long, fatigue and then injury is much more likely.

We can determine how the various games are played by the very nature of the surfaces we produce.”

While he is very much a cricket man, it is all of the sports played at the school which given him pleasure and a pride in what he and his team achieve.

“I love seeing the boys out on the pitch in one of our local derbies, on pitches that we’ve create for them,” said Michael, name checking Jamie

Dobie, Rufus McLean, Matt Currie and Dan Gamble, all recent professional players and who are more than likely to join the alumni who have worn the dark blue of Scotland before long.

“We also have an incredible cricketer, Tom McIntosh, who has recently signed for Durham, for whom great things are expected.”

Michael of also proud of how the school is presented and shows itself to anyone arriving up the school drive.

“I was asked at my interview what I would bring to the school and I said the Wow factor and I think when we have people visiting the school in the height of the summer and we have it cut, strimmed, edged and shaded we achieve that.”

When the snow disappears Michael will be back on his pitches making sure the best possible surfaces for all sports, including his beloved cricket.

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

Irrigation success at Hartpury W

hen Hartpury University and Hartpury College decided to upgrade their pitch irrigation, the Ground and Sports Maintenance Manager turned to Rigby Taylor, experts in supplying solutions and solving problems for sporting, amenity and landscaped surfaces.

The initial challenge was to upgrade the existing irrigation system for one of several natural and artificial match day and training pitches. The solution has included the installation of Rain Bird’s ESP-LXD irrigation controller and the IQ-Cloud central management system.

Hartpury are continuously investing in new facilities and sport pitches, including the provision of professional quality playing surfaces. There are two 3G rubber crumb all-weather artificial pitches for football and rugby which are certified by the Football Association and tested to IRB regulations respectively. There are also natural grass pitches, a golf putting green, a range and recreational pitch and putt.

Grounds and Sports Maintenance Manager, Matthew Newman and his teams, are responsible for maintaining the rugby and football pitches as well as grassed areas by the residential buildings. Four dedicated ground staff look after all the sports pitches and golf facilities. Landscaping and other maintenance work around the historic old manor house garden and the campus keep the whole site in pristine condition all year round.

The irrigation decoder controller was Providing the best possible playing replaced with a new Rain Bird ESP-LXD surfaces year-in, year-out is a key TinyLinemarker Pro, autonomous responsibility and in Autumn 2019, robotic pitch line marker and an Matthew and the Acting Sports Turf associated company’s TurfKeeper Supervisor began an investigation online management data recording/ into possible improvements to communication system. Matthew the irrigation system for one of its therefore had no hesitation in calling natural grass football pitches. upon Rigby Taylor’s expertise again The main objectives were to to assess irrigation requirements. improve overall irrigation coverage “Throughout the project, the across the surface with a continuous service and support given by Rigby rain curtain system and to help Taylor, particularly through Peter optimise water usage on the site Robin UK Irrigation Product Manager, as a whole, which was capped to a was fantastic,” said Matthew. consumption 10,000m³ annually. The “He made site visits, with the first to new irrigation system would also look at our existing irrigation system, need to be easily managed, relatively to understand how we operate and maintenance free and reliable. what we wanted to achieve. We also Hartpury already had a strong attended a Rigby Taylor irrigation long-standing relationship with Rigby seminar at Celtic Manor, which was Taylor having invested in their GPS, 34 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

followed up by an email detailing their recommendations along with a quotation. The subsequent visit talked us through the changes needed on-site and showed us the products, fittings and wiring requirements.”

Initial investigations revealed that while the existing pump system was suitable for the pitch installation, the in-ground sprinkler system could be improved. Spacing between the heads was adjusted, pipe diameters were increased and valving arrangements were optimised to operate more efficiently and with better coverage than before.

As part of the solution, Rigby Taylor effectively isolated each pitch rotor on to its own solenoid valve by cutting the feed pipes between the sprinklers and capping them.

“Having individual solenoids on each pop up sprinkler also gives us the freedom to give parts of the pitch extra water if needed,” explained Matthew.

On recommendation from Rigby Taylor, the existing irrigation decoder controller was replaced with a new Rain Bird ESP-LXD controller complete with a network communication cartridge and linked to the IQ-Cloud irrigation central management system. This combination was considered the best to meet Hartpury’s requirements, giving a real time, fully automatic irrigation control system that can be managed }

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SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

moving forward, the plan is not only to train all the groundstaff to use the Rain Bird controller and management system, but to add further pitches to the expandable system } remotely by smartphones or a laptop

connected to the internet.

The ESP-LXD controller’s GSM cartridge enables employment of IQ-Cloud’s full suite of remote water management tools with the benefit that Grounds staff know in real time how the irrigation system is operating and can access information on flow rates and performance. With its flexible programming, IQ-Cloud allows many different functions to be carried out including stopping and starting irrigation programs as well as increasing or decreasing watering schedules in accordance with predicted weather conditions.

Water can be saved by reducing sprinkler usage by as much as 50% in wet spells and this level of control would help Hartpury to keep within its capped water usage limit. Reports

36 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

can be automatically created providing information on irrigation times, total water usage as well as other significant data. Automated e-mail alerts and alarms can be set up to help manage potential problems.

Rigby Taylor and Rain Bird worked closely on the installation and towards the end of the improvement work visited the site together to install the controller and set up the irrigation schedules. It was important for Hartpury’s grounds staff to be able to change irrigation regimes and override pre-programmed schedules remotely, as well having the facility from pitchside to implement match day half-time wet downs to slicken the pitch. Thanks to the GSM module mounted in the ESP-LXD controller, this is easily done using Hartpury’s customised IQ-Cloud smartphone App.

The management, control and operation of the irrigation system is handled by Matthew and the Acting Sports Turf Supervisor. During the pandemic there have been other priorities, but moving forward, the plan is not only to train all the groundstaff to use the Rain Bird controller and management system, but also to add further pitches to the expandable system, starting with the next natural grass rugby pitch.

50 stations can be accommodated by the ESP-LXD controller, each with flow management, and this can be expanded easily to 200 stations.

“We are very happy with the improvements that have been recommended and installed

by Rigby Taylor as well as the support that has been given by all concerned,” concluded Matthew.

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Jacobsen hits it for six at Orwell Park T

he new Jacobsen package, brought in by Orwell Park School to cater to a massive increase in girls’ cricket and cut for multiple other sports, has hit the grounds team for six.

The switch between sports at the Suffolk based private school had a massive impact on how the grounds team, led by Grounds Manager, Kelvin Gunnell, op-erated.

A total of 139 matches were played on nine squares in one season, with the team also preparing surfaces for rugby, golf and football.

Because of the number of sports played on the 110-acre site, Kelvin worked with Jacobsen dealer, Ernest Doe, to put together a package with enough pow-er and finesse to provide the high-quality cut for all sports the school wanted.

This package includes an LF570 high-performance reel mower that is used on the rugby pitches, fairways and off-field areas and Greens King 526s and 522s that were specifically purchased for use on the cricket squares.

“When the girls switched to cricket from rounders I don’t think anyone could have predicted how well it would go and how enthusiastic they would be to-wards the game,” said Kelvin.

“They absolutely love playing,

and we’ve now got nine squares to accommo-date the additional matches.

It’s been a lot of extra hard work for the ground staff, and it is having the added squares that made us think about what mow-ers we needed.

“We were looking for a package of new equipment that incorporated various fine turf mowers for the different sports we have. Some were specifically for the squares, and we also wanted to incorporate the LF570 as a progression from the hydraulic five-gang we had previously.

“The Fairway mower has turned out to be a great acquisition, it suits our undu-lating land, it’s cutting really well, and we’ll be using it later on today even though it’s quite moist and we’ve had a bit of a wet period. Having that flexi-bility when it comes to slightly wetter periods is a big bonus for the areas we have to cover. It’s performing well up quite steep gradients and down steep gradients as well, so for us, it’s been great.”

Preparing surfaces for a variety of sports simultaneously requires strict cutting schedules and makes reliability a crucial factor. To make

sure the Orwell team are always cutting on time, Ernest Doe put together a comprehensive service package that has impressed Kelvin.

“Having the various mowers for specific sports is exactly what we need, but it means they need servicing at different times,” Kelvin explains. Some days, we can be cutting golf greens with one mower, cricket squares with another, and the rugby pitches with a third mower. That meant incorporating a service pack-age into this deal was crucial because we want our machines to be out cutting when we need them.

