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SERVING THE TURFCARE INDUSTRY
April/May 2010
Issue No. 30 £4.50
pitchcare
The turfcare magazine
from pitchcare.com
FEATURES
PRIDE OF AMERICA
CLAYESMORE DORSET
WHERE ARE THE
COWBOYS?
Keeper of the
hallowed turf
INSIDE
WORLD CUP
WALL CHART
Mick
Mick Hunt
Hunt is
is celebrating
celebrating twenty-five
twenty-five years
years as
as head
head
groundsman
groundsman at
at one
one of
of the
the most
most prestigious
prestigious sporting
sporting
venues
venues in
in the
the world,
world, the
the iconic
iconic Lord’s
Lord’s
LICKEY HILLS•GREEN THINKING•STRAIGHT & NARROW
MOOR PARK GC•CALIBRATION•TAMESIDE
MARKET DRAYTON GC•BATS•INTO AFRICA•COVENTRY UNI
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WELCOME TO
Say that again!
“This is not about cutting
services. On the contrary, we
want to get more people into
golf and to do that we have to
listen to people”
pitchcare
Councillor Mullaney, Birmingham Council
An update on
the ‘one show’
It’s April 8th as I write this - twenty days or
so before this magazine is delivered to you.
The sun is finally shining in a light blue sky
and the grass, for the first time this year,
looks to be growing with some vigour. It has
truly been a long and quite depressing
winter for our Industry. So, now that spring
has finally arrived, we can get on with
preparing and repairing our surfaces and
smelling that freshly cut grass again.
There has been much discussion and
supposition about a meeting that took place
on the 8th of March at the NEC, so I think
it’s best to explain why it evolved and the
outcome.
Without going over too much old ground,
the ‘Trade’ (Suppliers and Manufacturers to
our Industry) have, for many years, found
that the two Association shows - BTME and
SALTEX - have become increasingly distant
to their actual needs. Long gone are the
days when punters rolled up to place their
annual orders at a show.
These days, distribution networks, the
media and company representatives do a
very good job of disseminating information
and demo’ing equipment. In fact, the shows
now, primarily, offer a meeting point for
Industry colleagues to get together and for
some to receive education.
Based on the fact that more and more
companies have become very singular in
their decision to exhibit at either one show
or, in some cases, not at all, Pitchcare sent
out two questionnaires last summer to gauge
the mood of both the Trade and
Groundsmen and Greenkeepers - the results
of these surveys can be found on the
Pitchcare website and in a previous issue of
this magazine.
After correlating the results, and with some
further research, A meeting was organised at
the NEC (as a central venue) for a good
cross section of the Trade and
representatives of the two Associations to air
their views and gain a feeling as to what was
need, as an Industry, to move forward. It
was very well attended with around fifty-five
companies, both large and small,
represented.
It soon became very clear that there was an
overwhelming Trade feeling for a single
show. Neither the BIGGA or IOG
representatives were left in any doubt as to
the Trade’s feelings.
The main points raised and discussed by the
Trade are as follows:
• The two existing venues are now viewed
as regional, where the breakdown of
attendee figures largely shows only local
attendance at the respective shows.
• A single Turf Industry Show is in the
Trade’s and the practitioner’s best
interests for the long-term future of the
Industry.
• There is a genuine fear that, if the UK
doesn’t provide a single turf show, one
will start in Europe and that will put paid
to the existing shows anyway. This has
already been seen in the Agricultural
Industry with the demise of the Royal
Show at Stoneleigh and Royal Smithfields.
• More International business, along with
UK business, needs to be encouraged and
generated than at present. A venue with
good rail, road and air links should be
considered to encourage far more people
to attend.
• The ‘one show’ should continue to offer
the diversity that BTME and SALTEX
currently offer in terms of exhibitors
range of products and services.
• The NEC is a venue option, but not the
only option. The name of such a show is
also just an option.
• There should be a possible charge for
entry to put value to the show, reducing
costs for exhibitors to allow more to
attend and provide money for education
and the Associations.
The key point from the day’s discussion was
that the Trade have no wish to harm the
interests of BIGGA, the IOG or their
respective members, but are of the opinion
that, if there is no future change, both
associations will suffer anyway with less
exhibitors and delegates choosing to attend
the existing shows.
Therefore, it is now time for all parties to
meet and discuss the opportunities, with the
intention of agreeing an acceptable and
mutually beneficial future for all.
I would also like to reiterate that the ‘one
show’ would, hopefully, be run as a joint
BIGGA/IOG show and should provide a
refreshing and positive outlook for the Turf
and Amenity Industry.
On behalf of the Trade, I have now
contacted both Chief Executives - Geoff
Webb (IOG) and John Pemberton (BIGGA) with a view to a meeting with a select Trade
committee, to be kindly chaired by the
Chairman of the AEA, Roger Lane-Nott CB
FCMI FIAgrE.
Both Geoff and John have offered dates so,
it is hoped, that there will be some positive
outcome to report in June.
Dave Saltman, MD Pitchcare
“The modern curse cast on our
long suffering ‘original golf
turf ’ is the ever increasing
quest for speed”
John Philp MBE, Carnoustie Golf Links
“After you’ve invested over
£1million in your development,
do you really want to scrimp on
your playing surface?”
Paul Searle, Heacham Manor GC
“Carrying out the same
renovation as last year, or using
the machinery most conveniently
available to you, might not
properly address the issues”
Charles Henderson, STRI
“You cannot just do it ninety
percent of the time - that’s like
being a vegetarian six days a
week”
Paul Stevenson, New Malton GC
“There are those that operate
‘under the radar’ and do not
see why the era of progress and
higher standards should
include them”
Paul Cawood, Languard
“Unfortunately, you rarely gain
special praise when the pitch is
prepared well - players just
expect it always to be up to a
very high standard, regardless”
Mick Hunt, Lord’s
“If they were in any doubt
about whether a particular
person should be told, the rule
was - don’t tell them”
Frank Newberry, Trainer
and Conference Speaker
Contents
Simon Cotterill. Market Drayton Golf Club
Golf
Municipal golf under threat
Birmingham City Council are currently conducting
a review of the seven golf courses under their
charge. Pg54
Original Golfing Turf
John Philp MBE, Links Superintendent at
Carnoustie Golf Links, says that, in no other sport
performed on grass is the quality of the turf so
critical to the way the game is played. Pg58
Cover Story - Mick Hunt,
Head Groundsman, Lord’s
Inside
THIS
ISSUE
Mick Hunt is celebrating
twenty-five years as head
groundsman at one of the
most prestigious sporting
venues in the world, the
iconic Lord’s.
The keeper of the
hallowed turf ..... Pg12
THE PC TEAM
DAVE SALTMAN
Managing Director
Deadline Dave was given
‘All Fools’ day as his
target. He missed it! As
if to confirm his moniker
he also missed a flight to
Slovenia where he was
due to speak at a
conference. Fortunately,
he was shoe-horned on
to the next one - it was
his charm and
personality that did it and arrived in time to
deliver his missive.
JOHN RICHARDS
Operations Director
As this issue was going
to press, John was
boarding a plane to
Australia to undertake
granddad duties.
Reading some of the
other pen pics, I’m not
sure that any PC staff
member should ever be
allowed to travel again!
However, as he is the
sensible one amongst
us, we aren’t expecting
any mishaps.
General
Hell bent on golf history
Ray of Light
In the third and final article on grasses for golf
greens in the UK, Kevin Munt examines the oldest,
fescue/bent. Pg62
Peter Britton ‘pops down the road’ to meet Ray
Norris, the long serving head groundsman at
Clayesmore Dorset, and finds a man who feels
privileged to do the job he does. Pg36
Climbing up on
Salisbury Hill
Where are the cowboys?
Simon Cotterill, Head Greenkeeper at Market
Drayton Golf Club, talks about his twenty years at
the course, his ongoing plans to manage and
enhance the diverse ecology. Pg66
Paul Cawood, Business Development Manager for
Languard, suggests that those working ‘under the
radar’ need to be policed by those that employ
their services. Pg42
Back to Coventry!
Coventry University has allocated £160 million
over the next ten years to develop the city centre
campus, all extra work for Site Services Manager,
Stephen Beasley, and his small team. Pg44
Pride ... of America
Diligently carrying out their jobs as groundsmen,
but worlds apart from the roar of the crowds and
the attention of the media, are the dedicated
individuals who tend to memorial sites to military
personnel lost in battle. Pg76
LAURENCE GALE
Editor
If you notice an
improvement in the
quality of the images in
this edition, it is
because Loz eventually
got his new camera. We
managed to keep the
good news from Dave
for over a month, but we
think it’s time he knew.
If you don’t notice an
improvement, just
remember who is
behind said camera!
PETER BRITTON
Sales & Production
Also jetted off to foreign
climes recently with his
favourite airline, Ryan
Air. No mishaps this
time, other than he was
not allowed to sit in row
3 because, in the words
of the cabin crew, “it
would upset the balance
of the plane”. Turns out
that no-one was allowed
to sit there - but the
steward was lucky to
escape with his life!
Taking the Riens
Rien Hardeman, and the job of a Greenkeeper in
Holland, was brought to our attention by Redexim
Charterhouse. We wondered what differences there
might be to the job of looking after a premier
course in Holland to one in the UK. Pg84
New beginning for New
Malton
One golf course owner who is blazing a trail for
sustainability and wildlife is Paul Stevenson, a
director of New Malton Golf Club, which lies on
the River Cam near Royston. Pg90
ELLIE TAIT
PR and Marketing
Has taken to hugging
postmen on her
doorstep, especially
those returning her lost
luggage. This contained
important stuff, such as
her diary, filofax and,
even more critically, her
make-up. Three days
locked indoors out of
sight made our Ellie go
just a tad stir crazy! The
current condition of the
postman is unknown.
ALASTAIR BATTRICK
Web Monkey
The arrival of his third
child, a daughter called
Beatrice, has lead to
suggestions that
Alastair should have his
manhood tampered with
to stem the flow of ...
little Battricks. Despite
various offers of
assistance from his
colleagues, ranging from
two bricks to garden
shears, Al has so far
declined our kind offers!
DAN HUGHES
Sales Manager
With the PC shop
achieving record sales in
March, Dan has been
rushed off his feet
getting to grips with a
new office, a new order
system, new staff and
renewed hope that
Wolves just might avoid
the drop! We’ll be kind to
him and not mention his
trip to Germany, where
he left his passport on
the plane! (Damn).
Also in this issue:
Dick Timmons, Warley RUFC
The Management ...................... 8
A Grigg thank you .................. 20
Game on! .................................. 50
Sowing the seeds of love ...... 70
iBelieve .................................... 88
Training Update .................... 102
The good, bad and ugly ...... 108
Compare the market ............ 122
Bats about bats .................... 126
Are you compliant? .............. 128
Frank Newberry .................... 130
Maddy Madness .................... 132
The Vale Resort .................... 134
How to control moss ............ 136
Back to the future ................ 138
Paulley Maintained .............. 140
Team Building ...................... 142
I don’t believe it! .................. 144
Ray Norris, Clayesmore Dorset
Winter Sports
Technical
Norway to treat a pitch!
Your help needed
Moving from golf greenkeeper to football
groundsman is not an uncommon career path. A
Brit abroad, doing it in Scandinavia is, perhaps,
slightly more unusual. Pg94
Dr David T. Jones, earthworm specialist at the
Natural History Museum, and Dr Kate Entwistle
want your help. Pg10
In to Africa!
Chris Hague, Head Groundsman at the Parken
Stadium in Denmark, was one of a number of
groundsmen hand-picked by Support in Sport to
work at the Africa Cup of Nations. Pg98
Project Angola
In a Q&A session SIS Managing Director, George
Mullens, gives an insight into the complexities of
working in Angola. Pg100
A breath of fresh air
What is aeration for? It is the European Turfgrass
Specialists’ belief that aeration is a critical
component that contributes to the correct PATH for
success. Pg80
The art of application
Newbury & Crookham Golf Club Course Manager,
Alec MacIndoe, and sprayer operator, Andy Thrift,
run through some essential sprayer checks and
calibration techniques. Pg124
Fat, slow and old!
Dick Timmons, groundsman at Warley Rugby
Football Club, charts the Damascus Road moment
when he realised that everything he thought was
right, was actually wrong! Pg104
Racing
Straight and narrow
Hazel Peplinski was on secondment as Clerk of the
Course at Ayr Racecourse at the time of an horrific
accident turning into the home straight. Pg116
Tennis
A tale of two turfs
Under assault by the powers that be, grass courts
can make just as much financial sense as synthetic
ones, given the right maintenance regimes. Pg24
Moor Park
Jane Carley visits Moor Park to meet the three man
team looking after the grass and artificial tennis
courts, gardens and trees. Pg30
Bowls
Green Thinking
Charles Henderson, STRI Turfgrass Agronomist
for the South East, outlines what renovation work
is required to achieve good playing quality
throughout the season. Pg 110
MANAGING DIRECTOR:
David Saltman
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR:
John Richards
Telephone: 01902 440 256
Fax: 01902 440 253
Em
mail: mail@pitchcare.com
FEATURES AND EDITORIAL:
Laurence Gale
Tel: 01902 440 260
Email: laurence@pitchcare.com
ADVERTISING & PRODUCTION:
Peter Britton
Pitchcare Magazine, 17 Barton Hill,
Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8DQ
Tel & Fax: 01747 855 335
Email: peter@pitchcare.com
PITCHCARE SHOP:
Dan Hugh
hes
Tel: 01902 440 258
Email: dan@pitchcare.com
IT & WEBSITE:
Alastair Battrick
Tel: 01902 440 255
Email: al@pitchcare.com
MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATTIONS:
Ellie Tait
Email: ellie@pitchcare.com
ACCOUNTS:
Sharon Taylor
Tel: 01902 440 261
Email: sharon@pitchcare.com
TRAINING COORDINATOR:
Chrisstine Johnson
Email: chris@pitchcare.com
Tel: 01902 440 263
Pitchcare.com Ltd,
Units 2&3
Allscott
Telford
Shropshire
TF6 5DY
Tel: 01902 440 256
Fax: 01902 440 253
Email:
mail@pitchcare.com
CHRIS JOHNSON
Training Coordinator
Chris has been sitting
in on some of the
training sessions she
organises. This has
given her a better
understanding of
groundsmanship and
the problems faced on
a daily basis. Not that
this new found
knowledge has helped
her understand her
colleagues any better.
Men, eh?
STUART BURTON
Web Designer
Stu has recently
passed his driving test.
Sadly, the round trip to
the old office is too
long to allow his
lunchtime liaisons to
continue, but at least
he can now get to work
under his own steam Abba in the cassette
player and Liverpool
scarf hanging off the
aerial. Just look at that
Corsa go!
KIRAN CONTRACTOR
Sales Administrator
As the shop hit its
busiest period, Kiran
decided to sprain his
ankle during football
practice - he was
mirroring his hero
Wayne - and spent a few
days laid up in front of
day-time TV. Of course,
we wished him a speedy
recovery - at least I think
that’s what Dan meant
by “get your a- -e back
here soon, or else!
JULIE ROBINSON
Sales Administrator
Our ‘other’ Wolves
supporter has become
even more cheerful than
usual as the chances of
another season in the
Premiership look more
and more likely. Not that
anything gets her down even having to sit
opposite Kiran all day
doesn’t dampen her
spirits. Perhaps she
should have gone to
Specsavers!!!
SHARON TAYLOR
Company Accountant
Currently grappling with
a change in the
accounts operating
system, and not best
pleased with progress at least, we think that’s
what all the cussing is
about! Still, the job does
have some perks as she
received a free box of
paddock seed for her
horses. Getting someone
knowledgeable to plant
it might not be so easy!
LYN PRICE
Accounts Admin
Now ‘tucked away’ in a
corner, behind a screen,
Lyn has found her
communications skills
tested to the full, as her
colleagues can now
sneak past without
being seen! Recently
celebrated a birthday,
but she won’t tell us
which one - and we
certainly aren’t
prepared to hazard a
guess!
No part of this publication
may be reproduced without
prior permission of the
publisher. All rights reserved.
Views expressed in this
publication are not
necessarily those of the
publisher. Editorial
contributions are published
entirely at the editor’s
discretion and may be
shortened if space is limited.
Pitchcare make every effort
to ensure the accuracy of the
contents but accepts no
liability for its consequences.
Images are presumed
copyright of the author or
Pitchcare unless otherwise
stated. Pitchcare Magazine is
printed by the Gemini Press,
Dolphin Way, Shoreham-bySea, West Sussex BN43 6NZ
Plumpton
takes the
honours
Second smallest
course in the UK fends
off stiff opposition
from Aintree and
Cheltenham to win
prestigious award
FOR the first time in the fourteen year history
of the Neil Wyatt Groundstaff of the Year
Awards, the Best Jumps Racecourse title has
gone to Plumpton.
The course is the second smallest in the UK
and, to win the award, had to fend off
competition from the likes of Cheltenham and
Aintree.
Speaking at the presentation, the Chief
Executive, Claire Sheppard, was quick to
praise the work of the groundstaff team, “The
team is led by Mark Cornford, the Clerk of the
Mark Cornford (4th right standing) with Bob Bolland, ALS (left),
Pitchcare’s John Richards (right) and members of the grounds team
Course and Head Groundsman, and they have
all worked tremendously hard to produce
what we believe is one of the best race tracks
in the country.”
Mark Cornford said “We are thrilled that
Plumpton’s efforts have been recognised in
these prestigious awards named in honour of
Neil Wyatt. Neil was a great supported of
racecourses such as ours and gave us
tremendous encouragement during his tenure
as Senior Inspector of Courses for The Jockey
Club.”
The presentation was made at a recent
race meeting by Bob Bolland, Chairman of
Amenity Land Solutions, one of the awards
sponsors.
Also in attendance were Richard Linley,
Senior Inspector of Courses, and Venetia
Williams, trainer of 2009 Grand National
winner, Mon Mome.
Presentations to the winners of the Best
Flat racecourse, York, and Best Dual Purpose
racecourse, Newcastle, will take place in the
coming months.
AMINO-SORB
The Sports Turf Stress Buster
Amino-Sorb contains high levels of specially selected, pure quality Amino Acids and official UK field trails
conducted by Groundsmen have proved that, when used as part of a maintenance programme, it will:
Significantly reduce yellowing of turf when tank-mixed with the leading plant growth regulator
Greatly increase root mass and the ability to recover from stress caused by water logging or drought
Boost photosynthesis and increase production of natural enzymes
Amino-Sorb is ideal for use in Low N input fertiliser programmes.
For more information contact Vitax Amenity on 01530 510060, email to sales@vitax.co.uk
or visit our website at www.vitaxamenity.co.uk
*Amino Sorb is a registered trademark of Bioiberica
4
STRI Launch 2010
Golf Environment
Awards
Justin Rose
becomes Official
Ambassador
One of the UK’s and Europe’s top
professional golfers has given his
full support to the STRI Golf
Environment Awards.
Justin Rose has agreed to
become an official Ambassador of
the Awards. Speaking of his
appointment, Justin says, “I am
honoured to become an
ambassador for the awards. It’s
great that the awards promote
and highlight projects that are
improving the environment and
supporting a positive future for
golf within the UK. We need to do
more to promote how golf clubs
can get involved with their own
environment and shout out about
the achievement and success of
current schemes.”
The awards recognise proactive
golf courses that develop and
manage effective, sustainable
environmental projects. The
awards have been running thirteen
years and are growing to become
a major event in the golfing
calendar.
There are ten separate awards,
with the winners of the two main
categories, Overall Achievement
award and Best Conservation
Greenkeeper, enjoying Study Trips
to the USA visiting some of the
country’s most prestigious
courses.
The awards have the backing of
some of the Industry’s leading
companies, including Scotts,
Syngenta, Ransomes Jacobsen
and Campey Turf Care.
For the first time this year
Pitchcare are also involved as
Media Partners.
More details of the awards can
be found at
www.golfenvironmentawards.com
Record start to the
year for Pitchcare
More milestones as monthly
page views hit half-a-million
FOR the
first time in
its nine
year
history,
page views
on the
Pitchcare
website hit
the half-amillion
mark in
one single
month.
Having
celebrated
reaching
40,000
members
in February, the site attracted
519,982 page views in March,
and confirms Pitchcare as the
most widely visited website for
the sports and amenity turf
sector.
Over 100,000 of the page
views were on the message
board, whilst close to 250,000
were centred on Pitchcare’s
online shop, itself enjoying
record sales in 2010.
The company has taken on
three additional members of
staff. Dan Burton has joined as
assistant website developer in
the Pitchcare ‘nerd’ centre, Lee
Bishop will concentrate on
internet marketing of the
company’s products and
services, whilst Tim Jenkins, the
former head greenkeeper at
Princes Risborough Golf Club,
complements the sales team
where his hands-on knowledge
and extensive qualifications will
prove invaluable to the team
and Pitchcare’s growing
customer base.
Grounds Maintenance Equipment
for Professionals
+44 (0)1332 824777
www.dennisuk.com
PROUDLY BRITISH
5
Four percent rise
in the cost of
Research &
Development
Agrochemical R&D
costs increase says
new study
THE cost of research and
development of new agrochemical
products has increased in the
period 2005-2008, according to a
study by Phillips McDougall which
was undertaken on behalf of the
European Crop Protection Association
and Crop Life America. The study showed
that, on average, the cost of bringing a new
product to market had grown from $152 million in 1995 to $184
million in 2000, and to $256 million yearly between 2005-8, an
increase of 68.4%, equivalent to an average rise of over 4% per
annum. The full report is published on the CropLife America
website: www.croplifeamerica.org/phillipsmcdougallstudy
The study also assessed the number of products that pass
through each stage of the development process to result in one
product eventually achieving market introduction.
In 1995, on average for every product registered, four passed
from research into development and 52,500 were synthesised. By
comparison, in 2000, for every two products that passed into
development one eventually reached the market. Between 2005-8,
on average for every 140,000 synthesised, 1.3 entered
development for each product finally registered. Between 2000 and
2008, the number of products synthesised for each market entrant
has remained relatively constant, although, on average, the number
of products entering development has declined.
Rose Bowl hotel set
to go ahead after
legal battle
New hotel at Hampshire’s Rose Bowl
cricket ground set to be completed
after judicial review is thrown out
LOCAL hoteliers, who challenged
Eastleigh council’s decision to
spend £32m of public money on
the Rose Bowl scheme, have had
their challenge thrown out by a
judge who said there was “no
realistic chance of success”.
Construction was delayed and
bosses feared it may not be ready
for the 2011 Test match against
Sri Lanka.
Hoteliers questioned the legality
of Eastleigh Borough Council’s
investment, which, they claim, was
the result of a “rushed decision
making process”.
The council said the project
would create 200 jobs and the
cost would have no impact on
taxpayers.
The 175-bedroom hotel complex
is part of an overall
redevelopment, set to cost £48m,
that will see the construction of
new stands and an upgrade of the
current nine-hole golf course to an
18-hole championship course.
Rose Bowl Managing Director,
Glenn Delve, said he welcomed
How the new Rose
Bowl will look
the ruling and would now hold
talks to work out a revised
timetable for construction.
He said: “We are very relieved
and very happy that the judge has
recognised the very considered
approach that Eastleigh Borough
Council has taken to this
development, the role that they
should play in it and the incredible
amount of due diligence they’ve
undertaken to ensure that this
project is in the best interests of
the residents of Eastleigh and the
wider region.”
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6
Real challenges
reap real rewards
for Paul ...
Real Madrid Head Groundsman, Paul
Burgess, shown huge respect by the players
and the Spanish press
The Spanish press
have heaped praise
on Real Madrid
Head Groundsman,
Paul Burgess
THE headline reads “Paul must go
to Cibeles with us if we win La
Liga”, referring to Paul Burgess,
former Head Groundsman at the
Emirates and now the man in
charge of the Bernabéu stadium
pitch, home to Real Madrid.
Cibeles is the famous
waterfall in the city centre
where Real Madrid go to
celebrate their triumphs with
their fans. The article goes on to
say that “all the players think
the pitch is amazing, some
commenting they have never
played on a pitch so good”. It is
the players that have requested
Paul goes on the open top bus
with them to Cibeles should
they win La Liga.
Real Madrid have won every
home league game this season
and are currently vying for top spot
with equally famous rivals
Barcelona. The players feel that the
pitch has played a big part in this
Picture this!
season’s success and many believe that it
is the best pitch the stadium has ever had.
They say that it is one of the best in Europe.
The article also mentions the changes
made to the pitch last summer and details
Paul’s career to date.
With the Champions League Final being
played at the stadium, UEFA have already
commented that they are “very happy with
the grass cover”.
In typically modest fashion Paul says that
“It’s a bit OTT, but the pitch is doing really
well, and there really is no comparison to
what they have had in the past. I have been
getting quite a lot of publicity recently, but I
knew nothing about this article, so was very
surprised!”
In the run up to the game against
Barcelona, Paul already had three television
interviews lined up and was expecting more
on match day.
It all seems a far cry from how the British
media treat our profession and, on top of a
realistic and decent salary, there is total
respect for the work that groundstaff
abroad carry out.
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7
The Management!
Peter Britton is concerned that ‘big brother’ tactics are encroaching on the day
to day work of the turfcare professional, with management making decisions
they are not qualified to make. Yes, it’s another Victor Meldrew moment!
T
Image © International Artists
he first ten years of the 21st
century have seen a growth in
‘Big Brother’ tactics from the
Government and its agencies.
The Health & Safety Executive
march on towards their goal of making
the UK completely accident free, thereby
reducing the cost of treating ‘idiots’ who
fall out of trees, trip over a broken
paving slap or get a cotton bud stuck in
their ear.
We are told to drive five miles less each
day to save the planet from climate
change. So, does that mean that we have
to park the car 2.5 miles from work and
walk the rest? Why aren’t buses following
this advice? And, what happens if you
wake up on a Saturday morning and
decide to drive the ten miles to the
nearest local town only, some hours later,
to decide not to bother? Does that count
as twenty miles saved on your weekly
allowance, thereby putting you ‘in credit’
and allowing you to get to work on time
on at least four days of the week?
During the heavy snow of earlier in the
year, Suffolk Police - I kid you not emailed their entire database to warn of
the dangers of throwing snowballs!
Whilst children at a school in Bristol
were banned from giving each other
cards on Valentines Day because it was
deemed “inappropriate behaviour within
school hours”. If you could see me now, I
am shaking my head in disbelief!
In the scheme of things, the above
examples are, perhaps, flippant. But,
they certainly highlight just how much
Big Brother is affecting all of our lives.
A read of David Green’s (Terrain
Aeration) VOSA articles show the more
serious side of Big Brother. It seems the
Government are hell bent on ruling our
lives from playground to grave.
But, what has concerned me over
recent years is the spread of these tactics
into turfcare. It has long been the case
that committees at golf clubs have had
How many
groundsmen
will have
had their
budgets cut
this year,
whilst the
players have
been
swanning
off for
training
sessions in
Portugal,
Dubai and
other far
flung
corners of
the globe? It
simply does
not compute
far too much influence on how greenkeepers
work. But, now, we are seeing the spread of
these ‘committees’ into other sports.
The recent ‘removal’ of Phil Frost from his
position as Head Groundsman at Somerset
County Cricket Club, is a prime example. Phil
had worked for the club for twenty-two years
and, in that time, had won countless awards for
the quality of the pitches he prepared - awards
judged by his peers. Now, this suggests that
Phil was damn good at his job. Perhaps a tad
irascible but, at the top of his profession.
During the season he and his staff (and two
of them have gone as well) were working
sixteen hours a day, with Phil even roping in
his wife to help with putting on and taking off
covers during inclement weather.
So, why part company with him? Because
Somerset want to win the County
Championship, and they can’t do that on the
batsmen friendly wickets that Phil prepared.
Instead, they want bowler friendly ‘result’
wickets, forgetting, of course, that opposition
bowlers will also benefit from these conditions!
And how is this going to be achieved?
Director of Cricket, Brian Rose, is to take
charge of the grounds team. Rose was not a
bad cricketer in his day, but I question his
knowledge of groundscare, especially the
intricacies of cricket pitches. Apparently the
current Surrey Loams square is to be replaced
with Mendip Loam - yep, that should do it!
So, can we now expect to see Somerset as
County champions and Mr & Mrs Rose
working tirelessly at 11.00pm putting the
covers out to protect the square after the latest
Twenty20 game - a low scoring affair because
the wicket was ‘too bowler friendly’. You can’t
have your cake and eat it!
I urge you to dig out your copy of issue 25 of
this magazine (or check out the website) and
read our interview with Phil Frost, and then
make up your own mind on this matter.
Decisions taken by management directly
affect what groundsmen and greenkeepers are
able to achieve. Whoever came up with the
idea of ground sharing between football and
rugby, needs their lumps felt!
In theory, it all seems so simple. There’s a
stadium, there’s grass, therefore, there’s no
problem in the eyes of ‘the management’,
forgetting that the two sports require different
maintenance regimes. Not vastly different, but
different enough to make a difference!
Just ask head groundsmen at these stadiums
what they think. Give them the opportunity to
prepare their pitches for one discipline only
and you will immediately see improvements.
These guys are professional and know what
they are doing - it’s the management that
don’t!
Anyone from our industry who sat through
the televised game between Wigan and Spurs
in February, will have been squirming at the
state of the pitch. It was a poor reflection on
our industry, and one completely out of the
control of the head groundsman and his team.
It was stated, by the Wigan manager and TV
commentators, that the home team would have
an advantage because they are used to the
conditions - they lost 3-0. In fairness to Wigan,
a new pitch was laid at the end of February,
which will see the club through to the end of
the season. But, it’s only a quick fix. As soon as
the rugby boys get back on it, the surface will
deteriorate quickly. It happened the last time,
and the time before that. Why can’t the
management see that?
It is simply no good that management, in
any sports disciplines, should dictate what the
groundstaff do. Sure, there has to be
consultation, but the head groundsman or
greenkeeper should be allowed the final say.
After all, you wouldn’t ask your head
groundsman to rush on the pitch to take a last
minute penalty! It should not be about shortterm financial gain.
A case in point is one golf club in the south
of England. Here, the weather played havoc. A
covering of snow throughout January and the
early part of February (when the pro shop took
a grand total of £40), was followed by torrential
rain and frosty evenings in late February.
On one weekend, the fairways and
approaches were awash with water, whilst the
greens remained frozen. Temporary greens
were out of the questions as these were, in most
instances, usually placed on the approaches.
The head greenkeeper wanted the course to be
closed so that surface water could drain away.
The management, though, wanted the course
open - it was the weekend after all, and golfers
are ‘entitled to play golf ’ - even allowing
buggies to be used!
Of course, that decision was understandable,
again in the short term, because the club were
desperate for revenue. But the ruts caused by
buggies and trolleys, plus the damage to the
greens, will take some time to repair - and at a
cost probably in excess of the revenue the club
took over that particular weekend.
Come spring, when the course should start
to recover from the winter, it will not look
anywhere near as good as it could have done
had the head greenkeeper’s advice been
heeded. And who will complain? The
members, many of whom will be watching the
US Masters at pristine Augusta!
There seems little point in employing highly
qualified turfcare professionals if ‘the
management’ won’t listen to them. There
appears to be a growing, and worrying, trend
for management to be over involved in the
playing surfaces.
You can cite Phil Frost, Len Smith, Steve
Welch, all at the top of their profession, plus
countless other not so high profile
groundsmen and greenkeepers, who have
fallen foul of decisions born out of, in my
opinion, shortsighted financial requirements
rather than the quality of the playing surface.
As the winter sports renovation period is
upon us, how many groundsmen will have had
their budgets cut this year, whilst the players
have been swanning off for training sessions in
Portugal, Dubai and other far flung corners of
the globe, and corporate events and concerts
eat into the time allowed to carry out the work
satisfactorily? It simply does not compute.
This may appear a somewhat simplistic view
to some but, with edicts flying around from the
ECB, FA, R&A, RFU, STRI and Uncle Tom
Cobbly and all, the turfcare professional must
wonder what an earth is going on! Just give
him the tools and resources to do the job
properly, on turf that he fully understands, and
you will get a playing surface to be proud of.
A head groundsman or greenkeeper is highly
skilled, highly educated and highly competent.
Until the powers that be understand that, the
profession is on the ‘Big Brother’ slippery
slope. It is a concern for all of us in this
industry.
Your help needed ...
Close-mown greens
face a new menace
By Dr David T. Jones, earthworm
specialist, Natural History Museum,
London, and Dr Kate Entwistle,
Turfgrass Pathologist, The Turf
Disease Centre, Hampshire
I
n the last few years a small,
non-native earthworm
called Microscolex
phosphoreus has started
appearing in golf greens and
bowling greens across Britain.
It deposits small casts on the
surface of the sward that can
interfere with play. Anecdotal
evidence suggests it does not
respond to any of the products
currently available for
controlling earthworms. It is
thought to be spreading across
the UK, and your help is
needed to investigate its
distribution.
Microscolex on the move
Microscolex phosphoreus is native
to temperate South America.
But, this species has been
spread by man’s activities, and
it has now been found in parts
of North America, Africa, Asia,
Australia, New Zealand and
continental Europe. It was first
recorded in Britain in 1899
from Worcester, followed by
A Microscolex phosphoreus cast (circled)
next to a golf ball to show size
Close-up of Microscolex phosphoreus cast
showing loose formation of sand grains and
soil particles. The cast is about 10mm high
two more records in 1913 from
Nottingham and Jersey. There
were no further reports from
Britain for almost one
hundred years.
However, in the past five
years about twenty new
records have been confirmed
from golf and bowling greens.
These isolated populations are
scattered across the country
from Cornwall and Kent in the
south, up to North Yorkshire.
Worryingly, unconfirmed
sightings by turf managers
and agronomists suggest that
this species may now have
arrived in many other
locations in Britain. At the
moment, it is not subject to
any official notification, nor is
it on the list of quarantine
species.
Microscolex phosphoreus is a
small, pale, thread-like worm
of length 10-35mm, and width
1.0-1.5mm. Unlike our native
species, this earthworm is
unusual because it can exude a
It has been
reported that
Microscolex
phosphoreus can
cast throughout
the day, causing
a continuous
problem for play,
especially on
putting greens
luminescent fluid at night when
disturbed, although it is not always easy
to see its greenish glow. It produces small
casts on the surface that are about 1015mm in diameter, up to 10mm in
height, and which detract from the visual
quality of the sward. The casts consist of
loose sand grains and fine soil particles,
suggesting the earthworm lives and feeds
in the rootzone where there is a high
sand content. The casts are sometimes
clustered close together, indicating
highly localised patches of infestation.
Native species that cast on the surface
tend to do so at night. Therefore, areas
affected by deposited casts can be swept
clear before the turf is mown prior to
play. In contrast, it has been reported
that Microscolex phosphoreus can cast
throughout the day, causing a continuous
problem for play, especially on putting
greens.
No studies have been carried out on
this species in Britain, but discussions
with some turf managers whose greens
are infested, suggest that products used
to reduce the surface casting of native
earthworms have no affect on this
invasive species, even when applied at
the highest recommended
concentrations.