“We’ve got Chris, who comes once a month, and any problems that we’ve got are ironed out straight away, and he services the machines every month, so the service plan is working really well for us.” www.jacobsen.com

Orwell Park School’s Grounds Manager Kelvin Gunnell

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 37

PEDESTRIAN MOWERS

Cramer has the power C

Cramer’s CR82LM61S lawnmower

ramer use the latest Lithium-ion battery technology in their 82V system, specifically designed to meet the requirements of the professional user. The lawnmowers, for example, come packed with features to make the job quicker, easier and more environmentally friendly. You have a choice of 46cm, 51cm and 61cm four-wheel rotary mowers, all with infinitely variable speeds of between 1.1mph to 3.35mph.

If that’s too fast, or slow, then simply opt for the 46cm push model which puts you in complete control.

All models will cut, mulch and collect while the 46cm and 51cm machines also have the advantage of side discharge.

Not used so widely in the UK, but a very useful feature if you are reclaiming overgrown areas

38 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

that have been neglected. Grass collection is assisted by a fan that increases turbulence and cooling of the motor, and also incorporates blade breakaway protection.

Despite the large cutting width of 61cm with the CR82LM61S lawnmower, it only weights 34.5kg which when compared to a popular petrol machine at 44.6kg, it’s nearly one third lighter. Not only light to lift, but easy to use on slopes that exceed the recommended incline for 4-stroke machines. And despite being lighter weight, strength is not compromised.

All the steel mower decks are protected by a front panel of UV and impact resistant PA6. They all conform to IPX4, which means you can work in all weathers; and when the work is done, you can transport or store your mowers on end, saving valuable space in your vehicle or store.

No battery mower will run all day on one battery, but then again, no petrol mower will run all day on one tank of fuel either. Cramer lawnmowers have two battery ports, which means by

using 2 x 6Ah batteries it’s possible to mow for over three and a half hours before swapping batteries. As all Cramer batteries are interchangeable, Leather Jacket you can use any combination with your lawnmower, or any other tools in the range such as hedge trimmers, line trimmers, brush cutters, chainsaws, blowers and much more.

Now you can work all day with cordless power tools and equipment without feeling guilty about the effect you are having on the environment and others around you. No emissions mean a cleaner working area for you, and cleaner air for us all to breathe.

No stale fuel, no carb adjustments, no broken recoil cord. Just insert the batteries, switch on, and go, saving you time, hassle, and money. Running Cramer battery products over a three year period will save you at least 50% of what you are currently spending on running with petrol products. Nobody likes to waste money, so next time you pull start your petrol machine, think again how much you could be saving. www.cramertools.com

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Performance without fuss, noise or fumes Why isn’t the planet as healthy as our lawns? We mow our lawns because we want healthy grass and a clean, green environment to enjoy. With many outdoor enthusiasts, professional grounds people and horticulture fanatics claiming to care so much about our planet, there is a strange irony as to why so many still reach for petrol mowers, says Steve Roskell, Director of Marketing EMEA at EGO.

A

s Europe continues its fight against climate change and works towards meeting its various net zero carbon emissions targets, our road networks, aviation and domestic heating are considered the low hanging fruit and most effective for creating long term change. That’s why behavioural changes such as substituting petrol garden tools with cordless battery alternatives are often overlooked in the positive effect they could have on the planet.

With that said, EGO is seeing a surge in interest for battery powered tools — particularly in pedestrian mowers — as professionals become more conscious about their budgets, their health and their carbon footprint.

One of the most obvious drawbacks of choosing a petrol mower is the pollution that they produce. Petrol-powered lawn mowers produce a variety of airborne pollutants including carbon monoxide and nitrogen, both of which can have significant impacts on our health.

When talk turns to run time, a petrolpowered lawn mower that’s been in use for just one hour can pump out emissions equivalent to driving a car 100 miles. To put that into perspective, that’s roughly the same amount of emissions pumped out during a car journey from Birmingham to Liverpool via the M6. Battery powered tools on the other hand, emit no harmful or toxic emissions.

For any professional grounds people, mowing a small patch green, usually takes, on average, 40 minutes. Did you know breathing in petrol fumes for as little as half an hour can cause dizziness, extreme fatigue, loss of consciousness and even breathing difficulties? And if exposed for even longer periods of time, it can cause irritation to the skin and can encourage eczema.

While the exhaust and the fumes of petrol-powered equipment can affect the

brain, the heart, the lungs and the immune system, the highly flammable liquid can also put garden professionals at risk of explosion if the machine is not handled properly.

Because petrol mowers have internal combustion engines and a noise level around 90dBA, it can sometimes be difficult for groundscare professionals to use mowers without disrupting players or local residents.

Also, because the petrol engine does not have mufflers, the transmitted vibrations are transferred directly into their ears so hearing protection is required in order for the machine to operate safely. Battery-powered mowers though, produce much lower noise levels, so professionals less likely need to wear ear defenders or worry about disrupting others.

Professional gardener, and owner of Adorn Gardening, Abby Baumber, made the petrol to battery switch a few years ago and said, “Ever since I’ve started using batterypowered outdoor equipment from EGO, the worry of upsetting the neighbours in and around the garden is no longer a concern. I am able to work safely, without affecting the environment or the health of my clients”.

When it comes to balancing budgets and protecting the environment, professionals can often be turned off by the increased cost of a battery-powered mowers in comparison to petrol. The initial upfront costs for battery mowers can seem more expensive, but the long-term money saving benefits of battery power are far greater and could save businesses up to £365 in just the second year of ownership, as published in a whitepaper by EGO in 2018.

Four years later and outdoor enthusiasts could save a total of £3,500 due to the inexpensive cost of charging a battery.

By law, a grounds professional employer must assess and identify measures to eliminate or reduce risks from exposure to hand-arm vibration so that operators are protected from any potential risk to their health. The European Physical Agents Directive has also set a daily action limit of 2.5m/s2 and an exposure limit value of 5.0m/s2.

Battery powered outdoor power equipment though, is gentler on muscles and joints as they typically vibrate at significantly lower levels with far less risk associated with hand-arm vibration.

When it comes to power and run-time, cordless equipment is now a real contender over petrol power. With the outdoor power tool market currently experiencing the biggest revolution since petrol-powered

mowers appeared on the market, fossil fuels are being replaced with cleaner and greener energy sources that not only the end-user can benefit from, but also the planet.

For professional mower users, it’s all about convenience and finding a cordless mower that will power through until the job is complete. With modern day battery technology, that’s no longer an issue. With all of EGO’s Arc Lithium batteries, users can expect performance that matches petrol without the noise, fuss or fumes.

Depending on the size, on a recharge of less than an hour, users can mow an area of up to 1,000 square metres with the EGO Power+ 52cm mower and 7.5Ah battery.

Choosing between petrol and batterypowered mowers should no longer be a difficult choice for grounds professionals.

For the last 100 years, outdoor power equipment has used petrol as its fuel of choice. Not because it’s the right choice, but because it’s been the only choice. To help users make the right choice, EGO decided to implement change by providing batterypowered outdoor garden equipment for both domestic and professional markets.

To make others aware of the harmful implications associated with petrol including noise pollution and the associated health risks, EGO is calling for change.

With its five-year vision, Challenge 2025, it aims to educate and empower domestic and professional outdoor garden equipment users to only see the logical battery-powered choice when purchasing new gardening equipment. www.challenge2025.eu/our-manifesto/ Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 39

PEDESTRIAN MOWERS

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London Stadium relies on Dennis G860s T

he London Stadium has increased its fleet of Dennis G860 cylinder mowers – and Head Groundsman James Williams reveals why.

James is an ambitious young groundsman and his prominent position at the London Stadium certainly is testament to this. The Welshman is about to embark on his fourth year in the role and understandably, he believes that 2020 has been the most challenging yet – but not for the reasons you might think.

“It’s been a difficult year due to the

40 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

pandemic. The worst thing is waking up in the morning on a matchday and there’s just no spark because you know there will be no fans to showcase your pitch to,” said James.

The London Stadium already had three Dennis G860s in its armoury when James arrived. “I used the G860s the whole time I was at Swansea City FC. I’m just extremely comfortable with them – they are reliable, adaptable and they get the job done to the high standard I expect,” he said.

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 scarifying, verticutting, brushing, spiking, and slitting.

“The G860s are normally brought out towards the end of the week once the pitch has been repaired to make sure that it is in the best shape going into a matchday.

“When the grass gets too thick, or if

it’s dying off, we will use the verticutting cassette to clear that out – just to stop it from causing any thatch or disease.

We probably verticut once a month as well as use the brush – both help to keep the pitch nice and healthy.

“The 8 bladed cutting cylinder always offers a fantastic finish,” continued James.

“I like to cut down to 23mm for matchdays but if there is period when we’ve got a lot of games and training sessions on the pitch then I’ll take it up to 26mm for extra protection and coverage.”

The Dennis G860 was an instant hit when it was first developed and over the years it has proven to be one of the most popular sports turf mowers on the market.

“Do you know what I like about the G860? It’s the fact that it hasn’t changed a lot. Dennis as a company has evolved with some other great machinery but the G860 doesn’t need to. Why would you evolve something that doesn’t need fixing? You can’t improve perfection.” www.dennisuk.com

PEDESTRIAN MOWERS

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Only the best for Woodlawn N

orthern Irish garden and lawn maintenance company, Woodlawn, insist on providing the best service to their customers, and it is for this reason that it has invested in a brand-new fleet of Etesia pedestrian mowers.

Formed in 2014 by Aaron Brownlee and Allen Davey, Woodlawn provides a wide range of landscaping services to private and commercial customers around Carrickfergus, Whitehead, Ballycarry, Jordanstown and surrounding areas in Northern Ireland.

Over recent years the company has seen incredible growth year-onyear – which can be attributed to the professionalism and high standard of work carried out by the Woodlawn team.

Owners Aaron and Allen, admit to keeping a close eye on the turf machinery market to monitor any technological advancements.

However, they claim that it was a chance demonstration which made it incredibly difficult to ignore the Etesia brand.

“RD Mechanical, an Etesia dealer in Northern Ireland, contacted us and said they had lots of exciting new equipment in stock,” said Aaron.

“We were asked if we wanted to have a demonstration and that was when we first came across the Etesia Hydro 80 ride-on mower.

It was the one machine which really stood out and it was then that we realised just how good Etesia technology was.”

“After starting with the Hydro 80, we then went on to explore other Etesia mowers,” added Allen.

“We concluded that Etesia was the way forward. Ultimately, we want to provide the absolute best service for our customers and that means that we have to use the very best equipment – that is why we have decided to switch all of our equipment over to Etesia.”

After reporting great results from the Hydro 80, Aaron and Allen decided to invest in a new fleet of Etesia pedestrian mowers consisting of four PRO 46 PHTS3’s and the BIOCUT 53 ME53C - the ultimate mulching mower which ensures a quick, clean and environmentally-friendly cut.

The PHTS3 is a single speed self-propelled mower which follows the same concept of the ground-breaking PRO46 range of pedestrian mowers which were first launched in the early 1990’s. The PHTS3 features an Xenoy cutting deck for increased strength, shear washer crank protection, individual height of cut adjuster, a new 22mm handlebar design, the latest Honda GCV170 engine and is complete with an 80-litre grass box and a rear deflector as standard.

The mower provides outstanding collection performance, even if the grass is long and wet – something that Etesia has prided itself on over the past 30 years. One main feature of the PHTS3 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 – preventing unwanted blockages.

During peak season, the team at Woodlawn could be carrying out anywhere between 30-50 cuts per day with the Etesia mowers – and Aaron and Allen believe that the mowers give them a certain peace of mind.

“We are using these machines every single day for hours on end and we know that they will never let us down,” said Aaron.

“They are versatile, robust, and for me, the best feature is that you can cut and collect in all weather – even in damp conditions.”

“The weight to power ratio is incredible.

They are so easy to manoeuvre – they are just so lightweight but also offer performance of the highest quality,” added Allen “We feel that we made the right decision – Etesia is definitely the way forward.” www.etesia.co.uk

Infinicut in distribution deal with FLexGrass Infinicut has entered into a new distribution partnership with one of the world’s leading hybrid pitch suppliers, FLexGrass.

With vast international experience in countries including Italy, Switzerland, North Africa, the Balkans as well as Mexico, Argentina and beyond, FLexGrass will be adding the Infincut range of professional cylinder and rotary mowers to their ‘one-stop shop’ installation and maintenance package.

FLexGrass have been working with some of the biggest names in sport for over 10 years. Its owners Fabio and Lorenzo 42 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

Travaini, in collaboration with SIS Pitches, pride themselves on providing a complete surface package – from project management and installation, through to maintenance and follow-up service and support.

With a number of exciting pitch projects in the pipeline for 2021 and beyond, Turf Managers will now have the opportunity to specify mowers from the Infinicut collection to keep the health and playability of new installations in first-rate condition.

“We are extremely excited to start this collaboration with Infinicut,” said FLexGrass CEO Fabio Travaini.

“Our customers are interested in achieving excellence and we have therefore always made it our mission to

create or find the very best products to give our customers just that. With Infinicut, we are now in the position to offer them not only the best, but the most technologically advanced, mowing equipment available in our market today,” said Fabio.

Infinicut Sales Manager Vinny Tarbox added that it had been a very exciting few months for the team as they continued to construct our global distribution channels.

“Fabio, Lorenzo and the team at FLexGrass have worked incredibly hard to establish them-selves as a leading provider of hybrid surfaces, all backed up with the very best products and support. We look forward to working closely alongside them to bring the INFINICUT® range to even more venues around the world.”

COMING OUT OF LOCKDOWN

Towards a new normal

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MAKING MAKING TURF TURF MATTER MATTER

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THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL IS GETTING BRIGHTER. SCOTT MACCALLUM FINDS OUT WHAT’S NEXT AS A CORONAVIRUSRAVAGED WORLD STARTS TO GET BACK ON ITS FEET TURF MATTERS | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 45

COMING OUT OF LOCKDOWN

T

welve months ago we didn’t know what was ahead of us. What we did know was that we were heading into territory none of us had ever visited previously.

Back then, I don’t think we could have envisaged the extent to which Covid 19 would impact on our lives, and we’d never even heard the word “furlough” never mind knowing what it meant.

Here on Turf Matters we have tried to be supportive, knowing that job security should be renamed job insecurity, and that many of us, or our nearest and dearest, have been touched by the virus and that there are now many, many broken families as a result of it.

But there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, variants are complicating matters but there are now vaccines and the more people who receive one of the several vaccines out there the closer we will get to some sort of new normality.

Grasping at this positivity Geoff Webb and Jim Croxton, the Heads of the GMA and respectively both took time to talk with Turf Matters, giving their thoughts on the impact Covid has had on various sports, in Geoff’s case, and golf in Jim’s.

Geoff Webb

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oing back to the first lockdown it was the summer sports, cricket and bowls, which took the initial impact of the pandemic and suffered that bit more.

As it continued, the winter sports were hit too and this has been compounded by the weather over the last two months. I’m down in the south, but the cold and wet have been at record levels. It certainly was the wettest January that I can remember.

On those summer sports, the saving grace for cricket, and our sector indeed, is that it has meant that pitch preparation has come to the forefront.

People are far more concerned with the quality of the playing surface than ever before, and it has meant that the role of grounds management has gone through the roof in terms of public perception. It is all gaining traction which is good news.

As we speak, we’ve just had the first round of Six Nations matches and the guys have done a fantastic job across rugby in tough conditions but if you go down the pyramid it’s tough when you don’t have the 46 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

It’ll be all fist and elbow bumps resources of the bigger facilities.

That said those working at smaller venues are doing fabulous work. For example, in football, the Women’s Super League only had one match postponed this weekend when there was freezing conditions. These are at grounds where they have fewer resources, but certainly equal passion and dedication. They are doing a brilliant job in maintaining the surfaces.

Then there is the situation at Leeds United where Elland Road’s drainage system was dated and in need of renovation, but weren’t in a position to do it because of the pandemic. The solution they came up with was to take a pitch which was being grown for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and transport it up to Yorkshire to see them through to the end of the season.

What a great example of the industry pulling together with good contractors, in this case Hewitt’s, and a remarkable job of engineering, logistics and of two different grounds teams communicating.

Also, I’d like to say it’s been a remarkable job done by Leeds United, who came out actively and

backed their groundsman. If more boardrooms worked in the manner of Leeds United, you’d have many more successful outcomes.

We are also starting to see some parallels in terms of data collection which shows some correlation over professional level and lower tier success in the pitch investment programmes.

We now have data collected over a series of visits which demonstrates what the issues really are.

We actually found in some occasions that Premier Leaguelevel drainage had been installed into grass roots projects. It should never have been put in in because of the work required to maintain it. What was really needed in these cases was good basic fundamentals, to enable the pitch to be kept alive though the season. This would come in at a much lower investment level. It’s got to be appropriate use for appropriate schemes.

From the GMA’s perspective we’ve done some impactful work over the last 12 months. We had our Grounds for Sport campaign and followed that up with our White Paper on the

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Impact of Sport and what’s needed to be one to get it back to a high level.