Putting Microscolex on the map
Now, the Natural History Museum and
the Turf Disease Centre, sponsored by
Syngenta Golf and Landscape, are
investigating Microscolex phosphoreus to
map its current distribution and to assess
Close-up of two adult specimens of Microscolex phosphoreus. Each is of typical
adult length, of about 25mm long
how rapidly it may be spreading across
the country. You can help by looking out
for this species and its small casts on
your golf greens and bowling greens.
However, these earthworms can only be
correctly identified by examining them
with a microscope. So, if you think you
have this species, we would be very
grateful if you would send us a small
sample of infested turf.
These delicate earthworms can be
easily injured or killed while trying to
remove them from the soil. Therefore, it
is better if we extract the earthworms
from the turf under laboratory
conditions. Their populations may
fluctuate with changing weather
conditions, and you may not see their
casts at the time when this article is
published. However, please keep looking,
and send us turf samples any time over
the next twelve months if you find their
casts.
How to provide samples
If possible, please use a golf hole
changer to take the turf sample:
• Place the hole changer over a piece of
turf with one or more casts on the
surface
• Remove the soil core and, with a sharp
knife, cut the soil core at a depth of
50-60mm
• Send us that top layer with the grass
and roots still intact
• If you don’t have a golf hole changer,
send a turf sample of similar surface
area as a golf hole
• Please fill in the short questionnaire
and return it with your sample.
This article will be published on the
Pitchcare website at the same time as it
appears in this magazine. The
questionnaire, along with address labels,
will be available to download in PDF
format, at www.pitchcare.com.
If you also include your email address
we will confirm whether or not you have
Microscolex phosphoreus.
All the information you send will only
be seen and utilised by the Natural
History Museum and The Turf Disease
Centre, and will be treated as
confidential. We will not disclose specific
site locations or contact information to
third parties.
A summary of our findings will be
published in this magazine, and full
results will be published in a soil science
journal and made available on the web.
In all publications the distribution map
of Microscolex
phosphoreus will be
plotted at low resolution
to ensure precise
locations cannot be
determined.
Dr Kate Entwistle,
The Turf Disease Centre
Email:
kate@theturfdiseasecentre.co.uk
Website: www.theturfdiseasecentre.co.uk
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11
The Keeper of
the hallowed turf
Mick Hunt is celebrating twenty-five
years as head groundsman at one of
the most prestigious sporting venues
in the world, the iconic Lord’s.
Tom James talks to him about his
career and the pressures he faces to
maintain the hallowed turf
I
step out of St John’s Wood tube
station and, at once, my expectations
of Lord’s Cricket Ground start to gel.
The air of tradition, exclusivity and
status hit me as I march down the road
towards the acknowledged ‘Mecca’ of
the game.
This is one of London’s wealthiest
‘villages’ - the roads locally lined with
large bespoke properties, boutique
shops and luxury German cars.
Like many an ‘inner-city’ sporting
hub, Lord’s suddenly looms seemingly
out of nowhere as I round the corner.
Smaller than I’d expected, almost
intimate - none of the floodlights or
banner signage proclaiming this as
indisputably the world’s premier
cricketing stage. Rather, it is nestled
within local community confines (more
on that later) that include a period
church, attendant gravestones and
peaceful park, overlooked on at least
one side by an imposing line of
apartments - ‘Mansions’ - that many
would give their all to live in.
As the green-eyed monster starts to
awaken, I can only hope that every
resident is a die-hard cricketing fan,
who habitually follows every ball of
every game. I’d be heartbroken to learn
that they had no interest in the sport at
all.
Everything is just as it should be
here. I’m greeted at the North Gate
with a cheery smile by the security
man, who has been notified of my
arrival and who directs me to reception.
The feel good factor is already
welling up strongly - that crucial first
contact with any sporting venue is so
important. Immediately, it is clear that
the cricket season is nearly upon us.
Everywhere, staff are busy preparing
the Ground for a hectic season of play
that will see no fewer than three Test
matches staged here and an almost nonstop fixture list of county games, ECB
competitions, one-day internationals
and smaller matches such as the MCC
Universities Final - the trademark of
the modern era.
On the Nursery Ground, men are
erecting white picket fencing, a stone’s
throw from the workshops. Further on,
two groundstaff mow rich green pitches
with walk-behinds. Someone else
attends the practice nets.
Along the inner perimeter, the bald
concrete underbelly of the stands is
relieved by huge signage showing
dramatic photographs of some of the
cricketing greats who have shone here,
together with a record of their
achievements.
Lord’s embraces rather than
overwhelms you, despite the Media
Centre peering out over the 29,000
capacity Ground like some invading
Martian war machine eyeing its next
victims.
Lord’s has been the spiritual home of
the game since 1787 when Marylebone
Cricket Club (MCC), who own the
ground, was first founded when
Thomas Lord, an aspiring entrepreneur
and bowler, set up a private ground.
A code of laws for the game was laid
down a year later - to be adopted the
world over - and, to this day, MCC
remains the custodian of the Laws and
Spirit of Cricket.
Evidence of the rich history of the
club adorns the walls inside reception.
Turn left at the front desk, walk along a
short corridor and you’re watching a
game of real tennis, as you might a
game of squash - from behind a glass
back wall.
Across from reception into the Pavilion
there is more history on show, including a
record of members who fell in the First
and Second World Wars - names littered
with letters of distinction: VC, Croix de
Guerre, the Military Cross to name
just a few.
More welcoming smiles as I’m
quietly informed that eight tours of
the Ground are scheduled for that
morning alone. The machinery that
is Lord’s the revenue generator is
operating effortlessly - however, the
club’s lasting commitment to
promote English cricket to the hilt
remains its key objective.
While many of MCC’s longcherished traditions remain, the
club’s continuing prosperity lies
in its willingness to embrace
modernity, both off and on
the pitch.
The MCC has invested
more than £50m over the last
twenty years in various
Ground modernisation
projects to help maintain the
high standards synonymous with
the club since its birth.
The site is set to achieve even
more kudos in 2012 as the Ground
is seconded by the Olympic
Delivery Authority as a venue for
archery. Unfortunately for the
groundstaff, the Ground is handed
back to them the day before a key
fixture.
Improving Lord’s can be far
from straightforward as MCC has
to take into account the sentiments
of St John’s Wood local residents,
who have a strong voice in the
community. The balance struck is,
therefore, one of making essential
improvements and respect for
residents.
Due to the onset of day/night
games, Lord’s had to invest in
floodlighting, but local opposition
to traditional towers forced a
design rethink. The MCC had to
go with radically new retractable
floodlights that could be lowered
after every game so as not to
present a permanent distraction
for residents. The times when the
lights could be used were also
closely stipulated.
MCC is a forward-thinking club
and the decision to specify sand
when the outfield was remodelled
to improve drainage was taken, in
part, because the material is more
load-bearing than pure turf, giving
the club scope for the option of
staging concerts or other noncricket activities.
Plans are in the pipeline to
develop the Nursery Ground,
building underground practice and
leisure facilities, as well as further
upgrading ageing stands such as
the Tavern and Allen stands.
The first seeds of
groundsmanship were sown here in
the mid-19th century when the
wicket was prepared before every
match by allowing sheep to graze
the turf - a practice that changed
only when the club acquired its
first mowing machine, and its first
groundsman, in 1864.
Where sheep once safely grazed,
“Groundsmen
can get stuck in
their ways and
fear trying new
things, until
they’ve seen
them in action
at other clubs”
14
a retinue of sports contractors and
resident groundstaff now tend the
hallowed surface under the
management of a man many would
say has probably the safest pair of
hands in the profession - Michael
Hunt - appropriate, given that
wicket-keeping was his cricketing
pursuit also.
I’m ushered into the meeting
room, furnished with leather sofas
and chairs and with walls adorned
with watercolours of cricketing
scenes from around the world
adorn. Young artists are
commissioned to travel to far-flung
venues to record the game in all its
colour, I’m told. Their efforts have
certainly captured the essence of
cricket and its followers.
Here, reclining in bomber-style
jacket, blue jeans and deck shoes, is
Mick Hunt, who greets me with a
broad smile that reveals
marvellously white teeth. His
youthful attire and demeanour
belie his years. Born and bred
nearby, Mick, still only 58, is
celebrating his 40th year at a club
he says he had always yearned to
work for.
“I was never good enough to
play the game professionally so
this, for me, was the next best
thing,” he confesses. “Being able to
be a part of a club like this with
such a rich heritage is a real
privilege.”
Always drawn to cricket, as a
young boy he remembers being
taken to watch his father - a keen
amateur cricketer - and began
playing as a schoolboy, with wicketkeeping his forte - a position he
said drew appeal as “it was the only
one where you could wear gloves”.
He flashes that smile again.
After a brief stint working for a
shipping company, and later as an
apprentice electrician, Mick
realised that groundsmanship was
to be his career, with a position at
Lord’s the premier prize.
He joined the groundstaff in
1969, becoming head groundsman
in 1985, when he took over from
“... the
difference
in climate
means we
often do
things very
differently
here”
Jim Fairbrother.
In his four decades at Lord’s, Mick has
witnessed seismic shifts in his profession,
as well as in the game of cricket. Evolving
expectations, practices, chemicals and
technology in turfcare have all added to
an explosion in the profile and the
prominence of the job, he believes.
Most significant though is the volume
of cricket now played in a typical season,
Mick says. “As well as the county cricket
matches we’ve seen a boom in new
professional leagues, the introduction of
Twenty20 cricket and a rise in Test
matches played. Everyone expects
nothing less than the highest standards
from the pitch, so we can never take our
finger off the pulse.”
With the season starting much earlier,
and now running to the end of
September, managing a grounds team
committed to bringing everything
together is essential. Assistant to Mick is
Adrian ‘Morg’ Morgan, who himself has
served Lord’s for 25 years. Longevity is a
feature here, Mick says, with many staff
choosing to stay on and progress through
the ranks. “Because Lord’s is such a
unique Ground, with the extremely busy
schedule and the slope, we tend to
promote staff from within. By recruiting
at the more junior level and providing
training into more senior positions as
they become available, staff stay with us a
long time, he explains. “Due to the
nature of the club, all its status and
history, it can take a while for some to
get used to how we operate.”
It’s no surprise to learn that Lord’s
attracts staff from overseas who work
here during the cricket season before
returning home. Australia is a popular
source, budding groundsmen travelling
over from Down Under to experience
groundscare methods here.
“They’re often surprised at some of
what we do over here,” Mick reveals.
“The difference in climate, soils, grass
species and issues such as irrigation, we
often do things very differently.
“They sometimes suggest we water the
15
This was an Army and RAF recruitment day - but only
the groundstaff got to sit in the helicopter!
pitch three or four days before a game,
for example. We could never do that
through fear of it not drying out in
time.” Differences aside, visiting staff
always take something back with them,
Mick says. “Most frequently it’s our
mowing techniques and the use of
biostimulants. I’d always encourage
groundsmen in the UK to do a winter
season in Australia or one of the other
big cricketing nations. It will always give
them invaluable experience into how the
job is done in different climates with
different soil and growing conditions helping to make them multi-skilled.”
Net practice starts as early as March,
yet, as Mick explains, “You can’t always
guarantee that the weather is going to be
good then, so preparation can get tight if
we have a particularly wet spring.”
"I always like to start with lots of time
in hand, just in case anything untoward
happens that sets us back. In the last few
years, spring has been extremely dry, so
we’ve been able to get things ready in
enough time, yet this can all change with
our unpredictable climate."
With the season starting earlier, and
finishing later than ever, Mick voices his
concerns for the time available for pre
and post season work. “In the south the
climate is generally warmer and drier.
But, the issue for more northerly clubs
with the very busy fixture list is that the
16
“Bowlers mark their
run-up with aerosol
cans which can
damage the grass even though we
provide markers”
poor weather can have an adverse affect
on the end of season work, such as
topdressing, if work cannot start until as
late as October.”
“On occasions we have five pitches in
various stages of preparation, so I can
only imagine how difficult it can get for
other clubs that also have to deal with
poor weather and a packed schedule,” he
notes. “It can sometimes be a real
nightmare to prepare pitches in time,
with seventeen to keep going over the
course of a season,” Mick continues.
Now that the pitch reconstruction
programme, begun in 1990, is complete,
Mick has the luxury of a full retinue of
strips all built to the same standard. All
sown with ryegrass, they were each
stripped of their top six inches and relaid with Binders loam and seeded with a
rye mixture.
“In an ideal world, we’d just shut down
for two years and re-lay them all in one
go, but that’s not an option, of course, so
we’ve had to complete the work over
twelve years!”
The sight that greeted me on arrival
was of the main Ground sprinkled with
cores of earth, tell-tale evidence that
Mick’s contractors had recently hollowtined the outfield. “We lightly cored a
little after this winter, just to a depth of
35mm, to help reduce the build-up of
thatch which has accumulated over the
past few years”.
Since the installation of the acclaimed
drainage system in 2002, the Lord’s
Ground has become the envy of clubs
everywhere - the rapid filtration rates
allow play to commence soon after even
the heaviest downpours.
The transformation has lifted a great
weight off the shoulders of Mick and his
team of six full-time staff, as the threat of
waterlogging has retreated. Before 2002,
the clay profile had hindered drainage
severely. Added to which, the renowned
slope of eight and a half feet from the
Tavern stand corner to the Compton
stand side of the Ground encouraged
water to pool after heavy rainfall.
“It used to get so bad that sometimes
you could literally swim,” Mick recalls.
The sand construction is the key allowing water to drain away through the
surface rapidly. So efficient is the system
that “play is rarely, if ever, cancelled
unless it’s actually raining. Play can
restart almost as soon as the rain stops.
In fact, it takes longer for the players to
warm up than it does for us to have the
Ground ready for them to commence the
cricket,” explains Mick.
That huge improvement in playability
comes with a downside though. Rapid
drainage results in a lack of retention in
nutrients and water, which the
groundstaff have to replenish to prevent
“Clubs have to make the choice between
frequent purchase or good maintenance
practice - we’ve gone for the latter”
dry patches. Mick uses wetting agents
and bio-stimulants to alleviate these
problems and ensure the grass stays
healthy and keeps its vibrant green hue.
“I’m always one to try something new,”
he insists. “You never know until you give
it a go. Groundsmen can stay stuck in
their ways and fear trying new things,
until they’ve seen them in action at other
clubs,” he adds with a grin. “Since the
move to bio-stimulants, we’ve managed
to reduce the amount of fertilisers we use
quite substantially and have seen a
reduction in disease affecting the Ground
and a much healthier year-round
appearance. It even stayed looking good
through this harsh winter, staving off the
damage we were expecting to see,” he
adds.
Its inner-city location makes Lord’s
prone to problems such as fusarium. The
Ground is mostly enclosed, reducing air
movement and raising the risk of
outbreaks around October time, Mick
explains. “We suffer all the associated
problems you’d expect because of our
central London location. The warmer
atmosphere and closed in playing arena
mean we are susceptible to disease such
as fusarium, in our outfield.”
Like many sports venues, Lord’s has
seen annual meadowgrass gain a hold,
and Mick admits to tearing his hair out
over how to get rid of the stubborn weed
grass.
Depriving it of fertiliser and water
consumption has helped to starve it out.
“We’ve introduced more fescues to those
areas at the start of the season in an
attempt to stress out the species,” he
adds.
The old adage ‘A failure to prepare is
preparing to fail’ is a philosophy well
worn by Mick, who is adamant that early
preparation is the secret if the pitches
are to last the season. “Prior to work
starting, we draw up a pitch plan. The
central wickets area is used for the major
and televised matches as these need to
be central for the TV cameras,” he
explains. “We all get a bit protective in
the run-up to, and during games,
especially with the increase in players
sliding and generally being more active
and animated out in the field.”
Whilst an advocate of many aspects of
the modern game, some aspects of
player conduct make an already stressful
job even more so, he confesses. “Bowlers
mark their run-up with aerosol spray
which can damage the grass - even
though we provide bowlers’ markers.
Occasionally players, even at the top
level, have scuffed their spikes into the
outfield to mark their fielding positions,
which, if you are playing at the pinnacle
of international cricket, should not be
necessary,” he explains.
Preparation for the nPower Test would
normally start twelve days prior to the
match. The allocated pitch is lightly
hand scarified and then cut to a height
where the soil surface is just visible
through the grass. “In an ideal world,
we’d hope for rain overnight in the lead
up to the game as it percolates through
the profile better, but, if not, then we
water in the morning and then, ten days
before the match, we
apply a light roll,” says
Mick.
He grins widely again
as he continues: “We
have not one, not two,
but three rollers here two 50cwt ballasted
rollers and one 30cwt
unballasted. “We’ll
usually begin with the
unballasted one, but
rolling is a very
changeable practice so it
depends on the weather
and how much give there
is in the soil,” he insists.
“I like to roll when
there’s a plasticine
consistency to the soil.
Once the pitch becomes
dry and hard, rolling
ceases to be of any use
and you just end up with
a biscuity consistency soil is highly variable
though and very location
specific.”
On the eve of the Test, Mick and his
team ensure everything is prepared and
the finishing touches are made. Then
they face the onslaught of television
crews, photographers and journalists who
set up cameras, tripods and invade the
Ground for inspections ahead of their
pitch reports. The pitches are then
covered in case of any overnight rain.
“Players want to get out on to the
outfield as soon as they arrive, and often
have fielding drills on the outfield prematch. This gives Mick and his team
precious little time for any final
preparations.
The small touches are what Mick
believes are the secret of making the
Lord’s presentation the high standard
that it is. Hand brushing is one of his
favourites. “A lot of clubs overlook the
virtues of doing it by hand. We are
fortunate as we have the manpower to do
this. I would really recommend it, as I
believe it delivers a much better job than
the mechanical method.”
“The nylon brushes we use are tough
enough to stand the grass up but not so
abrasive that they damage the playing
surface,” he continues. “The pitch always
looks fantastic after we brush it by hand.”
Mick is a passionate believer in the
philosophy that having top of the range
kit doesn’t automatically deliver the
finest pitches. “It’s really not all about
the gear. A lot of our machinery is old
but it’s well maintained. Clubs have to
make the choice between frequent
purchase or good maintenance practice we’ve always gone for the latter.”
Lord’s runs a mix of machines across a
spread of manufacturers, including two
36” Dennis mowers, two 36” Alletts, a
20”Lloyds Paladin and three Ransomes
Marquis 51s, set up at different heights,
for different jobs that are employed only
for the main pitch, using the Allett and
the Paladin primarily for the Nursery
Ground - both in action as I arrived.
The Dennis Verticutter is Mick’s
favourite - a machine he says “always
gives a healthy finish”.
Even at this lofty level,
groundsmanship can prove a thankless
task sometimes. As standards rise, so do
expectations over the quality of the pitch,
with nothing less than the best pitches
demanded, regardless of weather or time
constraints. “Because of our status, we
can often receive a lot of flack,” Mick
notes. “From a Test match down to the
village final, there’s always someone
who’ll comment about the quality of the
pitch, regardless. It comes with the
territory.”
“I’ll often receive several different
opinions of the pitch throughout the
game. It might be great for bowlers but
not so good for batsmen, or you hear:
‘What’s up, mower not working?’.”
“Unfortunately, you rarely gain special
praise when the pitch is prepared well players just expect it always to be up to a
very high standard, regardless.”
Relationships between groundsmen
17
“Unfortunately, you rarely gain special
praise when the pitch is prepared well players just expect it always to be up to
a very high standard, regardless”
and players is fraught at times and some
international players, whom Mick
diplomatically declines to name, are
renowned for their particularly harsh
attitude towards groundsmen in general.
“In my time, I’ve had a few run-ins
with players who were highly critical of
what we do but, most of the time, it’s just
down to a lack of knowledge, on their
part, of exactly what our job involves,” he
explains.
That’s starting to change though. In
recent years, more retired players have
become umpires or taken up
administrative posts within the game - a
trend that Mick welcomes. “Some of the
former professionals now see things from
our point of view, having a better
understanding of the constraints of our
role and the work that goes into
preparing a pitch to a high standard something you never really understand
until you get involved.”
Whilst the profile of groundsmen is
rising, Mick believes there’s still some
way to go before professionals and
commentators in the media fully
understand the complexities of the role.
“One commentator, a couple of years
back, made a flippant remark about the
amount of drawn Test matches at Lord’s
- comments that were based on a lack of
research on his part. Once a well known
member of the media says something like
that, the public assumes that it is
accurate and this doesn’t do us any
favours at all.”
“By and large, we groundsmen are an
honest bunch and would never set out to
make a substandard pitch or set it up for
home advantage, so it annoys us all when
disparaging comments are made.”
More importantly for Mick, negative
comments can hinder the popularity of
groundsmanship as an attractive career
for younger people - one of his major
fears for the future of the profession.
“This is not a popular career for young
people,” he insists. “It has all the
potential to be, but something needs to
be done. We’ve found it increasingly
difficult to find people willing to work
the antisocial hours expected with the
job. We have to work weekends, have
little leisure time in the summer and it
can, at times, prove highly stressful. Yet,
it is also extremely rewarding, working
with top professional sports people,
outdoors and getting to watch the finest
sport for free. We need to push these
benefits if we are to attract younger
people.”
Recent moves to celebrate the
achievements of groundsmen are
welcome, Mick believes, but much more
is still to be done. “Many groundsmen at
smaller clubs can find it tough working
on tight budgets and with only small
teams, yet still be expected to produce
high standards.
“We recognise that we have the luxury
of bigger budgets and larger teams,
which means we can do more of the jobs
we want. Yet our job is also a difficult
one. We have to prepare for a lot more
cricket than most other clubs and,
because of our status, we are
always under pressure to
ensure we set the high
standards befitting the ‘Home
of Cricket’.”
All images © Clare Skinner, Media
Manager, Marylebone Cricket Club
TWENTYQuestions
Mick Hunt - his manifesto would be vast wages for
nurses and groundsmen - he’d get my vote!
What is your dream holiday? A desert
island - white sand, crystal water, cocktail
bar and no cricket grounds!
What annoys you the most? Rain during
the big matches.
Who are you? Mick Hunt, Head
Groundsman at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
What's your favourite smell? Oranges for smell and colour.
What do you do in your spare time?
What spare time?
What would you change about
yourself? I’d like to lose about two stone.
What’s the daftest work related
question you have ever been asked?
Can you get the rain to stop?
Who wouldn’t you like to be? The lads
who work for me as I drive them mad!
What’s your favourite piece of kit?
Dennis Verticut.
Favourite record, and why? Crosby Stills
and Nash - Our House.
What three words would you use to
describe yourself? Happy go lucky.
Who would you choose to spend a
romantic evening with? That has to be
the wife!
What talent would you like to have? I’d
like to speak a foreign language (or
control the weather – see earlier
question!).
If you won the lottery, what is the first
thing you would do? Become a snob and
buy my own desert island.
Family status? Married, four children, six
grandsons.
If you were to describe yourself as a
musical instrument, what would you be
and why? I’d be the drums as I’m loud.
Who’s your hero and why? Paul
McCartney, a great musician and he’s our
neighbour at Lord’s
What’s the best advice you have ever
been given? By my father, “Remember,
it’s only a game”.
What makes you angry? Cyclists
jumping red lights or cycling on
pavements.
What law/legislation would you like to
see introduced? Vast salaries for nurses
(as my wife is one), and for groundsmen of
course - on par with bankers.
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Having spent twenty-four
years tending the Barnsley
Cricket Club square, Head
Groundsman Tony Grigg is
bowing out at the end of
the season
T
Tony Grigg
now and then
- that’s him on
the right
he county of Yorkshire is synonymous
with cricket. It is often said that ‘a
strong Yorkshire means a strong
England’, and it is hard to argue with that
statement. In truth, the county has
provided no more, or less, players than
most other counties. It is just those that
have represented their country seem to
come with grit, determination and the
pure bloody mindedness to ‘make things
happen’.
Boycott, Trueman and Gough embodied
that spirit, whilst adopted son, Michael
Vaughan (he was born t’other side of the
Pennines), won back the Ashes in 2005
after a long wait. The latest from the
‘bloody-minded’ school have been Ryan
Sidebottom and Tim Bresnan.
It follows then that grass roots
cricket in Yorkshire is equally
vibrant, and the Yorkshire League
is seen as one of the strongest in
the country.
One of the top clubs is
Barnsley Cricket Club, where
famous sons, Michael Parkinson,
Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird and Geoff
Boycott are vice presidents.
Other ‘well knowns’ include
Darren Gough, Martyn Moxon
(the current Director of
Professional Cricket at
Yorkshire CCC) and Arnie
(dad of Ryan) Sidebottom.
The first organised game
at Barnsley was in 1834,
when a local side took on
the might of a Sheffield
XI. In 1859 the club
acquired a new ground in
the Shawlands area of the
town, off Shaw Lane,
which was opened on 14th June, when
A Grigg thank you
the Clarence Club played, and defeated,
the Holbeck Club.
The present day Barnsley CC were
formed in 1862 from an amalgamation
of the Clarence Club and the Beechfield
CC. The ground became known as Shaw
Lane, its old epithet of the Clarence
Ground now being meaningless.
Having played an ‘important’ game
against an All England XI in 1862, it was
to be another thirty years before
Yorkshire returned to play minor
matches, including the Yorkshire Colts v
Nottinghamshire Colts. When Yorkshire
entered the minor counties competition
in 1901, Barnsley was established as a
fairly regular venue.
There was a plan, at this time, to turn
Shaw Lane into a permanent first class
venue, subject to finding financial
backing, but Yorkshire were unable, or
unwilling, to commit themselves to
giving the ground regular fixtures and
the plans fell through. A Benson and
Keep turf on top
of it’s game!
PC040510
•
•
•
•
•
Hedges cup game of 1978 was to be the
last and, by the mid 1980s, even
Yorkshire 2nd XI visits ceased.
The club’s current 1st Team Captain is
none other than Jason Booth, Head
Groundsman at Leeds Carnegie Stadium,
home to Leeds Tykes and Rhinos.
Jason began playing cricket as a
schoolboy, playing alongside the son of
Barnsley’s current Head Groundsman,
Tony Grigg, who has dedicated twentyfour years to the club as groundsman,
umpire, player and coach.
Tony began helping out as a volunteer
in 1986 when his son started playing for
the junior section. Tony used to be the
lead guitarist and vocalist in the sixties
band, The Staggerlees, and moved to
Yorkshire from his native Cornwall to
work in the then thriving working men's
clubs.
The band enjoyed some success and
played a five month season at the Prince
of Wales theatre in London alongside
Cilla Black and Frankie Howerd. They
also supported Engelbert Humperdinck,
Anita Harris and Gene Vincent on tour.
Like most volunteers, Tony did not
know a lot about groundsmanship when
he started, but learned the fundamentals
as time went on, attending courses to
improve his knowledge.
The cricket club is now part of a
complex owned by Barnsley Rugby Club,
who purchased the site off the Shawlands
Trust in 1996, after they had sold their
old ground to developers.
The present site, managed by the
rugby club, provides playing facilities for
cricket, two bowling greens and several
winter sports pitches that include the
rugby club’s two main pitches.
The rugby club employ three full time
groundsmen to look after the sports
pitches, school grounds and cricket
outfields, leaving the maintenance of the
cricket squares to Tony and several other
willing volunteers.
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21
BARNSLEY Rugby Union
Football Club was formed in
1902 and, in 1995, invested
in the sports facilities at
Shaw Lane, home to a
number of other clubs,
Barnsley Cricket Club, a
football team and a bowls
club. The club took over the
total control of all the
facilities and leased the land
back to the in-situ clubs for a
nominal rent.
The club run three senior
sides, several junior teams
and a girls XV. They have two
grass senior rugby pitches
and a new third generation rubber crumb training area.
The club now boasts a brand new development which includes a
conference and banqueting suite which seats up to 250 guests, a
smaller conference room which can accommodate 40 delegates
and the ‘Mind Body & Spirit’ fitness centre offering yoga, boxercise
and pilates.
There are twelve changing rooms with direct access to the rugby
pitches. Another new facility houses cricket changing rooms, a tea
room and an osteopath who is permanently on site.
SportActiv are also based on the site offering sports
development officers and community coaches.
Michael Dewsnap is the site manager who oversees all
maintenance and management of the facilities and employs three
groundstaff, Head Groundsman Dave Kaye, Daniel Judd and Tony
Allshore, who undertake the day to day maintenance requirements
of all pitches on the site. The club have also won the tender to look
after the grounds at two local schools, which will bring in
additional income.
The pitches are heavy soil based and it is a case of leaving as
much grass on as possible, keeping the surface open and rotating
and managing their use.
With so many pitches to look after, along with amenity grass
areas and slopes, it can take up to two days to cut the grass alone,
marking out all the pitches takes another full day
Dave and his staff look after two full size rugby pitches, one
senior football pitch, several mini pitches and training
areas, two cricket outfields and a large 3G rubber
crumb, artificial, floodlit training facility.
The pitches are mown on a weekly basis and
overmarked for fixtures, cricket outfields are mown
twice weekly, the artificial 3G pitch is brushed weekly.
The bowls club have been on the site since the early
1900s, and the club have two crown greens, with
floodlights, open for play from March to October. Dave
and his staff help out on an ad-hoc basis, but the club
are responsible for the day to day maintenance of the
the two greens. Club members carry out mowing
duties and seek advice and help with end of season
renovations.
The greens were recently renovated, scarified,
topdressed and overseeded in readiness for the new
playing season.
There is also an indoor rink.
With two squares to look
after, one having eighteen
strips and the other ten, it
was not surprising to find
Tony putting in excess of
fifty hours per week at the
ground during the season.
However, after more
than twenty years service,
he feels he has given
enough of his time to the
club and is wanting to
spend more time with his
family. So, this season will
be his last, passing over
the reins to Martin Day.
However, he will continue
to help out as and when
required.
Over the years the club
has improved the standard
of the square and, in 2004,
when they had the
opportunity to get rid of
some inherent problems,
such as large saddles and a
seam of marl, they
changed the loam on the
main square to Boughton
County Loam. When the
second square was
constructed Boughton
Loam was again used to
ensure consistent surfaces.
The club was awarded
Club Mark status in 2005
and have been successful
in obtaining a number of
grants to fund new net
practice areas, scoreboards
and equipment.
The club also organise
Cricket Force weekends
which, this year, took place
on the weekend of the
26th/27th March.
Volunteers carried out a
range of jobs in and
around the ground,
including building steps,
filling in holes, painting
the clubhouse and fitting
covers.
End of season
renovations are carried out
in-house with the square
being shaved down,
scarified in several
directions using a Sisis
Rotorake, overseeded
using BAR Extreme and
fertilised. The square is
then aerated several times
through the winter using
the club’s Groundsman
spiker.
Tony begins pre-season
rolling in March, gradually
increasing the weight of
the Autoroller over a
period of four weeks,
rolling in different
directions every other day.
An early application of
fertiliser (3:6:8 NPK+Fe),
to induce growth, is
followed by a second
application of 4:6:8 NPK
granular once the grass
has started to grow.
The square is kept at a
height of 12mm
throughout the playing
season, with wickets being
brought into play when required. Height
of cut is reduced in stages (every other
day) from 12mm, down to 10mm, then
8mm, then 4mm, with rolling and
brushing in between, before finally
mowing at 3mm to produce the finished
track.
Barnsley CC run four senior sides and
several youth teams. The level of fixtures
means that Tony does not always get the
time he would like to prepare the wickets,
so he tries to get as many games out of a
track as possible - at least four - which
will see in excess of 400 overs being
bowled before being put to bed.
However, he must be doing something
right as the Yorkshire 2nd XI have
returned to play at the ground and, this
summer, they will also host a Ladies
international in July.
Tony buys all his products and services
through the rugby club, liaising with the
site manager, Michael
Dewsnap, who also
oversees all the works
undertaken on site.
Dave Kaye, the
rugby club’s head
groundsman, works
closely with Tony and
usually undertakes the
mowing of the
outfields and any
other specialist work
required, such as
vertidraining the
outfields.
Tony also works
closely with Jason Booth and it is likely
that, this year, Jason will carry out the
end of season renovations and provide
some of the equipment needed.
Over the years, Tony has spent around
five hours a day at the ground and, on
match days, a ten hour stint is not
unusual. However, like most volunteer
cricket groundsmen, it
becomes a way of life, one that
Tony may find difficult to walk
away from.
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23
L
awn tennis is a byword for the
English game and Wimbledon is still
the must-have Grand Slam title for
the world’s players.
Yet, grass courts are disappearing fast
from the UK’s tennis landscape, with
many believing that they’re either too
expensive to run, under used or, simply,
that a club is better served by replacing
them with synthetic surfaces.
And that’s before the pressure from
players for consistency of bounce and
playability comes into force.
The parlous state of some grass courts,
particularly in parks, is echoed in British
tennis. A catalogue of underperformance in the David Cup,
culminating in us recording one of our
lowliest world rankings in recent times.
Davis Cup captain, John Lloyd, has
taken the hit - losing his job - while
brother David has hit out recently against
the game’s governing body - the Lawn
Tennis Association (LTA) - accusing it of
failing to generate a player of truly world
standing since Fred Perry, who won
Wimbledon in 1936.
The sobering fact, too, is that the likes
Under assault by the
powers that be, grass
courts can make just as
much financial sense as
synthetic ones, given
the right maintenance
regimes, Tom James
discovers
of Andy Murray and Tim Henman
achieved world status largely without the
aid of the LTA system, into which
millions of pounds are poured annually.
Elsewhere in the world, grass is a
forgotten surface for tennis, but it
survives here still amid clarion calls for
courts that deliver a more consistent,
reliable, arguably slower, game as
baseline strategy dominates modern
thinking.
A stronger emphasis on youth
development in tennis clubs might revive
our fortunes, particularly if all-weather
training facilities are available - indoors
and out.
The number of grass courts continues
to decline and some LTA clubs are
reportedly under pressure to turn more
of them into ones that are playable on
throughout the year. Figures on LTA
affiliated sites suggest that as few as one
in ten courts are grass.
The issue of high maintenance is
seemingly always going to weigh against
grass, but some clubs believe the case for
‘the real thing’ remains strong, if all
factors are considered, and are resisting
the march towards other surfaces.
Surrey is one county that
can claim its fair share of
grass courts, and
probably one of the
A tale of
two turfs ...
finest sites is St George’s Hill Lawn
Tennis club near Weybridge, which has
been defying the critics ever since
opening its doors in 1913, albeit with
some concessions.
After driving through the guarded,
gated entrance to St George’s Hill estate,
lined with tall trees and imposing
mansions set in mature landscaping, I
gain an early impression of what to
expect on arrival at the club, which
opened nearly a century ago exclusively
for use by estate residents.
‘The Hill’, as its known by locals, was
once barren heathland partly owned by
Royalty, bought in 1900 by London
businessman William George Tarrant,
whose vision was to develop an exclusive
estate for well-heeled city business
people, with a tennis club established at
its heart, to offer a leisure provision only later becoming a private members
club when Tarrant hit financial difficulty
while undertaking the construction of the
Wentworth estate.
The ribbon was cut by Prince
Alexander of Teck, brother of Queen
Mary, and ever since then the celebrity
profile of the club has shone brightly past and present alumni numbering top
Premiership footballers, golfers, pop and
rock stars and media moguls.