We also looked at gaps in terms of volunteer provision and we’ve worked to address that. We have increased our volunteer online training up to Level 3, We’d brought the Level 1 training in at the end of the first lockdown and we’ve had 1,000 people taking part in that already.

Interestingly, most of the volunteers came from football, when traditionally it would have been cricket. That said we will have cricket courses online through to July as well.

We’ve also picked up on the need to understand how artificial surfaces are maintained and are working on more new courses to help people understand what is required.

What is great is that much more priority is placed on the playing surface so I would hope that this will continue into the future.

As an industry we have always talked to each other and I’d say we’re sometimes like a disruptive family – sometimes we agree with each other and sometimes there seems to conflict.

But what we need to do as a

turf care industry is recognise everyone’s strengths and not focus on the weaknesses. Working as one is important because we are all trying to do the same thing – raise the profile of the profession.

We are working to better the pay and conditions for all grounds teams anywhere, whether that be the independent school sector, universities, indeed, right across the board.

We have a professional industry which stands out uniquely on a global scale. We’ve just had the Superbowl, but that is looked at on a world scale in the same manner as the FA Cup final of the Champions League Final or Wimbledon.

The surfaces are maintained by really good people, with really good skill sets, but they have flown under the radar for too long.

We have a really resilient group of people but they are really stretched and should be recognised for their work.

It is changing and during our Grounds for Sport campaign we had one day when we hit four national newspapers, all with positive stories. We now have journalists who are interested in our sector and who do want to promote it in the same way as we all do.

With jobs not as secure as they have been, we have set up Covid pages on our website which offer practical advice and help. It means that our members can get on top of it and become so valuable to their employers that they make themselves unsackable. It has worked as we have seen limited redundancies.

But where we have seen redundancies they have been brought about because the employer has not thought things through. So, I believe, what redundancies there will be won’t be the fault or lack of skill or worth of the ground staff but the lack of foresight from the owners and where they have prioritised investment.

However, we are seeing a better understanding of grounds management and the principles attached to it I do hope that our shop window, Saltex, will be back in November, where we can showcase the innovation that our wonderful companies develop whether than be battery technology, seed technology. There is so much there.

All our planning for Saltex is

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surrounding ensuring that everyone who turns up is as safe as we can make them. That is our priority. It will be a different show to what we’ve seen before because we’ve got to work in a new environment.

All fist and elbow bumps.

Jim Croxton

I

n general terms the last 12 months have been brilliant for golf and the upturn in people playing the game has been great – partly because it was the only thing that they were able to do. It’s probably the only thing that we can say has had a silver lining in what is a very unpleasant situation.

Also, I do believe that being in lockdown reminded everyone how much they enjoyed the great outdoors, and there is no better way of enjoying the great outdoors than being out on a golf course with friends, or even on your own.

So, there are couple of things which have gone on golf’s favour and there is no doubt that golfing numbers have been up enormously from the moment the lockdown opened up in May through to October.

The average course had an average 1,000 additional rounds a month for that six month period – that’s 30 extra people a day and if you think those extra wouldn’t have been at the weekend, it would be 40 people a day during the week. That equates to two hours of tee times, given that at certain times it would be two ball only.

So it has been a huge boost, backed up by numbers.

It has also benefitted memberships, because for periods of time clubs where open to members only, together with travel bans and restrictions which made it sensible to play your golf at one facility, so membership numbers have increased. It’s not the really the time for the nomad golfer.

However, it all puts much more pressure on the golf course itself. A } Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 47

COMING OUT OF LOCKDOWN

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“On the whole, I think golf has fared as well as anything as it has driven people back to golf courses and we now have an opportunity to look after them.” } single golfer is going to make 12,000

footprints during a round; he or she is going to take something between 15 and 20 divots – some of which won’t be repairable – and make 10 or 11 pitchmarks – even the good guys miss one or two. There is going to be an impact and clubs can’t go on thinking that it will be fine.

Some of the stats are extraordinary if you add the figures up. An extra 12 million footprints on a golf course each month. An extra 20,000 divots per month – that’s a lot of divoting, sanding and seeding. Pitchmarks are becoming a massive problem. Even if it is 10 per golfer per round, that’s an extra 10,000 pitchmarks per month.

Busier golf courses are great, but there is a flip side. It may also mean clubs introducing new shift patterns for their Green Staff. You might need eight greenkeepers from 6am to 10am and then not need anyone until 4pm, to

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ensure all the necessary maintenance work is carried out without problems of golfers and greenkeepers getting in each others’ way.

Right at the beginning there was not real role for golf unions as there was no golf being played but they were important in passing out our messages about what can be done on the golf courses. The PGA were brilliant. They recognised almost immediately that their members were in a difficult position, so they worked hard with us to put messages out.

They also used their staff who were not organising tournaments to contact every PGA member to offer support.

So, the game has come together, and delivered the message really well.

However, my thought is that the future of the game is in the hands of 2,500 small businesses and we know they will deal with it in different ways.

Some clubs will be fantastic at it.

They have already attracted new customers and they will look after them and keep them. I do think a lot of clubs will change their business model and their focus.

Propriatory clubs tend to do better because they look to be welcoming to visitors who bring revenue into the club. When the profit motive is strong usually customer service is strong and the proprietory sector has always been the best at that.

That said, members’ clubs are improving at this and have good people and good management in place but I do think that the furlough money has kept some golf clubs afloat.

Some clubs have said it has been catastrophic to be closed for the last couple of months, but in January weather can close many courses. The joke in January was that “if we were open we’d be shut!”

Yes, driving ranges which normally do well when the weather is bad are struggling, but most of them are solid businesses.

But I do think that in 2021 and 2022 we will see

some golf clubs go to the wall and I’ve already been hearing of Course Managers being made redundant.

These are financial decisions rather than performance led decisions.

I have to say that a lot of clubs have handled, what is a very difficult situation really well. They have had to reduce their work force, but it has been done in a civilised way with engagement with the staff. We can’t pretend that every job is sacrosanct, but the least we can expect is a proper process.

We have set up a new section on our website “Available for Work” where you can anonymously post your location, qualifications etc and we’ve had people find work that way. It’s a free service to members On the whole, I think golf has fared as well as anything as it has driven people back to golf courses and we now have an opportunity to look after them.

And it benefits us as an industry because the reason people have gone back to playing golf. It hasn’t been for the locker rooms, the bacon rolls or even the welcome in the clubhouse. It’s been to play golf on the golf course and the focus has gone back on the turf.

What golfers want is a golf course in good condition – they’ve managed without the clubhouse all year, with no catering, no bar, no changing rooms.

So hopefully people will now realise that without the golf course they don’t have a business so let’s make sure that it gets the resources that it needs I’ve been speaking to clubs who are now going to have maintenance weeks for the first time. Others are going to close more regularly in the winter because there is no point in destroying your golf course for a few rounds in January.

We at BIGGA didn’t quite have the staff to do what the PGA did, in contacting all their members by phone, but we have contacted many more of our members this year.

The focus between the first lockdown in March and now is that we have got back to our core which is supporting our members and we could devote time to that as we wouldn’t be running BTME. It reminded us that we are not an events business. We are a member organisation and legal assistance and mental health education is a big focus for us and that’s a good thing.

GRASS SEED

Further improvements to disease resistance DLF Seeds undeniably set the bar when it comes to seed research and development, giving turf professionals the mixtures they need and trust to achieve first-class results.

As they launch the Johnsons Sports Seeds mixture guide for 2021, the introduction of new cultivars and 11 updated formulations promise further improvements to disease resistance, wear tolerance and visual performance across a number of key mixtures in their golf and sports portfolio.

With sustainability an increasingly key consideration for turf managers, many are discovering the benefits associated with DLF’s 4turf Tetraploid Ryegrass technology. New in the 4turf stable for 2021 is Tetragame, a cultivar which significantly improves disease resistance and sward recovery, as well as demonstrating strong germination and establishment even at temperatures as low as 4ºC.

Tetragame features in the new formulation of J Outfield, together with updated J 4Turf and J 4Turf 100 mixtures to deliver the strength and durability demanded for winter sport and equestrian use.

With a trusted track record for high performance, Johnsons J Premier Wicket and J Premier Pitch mixtures will continue to set the standard for cricket and football respectively – with ProNitro coated options available

for even faster establishment and reduced input costs. DLF’s ProNitro 5G seed coating contains a targeted combination of controlled release nitro-gen, together with hydroactive water management technology, which leads to stronger ger-mination and improved nutrient utilisation during the early stages of plant growth.