It’s proven to be a hot spot
for advertising shoots over the years tennis greats Bjorn Borg in a Robinson’s
commercial and Pete Sampras filming a
Nike video - to featuring in the ‘Town on
Trial’ 1960s movie.
The club originally catered for all lawn
sports, including bowls and croquet, but,
while those days have gone, the drive to
deliver an all-embracing sporting hub to
serve St George’s 3000-strong
membership has seen new era additions
that include fifteen synthetic tennis
courts, four squash courts, gym,
swimming pool, day spa, sauna, two
indoor courts, badminton courts, table
tennis courts, bridge, treatment rooms
and a fitness studio.
The jewel in the crown remains
however - the 15 grass courts - as many
as any private club in the country can
boast.
The first weekend in May marks the
official start of the grass court season,
which runs through to mid September the signal for a stampede from winter to
summer surfaces. “Despite only being
open for half the
year, our grass
courts enjoy as
much, if not
more, use as
the synthetic
courts over the year in total,” states head
groundsman, Paul Bishop.
An advocate of the grass game, and a
man with decades of experience
(including 27 years at St George’s Hill)
preparing and nurturing tennis courts,
Paul is passionate in his belief that grass
can, and must, continue to play a strong
role in UK tennis.
“The numbers of grass courts have
dropped quite substantially over the last
twenty years through either cost or
convenience reasons,” he explains. “Yet,
there is really no reason why this should
be the case. They are no harder to look
after and, cost wise, there is actually only
a marginal difference if all the
replacements and man-hours involved in
cleaning the artificial surfaces are taken
into consideration. Most importantly
though, grass courts are nearly always
more
Elsewhere in the world, grass is a forgotten
surface for tennis, but it survives here still
amid clarion calls for courts that deliver a
more consistent, reliable, arguably slower, game
as baseline strategy dominates modern thinking
They are no harder to look after
and, cost wise, there is actually
only a marginal difference if all
the replacements and manhours involved in cleaning the
artificial surfaces are taken
into consideration
The prime driver
behind the
decline in the
number of grass
courts throughout
England is said to
be the vastly
greater amount of
time, effort and
cost involved in
keeping them in
good playing
condition, yet
Paul believes this
is not the case
popular with members.”
A self-confessed tennis enthusiast,
Paul traces his love for the game back
to when he first joined the club in the
early 1980s. He began his career as a
greenkeeper in the late 1970s, training
at Fox Hills Golf Club where he spent
four years in his first job straight from
school. A brief stint in landscape
gardening followed, before Paul
realised the way forward was
elsewhere.
St George’s Hill first appeared in the
frame following an advertisement Paul
spotted for a greenkeeping post. After
applying “for the interview experience
alone, not expecting to get the job”,
he was offered the position, and it was
from then that his love affair with
greenkeeping and tennis blossomed.
His early St George’s Hill career he
spent working under Mike Thorne,
whose father, Jim Thorne, had just left
to become Head Groundsman at the
All England Lawn Tennis Club,
Wimbledon - a man Paul credits as the
single biggest influence on his
professional development, having
helped him out at key stages in his
career.
After working with Thorne for five
years, Paul applied for the head
groundsman’s post at Surbiton Lawn
Tennis and Squash Rackets Club,
encouraged by his boss. Once again,
only enquiring about the job for the
experience of the interview, he was
asked back for a second interview and
was offered the job, only later finding
out that Thorne had proved
instrumental in his success by
recommending Paul as the ideal man
for the job to a member of the
Wimbledon club, who was also a
member at Surbiton at the time.
In August 1988, the head
groundsman’s post beckoned at St
George’s Hill after Mike Thorne’s
departure. “I assumed that, because I
loved the place so much and this was
the perfect job for me, that I would
have no chance of getting it,” Paul
confesses “but, when the interview
came, far from feeling under pressure,
I ended up just having a chat with
people I knew from old, including
Jim.”
“I found out later that evening that I
was offered the job. A few of the board
were in favour of one of the other guys
but, because Jim was present, he
convinced them of my suitability for
the post - which proves the old saying
that it’s not what, but who you know
that counts.”
The prime driver behind the decline
in the number of grass courts
throughout England is said to be the
vastly greater amount of time, effort
and cost involved in keeping them in
good playing condition, yet Paul
believes this is not the case.
In the grass season, a typical day for
the St George’s Hill team dawns at
6.30am, with Monday, Wednesday and
Friday allocated to prepare the grass
courts by way of a simple regime of
dressing and mowing.
“We conduct most of this work with
a John Deere 22” walk behind”, he
reveals, preferring this to other
machine makes at the club. “It’s my
first choice every time,” he says with
unstinting praise. “We’ve built up a
strong relationship with the company
and, if we could afford to, we’d spend
all our machinery budget on their
machines.”
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26
Paul has good reasons to keep the
grass courts at their best, not only for the
pleasure of members but to provide the
perfect setting for the tournaments it
stages each year.
The International Lawn Tennis Club of
Great Britain play there annually, and St
George’s Hill’s own open tournament is
played out in the first week in August. “It
regularly drew Wimbledon players and
still attracts celebrity regulars, as well as
some of our 1,500 or so tennis-playing
members,” Paul adds.
Given the numbers that gravitate to
grass in summer, Paul and his team of
four have to ensure that each of the
courts remains in top form right through
the season, a task that comes with
challenges.
Working alongside Paul is assistant
head groundsman Andy Dawe, who also
hails from Fox Hills, and is now in his
fifteenth year at St George’s Hill. There’s
Chris James too - in the team for two
and a half years now and someone whom
Paul is determined to hold on to, while
last, but not least, son Drew, who, like his
father, has entered the profession after
leaving school and completing successful
summer posts at the club.
The key issue with grass courts is
achieving the correct bounce and
evenness of surface, Paul explains, as is
developing the right soil, with the correct
moisture levels. Knowing when and when
not to roll “can make or break” a court,
he believes.
“We usually roll and pre-seed around
April time, but the moisture levels have
to be just right, so this can often vary
year on year depending on rainfall,” he
states. “If there’s too much moisture, the
soil will compact, whereas, if it’s too dry,
you’ll break the roots of the grass by
rolling. So, we are always treading a fine
line, although experience will usually
lead you in the right direction.”
Trying to educate the committee “can
sometimes be difficult”, Paul admits,
especially when Wimbledon standard
surfaces are often those that any selfrespecting lawn tennis club will aspire to
achieve.
“My bosses are very good to me but
they sometimes are tempted to look too
closely at what the All England Club do,
forgetting that we’re in a different
position with different factors to take into
account. If they see Wimbledon rolling
all the time, they think we should be
doing it as well, which isn’t always the
case.”
That said, Paul assists at Wimbledon
during the fortnight, an experience that
has taught him some valuable lessons, as
well as a few ideas borrowed from
Thorne during his tenure there and the
Wimbledon groundscare team.
Most notable perhaps are the ball
bounce tests. “This is a great one for
achieving the optimum ball bounce for
thanks to the programme of koroing and
frequent overseeding.
With a low rootzone in certain areas of
play, problems can arise with an
unevenness of drying, he says. “Some
courts stay wetter for longer while others
dry out quicker. The site is also built on a
clay foundation which can, in some
places, lie close to the surface, as little as
four inches and eight at most. You need
to know the workings of each court
individually to be able to manage it
properly,” insists Paul.
your courts and to help gauge how much
thatch needs to be taken out of the
playing surface.”
The test is performed by dropping a
ball from a height of 100cm onto a
concrete surface, then repeating the
procedure on grass, with the aim of
achieve 80% of the bounce on the hard
surface.
Due to the tiered nature of the club’s
grass courts, Paul has found it hard to
attain the degree of uniform bounce that
Wimbledon boasts, yet he has seen “a
vast improvement” in recent years,
Since investing in koroing in 2004, the
courts have seen a dramatic reduction in
the quantity of thatch, resulting in cut
heights increasing from 8mm two years
ago to 10mm as standard now because
ball bounce became too high - the
koroing taking off an extra inch of
playing surface.
“Although good ball bounce is a
sought-after attribute for a grass tennis
court, you’re never going to please
everyone,” Paul says. “Some players
preferred the high bounce, others didn’t.
You just have to go with what you think is
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27
“Contrary to
popular belief,
artificial courts
take just as
much looking
after as grass
does”
L-r: Andy Dawe, Chris James, Drew Bishop and Paul Bishop
best, and now I feel we have achieved a
happy medium.”
The Graden that Paul applies to the
court annually has further reduced
thatch build-up. “The several years of
applying this maintenance regime to the
courts have brought them up to an
excellent standard,” he says.
Sound maintenance is the bedrock of
success, he continues, and helps ensure
koroing is effective. Regular overseeding
plays its part. “I use at least three 25kg
bags per 1,500 sq yards over two courts
and use a ryegrass mix.”
The seed sector is thriving and is in
the throes of huge innovation as a wealth
of new cultivars come to market, in some
cases dramatically improving
germination, turf growth and thickness
of sward. Paul adds, “Maintaining grass
courts has never been simpler for us
thanks to the huge improvements in seed
quality, which was brought to our
attention.”
One other product, tried and tested
with great success at St George’s Hill, is
PrimoMaxx growth regulator. “I heard
about it some three years ago and, after
initially having reservations about its
quality, I can report that it has made a
vast difference to the thickness and
quality of the turf.”
“We usually apply it just before April,
adding small amounts on a monthly basis
through to September. The applications
have to be well planned for the best
results though.”
Although the warmer months are taken
up largely with tending the grass courts,
the rest of the year proves no less taxing,
as the fifteen synthetic turf courts come
more into play.
“Contrary to popular belief, artificial
courts take just as much looking after as
grass does,” states Paul categorically.
“There’s more work and preparation
involved with artificial surfaces than
people think. Since I’ve been here, we’ve
had to replace the courts at least every
ten years.”
The lifetime of synthetic turf, no
matter what type and mix of material,
will usually not exceed ten years if they
receive a high volume of use, Paul
28
argues, “and,
with the cost of
replacing four
courts
amounting to
anywhere
between
£60,000 £70,000,
maintenance
figures can
soon rise
dramatically.
“The cost of real versus synthetic come
about even when all the replacements
and cleaning are accounted for,” says
Paul. “Remember that we have to blow
and power brush the artificial courts
daily, as they gather a lot of debris and
build-up with heavy use and depending
on the seasons.”
Just as choice of seed is a critical factor
in grass court performance, selecting the
most appropriate synthetic turf is key, as
different specifications will suit different
climates and applications, Paul
maintains.
St George’s Hill has chosen three
different makes since Paul made his first
switch in the mid-1980s. Savannah turf
was used for ten years before being
replaced in the mid-1990s by Olympus.
Tiger Turf is the most recent
replacement, in 2009 but “the jury’s still
out” on his latest acquisition, says Paul.
“The old rubber granules used on the
Olympus turf meant power brushing
wasn’t an option, and the presence of the
rubber crumb also meant we couldn’t
topdress with sand. Although we still
have seven of these courts, I’m pleased
that we’re now moving away from it as
maintenance was often tricky.
“The benefit of real turf is that, by and
large, you know what you’re dealing with
whereas, with artificial, the different
brands can vary so much, so it can be a
case of expensive trial and error.”
While the members and committee
have stuck fast in their desire to keep all
the grass courts, moves are afoot to offer
a spectrum of synthetic surfaces. Current
thinking is to add three artificial clay
courts to the St George’s Hill portfolio.
The mindset remains the same on the
real stuff though. “I don’t see us getting
rid of any grass courts but, if we can offer
our members all the options, I believe
the club is all the better for doing so. We
already have a mix of artificial; eight
floodlit courts and the grass, so clay
would add a new dimension.”
In the Surrey real turf belt, success for
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Jane Carley visits Moor Park
to meet the three man team
looking after the grass and
artificial tennis courts,
gardens and trees
W
Nick Cracknell
Moor
Park
hilst the quality of the club
house is not usually a
deciding factor when
choosing where to enjoy a game of
tennis, the spectacular Georgian
mansion which provides the
members’ facilities at Moor Park
near Rickmansworth in
Hertfordshire could tip the balance.
Originating in parts from 1678,
Moor Park mansion provides a fine
backdrop to seven grass and six all
weather courts. It is spacious
enough to share with the golf club
and social members too, as well as
hosting corporate and private
events throughout the year; plans
are afoot to mount an exhibition
displaying the numerous artefacts
from the estate’s history.
The golf club surrounds and
works in harmony with the
grounds, but maintenance of the
gardens and tennis club is the
responsibility of Head Gardener,
Nick Cracknell, and his team, Keri
Jarman and Rob Woods.
“We look after the tennis courts,
lawns, flower beds and trees,
including some tree work on the
two golf courses,” explains Nick.
“The immediate grounds total
some six acres and, as well as
providing a pleasant environment
for the members, are used for
filming, painting and photography
classes and, in the summer, for
weddings, so a high standard of
presentation is essential.”
The grounds, originally laid out
by Capability Brown, have seen
plenty of changes over the years. A
parkland walk showcasing rare trees
such as Cryptomeria has been
grassed over, although its ornate
stone benches and remnants of
statues can still be seen. Elsewhere,
a magnificent set of stone steps
leading up to a statue and former
skating pond await renovation; in
common with many clubs, the
recession has squeezed budgets for
this type of work at Moor Park.
Photographs from the pre-war
years show an Italian sunken
garden to the rear of the mansion;
this fell into disrepair when Moor
Park was requisitioned by the First
Airborne Corps who used it to plan
the Battle of Arnhem. After the war
the garden was turned into lawn,
although the fountain remains and
a later addition is a putting green
in one of the most scenic locations
possible - a notice warns against the
temptation of chipping onto it from
the golf course.
The yew trees which are
painstakingly reshaped by Nick at
the end of each winter could
doubtless tell some tales: “We had
to take one of the yew trees out as it
Grass courts in mid February
New tennis pavilion
was dying and, when we got down to the
trunk, you could see it was at least 100
years old. The yews can be seen in the
photographs from the 1920s, and they
were over six feet tall then!” he says.
A more recent change has been to
relay the lawn in front of the house and
move the car park which divided it; a
new flower bed across the drive decorates
the boundary with the golf course.
Until recently the lawns were mown
with the golf course’s gangs, but Nick
now cuts them by hand with Hayter
Harrier rotaries for an improved finish.
“There’s a lot of debris to collect –from
twigs and leaves to confetti, so the grass
box is essential. We did try cylinder
mowers but stones get thrown up onto
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the grass and rotaries cope better with
this,” he says.
A Kubota lawn tractor is kept for rough
cutting, and a recent project was the
fitting of Everedge lawn edging around
the formal areas to keep stones from the
gravel walkways at bay.
Other tasks include scarifying the
lawns and feeding them a couple of
times a year, whilst bedding plants are
bought in as and when needed to fill
planters and flowerbeds.
“We used to grow our own bedding
plants but the greenhouse was one of the
casualties when the old greenkeepers’
complex was demolished, and has not
been replaced,” Nick laughs.
Three grass courts built to the north of
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the mansion were originally reserved for
tournaments, a practice discontinued as
it made the surface wear unevenly. These
are earmarked for expansion should
permission be granted to develop a
driving range in the parkland and move
a roadway adjacent to them.
To the other side of the building, there
are four more grass courts, stepped to
follow the contours of the site, three
tarmac and three sand filled artificial
courts.
Grass courts are played from May to
September, whilst floodlights allow two of
the all-weather courts to be used in the
evenings year-round.
“There were originally two more grass
courts, but shading from the cedar tree
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Four years on and still growing, thanks to
hundreds of satisfied customers
“The Club is delighted with the machine and the results are very encouraging
i.e. The Club was top of the League in both divisions on a Saturday.”
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31
When groundmanship
offers a lifeline
For Keri Jarman, dedication to his job at Moor
Park is second nature, but his determination to
carry on working when personal tragedy hit
him has been recognised with an Unsung
Hero award, presented at BTME by Terrain
Aeration.
Keri’s parents both died last year, leaving
him to arrange care for his disabled brother,
and he also suffered a broken leg after
slipping on
ice.
“My
colleagues
wanted me to
take time off,
but I only
wanted to be
away from
work as long
as was
necessary to
sort my affairs
out. My work
is important to
me, and I
needed to be
here - the
support of the
Keri Jarman
Moor Park
team took my
mind off my troubles, and I just wanted to
concentrate on my job,” he says.
Keri has been in his present role at Moor
Park since 2004, but worked at the club in his
early career before stints at a nearby public
course and the adjacent Sandy Lodge Golf
Club. He lives close by and cycles to work in
all weathers; he has clearly made an
impression on his young colleague, Rob
Woods, who came to the club straight from
school: “I have never met anyone that loves
their job more than Keri,” he laughs.
32
behind them was affecting the turf,
so they were turned over to artificial
surfaces,” explains Nick. “A further
two tarmac courts next to the golf
course had to be abandoned due to
the risk of balls coming over.”
Contractors, Court Care, carries
out annual renovation of the
synthetic surfaces, using specialist
equipment to brush the carpet and
remove the infill before filtering out
debris and replacing the clean sand.
A spray with a moss repellent
completes the process.
“These courts need to be kept
clean as part of our routine
maintenance,” explains Keri Jarman,
“We use leaf blowers and ensure that
any debris is cleared, otherwise they
can flood.”
One synthetic court is in need of a
repaint, but Nick comments that
surfaces have performed well under
the club’s chosen maintenance
regime – expected to have a ten year
lifespan, they have, already, been in
use for more than twelve years.
An occasional pressure wash before
renewal of the line
markings is all that is
needed on the tarmac
courts.
Preparation of the grass
courts begins in March,
although they are mown
as required through the
winter to a height of
12mm using a Hayter
rotary; as the season
approaches this is
gradually reduced to
8mm with a Toro 3000
cylinder mower employed
to produce the required
finish.
Each grass court is
remeasured, marked with a spray jet
marker and the nets hung, a process
which can take a day per court.
Once the season begins, daily
mowing is completed by 10.00am, a
process which Rob points out is made
easier by the high output of the Toro
3000.
The club plays host to a number of
tournaments, including an LTA rated
junior members’ event, and the
purchase of a Poweroll 12 ride-on
roller has been a tremendous help in
preparation for these, says Keri: “We
used to hire a roller in, but now we
have our own, we can roll three times
a week as the season approaches and
immediately before a tournament.
We also irrigate at night in dry
weather, using a Rainbird sprinkler
system, which is computer controlled
from a central terminal in the golf
course manager’s office, and this
makes the rolling easier.”
The original irrigation source
harked back to the club’s history water was gravity fed from a skating
pond on high ground above the
Moor Park - a
potted history
ORIGINALLY called the Park of the
Manor of More, the estate was adopted
for sporting purposes in the early 17th
century by the third Earl of Bedford, who
enjoyed hunting and built the first house
high up on the hill; his wife also created a
much admired garden on the site. The
Park was sold several times in the next
seventy years until it came into the
possession of the Duke of Monmouth who
built the house around which the current
Palladian mansion is based.
Lord Anson bought Moor Park in 1754
mansion, but has now been replaced
with a borehole which feeds a holding
tank. But every effort has been made to
ensure that such a modern contraption
does not interfere with the ambience of
the parkland.
“The shiny metal tank could be seen
through the trees in winter, so we
purchased a quantity of camouflage net
from a local army surplus store, which
helps it blend in nicely,” explains Nick.
When the season ends in September,
the grass courts are scarified with a
Graden and re-seeded before a
contractor sprays for worm casts.
Weather permitting, a tractor mounted
spiker, borrowed from the
greenkeeping team, is used to aerate
the courts through the winter.
Nick and his team have access to
some rather special help and advice –
Wimbledon supremo Eddie Seaward
drops in a couple of times of year to
give his opinion on the courts.
“One of our members is also a
member of the All-England Club and
asked Eddie if he would help us out,”
explains Keri. “Eddie inspects the
Rob Woods
courts before the season starts and half
way through the summer to see how
they are performing and if anything
needs doing. He has offered us advice
on matters such as new grass varieties in fact he suggested the varieties we use
now - Aberelf and Aberimp, which are
hard wearing dwarf ryegrasses giving a
good level of winter green colour.”
A smart new wooden pavilion nestles
in the hillside behind the courts, being
the latest investment in the members’
comfort.
The close relationship with the
greenkeeping team sees Nick help out
with landscaping projects around the
course, while he can call on the services
of golf course mechanic, Shaun Lake,
for maintenance and repairs of
gardening machinery, including winter
overhauls of the mowers.
In common with many sporting
facilities, Moor Park was hit hard by the
severe weather from December to
February, with its elevated position
catching more than its fair share of the
snow.
“The club was closed for most of
January, and we were kept busy
with clearing snow and gritting
steps,” comments Nick. “You
reach a point when the
weather becomes a frustration
because work is mounting up
and you can’t get on. Still, we
are better off than the
greenkeepers because there is
more time for our turf to fight
off any disease before the
season starts. I prefer to keep
spraying to the minimum
where possible so, if the grass
courts can ‘heal
themselves’, so
much the
better.”
and commissioned Capability Brown to
landscape the grounds, but the current
parkland began to take shape at the turn
of the 20th century when Lord Ebury,
who had inherited the estate, constructed
a private golf course.
In 1923, Moor Park Golf Club Ltd, a
company formed by the estate’s then
owner Lord Leverhulme, of Port Sunlight
fame, sold land on the outskirts of the
estate for housing. The two golf courses
were constructed and the mansion
became a country club. The local council
stepped in and bought further land to
preserve the green belt and leased it to
the Moor Park Golf Club.
After being requisitioned during the
war, the Mansion was returned to the golf
club, and the council began restoration
work. However, spiralling costs proved a
burden and Moor Park Golf Club
purchased the freehold in 1994. The
Moor Park Mansion Heritage Foundation
has been established to take responsibility
for the historical items of value including
a number of historic paintings.
Ray of Light for
Clayesmore ...
Peter Britton ‘pops down the road’
to meet Ray Norris, the long
serving head groundsman at
Clayesmore Dorset, and finds a
man who feels privileged to do
the job he does
T
he main A350 between the Dorset market towns
of Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum has to be
one of the most picturesque roads in the county,
if not the country. Dotted along its 13.5 mile length
are double barrel villages with delightful names Compton Abbas, Fontmell Magna, Sutton Waldron,
Iwerne Courtney and Iwerne Minster. It is on the
edge of the latter where Clayesmore Dorset sits in
sixty-two acres of rural splendour. It is a combined
Prep and Senior school with superb facilities, and
caters for around 700 pupils.
The school took over Iwerne Manor in 1933
(pronounced ‘you-urn’ and not ‘I-were-knee’ as many
a grockle asks on finding themselves lost), having
previously been based in Enfield, Pangbourne and
Winchester. It sits very comfortably in its current
surrounding.
Ray Norris has been head groundsman at
Clayesmore for the past thirty-one years. “I’ve seen
four headmasters and six bursars come and go in that
time,” he says with a smile.
Ray left school at the age of fifteen to take an
apprenticeship at Rolls Royce Aero Engines in
Watford, in his home county of Hertfordshire. “I
wouldn’t go back,” he states. From there he moved to
Poole in Dorset to work at Bluebird Caravans. “I
hated working in a factory” he says, “so, when a
vacancy for a trainee arborist at Poole Council was
advertised, I applied for the job. I knew nothing
whatsoever about trees so, in an effort to tell the
difference between a hollyhock and holly, I bought
the Collins Book of Trees and wandered around Poole
Park before the interview trying to memorise as many
of the latin names as I could.” He got the job!
“After a while, myself and a colleague set up a
“What I see all too much of is groundsmen
and greenkeepers wandering about in
scruffy, oily clothes.
What sort of image
does that project
about our
industry?
Come on lads,
smarten up”
Ray Norris, Head Groundsman, Clayesmore School
small tree surgery and
landscaping company. When I
moved to Iwerne Minster, one of
my contracts was with
Clayesmore. When the head
groundsman retired, I was offered
the job.” That was in 1979 and
Ray was twenty-eight years old.
“I had some experience
through the landscape business,
but it was a brave step to take.
The previous incumbent’s only
cultural practice was to roll the
whole site. It was compacted to
hell!”
Ray knew that this ‘flat is good’
culture was not the way to
continue so, true to form, he read
books and attended training
courses to fast track his
knowledge.
“The whole site had a dead
feeling,” he says. “You know what
I mean - the grass was green, but
not the right green. It just looked
lifeless. Fortunately, with a lot of
aeration and some TLC, it wasn’t
long before it began to look and
perform better.”
I interviewed Ray in ‘the pit’,
his affectionate term for his
office, and one of the smallest I
have seen. Two overweight
‘approaching sixty year olds’
certainly filled it! Crammed with
reference books, trade
catalogues and IT stuff, it’s the
hub of operations. “Computers
and smartphones are tools that all
groundstaff should be encouraged
to use, there is a world of
information out there just waiting
to be accessed” he says, in an
effort to assure me that his
advancing years don’t burden
him.
He is not one to rest on his
laurels. He is a Bachelor of
Science, a degree he took
with the Open University,
and has added to that with
a Diploma in
Environmental
Development. “I have
a thirst for learning.
Not only is it good
for the soul, but
it has given me
respect with
the bursar
and the
teaching
staff.”
“I’ve seen
huge
changes in
our
industry
over
the past
“I feel very
privileged to
work here. I
see it as my
duty to show
the school in
the best
possible light.
The grounds
are the shop
window for
the school
and create an
immediate
impression
with visitors”
Artificial hockey pitch
The new Pre-Prep School
One hectare lake
38
First impressions count
thirty years. Once upon a time the IOG
represented groundsmen, but I’m not
impressed with the direction they have
taken in recent years. It now appears
remote and rather cold. I look back,
with some affection, at the conferences
of old, meeting colleagues and, most
importantly, networking with them
about the problems we face and the
successes we have. It was three days well
spent in my opinion. The one day’
glitzy’ bash they now put on is more like
a school prize giving day. It just strikes
me as back slapping and empire
building!”
Ray is now on a roll. “I like nothing
better than putting on a tie and jacket
and visiting the shows and conferences.
But, what I see all too much of is
groundsmen and greenkeepers
wandering about in scruffy, oily clothes.
What sort of image does that project
about our industry? Come on lads,
smarten up. Even a logo’ed club polo
shirt or bomber jacket and clean chinos
presents a more professional image.”
“I like what Pitchcare has done. They
have certainly shaken up the industry
for the good, in my opinion.” It is here
that Ray surprises me. Do you ever use
the Pitchcare shop, I ask him? “No, he
replies, I don’t see you as a commercial
organisation, rather a damn good
reference library.” What about the
message board? “I read it” he says, “but
haven’t ever got involved. That said, I
think it’s great that we are able to
interact like this. Cracking magazine
too. I put it out in the workshop and all
the staff read it.”
Whilst Ray says the industry has
become more professional, there is far
more reliance on product these days. “I
had a visit from a seed rep recently. He
asked me when I last overseeded? I told
him I had never overseeded, apart from
the cricket tables obviously. He then
repeated his question as if he couldn’t
believe it! All he was trying to do was
get me to buy sixty or seventy of bags of
seed to meet his targets. What sort of
advice is that?”
“My philosophy is ‘read the ground’.
It’s almost like a sixth sense. Any
groundsman with any nous will
understand their ground just by looking
at it. Frequency and height of cut are all
important. That will stimulate the grass
better than anything else. That said, the
coaches are requesting lower heights
these days. It is something I am having
to educate them about,” he says with a
smile.
Ray has a staff of “five and a half ” to
help him. His deputy head is Peter
Kunze and there are two further
groundsmen, Eric Ball and Carl
Humphries, and two gardeners, Rachel
Watson and Steve Lucas. They have all
been with Ray for over thirteen years,
and all have the relevant certificates and
qualifications. The ‘half ’ is part-timer,
Neil Tomlinson.
“They are a great bunch to work
with,” he states.“In my absence Peter
deputises seamlessly and Eric, our
cricket specialist, does a fantastic job on
the wickets. Carl likes nothing better
than sitting on the triple all day. In
truth, there is no demarcation, we all
just get on with whatever is required.
And Carl is a terrific mechanic. He has
the ability to resurrect all but the most
fatally wounded machine. He’ll turn his
hand to anything.”
Any work that Carl cannot undertake,
such as grinding, is carried out by Ben
Johnson Garden Machinery Services of
Shaftesbury, who also supply the smaller
items of machinery, such as chainsaws,
strimmers and blowers. Most of the
larger machinery is purchased from
New Forest Garden Machinery, the
‘local’ John Deere dealer. “I am a big
fan of Deere,” Ray says. “Their back-up
is second to none.” Other items are
purchased direct from the
manufacturers. Posts, nets and the like
are sourced mainly through sports-equipment.co.uk who, Ray says, “also
provide exemplary back-up and
service.”
The school site is split into two by the
entrance driveway. To the right, the
prep school playing fields accommodate
three permanent cricket squares and a
temporary one, three rugby pitches, one
grass hockey pitch, one football pitch
and an athletics track. “It gets
complicated,” says Ray. “During the
autumn we will turn some of the rugby
pitches over to football and provide two
extra grass hockey pitches. Cricket and
hockey are really booming here, and the
demand for pitches is high. The
temporary cricket pitch is on the hockey
surface. We are even having to add a
fifth ‘temporary’ this summer.
Remember, these are only for six and
seven year olds using plastic balls but,
even so, it is extra work for us. Not that
I mind. The demand for sport can only
good. What a start these kids get.”
The main prep school cricket square
Senior cricket square
to perform, but now it offers all the
intricacies a cricket wicket should.”
“Interestingly, the two sides of the
road have distinctly different soil
types,” says Ray. The prep fields are on
a very free draining sandy soil, whilst
the senior pitches are on chalk over
clay. This is where my ‘read the ground’
philosophy really comes into its own as
they often require completely
differently maintenance, even on a
weekly basis. It is also why no sales rep
can ever fully understand my grounds.”
In addition to all the grass pitches,
the team also look after six tarmac
tennis courts, a full size synthetic
hockey pitch, which offers twelve tennis
courts in the summer, a one hectare
lake, the formal gardens and, just down
the road, the grounds of Devine House,
the old village rectory which is now
used as a boarding house.
There is also one golf hole - a par 3
Golf hole with assault course beyond
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has thirteen strips, all marked out at
twenty-one yards, with the exception of
the end two, which are twenty-two yards
for senior matches. These are used by
clubs hiring the facilities. The old
pavilion is currently getting a new roof.
The senior school facilities
accommodate, at various times, four
rugby pitches, two football pitches, two
grass hockey pitches, an athletics track
and one pitch that is left fallow for the
cricket outfield during the winter.
The two senior cricket tables are used
by Dorset representative sides from as
young as under 10s to the over 50s.
“When I came here, the main cricket
square was just cut out of the field. It
played okay, but only okay” says Ray.
“So, I undertook a programme of
hollow coring to introduce some loam we used Mendip initially but have now
moved on to Banbury. It took fifteen
years to get the wicket how I wanted it
“It took fifteen
years to get
the wicket how
I wanted it to
perform, but
now it offers
all the
intricacies a
cricket wicket
should”
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39
with a couple of bunkers and tee mats at
various distances, that is offered as a bit of
extra entertainment for the pupils and
the various holiday time ‘camp’ visitors.
Behind that is an assault course used by
the local Combined Cadet Force for
training.
When the pre-prep school building was
built, Ray and his team installed all the
boundary fencing and constructed the
adventure playground.
A new artificial pitch is being installed
shortly. The old one has lasted fifteen
years, with Ray being able to extend its
life courtesy of a SISIS Litamina
HLL1200, purchased last November.
With the school being so close to a main
road, I ask about security, especially as,
just over the hill, the area hosts the
annual Dorset Steam Fair, the largest in
the country, when locals are regularly
relieved of the contents of their garden
shed!
“We have CCTV cameras, steel shutters
and various other deterents” says Ray.
Ray has earmarked a site for a new
workshop which, he hopes, will be
completed before he retires! It will
include new washdown facilities, to be
installed by Course Care, more security
and a slightly larger ‘pit’.
As we walk the grounds, it is clear that
Ray and his team work to the very highest
standards - and remember, this is mid
March, following the worse winter in three
decades. “I feel very privileged to work
here” he says. “I see it as my duty to show
the school in the best possible light. The
grounds are the shop window for the
school and create an immediate
impression with visitors.”
We head for coffee in the Main House -
What’s in the shed?
I was promised cake, but never got any where the new bursar and a couple of
teachers are finishing the day with a
caffeine intake. There is immediate banter
between them and Ray, a clear sign of
mutual respect.
Before I leave, Ray has one more thing
to show me. It is a Michael Caine
moment. I am led to a rather grand
corridor where three rather less than
splendid ceiling lights hang down. It was
here that the infamous Only Fools And
Horses ‘chandelier’ sketch
was filmed. Now, not many
people know that.
John Deere 4310 Tractor
John Deere 2653B Triple Mower
John Deere X495 Lawn Tractor
John Deere JX90C Rotary Mower
SISIS Autocrat Spiker
SISIS Topspreader
SISIS Wicket Rake
SISIS ZigZag Brush
SISIS Outfield Slitter
SISIS Rotorake Scarifier
SISIS HLL1200 Litamina
T.H. White Autoroller
Kubota B4200 Tractor
Lloyds Paladin 24” Wicket Mower
Dennis 36” Cylinder Mower
Hayter Harrier 56 x 2
Club Car Carryall 294
Billy Goat VQ Leaf Sweeper
D W Tomlin 250 Spreader
Lawnflite 553HRS-Pro Rotary Mower
Dabro Outfield Scarifier
Hardi Jazz 200 Sprayer
Husqvarna - chainsaws and strimmers
Kawasaki - blower and hedgetrimmers
Line markers - various
TWENTYQuestions
Ray Norris - would go into hiding if he were to win the
lottery ... possibly with Kate Winslett!
Who are you? Ray Norris, Head
Groundsman, Clayesmore Dorset
Family status? Married, with three
children, all adults (sort of), and two
grandchildren.
Who’s your hero and why? Tony Benn,
for his ideals and his oratory. Spellbinding.
What is your dream holiday? Anywhere
in India.
What annoys you the most? Testing the
wicket with a key comes to mind!
What would you change about
yourself? Not a lot, you are what you are,
make the best of it.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? A banker.
Favourite record, and why? Like a
Hurricane by Neil Young. Because it is just
too good for words.
Who would you choose to spend a
romantic evening with? My wife, but, if
she was otherwise engaged, I could be
persuaded to enjoy the company of Kate
Winslett.
If you won the lottery, what is the first
thing you would do? Go into hiding!
If you were to describe yourself as a
musical instrument, what would you be
and why? A synth, because it can be
programmed to be anything you desire.
What’s the best advice you have ever
been given? Be yourself and follow your
instincts.
What’s your favourite smell? Bacon.
What do you do in your spare time?
What spare time?
What’s the daftest work related
question you have ever been asked? A
Bursar once asked me when I was going
to topdress the cricket square with sand!
What’s your favourite piece of kit? If it
accomplishes the job, at that time its my
favourite piece of kit.
What three words would you use to
describe yourself? Impossible question!
What talent would you like to have? To
play a musical instrument
What makes you angry? Insincere
politicians.
What law/legislation would you like to
see introduced? Any legislation that
improves public transport and controls the
expansion of the motor vehicles.