Also new for 2021 is Absolom. This highly-rated Slender Creeping Red Fescue cultivar delivers exceptional disease resistance and tolerance for close mown management making it a great addition to a number of Johnsons golf mixtures including J Fescue, J Premier Fairway and J Green.

In addition, all mixtures across the Johnsons putting surface range are now ‘DLF Select’ purity as standard, meaning Course Managers can be assured that only seed from the purest crops and meeting the stringent cleanliness grade makes it into the bag.

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 49

GRASS SEED

Species selection for greens Joe Hendy, Advance Grass Solutions’ Regional Technical and Seed Product Manager, explains how increasing desirable grass species content in your sward is a key step to sustainable surface management. The modern-day greenkeeper is dealing with climate change and reduced fungicidal solutions, a situation to adapt and prepare for now.

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nnual Meadow Grass dominant greens are more susceptible to disease, drought, and thatch production; more so than any of the desirable grass species you may wish to establish. With the explosion of new golfers since the pandemic, improving wear tolerance beyond the limits of annual meadow-grass will be hugely course beneficial.

All courses are different, on any one given course, few if any of your greens are the same. Sward composition, construction, environmental factors, vary green to green. Be wary of ‘blanket recommendations’ and be especially wary if the company you are speaking with asks very little, or knows little, about your course.

Understanding the species characteristics of each grass is essential prior to decision making.

If successful, the resulting sward may directly affect your greens management programme, can you sustain it?

Can problem greens be treated differently?

Perennial Ryegrass is a hungry plant. Red thread is synonymous with perennial ryegrass in low fertility soils, so nutritional inputs will need to be increased, feeding annual meadow grass alongside.

Unlike fescue and bent it does not have regenerative capacity; if you damage the crown it will die.

It is a more open sward than that of the fescues and bents. Ground coverage will not be as tight to out compete annual meadow-grass or moss. In the BSPB booklet it’s worth noting that shoot density is comparable within own species. Keep the height of cut at 5mm and above and you have

every chance of perennial ryegrass persisting. 4mm or below and the plant will show signs of stress. Under stress, the plant will be more susceptible to disease and species displacement.

Perennial ryegrass is happy in a pH as low as 5.5. People using it will be impressed with its speed of establishment, but perhaps consider the long-term persistence over germination, as a mark of success.

Creeping Bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) The new wave are a result of genome mapping and its said can survive on similar inputs to traditional browntop bentgrass. They do not have the winter purpling effect and are less dormant than their varietal predecessors in the colder months.

Golf clubs, with little winter golf, are in a position to get maximum benefit.

They have a more aggressive growth habit than traditional browntop bent grasses, therefore, increasing thatch production. Creeping bentgrass cultivars produce creeping surface stems (stolon’s) which can result in a matted sward. Naps have also been known to form, affecting ball roll.

This can be rectified with the right cultural regime such as scarification, verticutting and grooming.

The BSPB booklet comments that ‘higher management inputs are required to maintain creeping bent grasses’. Comparatively speaking, creeping bentgrass is expensive against browntop bentgrass . It is more tolerant of close mowing; 2-3mm . Always monitor your pH ensuring the range is between 5.5 – 6.5. Sowing a grass species into soil with a pH it doesn’t tolerate, will only result in species displacement.

Browntop Bentgrass (Agrostis capilliaris – formally Agrostis tenuis) in the UK is considered the traditional bentgrass of choice. When people talk of bent, or bent fescue greens, the assumption would be browntop bentgrass. Persistent when mown to 4mm, less expensive than other bentgrass options, and with a proven pedigree in the UK market. The BSPB booklet comment’s that ‘the finer and

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denser cultivars of Agrostis capillaris appear to perform best under traditional UK management and growing conditions’. It’s an excellent companion grass when sown with chewing’s and slender fescue. It flourishes naturally

under conditions of relative poverty. It likes a low soil pH (down to 4), doesn’t like to be over fed or over watered.

Traditional browntop bentgrass have inherent attributes that are conducive to the ongoing battle with poa, you

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can treat them mean and lean.

If you would like any further information, our inhouse experts at AGS will happily help talk through seed options and help you select the right seed for your course.

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 51

GRASS SEED

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It’s always been MM seed Stuart Antell has been a long-term fan of Limagrain’s MM range of grass seed, using it throughout his whole career. There was no exception after he was appointed the Head Groundsman at his beloved Yeovil Town FC. Prior to accepting the position in January this year, Stuart was enjoying a warmer climate in sunny La Manga, Spain. As much as he and his girlfriend had become accustomed to sun, sand and sangria, there were only two jobs that would tempt him back to the UK. “It was lovely out in Spain and I enjoyed maintaining football pitches and cricket squares in the sun,” said Stuart.

“However, when we first moved out there, I said to my girlfriend that there would only be two possibilities of us returning home – if I was ever offered a job at Lord’s – the home of cricket, or at Yeovil Town FC – the team I have supported my whole life.

“I couldn’t believe it when the Deputy Head Groundsman position at Lord’s and the Head Groundsman position at Yeovil both came up at the same time!”

Stuart admits that the opportunity to join his boyhood team was just too good to turn down. He started in January this year and after finding his feet, he was keen to make his mark.

When it came to the grass seed, he was keen to bring in a brand he was familiar with.

“The club was previously using another brand, but I’ve always used Limagrain’s MM seed because it has always worked for me,” he said.

“The main reason I chose MM seed was because I conducted a seed trial back when I was an Assistant Groundsman at Bath Cricket Club.

“I carried out a test plot with three seed mixtures from three

leading breeders. MM seed proved to be the best and was also the most cost effective.”

Following the trial, Stuart continued to use Limagrain’s MM seed in his next position at Hampshire County Cricket Club and even relied on it out in La Manga.

At Yeovil Town FC, Stuart chooses to use Limagrain’s MM60, which is the UK’s leading winter sports renovation mixture and can be attributed with playing a key role in many of the finest sporting venues you see today. The 100% Ryegrass formula, which is perfect for divot repair, is renowned for its extremely fast germination and its high wear tolerance. It produces fantastic aesthetic qualities, and its high disease resistance provides ultimate protection.

MM60 is also treated with HEADSTART® GOLD, which is a further development of the wellrecognised Headstart treatment and has been developed using

the latest scientific findings and field experience. It is a natural revolutionary grass seed treatment that ensures rapid germination.

“We did a mini renovation at the end of July and we overseeded with 11 bags of MM60,” said Stuart. “Not only do I use it for renovations, but it is a product I’ll use frequently throughout the season. After every game I’ll go over the pitch looking for any holes that have been kicked out – I’ll then apply a bit of seed to those areas just to keep on top of it. Even before a game I like to put some seed down in the goal mouth areas, which the keepers will then tread in and then after the game I’ll apply a light top dressing.

“I just cannot fault the seed at all,” continued Stuart. “It’s resilient, cost-effective and offers the best germination I’ve ever seen in a seed.”

Not only does Stuart tend to Yeovil Town FC’s stadium and training ground but, somehow, he also finds time to be the local pitch advisor for the Dorset Cricket Board.

“Through this position I carry out a handful of cricket renovations a year and I always use Limagrain’s MM50 which is perfect for cricket,” he said.

“As a board we always recommend MM50 to all of the local cricket clubs.

“I have full confidence in Limagrain which is why I’ve used the MM brand throughout my career. I also like the fact that they are always looking to improve the mixtures by adding different cultivars.

“The customer service from Sam Horner (Limagrain Amenity Seed Sales Specialist) is great and he is always available if I need any advice. Everything just works – it’s the whole package.” www.lgseeds.co.uk/amenity

Irrigation products in 128-page catalogue Featuring the extensive range of Rain Bird irrigation products, this 128 page,

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fully illustrated catalogue showcases options for golf courses, sports pitches, landscaping and lawns.

This catalogue displays a comprehensive range of rotors and sprinklers, controllers, valves, pumps, pipes, hoses and fittings as well as weather stations and lightening protection. Each section of the catalogue details the product’s specification and alongside each, the 2021 prices.

In addition to the Rain Bird range, both the POGO Pro+ mobile and Soil Scout below ground systems are featured that

offer GPS, wireless and data capture for moisture, temperature and salinity measurement, monitoring and recording.

Working with experienced, specialist irrigation contractors, Rigby Taylor have the knowledge to assist all who have a need for irrigation products, whether it is an enquiry for a new system, a retro-fit or the supply of replacement parts.