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Where are the
Paul Cawood, Business Development Manager for
Languard, suggests that those working ‘under the radar’
need to be policed by those that employ their services
s an industry, we use pesticides as part
of our tool box to help solve the
problems Mother Nature poses us. Our
use of these tools, and the way they are
supplied to us, is very well regulated. The
laws that govern our use of these tools set
the standard that the European Union used
as a template for the old EU directive
(91/414/EEC) and the new sustainable use
directive. The system established has been
very successful. The statutory code of
practice for using pesticide products was
awarded the crystal mark from the Plain
English Society. The principles enshrined in
the Food and Environment Protection Act
1985 and the Control Of Pesticides
Regulations 1986 are simple. These acts
make sure we only get products that are
effective, safe and humane.
People advising on the sale and
use of these products must be
competent to do so - BASIS
certification - and people
that apply them must
be competent to
use
them
too under
the spray
certification
(NPTC)
scheme.
This covers
all
aspects
to the
chain
from
the
lab
A
Preventing access to pesticide
products by those that aren’t
qualified to use them is one of
the best ways to ensure high
standards, for both the image of
our industry and for the
environment
bench, where new active ingredients are
conceived and created, to the grass itself.
This system has worked.
In the UK, we have the highest standards
of professionalism and qualification that I
am aware of anywhere. If the EU are copying
us, then there must be merit in what we
have created and the standards we have
achieved.
In recent years, the drive to improve the
way we use our plant protection products has
been on a voluntary basis. Government has
communicated that the potential impact on
the wider environment needs to be reduced,
and has indicated that this would be best
achieved through voluntary measures and
through the pursuit of a more professional
approach. As an industry we responded and
have delivered. The voluntary initiative, the
register of spray operators - NRoSO - has got
great support from those of us that use
products to create the playing surfaces and
preserve the landscape we enjoy. The supply
chain that serves us has responded too - by
phasing in a requirement, for those that use
professional products, to prove they are
qualified to do so before they can receive
them.
Preventing access to pesticide products. by
those that aren’t qualified to use them, is
one of the best ways to ensure high
standards for both the image of our industry
and for the environment. To put it plainly, if
those that aren’t qualified, and don’t want to
be, cant get hold of the material they need,
There are those that operate
‘under the radar’ and do not see
why the era of progress and
higher standards should include
them
© Paramount Pictures
they can’t use it to cause harm. You wouldn’t
try to drive a car unless you were first taught
to do so, would you?
There are those out there though that
operate ‘under the radar’, and do not see
why the era of progress and higher standards
should include them. So, if this ‘under the
radar’ minority are taking no notice of the
rules, aren’t qualified, don’t keep spray
records, and ask casual staff to spray
pesticides as part of other tasks without
training them - who picks up on this? Who
safeguards the staff who don’t know they
need to be trained, may not even speak
English as a first language and struggle to
understand the label of a pesticide? Who
does the enforcement of product use,
qualification and standards fall to? Well, this
all depends.
Cowboys?
There is a gap in our streamlined and
simple system that causes concern to me,
and other colleagues within our industry.
There seems to be no immediate solution,
and those that are responsible seem to
have no appetite to pursue the cause.
This small, but pressing issue is
There is a gap in our
streamlined and simple system
that causes concern to me, and
other colleagues within our
industry
enforcement of the regulations and
standards set in our legislation. If I asked
you “who is responsible for enforcement of
these standards?” you would do well to
answer. It could be the Health And Safety
Executive. It could be the Trading
Standards authorities. It could be the
Environment Agency, or the Chemical
Registration Directorate (who used to be
PSD). It might even be the police.
As you can tell, this is a diverse
selection of government executive
agencies. Who is responsible for what all
depends on what the misdemeanor was,
who, or what, was damaged and where it
was. Here is a good example that is clear.
Through poor maintenance and lack of
training a pesticide spillage occurred that
caused contamination of a stream or river.
It is inevitable that, if this happened,
considerable harm would be caused to the
life within that stream. As the damage
caused to the contents of the stream falls
within the remit of the Environment
Agency, they are the people who will pick
up the baton and pursue the case. They
are large, well resourced, and have a good
track record in bringing cases like this to
court and successfully prosecuting those
who were responsible for such spillages.
If, for example, it is a person who is
harmed, being overcome by vapor or
suffering skin irritation as part of their job,
it will be the Health & Safety Executive
that investigates. The responsibility of the
employer and employee for safety at work
is clear, and so are the responsibilities of
the HSE.
The problem comes when there are rule
breaches that are common, but not
regarded as serious. It’s when there is no
direct harm or damage that occurs that
problems stay ‘under the radar’, and
attract no attention from those in
authority. It is this type of rule breach that
The problem comes when there
are rule breaches that are
common but not regarded as
serious
is so insidious.
Lack of detection, and lack of action to
correct behaviour that breaks the rules
and is not within the spirit of the
legislation, is a serious problem. Who is
committing this sort of rule breaking?
Where are they? What do they do? What’s
being done about them? Here, we have
the meat of the problem.
There are lots of people that use
herbicides as part of their routine
business. These range from (and are not
limited to) farmers, market gardeners,
nurseries, forestry managers,
groundsmen, greenkeepers, local
authorities, weed control companies,
grounds maintenance and lawn care
companies, infrastructure management
companies and so on.
There is one thing that separates the
last four from the first seven. They are
mobile, have no fixed point of delivery,
cover a large area, and could have several
staff, many of whom are likely to be
seasonal. If they were not as scrupulous as
they should be, and didn’t wish to burden
themselves with the overheads that
training and qualifications present, then
they can just get away with it. And they do.
Why? Because there is no one out there to
check up on them. They operate in a
consequence free environment. They are
not big enough to be noticed and, as they
never do much harm, they never attract
the attention of those that can bring them
to book, and bring the perception of the
rest of us down to their level.
So, this brings me on to what is
enforcement. If the people who operate
off the radar were found out, what would
happen? I made some enquiries at the
Chemical Regulation Directorate ( CRD )
and have to say they were really very
helpful. They were quick to let me have
some good information on what they have
done, in recent years, to pursue rule
If the people who operate
‘under the radar’ were found
out, what would happen?
used by those that are not qualified (again
think of driving a car without a licence) or
a product is used for a purpose it is not
approved for - this is when real harm to
both people and the environment can be
caused. If no one is looking for this, how is
it going to be detected?
So, to fill the vacuum, that those who
operate off the radar exist in, what needs
to happen? If this gap in professionalism
is to be filled, so that the industry
approach to high standards is complete,
then those who are off the radar need to
become visible.
What is the best approach?
Legislate? That wouldn’t work - we
already have two excellent acts of
parliament and a great code of practice
that has had no effect on them.
Legislation is only as good as the agency
that enforces it so, without any resources
to take action, no action can be taken.
Voluntary? Nope - that won’t work either.
They choose to operate ‘under
the radar’ so asking them not
to won’t have much impact
They choose to operate ‘under the radar’
so asking them not too won’t have much
impact.
The approach that needs to be taken
here has two parts. First is the client and
second is the culture. The real police of
the void, that the unqualified work in, are
the people that employ them. They need
to make sure that people undertaking
work as part of a contract actually have
the credentials and qualifications needed
to perform the task they are given.
Without this, they are not competent to
work - and should be prevented from doing
so until they are. To achieve this, effective
inspection and quality management is
needed. If there are no resources to do
this, or no desire, then there are good
schemes out there that cover this Amenity Assured is a leading example.
If proper scrutiny is applied then there is
nowhere else to go other then get
qualified and conform to the legislation.
The culture is harder to change.
A culture of responsibility needs to be
adopted and followed, so that saving
money and doing weed control on the
cheap is treated with suspicion. One thing
is sure, if we can change the culture we
can close the gap. Prevent product getting
to those that aren’t qualified. Impose
effective quality management and
inspections. Make quality count.
breakers that fall within their remit, but it
is clear that they have a role that doesn’t
have the resource to pursue all areas with
the vigour most of us would like. Their
approach is one that is proportional and
measured. But, is it enough?
The latest figures they have are for
2008. Below is a breakdown of the areas
concerned and the action taken. These
figures cover all pesticide use in farming,
horticulture and amenity. The total number
of cases dealt with was sixty six. The non
crop sector accounts for approximately 5%
of total UK pesticide sales.
The breakdown of action taken shows
that the focus is clearly on the commercial
side of the trade - sale of and making sure
that claims of what a product will achieve,
what it is and its provenance are
legitimate. CRD is involved in prosecution
of some cases though these take
Type of Case
years to resolve, and
Inappropriate claims
several are ongoing.
Sale and Supply of products
It is reassuring that
action has been
taken against those
Illegal use or misuse
that are miss-selling
Non Identicality
or supplying products
(parallel import)
that contravene the
Incorrect formulation
regulations. However,
one area that is
Packaging
deserving of far more
Inappropriate label claims
attention is misuse.
Residues
When a product is
%
20
26
6
11
2
3
6
24
Action taken
Warning or advisory letter
Advisory letters
Enforcement notices
Warning or advisory letter
Warning or advisory letter
Warning or advisory letter
Warning or advisory letter
Warning or advisory letter
Coventry University has
allocated £160 million over
the next ten years to
develop the city centre
campus, all extra work for
Site Services Manager,
Stephen Beasley, and his
small team.
Laurence Gale MSc reports
Back to ...
M
Stephen Beasley
44
any Universities are going
through major refurbishments
to ensure they can meet the
ever-growing demand for higher
education. And, although Government
spending cuts threaten a reduction in
available places by 30%, student intake
to universities is currently at the
highest level it has ever been.
The university experience is not just
about what degree courses are on offer,
it is also the culture, ambience and
quality of facilities that attracts
students.
For many, sports and pastimes are
just as important and, therefore, a
number universities have been
investing heavily in these facilities.
The diversity and demand for sport
creates a daunting fixtures list across
both natural and artificial surfaces, and
the constant demand for play, coupled
with the aesthetics of the campus puts a
heavy responsibility on the groundstaff.
With flower beds, amenity grass areas
and formal landscape displays also in
the public eye, it is important that the
grounds look in tip-top order.
One such establishment currently
upgrading its facilities is Coventry, one
of the new breed of universities born
out of the Further and Higher
Education Act of 1992. Formerly a
polytechnic, Coventry has made great
strides achieving a ‘highly commended’
in the Entrepreneurial University of
the Year category at the Times Higher
Awards 2008.
“Coventry
Cathedral,
one of the
UK’s most
iconic 20th
Century
buildings, sits
alongside our
university
square and,
with the
campus
covering over
20% of the
city centre,
we play an
important role
in its visitor
experience
and economy”
Stephen Beasley, Site Services Manager,
Coventry University
Coventry!
But they are not resting on their
laurels. Their aim is to keep on
improving, investing heavily in
developing state-of-the-art facilities, with
£160m earmarked for improvements
over the next ten years.
Responsibility for the grounds goes to
Stephen Beasley, who was appointed
Grounds Manager in June 2008.
However, the role changed quickly to
include the public realm and then,
following restructure in mid 2009, his
title changed to Site Services Manager.
This role brings together the main
areas of front line service, including the
management and development of the
university’s grounds, (including the main
campus, Westwood Heath sports and
conference centre, student houses and
student accommodation), the university
wide vehicle fleet, cleaning services,
postal services and the public realm.
Stephen was previously Parks and
Cemeteries Manager at Rugby Borough
Council, with responsibility for the
development and management of parks,
open spaces, allotments, tree stock,
housing areas, cemeteries, play areas and
sports grounds. He has extensive
knowledge and experience of
maintaining sports grounds, including
football, cricket, bowls, rugby, tennis,
athletics and, unusually, a Gaelic football
pitch.
He also has experience in managing
‘Britain in Bloom’ campaigns, achieving
a silver gilt in the national finals and,
one of his favourite schemes, the
development of Swift Valley Park, a large
area of “countryside on the town’s
doorstep” managed with sustainability as
a prerequisite. This involved the use of
highland cattle for grassland
management and a significant area of
water meadow being created.
Stephen has a strong horticultural
background, undertaking a traditional
apprenticeship including study at
Pershore and Reaseheath colleges. He is
also a current Green Flag judge.
“Like everyone else” says Stephen, “the
university is not immune to the
downturn in the economy, and budget
cuts are a fact of life. Attention to detail,
market testing and, importantly,
reviewing how and why we do things, has
helped ensure we are best equipped to
manage the facilities.”
“We have embarked on a plan to
upgrade both the quality and quantity of
the universities landscape with
sustainability and biodiversity as integral
elements. With much of the landscaped
areas simply being ‘leftover space’ from
the new buildings of the 1960/70s, and of
typical ‘council’ style planting, which
offers only limited amenity value and
inherent maintenance difficulties, my
aim is to turn ‘spaces’ into ‘places’ and
use landscape as the cohesive element.
45
“My aim is to
turn spaces
into ‘places’
and use
landscape as
the cohesive
element”
The Coventry Uin team, l-r: Stephen Beasley, Edward Hunt ,
Stuart Grundy, Phil Osborne and Wendy Townsend
Developing a national collection of
Redbud trees (Cercis sps) is one of the
ways we are doing this.”
“Coventry Cathedral, one of the UK’s
most iconic 20th Century buildings, sits
alongside our university square and, with
the campus covering over 20% of the city
centre, we play an important role in its
visitor experience and economy,” says
Stephen. “It is, therefore, vital that we
maintain and develop a clean, safe and,
above all, attractive campus for our
students, staff and visitors.”
“The university, in embarking on this
ambitious ten year plan to develop the
thirty-three acre city centre campus,
ensured significant investment in both
the soft and hard landscape. We, the
grounds team, will play an essential role
in this project, both in the design process
and ensuring future maintenance is
considered. They are exciting times.”
Stephen has a team of four “commited
and knowledgable” groundstaff to
maintain both the sports and amenity
areas. Phil Osborne is Stephen’s Grounds
Supervisor and has been at the
University for fourteen years. He is
46
responsible for the day
to day running of the
team, work schedules
and developing plans,
designs and
programmes of work at
both the university’s
sports grounds and
main city centre
campus. He has 3
years City and Guilds
plus an HNC in
Countryside
Management.
Groundsperson, Wendy Townsend, has
been with the university for six years,
principally working on the ornamental
gardens of the main city centre campus.
Stuart Grundy has four years service
and splits his time between the Westwood
Heath Playing Fields site and the main
campus, undertaking sportsground
maintenance and working on the
ornamental gardens.
Edward Hunt has been part of the
team for two years. He is currently
studying a Level 3 Diploma in Sports
Turf at Morton Morrell College in
Warwickshire. “A great team to have
working with me, who I highly regard”
says Stephen
“The Westwood Heath Playing Fields
forms the largest tract of land that we
have to look after” says Stephen,
“covering fourteen hectares. It was
originally laid down as sports pitches in
the early 1970s. We have four full size
football pitches, two full size rugby
pitches, one nine track cricket square,
one artificial cricket wicket and one full
size (6000m2) synthetic, sand filled pitch
for football and hockey to look after.”
Phil took me through the work
schedules: “The winter sports pitches are
mown weekly using a Trimax Pegasus
16ft triple rotary deck; smaller areas are
mowed using John Deere triple cylinder
mowers. Football pitches are kept
between 30-45mm, with the rugby
pitches kept slightly longer at 75mm to
protect them from wear. Line marking
follows a ten-fourteen day cycle using
Super Stadia paint applied with 505TXE
machines.”
“We carry out aeration on the outfield
using a Greentech slitter and use a SISIS
Arrow on the goalmouths. A Shockwave
aerator is used in the autumn and we
have a six foot flat roller to refirm as and
when needed.”
“Fertilising is carried out with our
newly acquired KRM twin disc fertiliser
spreader. I changed the autumn/winter
feed to a 4:12:12 Evolution 2, after doing
some research to ensure we were using
the best product for our situation, and
also carry out an annual selective
herbicide application.”
“All the end of season renovations are
carried out in-house with the pitches
being scarified using the Amazone 150
Groundkeeper. This is followed by
aeration, topdressing (120 tonnes in
total) and overseeding with MM60 at a
rate of 20-25gms per square metre.”
“The cricket square is a nine-wicket
Banbury loam table with one artificial
wicket alongside. MM29 grass seed was
used for the first time this year and
produced good results. The outfield
forms part of the winter sports field.”
“We cut the square using a Dennis
FT510 cassette mower. I find the verticut
cassette very useful on this machine” says
Phil. Other machines used include a
Poweroll 1.5 tonne roller, SISIS Arrow
and a sorrel roller. The table is brushed
each morning during the season to
remove dew.
A ten day prepping programme is
undertaken to produce a match pitch.
Stephen expects to get at least five games
from each strip. Early wickets are
renovated for re-use at the end of season.
The artificial pitch is brushed on a
“Last year we
planted over 45,000
spring bulbs as part
of the ongoing
programme of
improvements”
regular basis to keep it clean and ensure
the infill material remains level. A
contractor comes in annually to
professionally vacuum deep clean the
strip and the synthetic pitch.
The site close to six hundred mature
trees, including several superb veteran
oaks. “We carried out a survey recently,
to ensure that they do not pose a risk to
the public’s safety. This culminated in
some thinning, crowning and deadwooding which will also help to ensure
they remain healthy.”
“We’ve got a long boundary hedge
which we now flail, and an inside hedge
which was laid using traditional methods,
to provide more habitat for wildlife and
to put some strength back into it. It’s a
lengthy but satisfying process. We also
collect all the leaf litter with the
Amazone and turn it into compost on
site.”
The site also includes a large pond
where rare great crested newts live
alongside the students and, for which, we
are seeking SINC status.
The main campus is situated adjacent
to the cathedral and includes a
conservation area and many protected
trees. Including student residences, it
currently covers over thirty-five acres, but
this will increase over the next ten years.
“There are a number of ornamental
lawns, herbaceous and shrub mixed
borders and small amount of formal
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bedding schemes,” says Stephen. “And,
there are also two pools, one ornamental
with lily pads and goldfish, and the other
set aside for wildlife within a managed
environmental area.”
“We are also responsible for a number
of summer flower bedding schemes,
including the maintenance of thirty
hanging baskets in the central area of
campus.”
“Last autumn we planted over 45,000
spring bulbs as part of the ongoing
programme of improvement. These
included daffodils, narcissi, crocus,
winter aconite, anemone and
snowdrops.” By the time this edition of
the magazine is published, Stephen will
have seen the fruits of their endeavours
in all their glory.
“The winter works programme
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47
“There will be a
number of new
grounds and
gardens to attend
to once the new
buildings have
been constructed”
included the selective removal of old
planted areas and the installation of the
newly designed schemes. We undertook
all the redesigns ourselves.”
“Large banked areas were also
renovated this winter, and planted with a
selection of trees picked for their autumn
colour. These were underplanted with
bulbs.”
“We use a Kubota G21 high lift mower
to collect all the leaves which are then
composted and returned during winter
planting works.”
“There will be a number of new
grounds and gardens to attend to once
the new buildings have been constructed.
These will house the engineering and
computing departments and the student
enterprise building. Although we have
not been involved in the initial designs
we have ensured, at an early stage, that
the designs are practical and sustainable
for us to manage before they move from
paper to ground! We will be adding them
to our maintenance schedule within the
next four years."”
Because of this extra work Stephen
and the team are looking to recruit an
apprentice to join them later this year.
“Loss of skills is something we all feel
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48
strongly about and want to help
address.” say Stephen and Phil.
Stephen has a very dedicated team
who are keen to promote the skills of
groundsmanship and gardening.
As for other interesting initiatives, Phil
Osborne has a strong interest in wildlife
and has been installing a number of bird
boxes in and around the campus, which
has been successful in getting many birds
to take up residence.
Stephen has a very dedicated team
who are keen to promote the skills of
groundsmanship and gardening. From
my own personal experience of having
three daughters choosing which
university to attend, the quality of the
grounds, ambience and setting (not
forgetting social activities Ed) goes a long way to
influencing the student’s
final decision.
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TWENTYQuestions
Erik Kinlon - Hurling Thierry Henry seems to be an
option - or have I read that wrong?
Who are you? Erik Kinlon, Operations
Director, FTS Sportsturf Services Ltd.
unbelievable musician ... Alicia Keys or my
fiancé Emma.
Family status? Soon to be married, 3
boys, Elliott 6, Oliver 3, and newborn
Jacob.
If you won the lottery, what is the first
thing you would do? Arrange a massive
party for everybody I know on a cruise
liner around the Caribbean.
Who’s your hero and why? My dad,
because he has worked all his life to
provide for seven kids and no personal
gain.
What is your dream holiday? Caribbean
with family, (spa for Emma, crèche for the
kids, golf course and bar for me!).
What annoys you the most? Lack of
common sense and logic.
If you were to describe yourself as a
musical instrument, what would you be
and why? The triangle, simple but very
effective.
What’s the best advice you have ever
been given? You make your own luck in
life and business.
What's your favourite smell? Good food.
What would you change about
yourself? I would like to be more
decisive.
What do you do in your spare time?
Spend time with my family, socialise with
friends and play golf, football and hurling.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? Thierry
Henry (for obvious reasons).
What’s the daftest work related
question you have ever been asked?
After twelve inches of snow, is the course
open?
Favourite record, and why? Mr
Brightside by The Killers, it makes me feel
good and sing out loud!
Who would you choose to spend a
romantic evening with? Someone
intelligent, good looking and an
What’s your favourite piece of kit? My
Liverpool shirt!
What three words would you use to
describe yourself? Fun, caring and
passionate.
What talent would you like to have?
The ability to predict the lottery numbers
and arrange the party mentioned above.
What makes you angry? Liverpool FC
and Rafa.
What law/legislation would you like to
see introduced? Tougher immigration
laws and a less PC UK (and that’s from an
Irishman!!!).
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49
Game on!
Sometimes it takes
a small degree of
inspiration, a whole
lot of hard work and
dedication and the
foresight of an
enlightened council
to make a massive
difference to what
can seem an
insurmountable
problem.
Charmian Robinson
went to find out how
one pioneering
council reduced the
number of matches
called off by
investing in a Pitch
Rejuvenation
Programme
50
W
hen it comes to local authority
pitches, a significant part of the
problem is the nature of the
resources available to those that manage
them. Playing surfaces have to
accommodate a relentless turnover of
games at many different levels of play. The
STRI recommends a play rate of 2.65
matches a week per pitch, but Tameside
Metropolitan Borough Council struggled
to get anywhere near this. The number of
pitches out of action due to poor
conditions in 2005 meant that almost a
third of matches were called off, causing
frustration for local teams and the council’s
groundstaff.
Tameside is a metropolitan borough of
Greater Manchester, comprising nine towns
with a collective population of 214,000.
The challenges of maintaining these
public areas are plentiful. None of the
fields are fenced off, so access is constant
and sometimes unmonitored. Footfall from
dog walkers, pushchairs, bikes and vehicles
in all weather conditions inevitably takes its
toll on areas already worn and under stress
from the intensive fixture schedule.
Paul Eccles is Operations Supervisor for
Tameside. For the past ten years he has
been responsible for the procurement and
implementation of equipment for the
maintenance of the outdoor sports
facilities. Recognising that the quality of
the pitches in his area were like most other
council pitches; in very poor repair after
suffering years of neglect with little if any
maintenance other than grass cutting and
rolling, he took the decision to depart from
historical practices to implement a new
approach to pitch maintenance, aimed at
achieving an annual increase of 1600
matches across the sixty-eight pitches.
Five years ago, Paul decided to tackle the
problem from the top. He knew that there
were a number of fundamental issues that
had to be addressed, but the most
important was investment. It was the
personal passion and drive of Councillor
David Sweeton, Project Head for Sport and
Leisure, that was instrumental to the
council allocating substantial funds to the
sector. Councillor Sweeton personally
championed the benefits of introducing
good working practices to provide long
term improvements, not just to the
condition of the pitches but in the quality
and enjoyment of the actual games played.
Support at the highest level was
forthcoming and a budget of a £¼ million
was set aside for a three year project to
cover the necessary investment in
machinery and training.
Armed with the means to make
improvements, Paul’s next decision was to
prove inspirational as well as enlightening.
“I needed information before I randomly
purchased equipment,” he explained. “My
priority was to investigate how to tackle
what was a major recovery mission for
sixty-eight working pitches suffering from
being constantly out of use in an area
renowned for being one of the wettest, yet
also with the most
unpredictable weather
patterns in the UK.”
Knowledge is always the
key and, to gain insight, Paul
sought expert opinion. He
chose to attend an Open
Demonstration Day on total
pitch renovation organised by
Macclesfield-based Campey
Turf Care Systems. These
regular events, staged around
the country, are educational
workshops open to any
groundcare professional
looking to find out more
about the latest turf
machinery and maintenance
techniques. “We are trying to
provide an open forum for
demonstration and
discussion,” said Managing
Director, Richard Campey.
“Our aim is to promote best
practice and to literally
demonstrate how even small
changes to working patterns
can have a dramatic effect on
how a sports pitch copes with,
and recovers from, constant
use and adverse weather
conditions. It is not about
spending a fortune; it’s about
opening your mind to a few
new possibilities which can
make all the difference.”
For Paul, the demo day was
a watershed. It rapidly
became clear that pitch
maintenance was not about a
single machine or action. It
was about adopting a ‘Pitch
Management System’, a
planned maintenance
programme that could be
adapted on various different
levels according to budget
and capital investment
capabilities. “The
demonstration vividly
illustrated the causes and
effects of play on the surfaces.
The solutions offered were
measured, intelligent
responses gained from years
of experience tackling the
very problems that I
encounter every day. What
was truly encouraging was the
fact that even a small change
in working practice could
make a huge improvement. I
found the whole experience
incredibly motivating, and
felt even more convinced that
adopting the
recommendations would be
incredibly beneficial to
Tameside.”
Following the event, Paul
immediately instigated a
pitch rejuvenation
programme based on what he
had seen. His team of
groundstaff began work to
address the main two issues
of severe compaction and
waterlogging using an Imants
Rotoknife for linear slitting,
followed by the Imants
Shockwave for deep
revitalising decompaction and
the Verti-drainer for vertical
slitting.
Effective aeration can be
achieved very easily.
Conventional soil aeration in
isolation risks being too
localised in action. Hollow
coring, verti-draining,
conventional slitting and
solid tining are localised,
affecting the area
immediately around the tine,
whereas the effect of both the
Shockwave and the Rotoknife
is to install intercommunicating pathways
through the rootzone, linking
all areas of it together. This
enables the transfer of air
and water to work at the
optimum throughout the
whole rootzone, and also
allows the uniform spread of
organic agents which can
promote the healthy
development of all the plants
occupying the treated soil.
The programme put in
place at Tameside now takes a
more progressive view, that it
is best to control thatch with
an ongoing policy than to
51
“My team and I have renewed
enthusiasm for our work and
we’re motivated to continue our
programme of improvements”
Paul inspects the
excellent grass
coverage in March
after one of the
worse winters on
record
allow it to accumulate then try to remove
it.
Paul’s team work the pitches in
sequence using the Rotoknife slitter
aerator to slice into the pitch surface
down to 150mm. The aim is to carry out
this process at least three times a year
per pitch. By constantly slitting the
integrity of the thatch is compromised,
allowing air and water to pass through.
Each year, all pitches are ‘shockwaved’
over the entire playing surface to remove
surface water and revitalise heavy wear
areas. The machine’s linear action,
operating at depths of 120mm – 260mm,
creates lateral pathways for movement of
water between the existing drainage
lines. Those pitches which are most
intensively used receive a second
treatment through the full length of the
pitch to the width of the 18 yard box.
The third pass in the sequence, to fully
aerate the pitches, is to use the
Vertidrain. “Although we would like to
use the Vertidrain on all the pitches, we
are restricted due to debris in the soil,”
explained Paul. “Only 40% of our pitches
can actually tolerate the full vertical
decompaction, but it is such an excellent
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52
procedure. I continue to use it wherever
we can, at least three or for times a year.
The Shockwave is simply more robust
and can better cope with the debris.”
A budget of £25,000 is allocated alone
to providing the 40 tonnes of sand which
is applied to each pitch annually by the
council’s Dakota 414 spreader. High
quality perennial ryegrass seed is then
sown using a Vredo seeder, which has
significantly increased the quality and
durability of the playing surfaces.
“Another, perhaps surprising,
consequence of using mechanical
methods to improve soil conditions is a
reduction in the use of fertilisers and soil
treatments to aid growth,” said Paul. “On
our better pitches we employ the Koro
Recycling Dresser to aerate the fine top
layer in a more environmentally-friendly
way. It removes the soil and re-spreads it
as a dressing. A mixed homogeneous top
layer has fewer dehydration problems,
encourages biological activity and is less
prone to disease and pests.”
“What we have come to understand is
the importance of varying types of
aeration and decompaction in producing
good playable pitches with strong,
“What I would dearly love to see
is a national standard for local
authority pitches for us all to
aspire to”
healthy grass swards that recover quickly
from wear and tear and drain rapidly
and efficiently,” Paul declared. “The
smallest improvements in these areas of
maintenance can make significant
differences overall. Even local authorities
on much smaller budgets than ours can
benefit by a change in approach. I would
welcome anyone wanting to take a look
at the way we operate to visit, to see how
they can adopt similar methods at their
facilities.”
The results of all this hard work and
commitment over the past five years has
been monitored and recorded to
accurately portray the direct effects on
the number of matches played. On
average, the number of matches played
in a season is around 4100.
Year
% of matches cancelled
2005/2006
28.69%
2006/2007
18.07%
2007/2008
17.09%
2008/2009
16.54%
“Over the past few months of harsh
winter weather, we have consistently been
able to play on pitches which, in previous
years, would have been called off. The
number of pitches that have remained in
use has risen significantly and, if any
justification was needed for the council’s
investment, that speaks for itself. In
addition, my team and I have renewed
enthusiasm for our work and we’re
motivated to continue our programme of
improvements.”
“Too often, in local authorities, it’s a
fact that the basic training and
understanding is lacking. What I would
dearly love to see is a national standard
for local authority pitches for us all to
aspire to. We need a benchmark to strive
for and, possibly, an outside organisation
or advisory body to provide advice and
recommendations. In the meantime, we
have to be grateful to those
manufacturers and suppliers in the
industry willing to encourage others to
raise standards in a realistic and
practicable way.”
“We are continually learning and
adapting in the way we manage the
pitches,” he concluded. “For example,
when goalposts are removed out of
season, youngsters reinstate them in the
time-honoured fashion with makeshift
posts in the usual goal areas. We now
Worn goalmouths - moving
the goalposts will help!
Paul and his team have renewed
enthusiasm for the job
place goal posts on the side perimeters
out of season, just to encourage the kids
to play on areas less prone to
destruction.”
“We are hoping to receive a further
three years of funding to enable the
programme to continue.”
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53
Municipal golf
under threat?
Birmingham City Council are currently conducting a
review of the seven golf courses under their charge.
This includes the stunning Lickey Hills Golf Club
where Head Greenkeeper, Dave Collins, and his team
are preparing the course to the best of their ability,
even though its future is in the balance.
Laurence Gale MSc reports
T
here has been a lot of press
coverage about the current state of
golf in the UK, with reports
claiming that clubs are losing members,
money and, in extreme cases, being
sold off. It all appears to be doom and
gloom and, certainly from some of the
horror stories we are hearing, not
unsubstantiated.
So, what has gone wrong? Is it simply
the current economic climate? Perhaps
golfers just don’t have the time to
commit to playing regularly and,
therefore, see their annual membership
fees as an expensive luxury? Have golf
clubs marketed themselves properly to
realise the potential of course and
clubhouse? It probably all seemed very
simple in the boom years of the nineties
but, now, with the growth of ‘pay and
play’, where golfers can experience a
wide range of courses at the fraction of
the cost of annual membership at one
club, have they missed out on the
potential that golf offers?
In truth, it is a mix of all the above,
and it’s not just the private sector that is
struggling. Many council operated
courses are going through the same
issues. One such council currently
reviewing its ‘golfing experience’ is
Birmingham City Council, who control
seven municipal courses in and around
Birmingham; six 18-hole courses Boldmere, Cocks Moors Woods,
Hatchford Brook, Hilltop, Lickey Hills
and Pype Hayes, and one 9-hole,
Harborne Church Farm.
“This is not about cutting services. On the
contrary, we want to get more people into golf
and to do that we have to listen to people”
Councillor Mullaney, Birmingham City Council
Last year, Birmingham City Council
auditors declared that a number of
their courses were running at a loss and
one, Hilltop, even faced closure. The
council were keen to look at ways of
securing the future of these valuable
assets.
One option being considered is to
lease the courses to private developers
or companies who are geared up to
manage them successfully.
There has been significant interest to
date, with over sixty companies
showing interest, ranging from PGA
Golf professionals, golf course
operators, leisure companies and a
small number of not-for-profit trusts,
putting forward business plans for the
city’s municipal courses.
Councillor Mullaney (Lib Dem,
Moseley and Kings Heath) said: “The
review is still ongoing. But, one of the
initial findings has been that we need to
reduce our charges. We’ve listened to
what people have been saying and
decided to reduce green fees.”
A £2 across the board reduction has
been implemented and, whilst this may
be a short-term fix, it is a step in the
right direction, but only if playing
numbers increase.
“As part of the review, I’ve visited our
courses across the city” continued
Councillor Mullaney. “And, I have to
say, I’ve been really impressed with the
quality of the courses.”
“This is not about cutting services.
On the contrary, we want to get more
people into golf, and to do that we have
to listen to people.” Even so, the
council has come under fire from
golfers for lack of investment in the
courses over many years, whilst still
raising prices.
Recent initiatives have been launched
to widen the appeal to women, ethnic
minorities and young people, after it
emerged that the vast majority of
players are middle-aged or retired
white men.
Many of the golf courses under
BCC’s control date back to the early
twentieth century. The oldest, and
possibly the most picturesque of them
all, is Lickey Hills. The course is
situated on the dramatic slopes of
Lickey Hills Country Park. Huge banks
of pine trees tower above the seventh
and ninth holes, and the course enjoys
the sort of setting usually reserved for
the most exclusive of clubs.
Opened in 1921, the course offers a
true test of golfing ability, and this is
particularly evident on the 10th,
restricting even the boldest player to a
five-wood or three-iron tee shot,
followed by a long approach shot which
requires accuracy to negotiate a ditch
just thirty yards from the flag.
To find out more, I caught up with
Dave Collins, Head Greenkeeper at
Lickey Hills, locally known as the
Rosehill Golf Club. Dave has been in
the post for seven years, having
previously worked at Handsworth and
Widney Manor golf courses.
Dave has a staff of three, Paul
Andrews, Sue Kempson and Derek
Darby. “We are a close-knit team who
have been working together for several
years,” said Dave. “But, with only four
staff, it’s a bit like painting the Forth
bridge; once you complete one cycle of
maintenance regimes we are straight
back on to them again.” Dave admits
that it is unrelenting but says that he
is well supported by the Council’s
Head of Golf Maintenance,
Terry Spensley, who
coordinates maintenance
needs across the seven courses.
“Rather than each course having
their own specific aerators, seeders and
heavy-duty scarifiers, and other
specialised equipment, the seven
courses share from a central pool of
machinery” said Dave. “This is one of
the advantages of being a municipal
course, and certainly means that each
machine earns its keep.”