Rigby Taylor Ltd is the UK’s official Rain Bird distributor for its range of golf, sports ground and landscaping products. www.rigbytaylor.com

FERTILISERS AND CHEMICALS

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Spring ready with Nutrigrow Spring-Rise fertiliser N

utrigrow Spring-Rise Fertiliser (10-4-4+TE) is the supreme choice for any pre-season Spring maintenance programme.

Nutrigrow Spring-Rise is an organic based, high quality NPK fertiliser which is ideal for treating any area.

A mix of both macronutrients and trace elements, this fertiliser will aid grass suffering from stress or deficiencies. This mini compound fertiliser is slow release over a sixweek period ensuring grass stays lush and healthier for longer.

As well as providing essential macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium), Spring-Rise also contains the micronutrients calcium, magnesium, and iron. Each of these trace elements contribute to maximum nutrient uptake. Trace

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elements not only improve turf colour but are important components in the vital photosynthetic pathways within the grass plant.

Due to the combination of macro and micronutrients, Spring-Rise is particularly useful on grass which looks stressed or in need of some care.

The mini compound granules provide an excellent spreading pattern. Spring-Rise is ideal for use on sport turf covering golf, cricket, bowls, football, and rugby.

The Nutigrow range of slow release, straight and mini granular fertilisers are formulated with tailored N P K levels and added nutrients to improve establishment, encourage seed growth, and maximise the quality of grass and turf. www.nutri-grow.co.uk

FERTILISERS AND CHEMICALS

Evolution is the solution G

raham Kitley, Head of Grounds at Hazlegrove Preparatory School in Somerset, needed a premium controlled release fertiliser with no excessive flushes of growth.

He found exactly what he was looking for in Agrovista Amenity’s Evolution Controlled Fine 25-5-10.

The vastly experienced Graham, along with two other members of staff, tends to approximately 22 acres of gardens and grounds at the prestigious Hazlegrove Preparatory School. This includes the maintenance of a six-hole golf course, a putting green, four cricket squares, two synthetic turf pitches, cricket nets and five rugby pitches.

Sport is an integral part of the experience at Hazlegrove and Graham, quite rightly, takes great pride in his work.

“I insist on preparing every pitch to a standard that I would like to and expect to play on myself,” he says.

“I was previously using another fertiliser on our rugby pitches, but I was finding that it was giving me a really bad flush of early growth and I couldn’t keep up with cutting them – it got out of control. I then tried out another couple of different products and none of them really worked for me. It was as this point that I consulted with David Bevan from Agrovista Amenity.”

After David visited Graham and assessed the situation and the pitches, he recommended Agrovista Amenity’s Evolution Controlled Fine 25-5-10 (3-4 months).

Evolution Controlled is a fertiliser range consisting of nutrients packaged in a coat-ed granule that are released over an extended period of time. Longevity is deter-mined by the thickness of the granule coating and by soil temperature.

High tem-peratures accelerate nutrient release, while lower temperatures reduce the pro-cess.

Evolution Controlled products are therefore very effective in supplying nutri-ents to the grass relative to current growth requirements.

The Evolution Controlled Fine analysis provides a triple action nitrogen source to promote growth in a range of conditions and the immediate availability of nitrate ensures a rapid response. Polymer coated urea controls further release and en-sures the grass continues to receive nitrogen over 56 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

an extended period, which is exactly what Graham was looking for.

Furthermore, the product boasts significant calcium and magnesium content to support turf health and colour.

Graham took David’s advice on board and he first applied Evolution Controlled Fine to two of the five rugby pitches. However, he admitted to keeping his options open and wanted to make sure he had the right product before applying it to all five.

“First, we applied Evolution Controlled Fine to two of our rugby pitches in August, but it wasn’t until a bit later that we carried it over to the other three,” he said.

“The reason for doing so was because I was conducting a trial with a competitor product. I quickly found that it didn’t work as well as Evolution Controlled. Based on the results, Evolution Controlled is now on all five rugby pitches.

“I cannot fault it at all. It has nearly been four months and I still have good colour, plenty of growth and the turf is really healthy. It just continues to tick along nicely and most importantly it hasn’t given me that excessive growth.

“It is also cheaper than the previous product I was using, which is also another huge bonus,” said Graham.

“It has done exactly what David said it would do. The all-round customer service from Agrovista Amenity has been fantastic throughout the process. What I particularly like about David is that I get the impression he is not just trying to sell me the most expensive products – he genuinely has an interest in your grounds and he works hard to identify the products that will benefit you the most.” www.agrovista.co.uk/amenity

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NEWS

FERTILISERS AND CHEMICALS

Fertilisers with staying H

By Emma Kilby, ICL Equestrian Specialist

orse racetracks are a unique turf type in the sports turf world and they require a specialist approach, especially when it comes to nutrition. If we are to create safe and uniform turf that is able to survive under the huge forces placed upon it then we need to use specialist materials that are designed for the job.

Controlled Release Fertilisers are ideally suited for use on horse racetracks. They are specifically designed to release their nutrient at an optimal rate for healthy turf growth for up to six months and they are durable enough to remain intact and releasing even under the thunder of hooves. Because CRF’s are by far the most efficient type of fertiliser they are becoming ever more relevant with the increase in racing fixtures and with more horses running than ever.

Horse racetrack turf needs to be able to stand up to huge forces and relentless wear and tear and to achieve this we need to utilise the efficient nutrition release that CRF’s provide.

Each racecourse has its own characteristics, some will be flatter whilst

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others contain undulations and a stiff climb to the finish. One of the key requirements of the racing surface is to provide a safe and fair racing ground which needs to be as uniform as possible. A great deal of the maintenance programme is involved with creating uniformity and this may involve aeration, nutrition, water management, soil amendment and even reconstruction.

The action of the horses galloping and

jumping can exert extreme downward and lateral forces especially in the take-off and landing areas of the fences and so the surface needs to be resilient AND deeply rooted to remain stable under these immense forces. To achieve resilience and rooting we need to integrate mechanical aeration, water management and good nutrition. Quick turf recovery, the maintenance of a dense sward with

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power hard-wearing resilient grass types is paramount, and this is where your choice of nutrition is so important.

So why apply a CRF instead of standard fertilisers?

Controlled release fertilisers contain coated granules that encapsulate the nutrient and gradually release it over time. Their release pattern and longevity can be tailored to exactly meet the requirements of the turf. Their release period can range from three months up to six months depending on your requirements. The coatings used to regulate the release are also tough and so do not break under the intense impact forces the occur on racetracks. CRFs are designed to release at the right rate that maintains turf health without creating unnecessary flushes of top growth.

Too much top growth not only means endless mowing, but it usually results in poor rooting. The rate and level of nutrient release is paramount for race course turf and CRFs are ideally designed for the job.

The timing and type of nutrition will need to vary throughout the year to support the different seasonal demands of the turf. Nutrition levels should be tailored to the soil type to provide sufficient nutrient to promote the development of a healthy and dense sward. The application of a CRF in the autumn and winter will need to provide Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium to the turf during mild periods when active growth is taking place to aid recovery during this part of the year.

The aim is to produce a gentle and sustained release to minimise the risk of excessive flushes of growth.

Excessive Nitrogen levels will cause soft growth which can cause the turf to become slippery and reduce the horses grip. A slightly higher cutting height in the winter months will help to encourage the grass plant to fill out and cushion the stride of the horse.

In the spring when the soil temperatures increase above 7ºC the turf will begin to grow and nutrient release will be required again. The application of a carefully chosen CRF will help the turf recover going through the spring and promote balanced turf growth, density and root development.

An application of either a three month or four to five month CRF

in the spring will aid this process.

A conventional fertiliser should be avoided because too much N will provoke the production of weak and soft growth and will discourage much needed root development In terms of specific recommendations for the spring, we would advise to apply either Sportsmaster Turf 25-5-10 +TE (3 months) or a SierrablenPlus “Calmag” 23-0-5 +2CaO +2MgO (4-5 months) but this is dependent on the ground conditions. If you have experienced a very cold and wet winter and your racing fixtures start early spring, then Sportsmaster Turf should be applied. This is a blended fertiliser containing 30% coated N and you can expect an initial growth boost then a consistent nitrogen release that sustains turf health for up to three months.

This cost-effective formulation can be applied at low application rates (25 – 35 g/m2) and will deliver balanced nutrition to all soil types.

However, if you are looking for a long-lasting nutrient release pattern then SierrablenPlus “Calmag” 23+0+5 (73% coated N) would be our recommendation. The product contains the specialist mineral polyhalite for added calcium and magnesium and Poly-S and resin coated PACE technology with conventional nitrogen sources will provide the best long-term nutrient release pattern.