The council have a close working
relationship with dealers, TH Whites,
who supply and maintain all the
council’s mowers. On the day of my
visit they where demonstrating a new
Jacobsen G-Plex mower to David and
his staff, along with other council
officials.
“Our cutting regimes are similar to
other municipal courses. Greens are cut
daily, with weekend cuts during the
summer months. We use our own
Jacobsen G-Plex greens mowers cutting
at 4mm during the growing season and
6mm at other times. We actually have
twenty greens and it takes around three
hours to complete.”
“We maintain the tees at 15mm and
usually cut two or three times a week,
depending on growth. We also keep the
fairways at 15mm for much of the year,
taking them up to 17mm in the winter.
Rough areas are mown weekly to
maintain a height of 50mm. It usually
takes five days to complete the
mowing cycle.”
The rest of the time is taken up
strimming banks, raking bunkers (of
which there are only thirty-six), changing
holes and keeping the
site free of litter. “After a busy weekend
the litter bins can be full to overflowing,”
said Dave. “The first thing we do on a
Monday morning is empty them all and
reposition them to reduce wear around
the tees.”
“We change the holes Monday and
Friday, unless they get worn or damaged,
which gives new positions for the busy
period.”
“Like many municipal courses, we are
prone to acts of vandalism. Usually, it’s
just flags that go missing or, occasionally,
a green gets ridden over by bikes. It’s just
one of the hazards of the job.
Fortunately, we have not experienced
anything too serious.”
“The recent long spell of snow did
entice hundreds of locals to go sledging
out on the course, making good use of
the large slopes that run onto greens and
fairways. We just had to wait for the snow
to clear and repair any damage.
Fortunately, it was just a few scuff marks
and frost damage.”
With most of the greens being of the
push up variety aeration plays an
important part in their maintenance. “I
like to vertidrain two to three times a
year, topdressing with a Whitemoss 80/20
sand/soil mix, applying around one
tonne per green.”
David feeds the greens with a
combination of fertilisers. The feeding
plan for the course begins in February,
with an application of Guardian GN3
3:1:3+1%Mg+2%Fe+Seaweed meal (35g
per square metre), which is repeated in
April. This is followed with an
application of Microflow 12:0:8 in May,
June and July. In August a dose of
Microfine OC2 is applied.
In line with the fertiliser programme a
number of other products are applied
including Magnet Rapide, Cal-form,
Amino-form R and seaweed extracts.
“Our normal winter work went out of
the window this year, because of the
frozen conditions, so we focused on a
programme of tree pruning and crown
lifting. We will have to work extra hard in
early spring to play catch-up so that the
course looks its best coming into the
playing season,” said Dave.
Talking to a number of playing
members, who had been at the club for
the best part of twenty years, they were
all singing the praises of Dave and his
staff, especially the way he has improved
the greens since his time there.
“When I arrived, a good number of
@]pflËi\`ek\i\jk\[#Xjb]fiXe`e]fgXZb
8:figfiXk\D\dY\i
56
the greens were heavily compacted and
suffered from deep thatch problems, so I
initiated a programme of hollow coring
and overseeding for three years, which
helped the greens improve dramatically,”
said Dave. “Since then, it’s just been a
case of adopting good cultural practices
to maintain performance.”
Lickey Hills is a unique course, and is
seen by many of the playing members as
the most challenging of all the courses
under Birmingham City Council’s care.
The members will be glad when they
know what is to become of the course as,
I’m sure, will Dave and his staff. Along
with many of the council’s other
greenkeepers, they are watching to see
what the review brings.
It is a sad reflection on how council
services are going. We continually see a
demise in service provision across all
departments, with more and more being
put out to tender. I have a strong affinity
with Birmingham City Council as I was
one of their parks apprentices back in
the 1970s, and worked at Cocks Moors
Woods Golf Club for a number of years.
At the time, Birmingham Parks had
one of the finest equipped workforces in
the country, and highly experienced staff
who dedicated themselves to parks and
sports turf provision.
The original concept of the municipal
course was to offer people the chance to
play golf without the need to join a golf
club. At the height of their popularity, in
the 70s and 80s, many of BCC’s courses
were attracting over 40,000 rounds of
golf a year. That figure has dropped
dramatically in recent years.
Personally, I hope that these courses
remain in the public domain and
continue to be a facility to be enjoyed by
the local community. This opinion is
shared by Dave Collins who, on a daily
basis, sees the pleasure the Lickey Hills
course brings to its paying customers. At
£14 a round it must be one of the
cheapest available at such a picturesque
course.
There is a cost for maintaining a golf
course. It should not be a case of councils
expecting to make huge profits, it is
about providing a facility for the local
community that are under their care, and
charging the going rate to provide those
services.
Perhaps more prudent management in
the boom years would have made the
current scenario a no brainer!
Long live the municipal golf
course.
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57
John Philp MBE, Links
Superintendent at
Carnoustie Golf Links,
says that, in no other
sport performed on grass
is the quality of the turf so
critical to the way the
game is played.
In this article he suggests
that looking back is the
way forward
Original Golfing
“The modern
curse cast on
our long
suffering
‘original golf
turf’ is the
ever
g
increasing
quest for
speed”
John Philp MBE, Links Superintendent,
Carnoustie Golf Links
58
G
olf Course Managers have a major
responsibility to uphold our
golfing heritage by preserving our
‘original golfing turf ’ in the UK. Such
turf comprises a blend of the fine fescue
and browntop bent species, a mix which
has been well proven to be the ideal
sward for the game.
It is often worthwhile to look backward
as an aid to seeing the way forward. For
instance, when most inland courses were
founded they had natural fescue/bent turf
as they, in the main, were built on
infertile land of poor agricultural value.
Even the majority of courses constructed
on heavier soils were sown out with
primarily fescue/bent dominated seed
mixtures, certainly not annual meadow
grass. I have yet to see a bag of this grass
seed on the market in all my time in the
profession!
Our ideal fescue/bent turf has, of
course, been under threat from various
sources for many decades; from mass
liming, basic slag and bone meal
treatments in the twenties, to overwatering, granular compound fertilisers
and serious compaction becoming
prevalent in the sixties.
The modern curse cast on our long
suffering “original golfing turf ” with
respect to golf greens, is the ever
increasing “quest for speed”, and the
detrimental mowing (and verticutting)
regimes that are being advocated and
practised at certain golf clubs.
Excessively low mowing heights (i.e. 2mm
or lower) and excessive verticutting
carried out on a regular basis clearly and
uncontrovertibly encourages annual
meadow grass domination.
To mow greens in the UK. at 2mm can
best be described as another “short-term
fix” to accommodate player demand (led
more often than not by the better
players), with scant regard for longer
term implications. Importantly,
fescue/bent turf can, of course, be
maintained at two or three times this
height and still provide suitably paced
surfaces.
Many golf club members see “fast”
greens as the utopia and something they
must have regardless, perhaps thinking
that consistently fast greens will improve
their putting averages and, therefore,
their scores. There is often a bit of “oneupmanship” thrown in (a dangerous
game in itself) but, however, the reality is
that for Mr. Average’s scoring in the
majority of cases is no better and, in fact,
usually worse. What is more, the time
taken for his round is invariably
increased!
Turf performance is key, not pretty
patterns or excessive green speeds
Turf
Fine turf heaven at Carnoustie Gof Links
Yes, we need minimum ball roll
resistance to achieve decent green
speeds, along with other attributes, in
order to realise the full potential of the
game on any course; but there is a fine
balance between the sublime and the
ridiculous regarding green speed,
especially on contoured green surfaces
with major run-offs.
It is, surely, a major priority within a
golf course manager’s remit to identify
the real potential of the course, or
courses in his charge, and how this
potential may be realised. There can’t be
too many sites across the country where
existing green structures are unable to
support a reasonable percentage of
browntop bent grass, with proper
management and a little investment. It
goes without saying that even a 50/50
bent grass/annual meadow grass putting
green sward performs vastly better than
100% annual meadow grass.
There are no “miracle” cures in fine
turf management, just good oldfashioned, common sense greenkeeping
methods, aided by modern equipment,
products and technology, the latter three
of which our predecessors did not have
the benefit of.
Turf performance must be the key, not
colour, pretty patterns, excessive green
speeds, or any other disguises, if true
quality turf is the aim.
However, smooth and true annual
meadow grass surfaces may be presented,
they cannot match the resilience of
fescue/bent turf due to botanical
composition, especially when mown at
2mm! Good golf greens need to provide
for correct ball/turf interaction (check on
dry turf), quite apart from the required
putting criteria. Only golf played on true
quality turf gives just reward to wellstruck shots from tight fairways (a
requirement for premier ball control)
due to the firmness and, in particular,
the resilience of the turf on the green or
approach.
Ideal ball/turf interaction is not
possible on annual meadow grass greens,
reptans included, commonly classed as
“dead” greens, wherein most, if not all of
the residual spin on the ball is negated
on the first impact at most times of the
year. Conversely, control is virtually
impossible if said greens are hard and
dry!
This, of course, is the result of an
inherent lack of the necessary extensive
and dense fine hair root system allied to
the “softer” plant tissue (and organic
matter) characteristics of annual meadow
grass. Listen for the echo, or lack of it,
when bouncing a ball on the green!
Suffice to say, ball/turf interaction is a
much deeper and interesting subject
beyond the scope of this article.
It has to be said two key bodies in
particular, The R&A and STRI, are doing
sterling work in “spreading the gospel”,
although they are often preaching to the
converted.
What is urgently needed, in
conjunction, is the effective education of
the golfing public, stressing the
significance of the only ecologically and
economically feasible management of
golfing turf in the UK.
After forty-six years in greenkeeping,
covering heavy agricultural parkland,
chalk downland and links courses, I
remain convinced this is based on a
dominance, at least on main playing
surfaces, of two perennial species, fine
fescue and/or bent grass cultivars.
Any such education venture would
require the PGA Tour, the Golf Unions,
golf journalists and, even more
importantly, televised golf presenters to
join the band, all singing from the same
hymn sheet! A tall order indeed
considering the mostly negative
influence of televised tournament golf,
especially on the general golfing public.
However, success is not only dependent
59
Firm and tight fairway turf - a
requirement for premier ball control
“Surely
common
sense must
prevail, for it
would be
criminal to
lose our world
d
renowned
golging
heritage”
on a wider recognition of practicable fine
turf management. We have to accept the
fact that, broadly speaking, target golf has
been pre-eminent in this country for a
long time now, and this is not the natural
game. Noticeably, golf equipment has
evolved to suit this transition and also
needs examination.
Another unhelpful aspect is the
numerous new courses, including
modified existing ones, which, over the
years, have been conceived on the
“American” or “target” golf principle,
instead of traditional British design,
which fosters the ideals of the original
game. Sadly, such abominations still
occur!
Returning to the positive side, The
STRI have to be congratulated for their
recent initiative involving Turf
Performance Measurement in their new
Agronomy Programme. This is, without
doubt, a most progressive development,
whereby measured data for the key
elements on greens, i.e.
smoothness/trueness, firmness, pace,
moisture (resilience to follow?), not
forgetting consistency between greens (for
which the stimpmeter was developed, not
as a rod for the greenkeeper’s back), can
only help reduce the over emphasis on
green speed, which exists everywhere as
the only (false) measurement of green
quality within the game generally.
In conclusion, that elite ambassador of
quality turf, Mr. Jim Arthur, would turn in
his grave at the thought of 2mm mowing
of greens, an absurd practice which, at
present, is totally contradictory to the
future well-being of the game in the UK.
I consider that it would be imprudent,
to say the least, to travel down this “road
to perdition”, not only because of the
damage to the profession but, equally
importantly, the negative influence on
young, up and coming, ambitious
greenkeepers - the course managers of
tomorrow.
Surely, common sense must
prevail, for it would be criminal to
lose our world renowned golfing
heritage, the original game.
TWENTYQuestions
Ian ‘Poggy’ Pogson - doesn’t like business jargon but
would like to have synergy with Sharon Corr!
Who are you? Ian Pogson, aka Poggy.
Product Specialist with Campey Turf Care.
Family status? Married, two children one of each.
Who’s your hero and why? Don’t have
heroes, yet!
What is your dream holiday? Elounda
Bay Hotel in Crete.
What annoys you the most? Pompous,
self important people.
What would you change about
yourself? My age, I’d like to be younger,
20 years would do.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? Any
politician.
Favourite record, and why? I don't have
an all time favourite, but I like guitar
based rock and grew up with skiffle, so it
could be one of several in those
categories. If pressed, I’d say Romeo and
Juliet by Dire Straits, maybe. Why?
Because I just like it.
Who would you choose to spend a
romantic evening with? Other than my
wife, the Corrs (less one), or Suzi Perry.
If you won the lottery, what is the first
thing you would do? Pay off my kids’
mortgage.
If you were to describe yourself as a
musical instrument, what would you be
and why? Sharon Corr’s fiddle, or her
cello preferably - just think about it!
What’s the best advice you have ever
been given? Believe - you have got to
believe, and be the best you can be.
What’s your favourite smell? Jasmine.
What do you do in your spare time? I’m
married, what spare time? I’m a
Gloucester RFU supporter and shed head.
What’s the daftest work related
question you have ever been asked?
Can’t think of one that stands out of the
many, but I was once asked at a show,
when I worked for Iseki tractors and was
stood by one, what it did? As it was the
Royal Cornwall Show, and near the coast, I
told him it was a lifeboat.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? My
Swiss army knife.
What three words would you use to
describe yourself? “Bloody nice bloke”!
What talent would you like to have?
To be able to play a musical instrument.
What makes you angry? Political
correctness and business jargon.
What law/legislation would you like to
see introduced? Ban the above and
make commonsense compulsory in
education and in the work place.
Bad trousers...
...Ryegrass
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Always read the label. Use pesticides safely. ©Syngenta AG January 2010. GQ 00745.
In the third and final
article on grasses for
golf greens in the UK,
Kevin Munt examines
the oldest fescue/bent.
F
escue (Festuca rubra ssp.) and
Colonial Bent (Agrostis capillaris)
grasses are so entwined in our
golfing history I doubt that the
game would have been possible, or
indeed grown, without them. The hardy,
low growing, dense, springy sward
produced by fescue growing on our
linksland gave support to, and shaped,
the game. Golfers would have followed
the routes of least resistance through
the dunes, playing over the fescue, bent
“mown” by the grazing animals. This
“tight” sward, combined with the
prevailing winds, shaped the shot
making of the time. Even when the
game moved inland its practitioners
sought out sites that were free draining,
supporting fescues and bents, such as
heath and downlands.
Golf is a game best played on grass
but not just any grass, the finest
possible grass, and this is fescue. The
early exponents of the game, and its
greenkeepers, knew and appreciated
this. Sadly, to a large extent, it has been
a lesson lost.
Golf greens are the ultimate
playing/putting surface. In my opinion,
fescue and, to a lesser extent,
fescue/bent swards provide the ultimate
grass for those playing surfaces. Why
then have we lost so many of our
fescue/bent dominated greens. The
answer to this is not short as there have
been many factors, however, they all
form part of golf greenkeeping history
and thus the history of the game itself.
TV Greens
The boom in popularity of golf in the
early seventies, stimulated by live
colour television coverage of
tournament golf, is the main marker for
the start in decline of fescue/bent
dominated greens. Simply, the game
became aerial, and played on colour,
the colour of course being green, the
darker and more uniform the better. Of
course previously, golf had been a game
played closer to the turf, the skilled
exponent of the chip and run having
the advantage. This skill was dictated
by the firm, dry, fast turf provided by
fescue/bent.
Now, thanks to television and in
particular the satellite signal, we see the
ball being lofted into greens from a
great height and stopping dead on
softer irrigated ‘green’ surfaces. This is
the game that the new ‘moneyed’ golfer
of the seventies wanted to play, the
game of the touring professional.
The growth in the game’s participants
put money into the UK’s golf clubs, a
large proportion of which became
available to the head greenkeeper, who
had previously been used to getting by
on nothing much. This, in large part,
thanks to his undemanding fescue
dominated sward.
To ensure that a club and its head
greenkeeper could be parted from their
funds, irrigation, machinery and
fertiliser manufacturers, closely
followed by chemical companies,
flooded the market. These tools to make
Hell bent on
golf history...
a greenkeepers life easier only, as it
turned out, made them harder and
more complex.
Many of the inland courses, with
greens constructed on local pushed-up
soils, suffered badly with fertiliser and
water over-use combined with
compaction from higher numbers of
rounds. This, in turn, had a detrimental
effect on the fescue/bent grasses.
Compacted, highly fertile, anaerobic
soils were opposite to the conditions
that fescue/bent grasses thrived in. Poa
annua took hold in these situations and
a vicious cycle of decline set in further
with the production of thatch and
associated turf grass diseases. Where
once the occasional spot of fusarium
and cortisium were seen in spring or
autumn, fusarium outbreaks became
rife. Clubs with smaller incomes or
clued up canny ‘links’ men in charge,
avoided the decline but, it has to be
said, these were in the minority.
Preachers not converters
During the late seventies and early
eighties many head greenkeepers and
course managers set about trying to
rectify the problems. To this day very
few have ever succeeded in returning
these green surfaces to pure
fescue/bent, let alone pure fescue. Some
often compounded the problem by
using 60/40 fen soil based topdressings.
These dressings, due to their high
proportion of fines and organic matter,
sealed the surfaces further.
Golf committees also compounded
problems by going through a number of
‘headmen’. This meant changing
topdressing regimes that only
succeeded in layering the surface
50mm with a strata of differing
materials, thus introducing differing air
and water movement rates. These strata
also caused root shearing. Therefore,
the keen fescue/bent green surfaces that
our country was known for, were lost,
replaced by poorly performing annual
meadow grass dominated surfaces. This
is a situation that many are still
endeavouring to rectify today.
So, what of the future for bent/fescue
swards?
Other than on the remotes of links
courses, will we ever see fescue
dominated putting surfaces again? The
R&A’s initiatives, in relation to “best
course for golf ”, are focused on
returning green surfaces to our
traditional native sward. The STRI’s
golf agronomy focus is also only on
this. In all of their report
recommendations, when working with
anything other than creeping bent
grass, fescue/bent is the target. Peer
groups like the Gingerbread Men have
this as their ultimate goal. Other
devoted course managers see that there
is only one true greenkeeping direction,
namely fescue/bent. More power to
them all I say, but will they win out?
Unfortunately, due to commercial
pressures, an obsession with lower
heights of cut to gain speed, soil pushup greens, and all their inherent
problems, coupled with the sheer
pressure of going through a species
conversion the answer is often “no”.
This is not a defeatist opinion, more
one of realist thinking gained out of
experience.
Cost converter
The routes to gaining, or reverting back
to, a fescue/bent dominated sward are
well documented by the R&A, and their
agronomists the STRI. Also, the work
carried out by course managers in
Denmark, and of course by Jim Arthur,
is legend. Therefore, there is little
point in me detailing them here. What I
will do, if you are aiming at providing
the best golf green surfaces possible, is
list your options for quick reference.
You can then decide the best route for
your club and course:
Converting to fescue/bent
ROUTE 1
Complete re-build installing a USGA or
STRI greens construction method sown
to fescue or fescue/bent.
Cost: £ 30,000+ per green
Timescale: 1 to 18 years
Rebuilding two or three greens at a
time is often undertaken by clubs,
starting with the ‘wet’ or ‘difficult’
greens. The problem with this option is
that the course manager is left
managing two differing surfaces for
Golf is a game best played on grass, but not just any
grass, the finest possible grass, and this is fescue. The
early exponents of the game, and its greenkeepers,
knew and appreciated this. Sadly, to a large extent, it
has been a lesson lost
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“Peer groups like the
Gingerbread Men have
fescue/bent greens as their
ultimate goal, and other
devoted course managers see
that there is only one true
greenkeeping direction. More
power to them all I say, but
will they win out?”
years to come. Worse still is
that the members and visitors
have to play on them.
ROUTE 2
Surface strip and re-sow,
utilising a machine like the
Koro Top Fieldmaker,
ameliorating in a prespecified sand, re-contouring
and overseeding with fescue
or fescue/bent.
Cost: £ 1,300+ per green
Timescale: 1 to 3 years
This route is a great method
to achieving results quickly
with the minimum of
disturbance, (if you think
tearing up all your greens in
August is a minimal thing to
do). At around £25,000 for 19
greens it is relatively cheap.
As ever, there are drawbacks even if you have convinced
the powers that be that they
will only lose the back end of
the year! The problem with
this method is that your are
not changing your drainage
or rootzone makeup. If you
have old, local soil greens this
is one of the main causes of
your problem and the loss of
fescue to annual meadow
grass.
ROUTE 3
Long-term species conversion
using correct cultural controls
and techniques plus regular
overseeding with
recommended fescue/bent
varieties.
Cost: Negligible difference to
64
normal operating budget,
indeed may even be savings if
you have been heavy on
water, fertiliser and fungicides
in the past.
Timescale: 5 to 10 years. Too
long
This route disturbs play and
finance the least, however this
means that it also disturbs
your existing old soils, Poa
annua, Ryegrass and
Yorkshire Fog the least!
I believe that there are so
few clubs that can afford or
be willing to undertake
options 1 and 2, that option 3
remains the route of choice
for the majority. This, in turn
means that, at best, five and,
more likely, seven to ten years
of mixed quality surfaces.
This route also has a high
failure rate due to the
departure of the main drivers
for change on the committee
or in course management.
In the majority, Route 3 is
the adopted course for
species conversion as it is
easiest and cheapest to
implement and has the added
bonus of not being completed
before “I am off the
committee” or “left my job”!
This fescue business
For me, many clubs do not
assess the situation in a
business like manner, often
failing to weigh up the
conversion options open to
them. Then, in turn, not fully
estimating the financial
!'2%!44/0$2%33).'"253(
4(!43!.!7%3/-%
'2//-).'
4//,4//
Velvet bent
“Clubs are often guided by
their course manager and
agronomists, who’s
involvement is based purely
on agronomic or ‘best
practice’ reasoning. This
often has little to do with
‘best business practice’
reasoning”
implications of what they are
undertaking. Clubs are often
guided by their course
manager and agronomists,
who’s involvement and
influence in the decision
making process is based
purely on agronomic or ‘best
practice’ reasoning. This
often has little to do with
‘best business practice’
reasoning.
When considering species
conversion to fescue/bent in
golf greens, golf club
management should evaluate
the following factors on a cost
versus return basis.
1) Income potential from
increased green fees, new
membership and
membership retention due
to playing on pure fescue,
fescue/bent greens
2) Length of time taken to
reach this potential. In
other words, when will we
have pure fescue,
fescue/bent greens, and at
what cost
3) Cost of ensuring we retain
pure fescue, fescue/bent
greens in the future
4) Cost of implement options
1, 2 and 3, including losses
of income due to any
closures
5) Overhead savings needed
due to any loss of income
due to closures
6) Projected additional
income from increased
s #OMPLETELYlLLAERATIONHOLESINPASSES
s 5SELESSSANDFORBETTERRESULTS
s 5SETOGROOMGREENSANDREMOVEGRAIN
s )NCREASEPUTTINGSPEEDUSEBEFOREMOWING
s 0ROMOTEDENSERHEALTHIERTURF
s "RUSHISKINDTOTHETURF
ANDLONGLASTING
levels of play due to
excellent greens condition
7) Projected long-term cost
savings from maintaining
pure fescue, fescue/bent
over annual meadow grass
grown on old poorly
draining soils
So, here am I discussing
business and commercial
considerations in relation to
the oldest grass surface in
golf - fescue, the grass that
was there well before any
commercial interest in the
game. It is unavoidable
however as success and thus
the commercialisation of the
game is the very reason for
the decline of the king of
cool season golf grasses.
Over the last three articles I
have discussed the three main
grasses for golf greens. All
have their place in the game,
and all, I am sure, will
continue to play their part.
However, all have to be able
to thrive in the environment
that they are expected to
perform in.
All, due to the higher
expectations of the games
participants, also have to
have long-term commercial
viability. This is because,
when three men go to mow
these surfaces, they are not
going to mow a meadow!
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Consultants
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www.kmgcgolfconsultancy.com
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65
Simon Cotterill, Head
Greenkeeper at Market
Drayton Golf Club, talks
about his twenty years
at the course, his
ongoing plans to
improve drainage and
managing and
enhancing the diverse
ecology ...
Climbing up on
Salisbury Hill
M
arket Drayton golf course is an
18-hole course set in the rolling
Shropshire countryside
surrounding Brownhills Wood and
Salisbury Hill. For the historians
amongst you Salisbury Hill was named
after the Yorkshireman, Lord Salisbury.
He chose the elevated position over
Market Drayton to overnight with his
troops following his victory against the
Lancastrians at Blore Heath, three
miles away. The site was secure because
it had a wooded flat top, steep sides
and excellent views all around.
The parkland course, where the back
9 holes are played around Brownhills
Wood and the front 9 go up and over
Salisbury Hill, was built over a former
120 acres of farmland which has, in the
past, been mined for sand and gravel
and so offers generally free draining
sandy soils.
My career started in Stoke at
Trentham Gardens as a gardener, near
where I still live. After that I spent ten
years working as 1st assistant to the
Head Greenkeeper at a nearby golf
club. It was here that I learned my
trade, whilst attending Reaseheath
College for my formal qualifications in
sports turf management.
In 1990 I was offered the Head
Greenkeeper’s position at Market
Drayton Golf Club and have thoroughly
enjoyed the last twenty years managing
and improving the course.
The main problems at the course
have been due to the original
construction methods of the greens,
these being soil based push-up and cutand-fill greens with no drainage. In
2001 the twelve most poorly draining
greens were Lytag banded, this
operation was followed by extensive
hollow tining, vertidraining and
topdressing to bring the surface back to
level. The results were, as expected,
dramatic:
• reduced course closure
• reduced disease attack
• increase in bents
• deeper rooting
• firmer faster greens
• truer putting surface
By 2007 the bands began to fail and
the previous drainage problems began
to return. Having looked at various
drainage solutions it was decided to reband the greens using the ‘Wizz Wheel’
technique. So, that year, we started a
three year plan of wizz-wheeling and
Lytag backfilling six greens per year,
with the exception of the 8th green as it
is high and dry.
However, the plan has fallen a little
behind schedule for various reasons but
we anticipate finishing the remaining
five greens in August 2010. Each Lytag
band was 25mm wide x 300mm deep, at
500mm centres across each green. Over
the last three years we have used
around 190 tonnes of Lytag as backfill.
In conjunction with the banding
process, we have introduced the Graden
deep scarifier to:
• remove excess thatch
•
•
•
•
improve surface drainage
introduce fresh material
increase bents
level putting surface
The vertical sand filled slits are 3mm
wide, 20/25mm deep with a 25mm
spacing. We averaged 2½ tonnes of
topdressing per green. Limagrain bent
seed is fed directly into the slits,
instead of surface broadcasting, which
has dramatically improved germination
rates. During trials on our greens in
2009, I found the MM9 germinated two
days earlier than other seeds trialed.
The greens that have received both
banding and graden work have
improved greatly. They are firmer
through the winter, drain quickly,
remain true, sustain desirable grasses,
and there is less thatch evident and
fewer disease outbreaks.
Once the drainage process is
completed on all planned greens, we
will move to a single invasive
maintenance operation. This includes
hollow-tining, vertidraining and
gradening which was, historically,
carried out in the spring and autumn,
creating two periods of disruption on
the greens.
We now plan to do all eighteen
greens once a year, during August,
ensuring the best possible recovery.
With ground temperatures at their
highest, seed germination should be
rapid, ensuring a speedy return to
normal playing conditions. This
operation will be evaluated and
monitored over the short and long term
and any necessary adjustments made.
The 80 tonnes of Bathgate’s TD 4
used for topdressing on the course will
increase to 100 tonnes through the year,
with a light dusting applied during the
growing season every two to three
weeks. This will be carried out in
conjunction with a scarification in
spring, verti-cutting as required to
maintain trueness and pace, and microtining to a depth of 125mm to maintain
surface drainage, air exchange and
improved rooting.
Increased aeration through the
season is essential to substitute the
previous spring hollow tining. This
maintenance programme will ensure
the greens are kept to the high
standards that visitors and members
have come to expect. The quality of the
greens is reliant on sound drainage
and, as wizz wheel banding has a
limited lifespan, plans will be put
forward for future drainage
requirements.
We attempt to avoid the use of
temporary winter greens and we do not
close the course when there is a frost. I
find that golfers only cause superficial
damage with no lasting detrimental
effect. We do, however, close the course
briefly when there is a thaw on, so as to
protect the surfaces until they are free
draining again.
Only some of the tees have had to
have drainage installed and the rest
seem to drain naturally, along with the
fairways. Vertidraining, scarifying and
Sand banding
Wizz wheeling!
hollow tining keep them at a satisfactory
level.
On the tees, we have started to use
dwarf perennial ryes as they are more
hard wearing, although we use mats on
the short holes through the winter. These
are 50mm pile with a sand/rubber mix,
but they do go hard, so we micro tine
them occasionally to soften them right
up, although we set the tines to go just
into the sand.
We haven’t carried out any over
seeding on our fairways for at least five
years - since the last drought. Instead we
confine any seeding to divot seeding by
the staff and occasional divot evenings
with club members; the greens
committee do a wonderful job of
divoting tees through the summer and
any other tidying jobs that may arise.
Our bunkers are one of the next areas
to address. We are after a consistency
with the sand across the whole course.
We have sixty or so bunkers, which
become hard after rain due to lack of
drainage and sand that is contaminated
with worm casts that wash off the
fairways. There will be a need to install a
drainage system lining in some of the
bunkers, and some bunkers will need remodelling to change the way that water
runs off the fairways. We hope to change
all the bunkers to Bathgate 45 over a
number of years.
During the summer the greens are cut
every day at 4mm and, in the winter, at
5.5mm using John Deere’s 2500E; its
quiet, fuel efficient and produces a true
cut. Green speed is measured using a
stimpmeter through the summer season
with an aim to produce consistent roll at
8.5 to 9.5 feet.
There is a lot of grass on the course
and, with a staff of just four, we spend
the majority of our time keeping the
grass in check during the growing
season. Fairways are maintained at 16mm
all year round with a Toro 6500D. Tee
tops and green surrounds are cut at 9mm
while tee banks and around bunkers are
at 16mm to give a staggered cut to
improve definition. We use a 1600T John
Deere Wide Area Mower for the roughs
and a Trimax roller mower for around
the fairway edges.
The pins are moved every other day
during the summer, and we prepare
another capped hole in the winter as
there is only one member of staff on rota
to cover the membership at weekends.
Our biggest pest problem is rabbits thousands of them; our 2nd and 8th
greens have taken a battering this year.
I’m still looking into methods to resolve
this problem.
We take a serious view on improving
the ecology on the course and we have
transplanted trees using a tree mover to
provide better habitats for the birds and
other fauna. Some areas are set aside,
with the grass cut just once a year to
encourage small mammals; we now have
more mice and robins nesting.
We have also built several ground
dwellings for various small mammals in
the woodland fringes. Time will tell if
they will be inhabited.
We installed a floating raft on the
pond by our 3rd hole last year so that
the wildlife had somewhere to roost. The
moorhens had chicks last summer on the
raft which was very encouraging.
We have started to address the
situation of low light on the course
modelled around the woodland. We will
be opening up the canopy to allow better
light and more airflow, as well as
allowing the lower flora to establish.
A variety of bird boxes will be
positioned in the trees to encourage bird
life, and a bat survey will be carried out
in the spring and boxes may be added to
encourage roosting.
Our irrigation comes from a borehole
and feeds a 12,000 gallon holding tank.
We use this to water our greens and tees
using a TW2 controller, impact heads on
the greens and I 21’s on the tees. North
Staffs Irrigation installed our system.
We are attempting to achieve a zero
scar policy from fusarium on the greens,
so we are on a preventative cure
programme of applying fungicide
regularly to keep outbreaks to a
minimum. We mix fungicides to our
needs, depending on the time of year,
being careful not to create any build up
of resistance. Chelated iron and seaweed
are applied every six weeks to keep up
appearances and acidify the sward
against attack.
Hedgehog house
Copse clearing
Improved drainage has a dramatic
affect on fusarium attacks. The previous
draining programme saw required
fungicide applications rise from two
applications in 2001 to four applications
in 2007 as the original bands began to
fail.
Separately, we use a granular fertiliser
in the spring and autumn, with regular
low input liquids through the summer to
control growth rates, especially on the
greens where excessive growth reduces
green speed and encourages weak
growth. We’re now down to around 65kgs
of nitrogen per annum, and this year’s
target will be 55kgs. We always use low
phosphate fertilisers, soil tests are carried
out and always reveal low potash levels
and necessary supplements are applied.
Two of the granular feeds that we use are
organic, using Roots from Novozymes,
establish in what is, currently, a 70/30
poa/bents mix. The target is to get the
bents up to 70% over the next three
years; the previous banding did allow
bent increases up to 55% on drier
surfaces without the use of the Graden at
that time.
2010 will be an interesting year, with a
need for tight budgetary controls and
high expectations of the new
maintenance programme. A lot of hard
work and support from staff, that always
come through when needed. And, with
the support of the greens committee and
members alike, I am
confident that we can deliver
the objectives we have set,
whilst maintaining the high
quality golf course our
members and visitors have
come to expect.
which provided steady growth and good
longevity last year, ideal for controlling
green speed.
I use ‘Extend’ on our fairways, usually
twice per year, to help them retain colour
and growth, plus a sulphate of iron in
spring as a colour up, and we tend to
mix ‘Despatch’ as a wetter with the liquid
feeds twice a year. I also add PrimoMaxx
in with the liquid feeds through the
growing season on tees and approaches
to help check high growth periods. This
allows us to cut with the Toro 3250 for a
tight cut that lasts without boxing off, the
time saved is used elsewhere on the
course.
We will also be using PrimoMaxx on
our greens this year, prior to invasive
work, at 0.3 litres/ha. The reason for
doing this will be to hold back the
meadow grass and help the bents
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69
When the Heacham
Manor site became
available, successful
businessman Paul Searle
saw an opportunity to
expand his family
business by creating a
golf and hotel complex.
With the assistance of
two industry leading
companies, plus a visit to
Scotland, he has brought
a slice of St Andrews to
the north Norfolk coast.
Pitchcare meets a man ...
W
hen asked if he’s a keen golfer,
Paul Searle pauses to consider
the question. “I would describe
myself as an observant golfer,” he replies.
Suddenly, Searle’s ambitions in
building a brand new 18-hole golf course
at Heacham Manor hotel near
Hunstanton on the North Norfolk coast
become crystal clear. Because here, there
is no golf-mad owner building a personal
playground, or experienced course
manager leading the project. Just one
man with a deep admiration for the
industry’s finest links courses and a keen
eye for detail.
Links-look
An established family business, Heacham
Manor is Searles Leisure Group’s latest
venture, having grown from popular
seaside caravan park, Searles Leisure
Resort in Hunstanton. It was here Paul
Searle built his first golf course - an
accessible, nine-hole pay-and-play course
in 1999. “It was an easy course,” Paul
recalls. “The aim was to get people into
70
Sowing the
golf, attracting elderly golfers and
beginners.”