It is more challenging that ever to provide perfect racing surfaces as the weather conditions and the number and volume of fixtures have an ever-greater impact on the turf health and the soil conditions. Controlled release fertilisers contain specialist technologies that are ideally suited for use on racecourse turf. They release nutrition at an ideal rate for healthy and dense growth and root development and will not break under the pressure caused by the racing.

ICL have a number of different ranges and analyses that can be used to optimise the turf performance under these challenging conditions and if applied at the right time and the right rate they will create healthy, hard wearing and consistent turf. CRFs should be an integral ingredient of your overall maintenance plan if you want to optimise the performance of your turf.

People with something to say, say it on the Turf Matters YouTube channel Go to YouTube.com, search for ‘Turf Matters’ and find out why we’re our industry’s most watched channel.

New, views, glimpses behind the scenes and opinions from those at grass roots level, to those at the top of their game.

More than a magazine… our cameras search out and bring you stories from across the UK

Because Turf Matters…

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 59

IRRIGATION AND CHEMICALS FERTILISERS

Going granular

Headland Amenity has introduced a new granular version of their popular penetrant wetter Terafirm. Suitable for use in all fine and coarse turf situations, the Terafirm range improves the downward movement of water through the soil profile, helping to achieve a firmer playing surface.

Terafirm is a non-phytotoxic soil penetrant, which works by reducing the surface tension of water to facilitate accelerated water movement and drainage. As a result, Terafirm also acts to speed up surface drying and open up pore space within the soil profile during dry down by improving natural soil contraction.

The launch of Terafirm granular, in

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addition to the existing liquid formulation, means it can now be applied in even more areas and in different conditions than was previously the case. Terafirm Granular is easy to spread on bunker edges, slopes, or other areas where access with a sprayer is difficult. Containing the same active ingredient as in liquid Terafirm, use of the granular product is an effective alternative to spraying.

Although no chemical penetrant can, in itself, alter the physical properties of soil that determine drainage rates, it will help get the water out as quickly as the physical properties of the soil allow. Applications can be made on a monthly or more frequent basis, mosteffectively before the onset of seasonal periods of heavy moisture. As a spot treatment on wet areas, Terafirm can be applied at two-week intervals until the excessive moisture conditions subside.

Regular use offers the turf professional an effective tool to help maintain drier soil surface conditions, helping to reduce puddling and anaerobic conditions, and producing a fasterdraining, drier and healthier sward.

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Safer way C

arrying the weight of a 16l or 18l-full knapsack of treatment liquids can cause challenges for operators who work for full days spraying sites.

Joint, ligament and muscle wear and tear across the entire back and in the hips can result if the upper body is inadequately supported during spraying.

Body parts will often compensate for the extra weight, but they cannot sustain the strength for too long and begin to degenerate, which can cause stiffness and loss of range of motion, and pain, research reveals.

In addition, the gradual degeneration can lead to chronic back pain, compressed discs in the spine (herniated discs)

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of knapsack spraying neck pain an altered posture and gait and even pain in the feet, according to Dr Kenneth Hansraj, lead author of a study conducted in 2018, and a spinal and orthopaedic surgeon at the New York Spine Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine Center.

Knapsack, hand-held and compression sprayer manufacturer Berthoud’s Vermorel knapsack range includes critical back support measures to ensure grounds professionals work in optimal comfort, safety and convenience, Each of the three premium grade knapsacks – Vermorel 1800, Pro Comfort 2000 and toprange 3000 Electric – come with ergonomically contoured, sturdy backframe as standard.

Safety harnesses provide rising levels of support progressing through the line – from padded shoulder straps on the `1800`, to padded shoulder, waist and chest strapping on the

`2000` and fully specified `3000`.

Operators wishing to eliminate any risk of spinal stress and strain may prefer the option of the knapsack carriage trolley, available with the `3000` or as an accessory for the other two in the range.

All Vermorel knapsacks are easy to use and dismantle for servicing and repair.

They are also suitable for applying sanitisers and disinfectants and are available with a host of accessories such as spray shields, seal and nozzle kits and multi-nozzle spray booms to give operators even greater flexibility.

Service excellence is a keystone of the HozelockExel sprayer brands. Both Berthoud and sister sprayer brand Cooper Pegler are built to give lasting satisfaction and are backed by a replacement parts and accessories delivery service, usually within 48 hours. www.berthoud.fr/en/

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 61

STRI

For sustainability, meet the EPG

Senior Environmental Consultant Dr Tom Young introduces the newest member of the STRI family, The Environmental Protection Group (EPG), and takes a closer look as to how the new partnership can help manage water at sports facilities.

T

he Environmental Protection Group (EPG), established in 1998, is a leading independent geoenvironmental engineering design consultancy delivering cost-effective, sustainable designs focused in the areas of contaminated land remediation

and gas protection, sustainable water management, flood risk assessment and structural waterproofing.

STRI and EPG have been working closely with one another since 2010 when the two companies worked together on a number of London 2012

Olympics projects. It was formally announced in August 2020 that STRI and EPG had joined forces and EPG is now part of the STRI Group.

EPG has a huge amount of experience in water management plans, site-wide drainage schemes and sustainable water harvesting. Coupled with STRI’s agronomic, research and design capabilities, the Group now has the ability to further assist sports facilities. In particular, EPG has vast experience in designing Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), which are now more commonplace and often required as part of any planning conditions. EPG was actually co-author of the CIRIA SuDS Manual, a key piece of industry guidance, which is the go-to document for any SuDS engineer.

Harvesting water from buildings Figure 1: Small scale rainwater harvesting for a cricket club. Orange area is clubhouse and blue area is car park

62 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

• STRI and EPG can accurately model and predict volumes of water that can be collected from

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Figure 2: Large scale water modelling and harvesting from an 18-hole golf course

Figure 3: Site of important infrastructure requiring detailed flood defences. EPG looked at the scheme and provided an overview design to show that sustainable options were available

buildings, which can be easily collected and stored for later reuse • This solution can be ideal for small sports facilities that currently rely on mains water • Water collected can easily be incorporated into a small-scale irrigation system with the pump station preferentially using collected rainwater before mains water • In the example in Figure 1, a small cricket club in London could potentially harvest nearly 270m3 a year from their clubhouse roof and 400m3 a year from the club car park.

This could potentially reduce the club’s mains water requirements by 20-50%. The design of the storage

tank is critical in these situations; in order to provide a cost effect solution, but to also be large enough to take advantage of large storm events

Harvesting water from whole sites • STRI and EPG can also produce much larger water models for whole sites. This allows us to predict: a) how much water falls across a whole site and when b) where this water ends up c) how much of this water can be transported and stored for later reuse • This detailed approach is very much cutting edge, with STRI and EPG optimising hydraulic

models based on experience from other sectors and making them appropriate for sports turf situations • Key issues to consider include detailed analysis of site drainage systems, rootzone composition, effect of vegetation on runoff and effect of climate change on future rainfall events • In the case study shown in Figure 2, STRI and EPG were able to accurately model the entire drainage network of an 18-hole golf course • It was found that an average volume of 3750m3 a month was potentially available for the club once local topographical issues, losses in ground infiltration } Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 63

STRI

Figure 4: Modelling conducted by EPG showing that flooding can be alleviated by simple groundworks across site. Note large pale blue area now accommodates flood water

These examples only demonstrate a small amount of the joint expertise that the two companies have now combined. } and inherent water capture by

vegetation were taken into account • With a current demand of 10,000m3 a month, water harvested from the course easily accommodates all the club’s irrigation demand, and also allows the club to seriously look into the addition of fairway irrigation • Runoff from the winter when demand is low can be stored to create a surplus of water for the summer when the irrigation demands are at their peak. Therefore, the club would require a reservoir large enough to not only meet demand throughout the year but also to build up surpluses during the winter • The club is now looking into the concept in more detail, with STRI and EPG supporting with detailed designs, reservoir sizing and help with Environment Agency permissions

64 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

Flood Risk Assessments/ mitigating effects of flooding • In some situations, flooding of certain areas of buildings is problematic and STRI and EPG are required to design sites to accommodate water from elsewhere • EPG is very experienced in running detailed Flood Risk Assessments (FRA) for sites and then designing solutions if flooding is predicted • In Figure 3, a site was predicted to undergo serious flooding on a regular basis. EPG was able to mitigate against this by designing the site to accommodate water elsewhere.