But, on hearing that the farmer owner
of the nearby Heacham Manor was
thinking of retirement, he spotted an
opportunity to expand and cater to the
luxury market. At first snapping up the
land to build the initial nine holes, Paul
soon secured planning permission to
turn the manor house into a fourteen
bedroom boutique hotel, build the
second nine holes and construct twentyfive of the planned 150 luxury log cabin
holiday homes surrounding the site. “It’s
a quality development,” he adds.
Keen to achieve a links-look course, in
keeping with this luxury development,
Paul turned to Collier Turf Care, having
enjoyed a close working relationship with
the company’s managing director,
Andrew Harding, for several years. You
could be forgiven for thinking that it was
Harding that was the driving force
behind the specification of Barenbrug
grass seed across the course and selection
of individual mixtures and cultivars to
achieve that links feel - but, listening to
Paul talk shop with Andrew, and the
Barenbrug area manager, Neil Pettican, it
is clear his commitment to realising his
vision includes him taking an unusually
in-depth interest in grass seed selection
to rival many a greenkeeping
professional.
Hands-on
“I don’t like making decisions on things I
don’t know about,” says Paul of his
knowledge of grass seed selection. “I’ve
worked with both companies before, so
I’ve become quite hands-on with
choosing seed. I wanted a links-style
course, but we’re not on traditional links
soil - we’re on clay/silt soil. So, we’ve put
artificial undulations in and used tall,
willowy, wispy grass - the idea was that, if
you stood on the tee and looked down
the fairway, you would see that links-style
grass. And I think we’ve achieved that.”
Andrew Harding says that the original
pay-and-play course provided an
invaluable insight into which mixtures
“The trip to Scotland to see the new Castle
Course was just unbelievable. Meeting all the
head greenkeepers over a fish and chips lunch
was particularly useful and inspirational”
Paul Searle, Heacham Manor
seeds of love ...
might best perform on the Heacham
Manor site. “Mixtures were chosen as a
result of how the species on the ninehole course had performed, and the soil
types on that course,” he explains. “For
example, we expected the new course to
be a wet site - not excessively, but
drainage is not great and no artificial
drainage has been installed on fairways so we chose mixtures accordingly.”
The fairways and semi-rough have
been sown with an eighty percent
perennial ryegrass and twenty percent
strong creeping red fescue mixture “to,
respectively, give good wear and improve
bottom growth”, Andrew continues.
“Other, longer rough areas are BAR 20,
with long grass ‘splashes’ left to grow up
to full height to seed head, which has
worked really well. The greens are BAR
2, which is exactly what was needed for
them - it just does the job.”
Condition of the course
As you’d expect, Paul designed most of
the holes himself and then
commissioned local contractors to do the
groundwork. The course was seeded
around a year ago. “This was a short
development - no three-year grow-in,”
Andrew continues. “Fast establishment
was required. But the mixtures have
established well - the fescues are
performing particularly well. We’ve got
that links look, but with a
parkland/wilderness look as well.”
Paul says that the team’s next
challenge is maintenance. The day-today maintenance of the course falls to
Estates Manager, Ed Howes, together
with deputy head greenkeeper James
Reins. Both Paul and Ed are happy to
admit that effective maintenance of the
new course has been part of a steep
learning curve - Ed is not a greenkeeper
by trade and says he is still learning a lot.
“I’ve been keen on golf since I was a
youngster,” he says. “I joined Searles
Resort five years ago and learned the
ropes there, working my way up. Like
Paul, I’ve gained a lot of technical
knowledge from Andrew Harding, who’s
also advised on things like machinery
and Verti-draining. This last year has
been a big learning curve!”
The first maintenance hurdle for the
team was one of the driest summers on
record in 2009. “It was a difficult year
without the rain,” Paul says. “That’s the
driest it’s been in twenty years - nine
weeks without a drop! The fairways dried
out and cracked a little, but we refertilised and overseeded them. The
links-style rough was always going to be a
challenge, but their good condition is
testament to the seed choice. It was slow
to establish, but is now performing well.
The ongoing task is to keep it playable
and keep the weeds at bay. We’re now
putting effort into getting to grips with
the maintenance and getting it right.”
Family affair
Paul takes real pride in the quality of the
course. “Our greens are reported to be
some of the best in the county,” he
reveals. “The County Affiliates visited in
early December 2009 and were very
71
Paul with Ed Howes
“After you’ve invested £1million in your
development, do you really want to
scrimp on your playing surface?”
positive about the greens.” He is now
focused on raising membership and
developing a clubhouse as part of his
plans for Heacham Manor to become a
conference centre and wedding venue.
“Feedback so far has been very good.”
He continues to work with Andrew,
who visits once a month, and Barenbrug,
to further develop the grassed golf,
sports, amenity and general landscaped
areas around the 200-acre site. “We’ve
overseeded the existing pay-and-play
course, as well as a bowling green, with
Barenbrug,” he continues. “We’re also
developing a golf practice area into a
cricket square. It’s been sown with BAR
Extreme and my father’s been cutting it this is very much a family affair! We want
to create a decent square and maybe
have a mini-tournament.”
As part of his ongoing education into
the turf and grass seed sector, Paul is now
looking forward to visiting the Sports
Turf Research Institute (STRI) in Bingley
with Andrew. In fact, the undoubted
highlight of Paul’s preparations for his
Heacham Manor specification was a visit
to St Andrews with Andrew and
Barenbrug’s research and development
manager, Jayne Leyland.
“The trip to Scotland to see the new
Castle Course was just unbelievable,” he
enthuses. “I was really impressed – the
mounds were so abrupt. Meeting all the
head greenkeepers over a fish and chips
lunch was particularly useful and
inspirational. I’m a traditionalist. St
Andrews is ‘The Home of Golf ’. I’m very
hands-on with Ed and work closely with
him as a result of this kind of industry
insight.”
Investment
Despite his soil type and limited
budget not being conducive to his
aspirations, Paul has succeeded in
bringing a little slice of St Andrews to
the Norfolk coastline. How? Paul is in
no doubt that careful grass seed
selection has played its part. Your St
Andrews-calibre courses aside, he says
that all too often ‘middle-ground’
course owners invest in ambitious
plans, only to scrimp on the essentials
that can make all the difference.
“After you’ve invested £1million in
your development, do you really want
to scrimp on your playing surface?”
Andrew asks. “Some people ask me to
just sell them the cheapest seed, to
which I ask them if they really want
that, or do they want a quality surface
with disease and drought resistance
and all the benefits top seed brings?
Paul knows that the best thing isn’t
always the cheapest thing, plus also
appreciates the standards of service
and support that working with us and
Barenbrug brings.”
Paul agrees. “It’s not about how
cheap something is. Yes, the price was
right, but the relationship with Andrew
was there. We’re a family business and
believe in the value of long-term
relationships. For example, I’ve been
with the same brewery for fifty years
and the same bank for as long as I can
remember. I call Andrew and
he gets it done. Likewise,
Barenbrug is a quality
product. It’s an investment that’s what it’s all about.”
BAR 20 used to create Links style rough
“There are two
key requirements
here - white
headstones and
green grass. That
might not sound
like a tall order,
but our working
environment
presents a unique
set of challenges”
Les Turner, Grounds Manager
Diligently carrying out their jobs
as groundsmen, but worlds apart
from the roar of the stands, the
glare of floodlights and the
attention of the media, are the
dedicated individuals who tend
memorial sites to military
personnel lost in battle.
Sportsturf contractor MJ Abbott is
about to complete the installation
of the first fertigation system in
Britain at one such site, where
turf management has its own
unique set of challenges.
Report by Ellie Tait
Pride ...
S
ituated on the side of a hill
three miles west of
Cambridge and flanked by
woodland, the American Cemetery
is owned by the American Battle
Monuments Commission (ABMC)
which administers and maintains
twenty-four permanent American
World War II burial grounds.
The thirty acre site was
established as a temporary
cemetery in 1943 on land donated
to the United States by Cambridge
University, and later selected to
become the only permanent
American World War II cemetery
in the British Isles before being
formally dedicated in 1956.
It is the final resting place of
American servicemen and women
who died in the invasions of North
Africa and France, whilst training
in the UK and its surrounding
waters and as crew members of
UK-based American aircraft.
Challenges
The proportion of the site laid to
turf is approximately 20 acres,
which accounts for 75-80% of
Grounds Manager Les Turner’s
team’s workload. Six gardeners, a
mason and a mechanic are
responsible for all aspects of the
site, including the 3,809 white
marble headstones which extend
row upon row in sweeping
concentric arcs across the lawns.
With more than 60,000 visitors
to the site each year, Les’s remit is
clear.
“There are two key requirements
of America
here - white headstones and green
grass,” he explained. “That might not
sound like a tall order, but our working
environment presents a unique set of
challenges.”
“We have very heavy clay soil, so moss
is a problem for us, and we are unable to
use iron as it stains the headstones bright
red. We rely mainly on cultural practices
rather than chemicals to maintain
healthy turf to avoid any damage to
them. We scarify and mow, but we’re
unable to use a strimmer as it also causes
staining.”
Watering and feeding the turf around
the headstones has also proved
challenging.
“The application of turf fertilisers has
been problematic. We’ve sent headstones
away to fertiliser manufacturers for
testing because there have been instances
where they’ve become discoloured and
have had to be replaced. An irrigation
system was installed here in 1992 but it
has reached the end of its lifespan. It got
to the point where we were having five or
six breakdowns per year which is why we
decided to look at our options for
providing water to the site over the
coming years. Because of the heavy clay,
drainage used to be an issue here but
we’ve had a new drainage system put in
with lytag banding which has remedied
the situation.”
An innovative solution
Because of the American connection, the
cemetery contacted Roger Lupton at Lely
UK, the UK Toro distributor, who
suggested five companies that could
tender for the contract.
Wiltshire-based contractor MJ Abbott
was successful at tender, offering the best
overall package and aftercare.
“We wanted a system that would last
thirty or more years,” Les confirmed.
“MJ Abbott have a superb reputation in
golf and, with more than forty years’
experience in water management, we
had confidence that they’d provide us
with support for the lifetime of the
system.”
Last year, Les visited several of the
ABMC’s sites in France where fertigation
systems had been installed. He
immediately saw the advantages of
applying nutrients and water
simultaneously in irrigation - the ability
to carefully control and adjust the supply
of nutrients, with no excesses or
deficiencies, resulting in a uniform
The Reflecting Pools &
Tablets Of The Missing
Between the Visitors Building and the
Memorial Building stretches the
centerpiece Great Mall within which,
and parallel to, the Tablets Of The
Missing lie two giant reflecting pools.
Either side of the pools the walkways
are bordered with flower beds
containing Polyantha roses and
bounded on the north side by a row of
single double-pink hawthorn trees.
The ‘Tablets Of The Missing’ are a
series of large tablets inscribed with
the names of over eight thousand
servicemen killed during the war but
whose bodies were never recovered.
The Tablets Of The Missing are
guarded by four giant statues
depicting a sailor, a soldier, an
aircrewman and a coast guard.
76
surface with better colour and removing
the need to apply granular fertiliser,
reducing leaching losses and the
workload for site staff.
Still somewhat sceptical, but
undeterred, he returned to Normandy
last November with staff from MJ Abbott
to look into the feasibility of such an
installation in the UK.
“One of our sites at Lorraine had the
best grass I had seen last summer in a
non-golf application. The final
specification was based on our
experiences across five sites in Europe. I
had talked to many experts who
repeatedly told me there would be
difficulties.”
At the heart of the new installation is
the fertigation system which is installed
alongside the pump station. The
fertigation system is made up of a
bunded fertiliser tank, a tank mounted
mixer, a variable speed fertigation pump
and a system controller which takes
information from the system flowmeter,
pH and EC sensors. When in operation,
the fertiliser solution is pumped under
pressure into the irrigation pump station
discharge pipework, where it is
thoroughly mixed with the irrigation
water by a bespoke static mixer within
the pipework. The flow-rate is varied as
required to match the current output of
the pump station and the EC and pH
settings made at the controller.
The original specification called for an
‘off the shelf ’ pump station from a
European manufacturer. MJ Abbott has
always built its own pump stations,
allowing the design to be fully
customised to the site requirements.
“After some negotiation, they persuaded
us to give them freedom in this element
of the system,” Les verified. “They
selected pumps, variable frequency
drives and a pump station controller
manufactured by Grundfos. The
controller allows direct communication
between the pump station and the
irrigation control system, and also allows
their support staff to directly access the
pump station via the internet.”
The pump station and system controls
have all been manufactured at the
Les Turner
company’s workshops in Wiltshire.
Stainless steel pipework and valves have
been used to prevent any reaction
between the system components and the
fertiliser.
The pump station and fertigation
system have been installed beneath the
chapel where the walls are 18” thick. The
water supply is drawn from two existing
underground concrete-walled tanks,
which were built as part of the original
cemetery layout.
The fertigation system will feed a new
irrigation system comprising a
combination of spray and drip irrigation,
using equipment manufactured by Toro,
operated from a GDC irrigation
controller, complete with hand-held
radio remote control and a weather
station.
The turf between the headstones will
be irrigated by purpose-made nozzles
produced by Toro for use on all of the
ABMC sites across the world. The nozzle,
fitted to a Toro 754 rotor, produces a
steep spray trajectory, enabling the jet of
water to clear the headstones without
impacting. All the sprinklers are being
installed to precise locations and set
perfectly flat to enable them to work
effectively.
The system will also provide automatic
watering to public walkways and
landscaped areas in the Cemetery Mall,
West Mall, The Flagstaff and around the
Chapel.
Contracts Manager, Nathan George,
accepts that the twelve strong site team
have to work within extremely restrictive
conditions: “It has been a complex
project that has required a huge amount
of attention to detail. The cemetery has
remained open to the public during the
five month contract period, so we’ve had
to be efficient in our methods, exacting
in our reinstatement and respectful of
our surroundings at all times.”
“Working between the headstones has
proved especially challenging. There’s a
very limited turning circle for machinery,
so we used a micro excavator and a pivotsteer pedestrian trencher purchased
specifically for the project to trench
within the 600mm wide gap. The
positioning of the trenches has to be spot
on and each
area left
exactly as we
found it, so the
turf was
removed, then
relaid, in small
sections to
prevent it
drying out.”
positions. Testing and early use of
the system will highlight any issues
with coverage and sprinkler spacings
can be adjusted accordingly. ABMC
has been in negotiations with several
suppliers of soluble fertilisers to run
the system with, and we’re close to
making our final selection.”
In control
The new
system will
give Les a
greater degree
of control over
the
management
of his turf than
previously.
He’ll control
the irrigation
system from his office using Toro’s Site
Pro irrigation software. The fertigation
controller will also be remotely accessed
via a software package which will enable
him to view nutrient doses and historical
data.
Finally, the irrigation pump station has
been fitted with a GSM alarm device,
which will send him a text message
immediately following any fault with the
pump or fertigation system.
Mains water is the only available source
for the site and, with prices rising, Les
says it’s important that water usage is as
efficient as possible to reduce costs.
“We expect to conduct soil tests at
Boomer series
ATING
YE
TZ series
G6000 series
OUR GROUNDCARE RANGE IS
RE
45
ARS
CA
F
BR
twelve week intervals. The new weather
station will aid us with evaluating
evapotranspiration rates to ensure the
correct amount of water is delivered at
head. One major problem we may have
with fertigation is too much rainfall. We
won’t want to waterlog the soil just
because we need to put on additional
nutrition.”
“Because nutrients are being applied
in the irrigation, it’s imperative that the
head-to-head spacing of the sprinklers is
accurate to ensure that there aren’t areas
which receive too much or too little water
and fertiliser. MJ Abbott used a robotic
total station surveying device to ensure
pinpoint accuracy for the sprinkler
Les attended a training course on the
new system in Paris last December
and is in constant contact with his
counterparts in Normandy and
Lorraine about the project. ABMC
feel that the selection of the right
contractor has ensured a smooth
installation and, according to Les,
indications are that there will be few
teething problems.
“The project is on schedule, despite
the harsh conditions experienced this
winter. The on-site team is now finishing
the last sections of landscape irrigation
before starting to test the system.”
He is unperturbed by the prospect of it
becoming operational. “I’m enthused,
not nervous about using it. We’re pleased
to be pioneering the use of such a system
in the UK, and the success of our other
sites on the continent gives us confidence
that it’ll do the job well.”
Pitchcare will be reporting on progress
with the system and Les’s turfcare regime
in a future issue.
VERY WIDE
D
E
O
• Compact Tractors
• Utility Tractors
• Ride-on Mowers
• Attachments
T3000 series
CE L
T4000 series
Testing
GROUN
NEW HOLLAND TOP SERVICE 00800 64 111 111
GROUNDCARE : COVERED
YOUR SUCCESS - OUR SPECIALTY
77
Primo Maxx cuts the time and cost of
golf course management
Primo Maxx application
could reduce the time and
money spent on fairway
mowing – potentially saving
over £4000 a year on
fairways alone
Cranfield University
calculations have shown
Primo Maxx use can cut
overall golf course CO2
emissions by 48% and
management costs by 15%
Enhanced turf quality gives
a better playing surface
with less divot damage and
faster play
Improved root structure
produces healthier turf and
keeps courses looking great
all summer long
Save time and money
with Primo Maxx
LABOUR AVAILABILITY
Up to 20 hours per week
FAIRWAY MOWER COSTS
Down by up to £4350 a year
Input cost rises have
dramatically increased
mowing costs over the past
year – creating even greater
cost savings with a Primo
Maxx programme.
Independent user trials with Primo Maxx applications on
fairways, conducted by STRI, identified that turf managers
could typically reduce the frequency of mowing by 50%,
whilst still enhancing playing conditions.
Results were consistent under a range of fairway management
regimes, often requiring just one cut per week to maintain high
quality fairways. Where mowing remained weekly, the result was
improved turf quality and reduced evidence of clippings left on
the surface.
50%
4
Frequency of mowing (per wk)
In Brief
REDUCTION
3
2
1
0
UNTREATED
Primo Maxx
Source: Observational reports of turf managers undertaking Primo Maxx fairway trials
Save Time and Money
from Tee to Green
In cash strapped times regulating turf growth with Primo Maxx gives
the chance to manage your turf and your time more effectively.
Improve your turf quality with Primo Maxx programmes, tailored from tee to green.
Proven to promote healthier plants to keep your turf looking great and playing well.
Cut your costs and not your quality with Primo Maxx.
Syngenta Crop Protection UK Ltd. Registered in England No. 849037. CPC4, Capital Park, Fulbourn, Cambridge CB21 5XE
E-mail: customer.services@syngenta.com Web: www.greencast.co.uk / www.greencast.ie
Distributed in the UK by Scotts Professional. Tel: 01473 201100 E-mail: prof.sales@scotts.com
Primo Maxx® is a Registered Trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. Primo Maxx (MAPP 13374 and 14780, PCS 02273) contains trinexapac-ethyl. All other brand names
used are trademarks of other manufacturers in which proprietary rights may exist. Always read the label. Use pesticides safely. © Syngenta AG March 2010. GQ.
Trim down fairway mowing costs
Most golf courses typically spend 24 to 40
man hours a week mowing fairways through
the growing season. A Primo Maxx
programme could release up to 20 hours
additional time for essential maintenance
to improve greens, tees and work around
the course.
Reduction in
CO2 emissions
44%
Reduction
in cost
19%
Source:
Cranfield University Centre
for Sports Turf Technology
Fairways looking good
Furthermore, with the cost of running a fairway
mower calculated by greenkeepers at over £11 an hour,
Primo Maxx could save more than £4350 a year in lower fuel,
maintenance and repair bills – along with the opportunity to cut
your carbon footprint by 44%.
Primo Maxx increases the density of fairway turf, creating
a better playing surface on which balls sit higher and cleaner.
The result is a more rewarding experience for players, reduced
risk of divot damage and faster play.
Turf managers always report that Primo Maxx gives greater
flexibility to manage the mowing during difficult weather
conditions and causes the least inconvenience to players.
The improved drought and stress tolerance of Primo Maxx
treated turf ensures fairways stay looking better through the
season and recover faster.
Application recommendation summary
Greenkeepers report a cleaner cut when mowing and, since
the turf is growing slower, any patterns cut into the fairway
stay visible for longer.
Greens and Tees
at 0.4–1.6 l/ha
Maintain cutting height at 4–12 mm
Fairways and semi-rough
at 0.8–2.4 l/ha
Maintain cutting height at 10–18 mm
For full further details of Primo Maxx application recommendations on
tees, greens, fairways and semi-rough areas, along with other sports
turf surfaces, visit the website www.greencast.co.uk
The result is:
t Faster mowing
t Reduced volume for composting
t Sharper, cleaner finish
t Less drop off of grass clumps when mowing
in wet conditions
The activity of Primo Maxx has been shown to reduce
the effects of unsightly summer stalking on fairway turf.
A breath of
fresh air ...
What is aeration for? It is the European
Turfgrass Specialists’ belief that aeration
is a critical component that contributes
to the correct PATH for success
Provide more available oxygen and
pore space within the soil.
Alleviate compaction.
To improve the natural biological
processes taking place within the soil.
For example hydraulic conductivity,
critical tension, nutrient uptake,
growth, water potential tension, natural
breakdown of elements etc.
Help to create the best possible soil
properties within your soil structure.
How do you calculate how often you
should aerate?
The answer to this question depends on
a variety of different factors that need
to be clearly understood. Firstly, you
require a detailed knowledge of your
grass type, and its growth method, to
enable you to know the limits and
requirements of your turfgrass for
healthy growth purposes. Grass
selection should be dependant on your
usage requirements, local weather
patterns, economical restraints and
your own expectations.
Your aeration programme should,
therefore, be engineered to create a
favourable growing environment that
suits your favoured grass selection. It is
critical not to over aerate or to under
aerate turfgrass, and this matter is
therefore worth taking time over.
It is also especially important that a
detailed understanding of your soil
type is recognised in order to produce
a purpose designed aeration
programme.
A primary starting point is, therefore,
to take a physical assessment of your
soil. This would represent an excellent
precautionary measure to help you
classify your soil in line with your own
expectations for your playing surface,
e.g. a clay based soil will not benefit
from the same frequency of aeration as
a sand profile that contains a variety of
different particle sizes.
Once you understand the type of soil
you are working with, i.e. clay, silt,
peat, sand, or perhaps a loam, the next
important detail to be aware of is...
What condition is your soil in?
There exists numerous laboratory tests,
agronomy tools and support that can
help you understand the existing
condition of your soil. Some laboratory
tests are based on the resultant effect of
aeration availability within the soil,
such as the hydraulic conductivity
factor that exists within the soil. This
test describes the ability of a soil to
transmit water flow and is usually
measured in mm h-1. Water movement
is reliant on pore spaces within the soil
and can, therefore, be improved if the
correct pore space is made available.
Oxygen diffuses considerably quicker
through air than it does through water.
Therefore, it is particularly important
to maintain air filled porosity because it
will help you to enable roots to grow
more comfortably and allow more
micro-organisms to respire aerobically.
One particularly useful agronomy
tool, called a penetrometer, will also
help you to determine the actual
density of the soil and other materials.
This tool can be useful to identify any
individual compaction layers that exist
within the soil, and provide you with an
overall indication of the level of
compaction that exists within your soil.
A visual examination will also help
you recognise common features in your
soil:
• Greyish coloured clay may suggest
that water exists for prolonged
periods in the soil, often visible at
depth
• Shallow rooting structures may
indicate stress associated with limited
oxygen in the soil or, perhaps, even
other factors
• An unusual smell could also
highlight stagnation and, therefore,
anaerobic conditions
Aeration will help to prevent the
formation of anaerobic processes and
stagnation, which can potentially
reduce nitrogen availability if allowed
to develop, resulting in the formation of
phytotoxic products.
The soil structure itself could even
reveal different layers and features
throughout. This would certainly
suggest that further investigation is
required in order to appreciate the
actual soil profile’s full potential for
growing healthy turfgrass.
Once you have established a good
understanding of your soil type and its
current condition, an appropriate
aeration programme can then be
created, aimed at producing better
properties within the soil.
Are there any negative aspects
associated with aeration?
In our opinion, yes there are. It is
difficult to admit, but nobody really
truly enjoys the actual act, or the initial
effects, of aeration. The work itself is
often time consuming, it can be both
costly and very labour intensive. It is
often required, at times in the year,
when resources aren’t available and it is
likely to disrupt the playing surfaces
condition on a short term basis.
Any disruption that is caused through
aeration activities on the playing
surface can put an increasing amount
of pressure on the turfcare professional
also. For example, an amateur may
consider this disruption to be
destroying the playing surface in the
short term. This is potentially correct,
as the playing surfaces do tend to
become affected initially. Several
different measurements can be
undertaken to detail the extent of this
disruption. These tests are useful
because they help everyone to
appreciate the full effects of aeration
clearly, and acceptable limits can be
created between the players and the
groundsman or greenkeeper for
working standards.
There are several ways to help offset
any short term disruption caused by
aeration. To start with, players that use
the playing surfaces should be engaged
with to help them understand why the
work needs to be undertaken. The
players must learn to appreciate that
the professional groundsman or
greenkeeper should be given support
and time to plan when this crucial work
can be undertaken, like in any
successful business.
Ideally, aeration work should fit
smoothly into the sporting diary. This
can be agreed between all parties
annually, with allowances for variance
in weather conditions. Communication
between the groundstaff and the players
is, therefore, critical and this is an
especially important aspect for all
groundstaff to initiate.
This communication will help all
parties concerned. In reality, our sports
have possibly exceeded all of our wildest
expectations, in part thanks to the
media. Consequently, our level of
expectation has, potentially, surpassed
our capability.
It is, therefore, important that we
recognise our current position and set
but recognising the problem in the first
place is critical. To offset aeration
disturbance plenty of options are
available. Timing and cost implications
must be considered from a practicality
view point.
A good example of this is if aeration
work was undertaken on a heavy soil in
wet conditions. This, too, can sometimes
be detrimental as it could effect the
structure of the soil. When a soil is wet it
can become considerably unstable and
may restructure as and when it dries out
in a variety of different ways in its own
time. This could produce a permeable
layer that is impenetrable.
How do you aerate?
achievable goals that we can aim to
achieve and deliver. This task can
sometimes be difficult. However, we will
support anyone willing to take these
important steps. This process requires
excellent communication, patience and a
sound knowledge between all interested
parties. The potential rewards of this
process cannot be underestimated.
There is a solution to any problem,
of England,
st
a
E
h
rt
o
N
e
th
..
..
NATIONWIDE!
www.cleveland-land-services.co.uk
82
This is certainly an interesting question
which has been covered before by many
different people. This question does
intrigue us all since the answer seems to
change, constantly.
Traditionally, all aeration practices
have been implemented through the use
of hand tools or machinery that inserts
tines into the ground and heaves. In
more recent times we have seen vast
arrays of equipment that use different
sized and shaped tines aimed at
providing a multitude of different effects.
The use of compressed air being
injected into the ground is now
becoming increasingly popular. This
successful treatment method is proven in
the agricultural world and is commonly
being used to improve tree growth
conditions for the tree roots.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
SPORTS FIELD CONSTRUCTION
SYNTHETIC SURFACES
HARD AND SOFT LANDSCAPING
CRICKET WICKETS AND OUTFIELD
GROUNDS MAINTENANCE
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CIVIL ENGINEERING
LAND DRAINAGE
PLANT HIRE/TRACTOR HIRE
tel: 01642 488328
Compressed air is injected into the
ground at varying depths and levels of
pressure. The soil fissures that are
created are less uniform than traditional
measures and can be far reaching and
hugely advantageous.
High compression injections of water,
fertiliser and other soil amendment
products are now also available on the
market to aid with the aeration process.
Another type of machine was readily
available at Pinehurst Golf Resorts ten
years ago in case of sudden downpours
and extreme weather patterns. The Subair is connected to a pipe drainage
system and it sucks or blows air into the
rootzone for various benefits.
Aeration can even be provided by
inserting soil amendments into the
ground to enhance pore space and soil
structures. Several of these new products
allow you to enhance the oxygen in the
soil in different ways. Many of these
products state on their label that they
offer advantages, and research certainly
shows us this too.
Perhaps a demonstration is the safest
bet if you would like to consider any new
options such as these. Also, try using the
manufacturer’s support network. You
could even consider using an
independent agronomist for additional
support.
Recently, we have started to recognise
that it is not just air alone that
restructures soils but that aeration is one
facet of a larger picture. We must,
however, still focus on getting this aspect
correct and the right amount of pore
space is certainly necessary.
This will partly depend on your
original decision behind soil selection
and grass selection. If you inherit your
site, then testing to benchmark and
identify the different traits that you have
is certainly sensible.
There are numerous methods available
to you but, crucially, you must ensure
that you have a fine balance of aeration,
drainage, thatch control, nutrient
balance and recognise all the relevant
stresses that the playing surface is under.
This will help to achieve the ultimate
goal of producing a suitable playing
surface for the customers. This aim is
surely what we all strive towards, but
finding the right balance for your
aeration programme is not to be
dismissed lightly.
Aeration tests?
There is very little reliable research
available that compares the different
effects of one aerator to another and, so,
this information is currently very
contentious. More research of this nature
is certainly required to help us all
appreciate the best possible methods to
create more pore space within the soil.
In our experience, any aeration
equipment that creates fissures in the soil
will provide an excellent remedy. The
natural contraction of the soil due to the
earth drying out will also help us all as
well, but this cannot truly be relied upon
alone anymore.
Several tests are available to help
benchmark your soil’s existing condition,
and this is the direction that more and
more turfcare professionals seem to be
going down. Each of the individual tests
mentioned earlier in this article will help
you to learn more about the condition of
your soil.
Once you have collated this
information, you will then be able to
recognise, more clearly, the advantages
that you get from different aeration
practices within your soil profile. Tests
can be repeated at any time to help you
see these improvements and monitor any
unforeseen changes that may naturally
occur, perhaps through environmental
changes or changes in maintenance
strategies.
This information must always be
collated in a tidy documented fashion so
that you can recognise any problems that
may occur in advance. This process really
does represent a pro-active method
towards growing healthier turfgrass in
today’s increasingly technological
industry.
In summary, once you know your own
soil’s balance, you can then start to
produce tailor made maintenance
programmes with the sound knowledge
that you are being the most efficient and
effective for your turfgrass.
For further information or assistance with any of
the items discussed, or any other agronomic
matters, please contact The European Turfgrass
Specialists on info@euroturfgrass.com or
telephone 08442 259614.
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can advise on the most suitable machines for your needs.
Call 01428 661222 for information and a demonstration
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83
Taking the
Riens ...
Rien Hardeman, and the job
of a Greenkeeper in Holland,
was brought to our attention
by Redexim Charterhouse.
We wondered what
differences there might be
to the job of looking after a
premier course in Holland, to
one in the UK. We also
wondered if the driving force
to enter the profession for a
Dutchman was significantly
different to the UK. Greg
Doggett, of Pan Publicity,
caught up with Rien to find
out
I
n a wonderfully wooded part of
Holland, the Golf Society of Lage
Vuursche has opted for a very open
and distinctly American style golf
course. Ever-present water hazards,
acres of bunkering, significant earthmounding and often vast, sloping
greens have all been expertly designed
by renowned American golf course
architects Robert Trent Jones II and
Kyle Phillips.
The degree of playing difficulty is
high, which ensures that players are
continually challenged, especially with
all the hazards creating several tight
drives and placing a premium on
excellent approach work. Serpentine
shaped canals and a number of lakes
come into play on twelve holes, whilst
adroit and sometimes raised bunkering
wait to catch an errant shot. The large
greens are easy to find, but it takes
courage to block so many prominent
hazards from a player’s mind.
It opened for play in 2000, and was
an ambitious restoration project which
aimed to revert flat farmland back to its
former glory of rolling terrain flanked
by woodland. Since opening, work has
not stopped, with considerable tree
planting and natural maturity helping
the overall course condition. Ten years
on and the 6900 yard De Lage
Vuursche has firmly established itself
as one of Holland’s best courses. It is
considered a special course but, with
more maturity and constant
maintenance needed, it is a tough job
for head greenkeeper, Rien Hardeman.
Tell us a bit about your background
and education?
I was born in Amersfoort, near Utrecht
in Holland, where our house had quite
a large garden, about 25 metres deep
with a disused school field behind it. I
used to play with my friends on the
field, sometimes digging it up. So, even
when I was five years old, I knew that I
wanted to be on ‘the green side of life’.
My father was a keen gardener and he,
more than anyone, helped sow the
seeds for my eventual career, and most
of my siblings. I have three brothers
and one sister, and all, bar one brother,
work with plants - my sister with
flowers; a brother as a tree surgeon;
and another with me at De Lage
Vuursche.
In Holland, when you reach twelve
years of age you can choose the
subjects you want to study at school. As
I was always keen on gardening I chose
that subject to major on. Of course, we
had to do the regular subjects like
maths, but we are allowed to specialise
in other areas. We had an outdoor area
where we would learn the names of
flowers, plants and trees; plant flowers,
and create small flowerbeds and
gardens from drawings that we were
given. We would learn all the
maintenance aspects of gardening there
as well. As we progressed, the
education became more advanced.
With this broad overview of
gardening from a very young age it was
no surprise that, at sixteen, when I was
ready to attend college, I went to
further advance my horticultural skills
by attending Wellantcollege in Houten.
Wellantcollege is what we call ‘a
green school’ in Holland and is a
specialist college that runs courses in
horticulture, agriculture and farming.
They are not rare in Holland as we are
such a ‘green’ country and there are
many different ones, in different
provinces. I mainly specialised in
garden construction and maintenance
techniques.
What was your first job?
After college in 1994, I got drafted to
do a year’s obligatory military service.
This does not happen anymore but,
back then, each family had to put, if
possible, two boys into national service
for a year. After that was over, I took the
first thing that came along, and that was
truck driving. Not really what I wanted
to do, but it kept me busy until a
position came up more suited to my
passion for the outdoors.
Why did you ultimately choose
greenkeeping?
By accident really! My dad didn’t like
me truck driving, especially in the
winter and, when he was doing a job at
the Hoge Kleij Golf Club near Utrecht,
he asked if there were any jobs going.
Luckily, the present greenkeeper had
just left and he convinced them I was
the man to replace him! Because I’d
stumbled into the job, I wasn’t really
aware of the type of work that
greenkeepers did - but soon learnt!
How did you come to join your present
club?
By 1999 I was a lot more confident
about being a greenkeeper, and was
developing itchy feet and looking for a
new challenge. De Lage Vuursche is
about 10km down the road from Hoge
Kleij Golf Club, and jobs were being
advertised a year before the course was
due to open. Whilst you think you’re
fully prepared to apply to what was
going to be a very prestigious golf club
in Holland, in practice, you’re not. But,
the interview went well and I was
informed I had the job, but had to wait
for De Lage Vuursche to open.
In the intervening time I joined a golf
contractor for a few months to gain
more experience and knowledge. So, in
2000 I started at De Lage Vuursche as
greenkeeper and mechanic, with special
responsibility for looking after all the
machinery.
What sort of a club is De Lage
Vuursche, and how does it compare to
others in Holland?
There are about 200 golf clubs in
Holland, but De Lage Vuursche is one
of the top five most prestigious. It is an
18 hole course based on 60 hectares of
land with around 750 members. We are
a relatively new operation, and have an
extremely high maintenance standard
compared to other Dutch clubs. This is
because, when it opened, the
management company wanted to ‘raise
the standard’ by 50% to that of other
golf clubs in Holland - in fact, the plan
was to make it THE finest golf club in
Holland.
And the management is different in
that it is not controlled by a big
committee, but owned by a management
company called
Golfexploitatiemaatschappij De Lage
Vuursche.
All members at golf clubs in Holland
are also shareholders in the
management companies, not like in the
UK where having members as
shareholders is extremely rare.
It keeps the chain of command
simple and I am in direct contact with
the Managing Director of the course on
a daily basis who, in turn, reports
directly to the management company.
Budgets are approved very quickly.
There is never really a problem with
getting money approved if I need new
machinery quickly. I don’t have a
problem with member’s queries as the
MD at the club was originally a head
greenkeeper, so he answers all their
questions and feeds them back to me. At
my previous golf club, the head
greenkeeper would lose hours of working
time answering questions from
committees. I don’t have to worry about
that here.
How many staff are you in charge of
and what do your day to day duties
involve?
I keep very busy looking after my staff of
nine. I compile and manage yearly and
monthly budgets, construct weekly
maintenance plans with my deputy who
then plans the day to day schedule for
the staff. I have complete control over
the procurement of materials like grass
seed and fertilisers.
I find out about new machinery and
techniques mainly by going to Papendal,
which is basically a Dutch version of
Harrogate. I speak to lots of
greenkeepers there and we discuss
different techniques, I feel that this is the
best way to learn. I also have a good look
at new machinery and products on the
market and, every other year, I travel to
the big golf show in the US as well.
Like all greenkeepers today, I think,
our job doesn’t just finish with the
maintenance of grass. We also have to do
the inventory for other types of
maintenance on the course, including
repairing benches, replacing flags and
signs. All of those activities are taken care
of by my staff - we are completely self
sufficient.
What do you think the main
differences are between your role as a
greenkeeper and one in the UK?
Amongst some of the main differences is
education. As I said earlier, I was able to
choose what I wanted to do when I was
twelve, so that is when I basically started
my training, in the UK you don’t start
that early! Although I’ve never worked in
the UK, I believe the recognition of a
greenkeeper’s job is understood. Whilst
here in Holland, you could be in a bar
having a drink and someone asks you
what you do for a job - say ‘greenkeeper’
and they look totally confused!
I feel that working with a Management
Company (made up of three people) is
definitely easier than spending hours
arguing my point with a committee, like
in the UK. Committees are usually made
up of people who are retired and have
too much time on their hands. They
become too involved and this holds
86
everything up. I am able to compromise
rather than argue when I require
something.
Another big difference that a
greenkeeper in Holland has compared to
the UK is the use of fungicides and
pesticides. Up until three years ago we
weren’t allowed to use anything for
tackling pest problems and things such
as dollar spot etc. In the UK you can
pretty much use anything. However, in
2007, EU changed legislation here and
we were allowed to start using a choice of
three products: Scotts Heritage, Signum
and Caramba.
However, there are still environmental
groups who want to see the use of
fungicides and pesticides banned because
they believe they cause serious damage
to the environment. I believe they are
perfectly safe if they’re used sensibly.
The Dutch government has spent an
incredible amount of money on
researching the effects of fungicides and
pesticides on the environment and
habitats. That research was so thorough
that it has satisfied a lot of critics, but
you still get inevitable cynics.
In the UK, we have the British and
International Golf Greenkeepers
Association (BIGGA), are you a member
of any such association in Holland?
I am a member of the NGA (Netherlands
Greenkeeper Association) and we work
closely with FEGGA (Federation of
European Golf Greenkeepers
Association). There is also a
Groundsman’s organisation in Holland,
but greenkeepers don’t have much
interaction with them whatsoever; there
are no tie ups at all and I don’t even
know the name if it!
I like to come over to the BIGGA show
in Harrogate every year, last time I also
visited a UK golf club. I was very
surprised to see a sign that read ‘No
Women and Dogs Allowed’! This took me
back somewhat as I, and all of Holland,
don’t see any difference whatsoever with
women playing golf. There is no issue
here.
Is there a difference between Dutch
soil and that in the UK?
In Holland we have a lot of different soil
types. In fact, De Lage Vuursche is built
on pure white sand. The last Ice Age
stopped about two to three kilometres
short of Utrecht and forced white sand
into this area. The white sand that you
see in our bunkers is the same white sand
that the course sits on - we haven’t had to
import any sand whatsoever! The golf
course constructors just laid down some
‘organic matter’ and fertilisers, which
gave us enough to grow grass on.
Do you think the seasons are that
different from the UK?
I think the main difference is that the
UK has heavier rainy seasons. We have
600 sprinklers placed all over the course,
so this covers us for the drier periods. We
also have a very good drainage system
that is superb in the wetter months. The
summer months reach a similar
temperature to that in Southern
England, between 20-25OC.
Because the land is so flat in Holland,
does this affect the construction/
maintenance methods?
Well, yes. Because the land is very flat,
the Dutch golf course constructors have
become experts in building man-made
hills. If we want a hill out here we have
to build it, this is common practice now!
The course was designed with a lot of
eventualities in mind. I would say the
main problem is that, every now and
again, we get a problem with water
building up in the lower laying land
(running down from the hills), our
drainage system eventually deals with
this though, so we don’t get any real big
problems.
We always like to ask anyone we
interview ‘what’s in your shed’?
The pulling power is provided by
Carraro tractors with Ransomes Jacobsen
and Toro mowers, along with a
Charterhouse Verti-Drain and
Charterhouse Verti-Core. We also have
Cushman Turf-Trucksters and an electric
EZ-GO buggy to move staff about - they
help to keep the noise down for the
people playing on the course.
Tell us about your Verti-Drain and why
you bought it
It’s a 7215 model and we bought it
because it’s Dutch made, and also for a
lot of other reasons! We bought it eight
years ago from a local dealer, Gebr.
Bonenkamp, where we also bought the
Carraro tractors from. I was used to
working with them at my previous golf
course. We’d had one for over fifteen
years, so I knew they were reliable. My
old boss always said that, when Redexim
Charterhouse put something onto the
market, you know it is going to be quality
and it has never let me down.
It’s the original and best aerator; other
companies are just following their lead.
It may not be the quickest paced aerator
on the market, but it does a thorough
job.
We have a word for a piece of
machinery in Holland, and that’s
‘Degelijk’ (pronounced ‘Day-ge-lict’),
which means reliable and trustworthy,
and a vertidrain is definitely ‘Degelijk!’ I
like the fact that you can adjust the
angles of the tines, change the working
speed, it’s relatively quiet and you can
use a good choice of tines for different
working depths.
What’s your opinion on aeration?
We don’t really have a problem with the
ground being too hard or dry for
aeration, as we have such a good
irrigation system. However, I won’t aerate
if the weather is too wet, this will cause
more damage than good! You will soon
know if the ground is too wet as a lot of
water will come out of the ground as
soon as you start vertidraining. I like to
aerate the greens about four or five times
a year and the tees about two or three
times a year. I like to do this in March, if
it’s not too wet, (8mm tines), April (8mm
tines) and again in October with larger
12mm tines with a different angle to
break up the soil. For the fairways, I use
a contractor twice a year as it is such a
huge job. The contractor has four 7626
Verti-Drains - the largest Verti-Drain
machine that Redexim Charterhouse
make.
Finally, how has the recession
affected the golf market in Holland?
At De Lage Vuursche, we haven’t really
been affected by the recession. The one
difference I would say is that we used to
have a big waiting list for membership
before the recession, now we don’t have a
waiting list! As far as existing members
are concerned, there is no change. In
fact, to ‘up’ the
standard even
more, I have
just taken on
another
employee. This
is also because
the members
requested
changes and, to
make those
changes, I
needed another
man, so we
went ahead!
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87
iBelieve...
As controversy builds around the pros and cons of
coated seed, Pitchcare will look at all sides of the
argument, beginning with the views of Derek Smith,
Amenity Sales Manager for DLF Trifolium, the
creators of iSeed
T
he notion of coated seed is nothing
new. It has been with us for some
time now and is widely available from
suppliers and producers.
What is new, however, is the efficacy of
coated seed. For the first time in the
turfcare sector, a product has emerged
that stands up to the scrutiny of both
independent testing and the end user.
Advanta’s Headstart and Growmax,
Rigby Taylor’s ESP, and Turfguard from
DLF Trifolium are among those long
familiar to seed specifiers. With the
exception of Turfguard, which is seed
coated with a biological inoculant,
virtually all coated seed incorporates
seaweed extracts, which offer some
benefits for the seed when it is growing in
nutritionally poor substrates such as sand.
Typically, such coated seeds may contain
less than 1% fertiliser.
End users are telling us that iSeed®
presents a massive leap forward for our
industry. It combines a full strength 20%N
controlled release feed (more go in it than
most fertilisers on their own) with top
seed genetics in a fully targeted way.
By feeding the seed, it allows new
seedlings to establish in competitive
swards without feeding the surrounding
established weed grasses. This is
undeniably a first in the industry.
iSeed has been developed to help end
users deliver more sustainable solutions to
their turfcare programmes by reducing
input of pesticides, fertilisers and water.
And current best practice in
overseeding is acknowledged to rely on a
combination of less fertiliser, use of a
growth regulator such as PrimoMaxx,
sand slitting/injection with a Graden
followed by sowing. Within this
88
environment, iSeed can deliver
significantly improved take-up to boost
the efficiency of the process.
It has taken several years of
collaboration between DLF Trifolium and
the Yara fertiliser company, an
international leader in its field, to develop
the product, with the aim of combining
optimum grass seed genetics with all the
nutrients needed by a seedling in a single
coating. The result is to improve
establishment of the plant but also to
reduce inputs.
Only after extensive trials in the
laboratory, the greenhouse and by end
users has iSeed been developed, then
successfully tested in user trials across
Europe.
In the words of the STRI, which
conducted trials on iSeed in 2007: “The
treatment significantly affected
establishment and growth, improving the
rate of both.”
Independent tests also conclude that
take-up of iSeed is four times greater than
using broadcast fertiliser.
The golf sector, especially, is set to
benefit. In winter, customers are reporting
up to a third more new plants growing, all
with greater root and shoot strength. Wear
tolerance and ground cover is significantly
increased also, they say.
DLF Trifolium is rolling out iSeed®
across the sporting spectrum. The Ji Tee,
and Ji Fairway (the latter including Manet
hard fescue) mixtures are now available to
serve the golf market.
Ji Premier Wicket incorporates Dickins
and Libero perennial ryegrasses, the
former rated top for visual merit in the
2010 STRI Turfgrass seed guide, while Ji
Premier Pitch includes Bizet perennial
Main image: Treated sward
Inset: untreated sward
ryegrass.
The quantity of iSeed® ordered since
its launch at Harrogate Week in January,
offers us proof of the benefits that end
users perceive in adopting
it within their turfcare
programmes. Time will
tell how they fair, but
DLF will be closely
monitoring their progress
as the first sowings come
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One golf course owner
who is blazing a trail for
sustainability and wildlife
is Paul Stevenson, a
director of New Malton
Golf Club, which lies on
the River Cam near
Royston in Hertfordshire.
As well as cutting down on
chemical and water use in
his bid to create the UK’s
first fully organically
managed golf course, he
is using around 100 acres
of out-of-bounds areas on
the course to create
habitats for birds, insects
and animals
Report by Steve Mitchell
I
“I want to prove to the
world of golf that you can
encourage wildlife and
reduce chemical use, but
still have a great course
which makes a profit”
Paul Stevenson, Director, New Malton Golf Club
n the past, golf courses have been
criticised by green groups for excessive
water, pesticide and fertiliser use, but a
joint publication announced last
November by the RSPB and golf ’s
governing body, the R&A, called Birds and
Golf Courses: A Guide to Habitat
Management, marks a change in attitude by
the industry. This new handbook
highlighted golf courses across the UK
where wildlife-friendly measures have
been a success, and aims to help golf clubs
do more for birds and other wildlife,
especially those whose habitat is under
threat.
Across the UK there is said to be
140,000 hectares of rough and out-ofbounds areas on golf courses which could
be managed for wildlife. As a comparison,
this is the same sized area covered by all
the RSPB’s UK nature reserves.
“We already have a thriving group of
herons and a large number of
New beginning
for New Malton
woodpeckers here, as well as barn owls,
otters, water voles, badgers and a stoat,
several of which are endangered species,
and it’s something our members love to
see,” says Paul Stevenson. “One group
regularly come along early in the
morning to play when the wildlife is at its
most active, and then they come and tell
us what they’ve seen.”
“I want to prove to the world of golf
that you can encourage wildlife and
reduce chemical use, but still have a
great course which makes a profit.”
Set amongst 230 acres of peaceful and
gently undulating Cambridgeshire
countryside, yet only eight miles from
Cambridge city centre, New Malton Golf
Club’s 18 hole course slopes down
towards and beyond the picturesque
River Cam. The course was originally
designed in consultation with Bruce
Critchley, the Sky Sports commentator
and former Walker Cup Player, and
opened in 1994.
Paul Stevenson works alongside codirectors Brian Mudge, the club’s golf
professional and one of the UK’s few
PGA Fellows, and John Atkinson, who is
that rare thing on golf courses, a fulltime ecologist. Brian is an experienced
county junior coach, and is busy building
up junior membership for the first time
at New Malton, while John’s job is to
manage the club’s horticultural and
conservation activities.
“The three of us have been talking
about this for the last five or six years,
says Paul. “We all have our own passions,
but we also all share the same outlook,
which is to show the world of golf that it
can be done - there is no truly
organically run golf course in Britain as
far as I’m aware.”
“New Malton is also designed to be an
antidote to the traditional stuffiness and
elitism of golf, with no barriers,” he
adds. “We want people to enjoy
themselves and have fun - there’s no
dress code, for example, but we do have
a ‘code of respect’, and we actively
encourage children, as they are the
future of golf. We are trying to set up
sponsorships and scholarships, for
example, particularly to enable
underprivileged kids to learn the game,
play and develop their skills.”
“Membership costs just £115 annually,
and it’s £10 to play during the week or
£15 on weekends. The course is currently
6700 yards long, but we will be
constructing new tees to take it over 7000
yards. This work will be done by course
constructors, Contour Golf, who are also
supplying all our grass seed, exclusively
from DLF Trifolium.”
“We were looking for the right site for
quite a while and, when we found New
Malton, it was perfect for what we wanted
to do. The fairways, roughs and greens
only cover around 65 acres altogether,
with the rest providing what we need to
do the conservation work on a big
enough scale to make an impact.”
“The previous pay-and-play golf course
was laid out like a championship course,
but its condition was quite poor when we
took it over last summer. Fortunately,
from our point of view, they already had
a minimal input system in place, which
was quite beneficial for wildlife. They
hadn’t used any fertiliser on the fairways
or rough areas for at least six years, apart
from liquid seaweed sprays, but overall
the course was poorly managed.”
“The soil here is chalky clay, and I had
assumed the fairways would be a solid
pan, as I couldn’t get a soil profiler to
even go into the ground during last
summer’s drought. However, when we
dug down I was astonished to find one of
the best root systems of any golf course
I’ve ever seen. There was around eight
inches of strong root growth and no pan
at all, just very friable soil going all the
way down the profile.”
“The organic matter content has been
measured at 13 per cent, which is twice
as much as the average for clay soils of
this type, so that’s a good start. After
some recent flooding at the end of
February, the course suffered 40mm of
rain in 24 hours and was under water up
to six feet deep in places - however, a day
later, we were able to open eight holes,
which were bone dry, and I think the
overall root structure had a lot to do with
the course’s quick recovery.”
“We still need to embark on a major
programme of aeration on the greens,
most of which consist of 70 to 80 percent
poa annua, and the rest bentgrass. We
inherited around 50mm (2in) of root
growth only on the greens, so we’re using
solid spikes and Thatchaway units, plus a
PAUL Stevenson and his co-directors took over
the course at New Malton, which was in generally
poor condition, in August 2009, and this
coincided with John Deere introducing its new
range of hybrid walk-behind and ride-on greens
and fairway mowers. As a result, the club bought
the first 8000e E-Cut lightweight three-wheeled
fairway mower sold in the UK, as well as a 220e
walk-behind greens mower and a 2500e triplex
greens mower, on a five-year John Deere Credit
lease package from local dealer A J & R
Scambler & Sons at Bourn in Cambridgeshire.
“Reduced fuel consumption is a major feature
of these new mowers for me,” says Paul. “If I can
eventually convert them to use biofuels, this will
make them even more eco-friendly, with even
lower emissions. When you’re running a golf
course equipment fleet, fuel and emissions
savings are a significant factor, and we’re aiming
to make considerable savings in these areas.”
“I believe John Deere mowers are the best on
the market,” he adds. “In particular, the new
220e walk-behind mower is a big improvement
on previous models, with its floating head. The
8000e fairway mower, equipped with grass
boxes, is also a very versatile machine – because
of its manoeuvrability, we can use it on the tee
boxes as well as on the fairways, as it cuts more
quickly than a triple mower. We’re quite excited
about this new machine and what it can achieve
for us on this course.”
“We will be hand mowing the greens at 3.5 to
4mm three or four times a week in season for a
better finish, and only use the triple at weekends
just to keep ahead of the growth. Everything we
do here has a reason, economic as well as
environmental. I truly believe we can run the
course more economically using our own
resources and methods, with no detriment to
good quality golf.”
“It’s not just a question of throwing money at
it, we have to do the job realistically. The finance
package was a very good deal for us in that
respect – we know what our maintenance costs
are going to be for the next two years, and the
lease is costing us considerably less than our
previous package with depreciation and repair
costs.”
“We know we are going to make an impact
with these new machines,” says Paul. “The
investments we are making show that we are
totally committed to improving the course, and to
our future plans for the club and the local
environment.”
Left to right: Greenkeepers Jason Clark and Stephen
Fletcher, Gordon White from dealer A J & R Scambler &
Sons, New Malton Golf Club director Paul Stevenson and
dealer Ed Scambler, with the John Deere fleet including
the new E-Cut hybrid mowers.
92
“You cannot just do it ninety
percent of the time - that’s
like being a vegetarian six
days a week”
sarrel roller, once or twice a week, to
get air into them, followed by a
compost spray. However, we won’t
overseed the greens until the end of the
season when, hopefully, conditions will
be right for fescues to grow and thrive
in.”
“On the fairways we are going to
deep scarify, overseed and compost to
further increase organic matter,
although controlling the growth of
weed grasses in particular will be a
problem. We will try to scarify little and
often, using a Striegel high speed
spring-tine cultivator that folds out to
8m. This takes out the weeds but
doesn’t rip out the fescues - we’re
thinking of putting it on to the front of
our John Deere rotary mower to see if
that helps to speed up the process.”
“One of the biggest problems is the
rough, which have incredibly uneven
growth, so we will need to deep scarify
three or four times, remove all the
debris, and then we’ll overseed those in
the autumn.”
“All the grass clippings from the
greens, tees and fairways will be
collected and used in a ‘tea composting’
system - effectively this is a giant tea
bag, in which material is heated for up
to 48 hours, with fungal additives such
as yucca plant and fish extracts to help
multiply the bacteria. We have linked up
with biological specialists Symbio, and
solely use their totally organic range of
treatment products on the course. The
compost will be applied little and often
on the tees, greens and fairways,
probably every couple of weeks from
late March right through to December.”
“We are also going to try and use
dwarf clover as a nitrogen fixer. This is
a new method of sustainable grass
management, with the potential to
produce around 70 units of natural N
per year. I know most greenkeepers
would be horrified at introducing clover
to a golf course, but we’re going to see
if it works this year and, if it does, we’ll
use it more widely in future. If
everything goes to plan, in two or three
years the fairways should be top
quality.”
“The greens are already looking very
green, even in mid-winter. We’ve been
regularly spiking and topdressing them,
and the immediate surrounds, with a
zeolitic rock fertiliser, although you
need to do this six or seven times for
every equivalent spray application over
the same period. This is designed to
increase root growth and firm up the
greens, as well as encourage water
retention so that we can cut down on
our overall water usage - it should also
make them more drought resistant in
the summer.”
“We are also topdressing the greens
once a month with pure sand. This has
already had a very positive effect on
firming up the greens over the winter,
and has kept them a good colour as
well. Two consecutive nights of heavy
frosts after the flooding, down to minus
seven degrees, meant the grass looked
pretty awful across the course, but once
we’d taken a cut off the top it quickly
started to look much greener.”
“Admittedly, managing a golf course
organically is a lot of hard work, so we
need the commitment of our
greenkeeping staff, Jason Clark and
Stephen Fletcher, but they’ve really
bought into the concept now. When you
are having to resort to mechanical
methods of weed control, for example,
you have to be prepared to do more
physical work to achieve good results. If
you are going to commit to this
approach, though, you have to commit
fully and take what comes. You cannot
just do it ninety percent of the time that’s like being a vegetarian six days a
week.”
Other plans for the site are equally
ambitious. Amongst the many projects
already underway are: the planting of
lavender beds to attract bees,
so that the honey can be used
and sold in the clubhouse
restaurant; the establishment
of a fritillary water meadow,
which would rely on flooding
from the River Cam; a fruit
orchard and cider press; a
one acre vegetable plot, again
for growing produce for the
club’s own use - this will be
split to compare and contrast
organic and biodynamic
cultivation methods; and a
children’s education centre
built in the woodland, for use
by local schools, with a
kitchen to demonstrate the
nutritional aspects of
organically grown food.
“We want to make the
whole site accessible for
education as well as
entertainment,” says Paul
Stevenson. “We will also have
a link to a neighbouring
Scope home for cerebral
palsy children, who will be
encouraged to grow their own
fruit and vegetables here,
with specially built ramps and
pathways to allow them easy
access.”
The biggest non-playing
areas on the course will be
turned over to ancient
meadowland, which will be
fenced off and grazed with
rare cattle and sheep. These
areas will also produce good
quality hay and sustain rare
species of wildlife.
“We have joined up with
the RSPB, whose
headquarters are just a few
miles away, to establish the
ancient meadowlands,”
explains Paul. “Wimpole Hall,
our neighbouring National
Trust property, has traditional
livestock, including shire
horses and rare breed
Longhorn, Irish Moiled and
British White cattle, as well as
antique farm equipment for
replicating ancient methods
of tillage and harvesting,”
says Paul. “We have also gone
into partnership with a local
John Atkinson
farmer to graze his Lincoln
Red cattle here.”
“We are doing research on
the best seed mix to put into
these meadowland areas.
Encouraging the correct
wildlife species will help to
control pests and diseases on
the golf course. So, if we
attract a large bird
population, we can effectively
control worms. Reduced
pesticide use also means an
increase in beneficial wildlife,
so stoats can keep the rabbit
population down naturally,
for example.”
“If you take the time to
explain that we’re going
organic, the club members
are very supportive of what
we’re trying to achieve - we
certainly need them to buy
into what we’re doing as well.
Everything is an experiment,
as there is no set standard for
organic golf. Basically, we are
trying to write the rule book
here, to show that it can be
done effectively and
beneficially, while reducing
chemical usage to zero.”
“We are keen to enroll likeminded people in this project,
too,” adds Paul. “I’d be very
happy to exchange ideas and
advice with others, as I believe
we really can’t achieve what
we’re trying to do here alone.
We need to spread the word,
and involve not just our local
community, but the whole
community of golf.”
As we were going to press,
we learned that the club had
taken on a new head
greenkeeper, Ben Scrivener
(26) who, after leaving Writtle
College in 2003, joined as
assistant greenkeeper at
Benton Hall Golf Club. He
worked his way through the
ranks to become acting
course manager. Ben says he
is very excited by what is
happening at New Malton
and is looking forward to the
challenge.
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93
Moving from golf greenkeeper to
football groundsman is not an
uncommon career path. A Brit
abroad, doing it in Scandinavia is,
perhaps, slightly more unusual.
Steven James tells is story
H
ello fellow sports turf
professionals! My
name is Steven James
and I am a British born
football groundsman who
relocated to Scandinavia
nearly a decade ago.
I’m just starting my
second season at the Sør
Arena in Kristiansand on
Norway’s South coast, the
home of top flight
Norwegian football club, IK
Start.
The stadium was built in
2007 and replaced the
nearby Kristiansand
Stadion where the club had
been in residence for the
previous 100 years or so.
The Sør Arena has an all
seated capacity of 14,500.
Prior to starting at the
Sør Arena I worked for a
local golf club (Bjaavann
GK). I started there in 2002
but moved on when the
position became available at
the stadium, mainly because
football is a big interest of
mine, and I always wanted
to work in that
environment.
I came late into the world
of sports turf (in my mid
30’s) having worked in
many different areas
previously. I decided to
combine some previous
experience with landscape
gardening and my love of
sport, particularly football.
I went on to take a
National Certificate in
Sports turf, followed by a
HND in Golf Course
Management. I also have a
Bachelor degree in Leisure
Management.
At the stadium, we are a
two man team that consists
of myself and Geir Lie, the
head groundsman. Geir has
been working in the turf
industry for nearly fifteen
years and was formally the
head greenkeeper at
Bjaavann GK.
One important thing to
mention here is that we
don’t work directly for the
football club. We are
outside contractors who
work, and are based, at the
stadium. We actually work
for a company from nearby
Grimstad, whose main
business is producing
organic soil improvers
utilising recycled materials
such as household waste.
The name of the parent
company has recently been
changed to Høst, though
we work for a subsidiary
called Agder vekst.
The company supplies
material to the turf
industry, but our stadium
work is the first time they
have ventured into the
world of turf maintenance.
I usually take care of dayto-day maintenance and
match day preparations.
Geir takes care of the office
work, most of the
machinery maintenance
(not my strong point!),
special operations at the
stadium, a growing number
of outside contracts and the
many media enquiries we
have.
IK Start play a total of
fifteen home league games
a season. The season starts
in mid March and
continues through to early
November. Gaps between
home games can vary
between a week and three,
Norway
Typical snow clearing
The Tru-Turf roller has been of particular use
for us by helping to produce a smooth, fast
surface that is of prime importance to the
football club
to treat a pitch...
Snow blower in action
Recovering snow mould
Hot air tent
even four, weeks, but the usual gap is the
standard two weeks.
On top of the league fixtures we can
expect to host between one and four cup
games plus one or two representative
games - anything from local junior
football to national under 21 fixtures.
The arena has also played host to a
number of outdoor summer concerts.
We have been visited by Sir Elton John,
Dolly Parton and, this year, it’s Aha.
As with a lot of other clubs in
Scandinavia, the team use the main
stadium pitch for the majority of training
sessions. This can add up to five sessions
a week in the middle part of the season,
and has a big influence on how and
when we perform maintenance tasks.
Cutting heights start off at 21mm in
early season down to 15mm in mid
season, remembering it’s a summer
football season here. We have, so far,
only used cylinder mowers on our pitch.
Under the tent
We have a number of options when it
comes to aeration (we have a Verti-drain
and an Aercore), but we use the
Eurogreen Perforator more than the
other forms of aeration. For those not
familiar with this piece of kit, it aerates
by piercing the surface with hollow tines,
reaching a depth of up to 6 cm. It
operates at high speed and also allows
you to overseed as you aerate.
Talking of seed, the pitch was
originally laid with turf incorporating a
ryegrass/smooth stalk mix, but we have
now gone over to overseeding with a
three cultivar ryegrass only mix. We are,
however, still experimenting with
different grass types/mixes, especially in
the shaded areas.
We feed with a variety of products,
some of which will have trade names you
will be familiar with, some not; Anderson
(8:0:16), Eurogreen starter (17:24:8),
Calcinit, Superba Gul, Farmura Ferrosol,
to name a few. In 2009 we fertilised a
total of twenty-seven times, both by hand
and tractor mounted sprayer.
Verticutting is performed a number of
times during the season, and we use an
Amazone borrowed from the local golf
course for this purpose.
The pitch was constructed on the
USGA model, but with some differences.
For instance, the drainage features 5cm
pipes that have 15 metre spacings.
Rootzone depth is 30cm and
incorporates 20% volume (2.1% weight)
of organic material - recycled organic
material supplied by our company of
course!
The pitch size is the International
Football Association Board (IFAB)
standardised measurement of 105m long
and 68m wide, which, in case you were
wondering, gives a total area of 7140
square metres. We have two metre wide
TWENTYQuestions
Steven James - doesn’t want to be Brown, but likes
the smell of getting brown!
Who are you? Steven James, Assistant
groundsman, Sør arena, Kristiansand,
Norway.
Family status? Single.
Who’s your hero and why? Mahatma
Gandhi. He brought about much needed
change for his country and tried to do it
peacefully.
What is your dream holiday? Probably
to go back to Australia and visit the places
I did twenty-odd years ago.
What annoys you the most? People who
see things only in black and white.
What would you change about
yourself? Get more sleep and learn
Norwegian properly!
romantic evening with? Ha ha.. Anyone?
If you won the lottery, what is the first
thing you would do? Work out who I
would be giving money to and how much
they would deserve!
If you were to describe yourself as a
musical instrument, what would you be
and why? A drum kit. Can be very loud on
occasions and very quiet at other times.
What’s the best advice you have ever
been given? “Sleep on it”.
What’s your favourite smell? Piz Buin
suntan lotion. Brings back memories of
holidays in hot places.
What do you do in your spare time?
Spend too much time on the internet!
Who wouldn’t you like to be? The prime
minister or other high ranking politicians.
It seems like a thankless task to be
involved in the world of politics.
What’s the daftest work related
question you have ever been asked?
An obvious one, but get asked all the time,
“how do you get the stripes in the grass?”
Favourite record, and why? Too many to
mention, but probably something from The
Who.
What’s your favourite piece of kit? The
trusty mower.
Who would you choose to spend a
What three words would you use to
describe yourself? Young at heart.
What talent would you like to have? To
be more musical. I have a set of drums
but can’t really play them properly.
What makes you angry? Narrow
mindedness.
What law/legislation would you like to
see introduced? No Christmas related
items allowed in shops until after the 1st
of December.
Results of using the Perforator
First training session in March
Redexim Verti-drain
SR72 Tru-Turf roller
Linemarker
Scotts AccuPro fertiliser spreader
Tractor mounted sprayer
Small rotary mower for run off areas
Home made snow clearing brush that
affixes to the three point linkage of the
tractor
The Tru-Turf roller has been of
particular use for us by helping to
produce a smooth, fast surface that is of
prime importance to the football club.
We also try to use the spiker of the TruTurf at least once a week.
Another way we maintain a level and
true playing surface is by performing
hand repairs after each game and
training session. We have some home
made repair tools for this job.
As with many modern stadia, we have
problems with shaded areas. This is of
particular concern during the early
spring months of the season (see main
image), when sunlight is only falling on
half, or less, of the surface.
We are, however, lucky enough to have
the use of two full size light rigs supplied
to us by the Mobile Lighting Rig
company in Stavanger. Actually, we only
need to use one of the rigs these days.
So, if anyone is interested in a second
hand rig, get in touch!
Even though the stadium is fully
enclosed (bar one corner tunnel area) air
flow is not a problem, as this aspect was
thought of in the design phase. There
are openings at both ends of the stadium
and, as it is also situated next to a fjord,
run off areas down the sides and three
metres at each end.
Irrigation is taken care of by a 12 head
Rainbird pop-up system with two fully
rotational on-pitch sprinklers. We
irrigate prior to every match, and during
the half time break if the away side
agrees to it.
As you would expect, we have an
undersoil heating system. This heat
transfer system makes use of recycled
waste water that enters the stadium after
it has been piped away from nearby
industries. Local residents also take some
of their heating this way.
The only weed control we have had to
do has been by hand. We have removed
some broadleaf plantain in localised
areas, but that’s been about it. Oh, and I
should mention some Poa intrusion to
the playing surface. But, then, who
can’t?!
Pest control has also not been a
problem so far. We have occasional worm
activity, but very little, as you would
expect on a sand based construction.
We are lucky enough to have
equipment that is no more than three
years old. Here is a run down of what we
have at our disposal:
John Deere 2653 mower
John Deere 3520 compact tractor (with
front hydraulics)
John Deere Aercore 1500
John Deere TC125 Turf Collection
System
Eurogreen Perforator
Eurogreen Portax (Sander)
Eurogreen Allround brush
there is, more often than not, a decent
breeze blowing. This helps keep disease
down to a minimum, although we do
have the problem of snow mould after
the snow is removed for the start of the
season. This we try to keep to a
minimum with an Amistar application at
the end of the season.
One area I really should cover (and I
thought I would leave it until last) is how
we manage to prepare a decent enough
playing surface for a football season that
starts just as the Norwegian winter is
letting go of its icy grip.
The season in Norway has been
starting earlier and earlier, and this has
led to a growing headache for
groundsmen over here.
To cut a long story short, Geir has, for
the last three years, made use of the four
piece pitch cover we have. Basically, the
four pieces are laid out and then sown
together creating one large sheet. This is
then tied off and hot air is pumped
under the sheet using industrial air
blowers. I realise this system is nothing
new to UK groundsmen (Filbert Street in
the 70s!), but we have pioneered its use
here in Norway and, this year, a number
of clubs have followed suit.
I should also mention the ten
thousand or so cubic metres of snow we
had to remove from the pitch this year
before this work could commence! Or
the continued brushing away of the snow
after the tent was erected (sometimes
working at night). But I
really don’t want to
think about that!
Thanks for listening.
Steven.
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97
In to Africa!
Chris Hague, Head
Groundsman at the
Parken Stadium in
Denmark, was one of a
number of groundsmen
hand-picked by Support
in Sport, to work at the
Africa Cup of Nations.
Here, he gives an
overview of working in
Africa
Introduction
The Africa Cup of Nations was first
held in 1958. It was sanctioned by the
Confederation of African Nations
(CAN) and is a biennial competition
between the top sixteen international
teams in Africa. Angola was selected as
host for the this year’ tournament.
Support in Sport (SIS) was awarded
the contract to design and build the
football pitches.
The Republic of Angola is situated in
south central Africa and was a
Portuguese overseas territory from
the 16th century to 1975.
Following
independence, an intense civil war was
fought between 1975 to 2002.
The country’s resources include oil
and diamonds, however, its life
expectancy and infant mortality rates
are both ranked amongst the worst in
the world. In August 2006, a peace
treaty was signed with a faction of the
FLEC, a separatist guerrilla group from
the Cabinda enclave in the north, which
is still active. About 65% of Angola’s oil
comes from that region.
I have enjoyed a successful
relationship with SIS in previous years.
George Mullan of SIS contacted myself,
Alan Ferguson of Ipswich Town and
Steve Bache of Hampden Park, amongst
others, to ensure the tournament
preparations were successful.
The scale of the project in
Angola,
considering
the time
frame, was
immense. The
brief to SIS was to
design and build fifteen
pitches. Stadiums at
Benguela, Lubango, Cabinda and
the capital, Luanda, would stage the
matches, with training centres at each
location.
SIS completed all pitches for the
CAN 2010 in early November, with the
tournament due to commence on the
10th January.
Angola
Arriving in Angola was like the first day
at school, I did not know what to
expect.