This was achieved by a simple depression across the site that could accommodate additional flood water (Figure 4)

Green/blue roofs • The runoff from most new buildings needs to be slowed down in order to reduce the amount and speed of runoff from the building. This can be achieved via the use of rainwater storage tanks as shown in Figure 1. However, sometimes it is more appropriate to store the water on the roofs of buildings (for example in more built up areas or when excavation for tanks is expensive).

This can also be combined with vegetation of a roof. Known as Blue (storage of water), Green (vegetation) or Blue-Green (water storage with vegetation) roofs, this method can really improve the look as well as environmental credentials of most buildings • In the example given in Figure 5, STRI and EPG were tasked with reducing the runoff from the roof of a new building, whilst storing the water for later reuse in irrigating large planters placed on the roof to provide screening for the building • The innovative design stored water across the entire roof level in a shallow modular tank (85mm

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Figure 5: Blue-green roof design for a block of flats. The shallow attenuation tanks across the roof slab stored all the water falling on the building and reused it for passive sub-surface plant irrigation

deep) which was located across the entire roof slab removing the need to have a large storage tank located in the development boundary. Each roof on the building is connected so once one tank is full, it cascades into the one below • Underneath the planters, subsurface irrigation ‘wicks’ were installed to passively wick water from the shallow storage area into the rootzone above. This provides sufficient water for the plants to survive, whilst reducing the need for potable water across the site • The design allowed the site engineers to save significant amounts of money by removing an entire large soakaway tank (50m x 4m x 2m) These examples only demonstrate a small amount of the joint expertise that the two companies have now combined. If you are interested in any of the problemsolving methods discussed, please get in contact with Tom Young at tom.young@strigroup.com n Reproduced from the STRI Bulletin, September 2020, with thanks.

Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021 | 65

AUTOCUT

Going to the next

Robotic Level

W

e have come to marvel at the concept of humanless mowing since the turn of the century. We all looked in awe upon a machine which apparently had a mind of its own and a work ethic to die for.

We can all remember the first time we saw a robotic mower in action.

They were a novelty then, but we could all see the potential – labour saving, for both us as domestic gardeners, and for commercial organisations, was at the forefront.

Wouldn’t it be great to be sitting on the patio, drinking a cheeky glass of Sauvignon, while a robot took over the arduous chore of mowing the lawn of a Saturday afternoon.

Likewise, mowing large acreages of grass around office buildings, hospitals, parks etc with a robot would free up ground staff to carry out other tasks.

Add to that the other attractions – cutting a little and often; it can work through the night; it is quiet, eco friendly and works in all weathers and there were enough plus points to attract many potential users.

Quality of cut wasn’t really a consideration. High quality cut wasn’t really the issue, it was the fact that a time-consuming task was being taken care of in a new and innovative manner.

66 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

However, there are some environments where cut quality is much more important – golf courses being a prime example.

Outside of perhaps the practice range, robot mowing didn’t really cut the mustard. Top end football stadiums being another environment where quality of cut counts.

Until now…

Autocut has looked at the robotic mower sector and realised that combining the benefits of autonomous mowing with a high quality cut was the next stage and the gateway to opening up a whole range of options to turf professionals with a genuine pride in what they prepare on a day to day basis.

Having spent a decade in Scandinavia, Luke was able to research the already developed robotic market.

He recognised that to achieve the best results, the best equipment was needed – backed up by knowledgeable and experienced support.

Hence Autocut’s partnership with Husqvarna was born.

“We only use Husqvarna mowers as we believe they are the leader by far and offer so much more than anything else,” explained Luke Bateman, General Manager of Autocut.

“There is so much more involved than just installing a mower. Every course or pitch has different requirements, from the greenkeeping team to the members and players. Years of testing and collecting data, leaves us confident that Autocut in partnership with Husqvarna can provide a reliable solution in any site and situation,” added Luke.

The benefits which have been created through the research and development by the boffins at Husqvarna include the ability to cut down to 10 mil which immediately opens up golf course maintenance as a potential benefactor.

Add to this the fact that quality of cut reduces the need for high nitrogen fertilisers and other befits are dew removal, reduction of worm casts and cutting down on moss levels it opens robotic mowing up to the elite levels of turf maintenance.

Already Course Managers are taking advantage and seeing the benefits.

“I used it to cut around the clubhouse and 18th green area,” said

Craig Earnshaw, Course Manager, at Harleyford Golf Club, near Henley.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more. It is just perfect for grass cutting and requires minimum care. Autocut did say that I’d be impressed and they weren’t wrong.”

Over in Germany, Autocut’s service and Husqvarna’s equipment also made a big im-pression.

“We are a forward thinking club and believe this technology is the future in greenspace management,”explained Erwan Lecoq, Course Manager of Winston Golf Club, near Schwerin.

“I have been fortunate enough to work with a team that not only believe this, but are willing to back it.

This is just half of the battle! Finding companies that are equipped to provide help, knowledge and more importantly solutions, is not easy…

Autocut cover all of this and much much more. They have not only provided full technical and product support, but also created a Solar Power Charging Station – AUTOCHARGE.” “The future of turf management is definitely in robotics. It shouldn’t be seen as a threat, it should be seen as a compliment to the traditional cultural practices of a skilled Greenkeeper or Groundsman. It is now no longer seen as a ‘concept’, it is a reality, the results speak for themselves,” said Luke.

As Husqvarna’s number one Automower dealer in the UK, Autocut will continue to develop robotic solutions and provide the much needed support and training to the end user.

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COMMENT

Two things to discuss on this edition of the Blog. The first one has only just happened, and the whole world is trying to get its head around it. Poor Tiger. What an awful thing to happen, just when he was trying to get himself fit enough to return to the home of five of his many triumphs – Augusta.

Now I know people are taking about his incredible – to use an American expression – bouncebackability, and making reference to the fact that Ben Hogan returned from a life-threatening road accident to dominate the world of golf. However, even without this latest bone snapping episode, Tiger was already four down at the turn in his attempts to get back to competing against the likes of Dustin,

70 | Turf Matters | MARCH-APRIL 2021

making turf matter

Bryson, Justin and Jon. And another thing, Ben was quite a bit younger than Tiger, a man already more than familiar with the surgeon’s scalpel.

I do think that at 45 years of age, this is it for Tiger now. Rather than hope for a sporting miracle, we should get right behind his fight to get back to a position where he can walk without pain and throw a ball with his kids without making an even bigger mess of his back.

Instead, we should stand and applaud a career of astounding magnitude, bettered in statistical terms only by Jack Nicklaus. One could argue that the strength in depth when Jack was doing his stuff wasn’t the same as the turn of this century when Tiger racked up most of his Major wins. To that end the GOAT argument is still pretty balanced.

The first time I saw Tiger in the flesh was at the Walker Cup at Royal Porthcawl in 1995.

While it was remembered mostly for Gary Wolstenholme defeating Tiger in the singles, when he struggled to keep the ball on the tight links course, I have another memory of young Tiger.

In the morning foursomes on the first day I set off to watch the acclaimed wunderkind match up against two Scottish heroes, Gordon Sherry and Stephen Gallacher.

I may be wrong about the hole, but I caught up with the match early, it may even have been the 1st,and the American ball was in a bush. I trotted up to the green happy that GB&1 were likely to get off to a flying start.

The next thing, a

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ball landed on the green. It was only when the players arrived that I realised that the ball I’d seen was American.

Young Tiger had somehow found a way of making the putting surface. I hadn’t even seen him hit it, but that remained my abiding memory of Tiger, even when I watched him win all three of his Open Championships at St Andrews, twice, and Hoylake.

My suspicion is that Tiger, having won that final Major in 2019 to prove to himself he could still do it, wasn’t too far away from hanging up his spikes anyway. That decision has now been made for him.

Tiger. Thank you for all that you have done for the game and get yourself as fit as you can over the next 12 months.

Second thing. Just when I think I’ve come up with the solution to my lack of length I come up against red tape. I was watching Bryson’s experiments with an extra long driver and decided that while impressed, he was missing a trick.

Bryson only added a few inches to his driver. I got one made up for me which was 72 inches long – yes, six feet. Now I’m only five foot ten, so it was longer/taller than me.

I took it to the range and, admittedly, it wasn’t a resounding success.

Indeed, some might term it a failure.

A number of swings came close to making a connection, and given that I was standing so far away from the ball it looked to be no larger than a pebble, I saw that as encouraging.

However, after about 40 swishes something clicked and a solid connection was made. The ball flew off like a rocket and nearly bounced off the 250 yard sign – 250 yards! That would add 40 yards to my Sunday-best drive.

But just when I was working out how to add some consistency to harness this new found power, the R&A came in and limited driver length. Typical! *As told to Scott MacCallum