The flight from Copenhagen to
Luanda was smooth, but then I had to
connect to Lubango where I would be
based. “Passengers” are given receipts
and then have to “wait” for the
opportunity to collect a boarding pass.
Much of my childhood was spent
growing up in licensed premises, and I
imagine the desk attendants having the
same feeling I use to get at last orders,
with everyone in the pub demanding
serving. In fear of spending the rest of
your days in Luanda airport you have
to lose the English gent’s approach.
Back to my school days I now have
found a use for “British Bulldogs”.
Telmo Manuel Pesserio greeted me at
Lubango airport and we were given a
tour of the grounds under our
responsibility. Estadio Nacional Da
Tundvala is a 20,000 seated main
stadium. Nossa Senhora do Monte,
Ferrovial and Benfica comprised the
training grounds. At Benfica I met John
Tate, a much travelled greenkeeper
who, along with Telmo, had been
establishing the pitches the previous
few weeks. John had experience of
working in Africa and understood the
climate.
I arrived on 6th January, with
training sessions scheduled for four
days later and the first games on the
13th January. Most groundsmen who
have worked in tournaments will
confess that the pitch is not always
considered when scheduling fixtures. I
am not a groundsman who gets overly
concerned regarding the usage of a
football pitch.
One strategy is to
inform of the
consequences of
Nossa Senhora do Monte
any proposals, and potentially educate
the planners. It is also advisable to get
the teams onside, and we managed to
achieve that in the first few days of
training.
Cameroon, Gabon, Tunisia and
Zambia were based in Lubango, and
COCAN, the organisers, had scheduled
morning and afternoon training
sessions to be distributed across the
three training facilities.
It became apparent that the schedules
may not be accurate - I had been asked
by Zambia, on day two, what time they
would train the following day.
Requesting more precise information
from COCAN, I was informed that “it
was in the hands of the Gods”.
Welcome to Africa!!
Turf
The grass cover on the pitches was
excellent, with 100% rye grass.
Complications, such as no water during
the establishment, had reduced the
grow-in period. A nutritional and
irrigation programme had been advised
which was designed to encourage rapid
development of the plant. As a
consequence of the programme, and the
Mediterranean climate, disease was
present. Pythium “damping off ”
developed, so we decided on a cultural
control solution. Turning off the
irrigation and fertiliser spreader we
allowed the climate to energise the
grass. The pitches dried out and the
attack was controlled. A preventative
foliar of low N, wetting agent and
fungicide was applied midway through
the schedule.
The stadium pitch required different
management. Soil and sand suppliers in
Angola do not possess the range of
products we are used to in Europe. The
rootzones for all the pitches in Lubango
were coarser than ideal. Stability was a
Ferrovial
consideration. Rooting was
encouraging, but the texture of the soil
inhibited binding.
The schedule for the stadium
included four training sessions on 12th
January with two matches, Cameroon v
Gabon and Zambia v Tunisia on the
following day. In total, the stadium
pitch would stage six training sessions
and seven matches between 12th and
24th January.
The maintenance plan for the
stadium comprised match day
preparations and allowing the pitch as
much time as we could to rest and
recover. The pitch was established from
seed, but our techniques were similar to
that used on a newly laid turf pitch.
Wetting and rolling was the key, and
worry about the consequences on 25th
January! Giving the surface extra
weight and firming enabled us to
stabilise the pitch. The teams and
management were extremely satisfied.
Resources
Machinery for the maintenance works
was restricted until the last day of our
programme. A truck arrived on the
24th, match day, and off loaded a wide
range of kit. All the machinery will stay
in Lubango.
For the training grounds and the
stadium we used two triples, one heavy,
pedestrian 36in mower, spray
linemarker, tractor with
sprayer/spreader and a vertidrain.
Each day, a collection of local
workers would be waiting at Ferrovial
training ground. Working with the local
men and women of all ages gave me an
insight into the lives of the local
people. I was privileged to be
accommodated in a villa with cooks,
cleaners, drivers and security guards.
Many of the locals live in shacks with
no water or electric. The women
Benfica
generally work harder than the men,
but are paid less. I did not want to
upset that theory, so ensured I did not
break sweat for the duration!
Working with the locals at times was
inspirational, and you do find yourself
taking a step out of the 9-5 and
considering how we live our lives. The
locals offered me a new title and I was
now, officially, Mr. Chris.
The final game finished with a
penalty shoot-out and, from a football
perspective, that’s about as exciting as
it got. The standard of football was
disappointing, especially when you
consider the quality of some of the
players in the tournament. The crowds,
although not high in numbers, were
high in spirits and a real sense of
Africa was felt inside the stadium.
I appreciate that this report does not
contain much grass science or technical
data, but hope it offers an insight into
my experience working in Angola.
Cheers, Mr Chris.
Project
Angola ...
Support in Sport won the
contract to build the
pitches for the Africa
Cup of Nations
tournament held in
Angola. In a Q&A
session their Managing
Director, George
Mullens, gives an insight
into the complexities of
the project
100
How did you become involved and
when where you awarded the contract?
SIS was approached by both the
Confederation of African Football and
the organisers to carry out a review of the
pitches and training centres in Angola.
We have installed pitches at FC Porto,
Benfica and Sporting Lisbon in Portugal,
and there are very close connections
between Angola and Portugal as it is a
former Portuguese colony.
How many pitches/stadiums were you
involved with ?
We built fourteen pitches in total - four
stadium pitches and ten training pitches.
What was the total cost of the pitch
builds?
SIS had two contracts in Angola, the
construction contract was for $16.0
million, and this included all pitch
constructions and the sales of
construction equipment. The second
contract was for the maintenance of all
pitches before, during and after the
tournament until the end of March. The
value of this contract was $10.0 million.
What was the timescale?
The project was due to start in May 2009,
but did not actually start until July. We
completed all pitch constructions by the
end of October.
What logistic problems did you have in
terms of labour, machinery, materials
and water?
In total we had twenty-two SIS staff
working full time on the project, plus we
hired another twenty plus locals to work
with us. Importing machines was difficult
due to red tape. The supply of sand and
gravel to sites took longer than expected
(80,000 tonnes of sand and 22,000
tonnes of gravel) as we were located in
four cities. Water was a key issue on some
sites.
How many British groundsmen did you
employ and what was their role?
During construction we had all SIS staff
but, for the tournament, I brought in
Alan Ferguson (Ipswich Town FC), Chris
Hague (Parken Stadium, Norway) and
Stephen Bache (Hampden Park) to
manage the stadium pitches, coordinate
the training programmes for the teams
and, in general, bring a professional
approach to this aspect of the
tournament.
How many local people were employed
and what was their role?
Twenty in construction and about forty in
maintenance. Our objective was to train a
group of locals in maintenance so that
they could carry on when we departed in
March. So far this has worked.
“I hope the pitches will
survive after we leave as
we have put a huge
amount of work into them”
Where did you source your
machinery and materials?
We sourced all machines and
materials from Europe. We
purchased eleven tractors,
plus trailers, sprayers,
mowers etc. through the UK,
Portugal and Holland. In all
we purchased over
£1.0million of equipment.
What was the general spec
of the pitches?
All pitches were Bermuda
Princess grass, with the
exception of the city of
Lubango which was ryegrass.
Construction was standard 100mm of gravel, 250mm of
sand and 100m of rootzone.
The rootzone was mixed on
site and the peat imported.
What problems, if any, did
you encounter during the
building of the pitches?
I could write a book here but,
suffice to say, it was the
greatest challenge any of us
has ever had.
Maintenance of pitches what was the height of cut,
mowing frequency, feeding
etc?
The Bermuda was cut daily to
23mm, with feeding every
eight days. It was very
intensive
Were there any disease and
turf issues?
No major issues.
Were the organisers pleased
with the final product?
Yes, very pleased, even
though they did their best to
destroy the main stadium
pitch by having 9,000 people
dancing on it for three nights
before the opening game! All
pitches played well and
Samuel Eto’o was quoted as
saying “The best pitches he
has every played on in any
Africa Cup of Nations”.
How did they perform?
They all played well, but the
tournament had only four
stadiums, and each stadium
had nine games, nine
training sessions, a warm up
session of four hours - and all
of this is in twenty days. That
is too intensive for the
Angolan climate - we were
lucky we brought Stephen,
Chris and Alan over with us.
What did you learn from
this experience?
We have written a four page
document on how to do it
again. The bottom line is
everything takes much longer.
You need patience and be
prepared to think outside of
the box. It is difficult working
in an environment where you
are surrounded by poverty
and people dying.
It must have been very
rewarding to see the pitches
in action?
Absolutely, and the feedback
was excellent. We have gained
considerable expertise and
have been invited to four
countries to discuss their
existing stadiums and
facilities.
What will happen to the
pitches now and who will be
looking after them?
We have trained local people.
I hope the pitches will survive
after we leave as we have put
a huge amount of work into
them. You can never know,
but they have all the
machines and the knowledge,
so fingers crossed!
NEW CATALOGUE FOR 2010/11 CALL NOW TO ORDER
This is
the goal at
the north end
of the Ricoh Arena,
home to Coventry City.
It was installed by Mark
Harrod in the summer of 2006.
Since then it’s seen the Sky Blues
play nearly one hundred times, hosted
two England Under-21 internationals (we
beat Germany 1-0 and Macedonia 6-3), and
witnessed two hundred and forty beautiful goals.
Goals make games.
games.We
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101
pitchcare.com Training
TRAINING UPDATE
THE first few months of 2010 have
been very busy for us at Pitchcare
Training as we rolled out our new suite
of one-day General Turf Maintenance
Courses, accredited by Lantra Awards.
and motivation, time management,
disciplinary and corrective action,
negotiation, interpersonal skills and
developing the team.
We plan to offer the Essential
Management Skills course again next
winter, so if you would like to receive
further information please let me know.
These courses have been designed
particularly with the volunteer or part
time groundsman in mind. They give
an overview of the procedures and
equipment required to prepare,
maintain and renovate the playing
surface across a range of sports
including:
• Winter Sports (Rugby/Football)
info, friendly, relaxed, relevant,
• Cricket
- Spring & Summer Pitch Preparation
and Maintenance
- Autumn Renovation of the Pitch
and Outfield
Very good day. Very good course and very
good instructor.
• Bowls - Maintenance Techniques for
Flat and Crown Greens
• Artificial Surfaces - Annual
Maintenance Techniques
Venues have included Warwick
University, Wolverhampton Wanderers
FC, Wolverhampton Cricket Club,
Northampton Town FC and Worksop
Miners’ Welfare Bowls Club.
Learnt things I didn’t know.
Great knowledge and experience by presenter.
Experience of different types of machinery,
very good and helpful for my company to
make future decisions.
From not being involved in sports turf
maintenance I have broadened my
knowledge by attending this course. Good
stuff!
Anybody looking to do this course, it’s a
must.
It’s been very enjoyable and knowledgeable.
Each course is led by an experienced,
professional groundsman so, as well as
the core content, delegates pick up lots
of useful and practical hints and tips.
This course was perfect for my line of work.
They are theory based, but the
instructors usually include an inspection
of the playing surface to illustrate the
topics discussed and provide a practical
base for the learning.
An excellent day.
We prefer to deliver the courses to
small groups, so that everyone has the
opportunity to ask questions and be
fully involved.
Equally beneficial to the delegates is the
opportunity to meet with like-minded
people, passionate about their craft.
Once a group of groundsmen get
together and start to share their
experiences, they realise they are not
alone in the challenges they encounter,
and many a turf problem has been
solved during a chinwag over lunch.
The courses have been well received here are some comments from
delegates:
Everything and more than expected.
Adviser very helpful. Lots of knowledge to
take back.
Excellent, informative, helpful, lots of expert
102
Covered the topics in an understandable
format.
In addition to the Sports Turf
Maintenance courses, Phil Sharples has
also delivered our course on Lawn Care
for the 21st Century. This has
appealed to lawn professionals and
keen domestic gardeners who wish to
produce and maintain a quality lawn.
Phil’s book “The Lawn Guide” forms the
basis of the one-day course and a copy
is included in the price of the course.
We shall be continuing to offer these
courses over the summer months;
dates and venues will be published on
our website and in the regular training
newsletters sent to Pitchcare members.
Our well-respected colleague, Frank
Newberry, has again led our two-day
Essential Management Skills course
for Head Groundsmen and
Greenkeepers this winter. Feedback has
been very favourable; the recurring
comment is that delegates feel they
have gained confidence in being able to
tackle a range management and
supervisory issues including leadership
Dealing With Difficult People and
Situations - another new course. We
were asked by the groundstaff manager
of one of the London Parks if we could
help his staff in dealing with difficult
situations that occasionally arose with
members of the general public,
particularly during periods when
security staff were not available. Of
course, we turned to Frank!
The result is a workshop with Frank
which is proving increasingly popular.
Delegates are shown how to perform
their day to day work, confident in the
knowledge that their communication
and conflict handling skills are
sufficient for them, not only to be able
to handle difficult situations, but to
prevent such situations from getting
worse, in an authoritative but
understanding way.
This course is of value to anyone whose
working environment brings them into
contact with the general public, eg
school sportsfields, local authority
amenity land, village or community
sports facilities or play areas, public
parks and gardens, theme and leisure
parks.
So, as you can see, we have lots of
Pitchcare-designed training on offer!
We welcome
enquiries from
individuals and
organisations and
can usually offer
discounted terms
for groups of six
or more.
Don’t forget that
we can also
provide courses
on pesticide
spraying, turf
maintenance and
arboricultural
machinery and
equipment.
For further information, take a look at
the Training Section of our website, or
e-mail me, chris@pitchcare.com.
You’ll find that
a lot of players
who don’t play on
Fibrelastic®
pitches
tend to get
carried away.
Sudden injury to a star player can often change the course of a
game or even the season. So anything that can be done to reduce
the chances of that happening has got to be worth looking into.
That’s why we developed Fibrelastic® Rootzone.
Completely natural, Fibrelastic® turf pitches look like any other
premier playing surface - but with added elastic fibres woven into
the grass roots. They have been proven to be more player-friendly
with less jarring of limbs and a lower risk of injury from falls.
They’re also less tiring and less prone to surface disturbance which means a better grip for your ball players.
Developed after initial trial work at the Sports Turf Research
Institute, Fibrelastic® is now a well proven surface, and is being
used successfully by a number of forward-thinking top clubs in
England, Wales and Scotland.
For professional clubs, the cost of a Fibrelastic® pitch is small
compared to the benefits it will deliver.
Make sure you protect your assets - the players, call
Russell Latham on 01623 622441 or visit our website below.
Softer Surface • Greater Resilience • Improved Traction
Mansfield Sand Company Limited, Sandhurst Avenue, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. NG18 4BE.
Tel: 01623 622441 Fax: 01623 420904 Email: fibresand@aol.com Website: www.fibrelasticturf.co.uk
Fat, slow
and old ...
Volunteers are the lifeblood of grass roots sport in
the UK. Here, Dick Timmons, groundsman at Warley
Rugby Football Club, charts the Damascus Road
moment when he realised that everything he
thought was right, was actually wrong!
W
arley Rugby Football Club’s
present home is in Tatbank
Road, Oldbury, West Midlands,
just a stone throw from junction 2 of the
M5. It is one of only two rugby clubs in
the borough of Sandwell, the other being
Wednesbury, with whom we have a very
cordial relationship.
The club was formed in 1970 and
started life playing on Local Authority
pitches. The social side was quite
nomadic, moving from pub to pub or
social club to social club. I joined up with
them in the middle 80s.
I was just coming up to thirty years of
age, so a late starter. Having dabbled and
failed in other sports, I was delighted to
find that fat, slow, old blokes could be
referred to as sportsmen in rugby
parlance. So began my illustrious junior
rugby career in the front row. After
twenty-two years of neck and back
shortening competition, played largely,
in my case, without a ball, my body
finally called time.
In the early 90s Warley hitched up with
Smethwick Cricket Club and, in those
years, gained a lot of experience on just
how a sports facility was run on the
business side.
Almost inevitably, we fell out of love
with one another and Warley moved to
104
yet another pub. There followed a
general period of decline in junior rugby.
When I started, most clubs were fielding
four adult sides, by the middle 90s
almost all were down to two. Towards the
end of the 90s Warley were in a mess and
down to just one adult side.
However, we had not lost our old boys
who had gained that invaluable
experience at Smethwick CC. We had to
have a long hard look at ourselves and,
in doing so, the easiest decision would
have been to give up and drink to the
memory. Fortunately, enough players and
members decided to take up the fight,
and a slow resurgence started to take
shape.
As stunned as I was to become a slow,
fat, old sportsman, I was even more
stunned, in 2001, to become chairman.
Happily, a very proactive committee
surrounded me. A nice mixture of ‘old
head’ experience and youthful
enthusiasm.
Perhaps our greatest stroke of luck
came that year in the shape of our
current home, formerly the Albright and
Wilson factory sports ground. Rhodia
UK, who bought out Albright and
Wilson, were clearly tired of the
distraction of administering the facility
and were looking to lease it out. The
experience at Smethwick CC now paid
off as we beat off two rival bids and
secured a lengthy lease.
This gave us one rugby pitch, two
football pitches and a sizeable training
area. Another good decision that the club
made was to hold onto our old site in St
John’s Road, Smethwick. This consisted
of two local authority pitches - one rugby
and one football - but, in which, we had
previously secured a long lease on the
changing rooms and surrounding
grounds.
This was done before our demise of
the late 90s.
We’ll roll forward to 2010. We have
managed to field a third team for the
first time in about fifteen years. We have
a Colts team, thriving youth section and
a female side playing in a development
league. In 2005 we marked our 35th year
with over 400 guests at a dinner at the
International Convention Centre on
Broad Street, Birmingham. We are just
planning our 40th. Oh Lord!
Back to the resurgence, in order to
make our new home work, we realised we
needed to retain the two football pitches
and the inherited crown bowling green.
There was an element of mistrust in the
early stages as these groups had been
here before our arrival.
“I was delighted
to find that fat,
slow, old blokes
could be referred
to as sportsmen
in rugby parlance”
We never intended for our new home
to be anything other than a multi sports
facility, and it has proved to be the right
path. As well as all of our rugby, we stage
Midland Youth league football on
Saturday mornings and Birmingham
AFA on Saturday afternoons.
On Sundays it is local Sunday league
adult football in the mornings and youth
in the afternoons. Our crown green
bowling and dominoes sections happily
fill the small gap between seasons. Our
old site serves as a rugby overspill and
alternative training area. It also has a
mini football pitch, which attracts weekly
use.
All this activity helps us maintain a
licensed bar open seven days a week.
Our new home was constructed in
1956 over old industrial grounds. Every
now and then we have found the
remnants of building foundation,
thankfully, not in any playing areas. It
did have proper drainage and about
twelve inches of rootzone soil. Twelve
inches denoting the age of the map I
found all this on.
Put a fork fully into the ground and
you can feel and hear the aggregate
crunch. Despite the fact that the drains
are probably silted up or collapsed, the
playing areas do drain reasonably well.
At its height, Albright’s facility was
widely admired, as was a lot of local
factory sports grounds of its time. In the
years leading up to our lease it had
suffered much neglect, which also
brought its challenges. For, just as I was
surprised that a fat, old, slow bloke could
be called a sportsman, I never in my
wildest dreams believed I would ever be
referred to as a groundsman. It just kind
of happened (this is not exactly how I
view myself but, perhaps, the views of
those who watch me wander around with
a garden fork or line-marking machine).
I obviously felt, as the chairman, I
should be doing my bit. The only kit we
inherited was a large agricultural looking
roller and a strange, chained linky thing,
which I discovered buried in long grass.
I attempted to cut the rugby pitch with
an under powered pedestrian rotary. It
took me two days and I hadn’t even
looked at the football pitches. I did
wonder what on earth we had taken on.
All those years of playing and I had
never given a thought as to how the
pitch actually got there. Well, that was
the summer, now came the season.
I started by consulting the players on
what they wanted. “Well that pitch needs
rolling for a start, its dangerous”. So my
early experience was towing the large
roller with an ancient dumper truck to
‘improve things’. By the way, the dumper
truck had agricultural tyres. “How’s
that?” I would enquire. “Well it’s sort of
level, except for the tyre marks you’ve
left everywhere, what happened to the
grass?” “I don’t know, it seemed to be
there before I started rolling. Must be
the time of the year.” Of course, I could
not understand why, when it rained there
were all those puddles where the grass
used to be.
In my first season, I visited untold
carnage upon already neglected sports
surfaces. I was badly in need of a
Damascus Road moment, which happily
came when I stumbled upon the
Pitchcare website. Damascus Road it was,
when I discovered that everything I
believed was right was absolutely wrong,
everything that was wrong was actually
right.
In my new enlightenment, the roller
now sulks in a dark corner and the
dumper dumps things on building sites.
The strange, chained linky thing became
my best friend, and I called it a chain
harrow, I might be a bit late to patent
this, but there you are.
I attended a winter pitch course which,
by now, was assuring as it confirmed that
what I now believed to be right was still
105
“The strange, chained linky thing became
my best friend, and I called it a chain
harrow, I might be a bit late to patent this,
but there you are”
right.
As I stated earlier, me being referred
to as a groundsman, will make a lot of
properly trained, well grounded and
knowledgeable turf practitioners wince. I
more than recognise that I am still in
learning, and I totally accept that, in the
grand scale of grounds people, I am very
much a willing volunteer.
Happily, my rolling days were nine
years ago. That has given me a lot of
time to harvest a lot more good practice
from Pitchcare and its many contributors.
The club does have a decent business
plan. I have always been one of the
‘spend a bit and save a bit’ brigade. We
have also had some success in gaining
grants through the RFU and the FA.
This allowed us the luxury of some
decent second hand machinery. Each
year provision has been made to add
something to the fleet.
Currently, we have a John Deere 755
tractor (with turf tyres). It has PTO and
three point lift. That enables me to tow
the chain harrow or, more recently, a
Sisis Quadraplay. I was always impressed
with the levelling job that the harrow
did, but I am bowled over by the
Quadraplay. It has a grooming rake,
roller, slitter and brush, in that order. It’s
the only combination I have used it in at
the moment, it really works wonders on
the levels and leaves the aeration open.
It certainly helps time wise.
A Ransomes 2130 triple, again second
hand, has been a real godsend; it makes
slight work of the cutting. At the main
site the three pitches, training and
surrounding areas, I guestimate to be
about eight acres. Usually, I can get this
all cut in three hours which, compared to
the two days I spent just doing the rugby
pitch nine years earlier, is just heaven.
A Multi Slit before Christmas and a
Groundsman aerator alternate with the
Quadraplay, introducing aeration to the
soil at varying depths. For good measure
we bought a new finishing rotary mower.
This works a treat off the PTO on the
John Deere, and really sorts out that tall
white stalky rye when it becomes so
damn proud of itself in early summer.
For marking out, we inherited an old
dry powder marker but it is rarely used.
Again, through grants, we purchased a
spray marker and it has been a terrific
workhorse. We have a wheel to wheel and
that too gets a lot of use. I mark out
weekly as the surfaces get a lot of use
over each weekend.
In our early days, we contracted out
the summer renovations. A necessary but
costly process. It was useful in two ways one I learned by watching, and two we
could use the cost as matched funding in
some of our early grant applications.
Now we do most of the renovations
ourselves, as a topdresser and a seeder
are part of the fleet. I usually have to
book the best part of a week off work just
to do it. It is hard work as they are not
big pieces of machinery, but it is so
satisfying to see it all coming together.
Happily, we only need to mark out at
our other site, as the management
agreement includes the local authority
doing the cutting and renovation. It is
open parkland so gets quite a bit of use
by the locals. Equipment up there is
limited to a wheel to wheel. It still takes
up quite some time but, this season, I
have been joined in my labours by
another two willing volunteers.
Karl Blick is a regular player who
manages to fit in youth coaching as well
as being a committee man. Don Poole is
a former player and current Chair of
Players, busily gathering 2/3 sides, plus
replacements a week. They have been a
tremendous asset as, trying to do both
sites, I was pretty much at my limit.
Every year now, we have to contract
out for Earthquaking or Vertidraining. I
don’t feel we could justify any investment
TWENTYQuestions
Dick Timmons - Claudia Shiffer won’t return his calls
... and Laurence Gale won’t stop phoning!
Who are you? Dick Timmons, Chairman and
Volunteer Groundsman at Warley RFC.
hard today, go and have some real smelly
ales”. She deserves a medal and I pinch
myself daily.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? A teetotal,
when they wake up in the morning, that is
the best they are going to feel all day.
What’s your dream holiday? Well, a
change is as good as a rest, so I would never
turn my nose up at anything labelled
‘holiday’. I love walking in Snowdonia with
Sharon. We are fortunate to have a caravan
in North Wales and I like lazing around
Lanzarote. For real satisfaction we are both
fond of City Breaks. The best, so far, would
be Rome, for its history and beauty. Then
New York, simply for its buzz, it is right, it
never sleeps. But, wherever it is, it has to be
with Sharon, my best pal.
Favourite record and why? I have a wide
taste in music, from my youth Pink Floyd and
Thin Lizzy. Now I am quite content listening
to Classic FM. At the moment, anything sung
by Kate Rusby (Folk Singer). She is known as
the Barnsley Angel. If you get the chance to
listen to her you will know why.
Family Status? Married to wife Sharon. I
have two grown up boys Dean, 30 and Kiel,
22.
What annoys you the most? Arrogance, in
any walk of life. Whether it is hiding a
weakness or showing off a talent it does not
sit well with me.
Who’s your hero and why? My wife,
Sharon. She is so incredibly organised, and
not only with our domestic life. She is so
good she has joined the ranks and now does
the VAT returns, the PAYE, invoicing, credit
control and accounts at Warley. She will
often say to me “Dickie, you have worked
What would you change about yourself?
In light of the last question, I hope this does
not sound arrogant, but nothing. I’m bald, fat
and getting old. All of that process has
contributed something to me that others
recognise. It’s a bit late to start being
something you are not.
Who would you chose to spend a
romantic evening with? Claudia Schiffer.
However, she is not returning my calls of late!
Well, in fact, she never has. The police seem
to be showing an interest though, so maybe I
am getting noticed.
If you won the lottery, what is the first
thing you would do? Ring Claudia Schiffer.
If you were to describe yourself as a
musical instrument, what would you be
and why? A Tuba, its ugly, awkward to hold
and, whilst trying to be musical, emits a
strange sound.
What’s the best advice you have ever
been given? We criticise in others what we
in kit as expensive as that,
even if I had a tractor that
could handle it.
Another problem is
spraying for weeds. I have
found that the site is too big
for a small boom on the spray
marker, believe me I have
tried it. The low capacity and
trudge back to the water
source makes it very labour
intensive and time
consuming. It was taking at
least three hours per pitch,
often after a day’s work at my
real job, I would turn up to
find it was just too windy to
complete the task. Then you
start getting behind with
yourself, so we are
contracting that job out as
well. It may be, with time and
finance, that we are able to
invest in a bigger towed
sprayer and shroud; we will
see.
I still have a proper day
job, so time is always an issue.
I tend to go for time owing
rather than payment when I
am busy so, when needs be, I
can get a couple of days off to
do some proper work down at
the club. However, in winter,
there are still times when I
end up marking out with a
torch for a few weeks.
I set out believing we could
do everything ourselves,
probably saving some money
into the bargain. I realise now
that some tasks don’t save
you money because they don’t
get done, they are best left to
others. Its all a question of
balance I suppose.
The beauty of it all is that I
often wondered what I would
do with myself when this fat,
slow, old sportsman hung up
his rugby boots. Well it has
been almost a seamless
transition to fat, slow, old
and, of course, grumpy erm,
groundsman!
The SISIS Rotorake 602
is a superb scarifier/linear aerator for regular routine use. The
Rotorake 602 can be set up with an integral seeder attached
so that it can be used for over seeding worn areas of turf
Range of interchangeable Reels
Thatch Removal Reel
Rolaspike Reel
Faze Mo Reel
like least in ourselves. If I can
just remember that advice
before opening my mouth, life is
easier. I don’t always remember.
What’s your favourite smell?
Depends where you are and
what you are doing. The more
printable would be a brewery,
freshly cut grass or a hot
Sunday Roast.
What do you do in your spare
time? Field phone calls from
Laurence Gale, asking me why I
have not sent in my article yet.
“Laurence, it’s because I don’t
have any spare time!”
What’s the daftest work
related question you have
ever been asked? Even as a
willing volunteer I have been
asked quite a few that I
considered completely daft.
However, I think reprinting them
here may just come across as
arrogant.
What’s your favourite piece
of kit? So far, the Quadraplay,
or is it the ……..?
What three words would you
use to describe yourself? Old,
fat and bald.
What talent would you like to
have? Yes, I would like some
please.
What makes you angry? Right
now, it is the most important
piece of kit that any sportsman
must have to be able to function
at all. The soft drink bottle. It
appears that the most
important part of this drink is
the top two inches; the rest may
be disposed of in situ or thrown
against the nearest bin. Oh, and
that biodegradable tape that
keeps socks up, maybe it does
the grass some good because
the players invest in so much of
it on the sports surface. Okay,
put me out of my misery. Is it
really biodegradable, coz I seem
to have to pick most of it up?
What law/legislation would
you like to see introduced?
Something which prevented
Pitchcare editors convincing you
to spend some of your precious
time putting together an article
for a feature in a Turf
Practitioners Magazine which,
when done, all my mates will
say is for anoraks and laugh at
me.
P.S. Please don’t take my last
comment too seriously. I think it
is a very laudable thing to try
and highlight the many
volunteers in grassroots sport,
without which, most of our clubs
would grind to a sorry halt.
Brush Reel
Synthetic Brush Reel
SISIS offer a range of pedestrian and tractor mounted
scarifiers and a wide range of machinery for most aspects of
turf and synthetic maintenance. Send for an illustrated leaflet
SISIS EQUIPMENT (Macclesfield) LTD.,
Hurdsfield, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 2LZ
Tel: 01625 503030 Fax: 01625 427426 E-mail: info@sisis.com
www.sisis.com
Nigel Fahey,
Laboratory Manager
at BON Lab, looks at
the world of microorganisms
The Good,
The Bad and
The Ugly!
S
oil micro-organisms are frequently
referred to when the subject of soil is
raised, but this substantial subject is
seldom covered in more than superficial
terms. Soil micro-organisms play a vital role
in the biological processes that occur in
healthy living soil.
Soil has its origins in the weathering of
solid rock. Water will seep into crevices in
the rock; this freezes in winter and, so,
fractures the rock. Acids dissolved in
rainwater (mainly carbonic acid) also break
down the rock. Once organisms are able to
invade the broken down rock they
accelerate the decomposition. Microorganisms, plants and fungi secrete weak
organic acids. The end result of these
physical and biological processes is topsoil.
Topsoil is a blend of decomposed rock of
varying particle size distribution, living
organisms and humus.
However, not all of the soil’s infauna is
beneficial. If numbers of certain varieties of
soil micro-organism increase beyond
manageable numbers, then the result is a
heavy infestation. Certain species consume
turfgrass roots, which is a major expense
for turfgrass professionals.
Soil contains a huge number and variety
of organisms. A small spoonful of soil has
in the region of five billion bacteria that
cohabit with various fungi, algae and other
unicellular organisms, insects, earthworms,
nematodes and the roots of plants. The
activities of all these organisms affect the
physical and chemical characteristics of the
soil, with generally lower numbers in a
typical rootzone.
Nearly all of these numerous soil
organisms are not only beneficial, but also
absolutely essential to the life giving
properties of soil. For example, the role of
nitrogen fixing bacteria in converting
gaseous nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3)
which can be absorbed by plants. These soil
micro-organisms break down a variety of
organic materials and use a portion of
108
these breakdown products to generate or
synthesise a series of compounds that make
up humus.
Humus is the decomposing organic
material, created by the action of bacteria
and fungi on dead plant and animal
remains and other organic detritus. It
prevents clay from packing together and
develops a crumbly soil that retains water,
but is still porous enough for the adequate
aeration of roots.
Humus also acts as a reservoir of mineral
nutrients that are recycled slowly back to
the soil. This process is performed by the
action of soil micro-organisms.
Functions that humic substances perform
include:
• increased adsorption of minerals as well
as bringing into solution mineral
materials that are inert, so converting
them into forms that can be taken up by
the plants as nutrients
• soil colour is darkened, thereby
increasing the soil’s adsorption of solar
energy
• the water holding capacity of the soil is
increased, therefore more water is
available to plants for improved
production
• organic compounds absorption is
accelerated, which aids in plant nutrition,
physiology, and in the reduction of toxins
in the soil
• soil buffering capacity is increased,
thereby assisting to stabilise the soil pH
to assist plants uptake of minerals
There are a number of turfgrass diseases
that are caused by a variety of harmful
micro-organisms including fungi, moulds
or nematodes.
Fungi cause nearly all infectious diseases
of turfgrass. It may be thought of as simple
plants that lack the green pigment
chlorophyll that is necessary for
photosynthesis, that is to say the
production of food from
light, water and CO2.
Therefore, the fungi must
obtain their nourishment
from outside resources.
Some fungi are parasitic;
that is to say they feed on
living plant hosts, as
opposed to the
saphrophytic fungi that
feed on residual organic
detritus.
One example would be
the Fusarium fungus, that
exists mainly as a
saprophyte until soil
conditions allow it to infect
living plants, therefore
becoming parasitic.
In order to prevent soil
condition becoming
favourable to fungi turning
parasitic on turf,
procedures such as
improving air movement
and soil drainage, and
avoiding excessive
fertilisation and irrigation,
should help to prevent this
happening. Since weather
conditions cannot be
controlled, the use of
fungicides in addition to
these measures may be
employed.
Serious threats to
turfgrass roots are
nematodes. Nematodes
found in soil are tiny
transparent worms. They
average approximately
1mm in length and about
30 microns (0.030mm) in
diameter, although the size
range of this group is
considerable.
Nematodes parasitise
turfgrass roots by
penetrating the plant’s
cells, then injecting
digestive enzymes. The
liquified plant tissue is then
sucked out. A heavy soil
infestation will severely
weaken the turfgrass and
leave it more susceptible to
attack from other
pathogenic organisms, for
instance numerous species
of fungus.
Symptoms of heavy
nematode infestation may
include leaf stunting,
yellowing (chlorosis) or
wilting. The roots may
become stunted, branch
excessively or develop
scarring, galls or other
deformities.
The surface effects, or
the symptoms of microorganism attack, present
themselves in various
forms.
As already mentioned,
there can be marked
chlorosis (yellowing) of the
turf, or bare patches in the
turf, these two examples
being the more obvious
symptoms.
The latter can take the
form of randomly
distributed patchiness or,
for example, the wellknown Fairy Ring, which
presents itself as an
irregular circle of
necrotised patches of turf.
This can be caused by the
Marasmiacea family of fungi,
amongst others such as
Scleroderma spp or
Hygrophorus spp. The ring
may grow up to ten metres
in diameter. Examples have
been recorded at up to 600
metres in diameter. Other
fungal diseases include;
Anthracnose/ basal rot,
Fusarium patch/ Pink snow
mould, Grey snow mould/
Typhula blight, Red thread/
Corticium disease, Rust and
Take-all patch.
If an infestation is
suspected then, before a
regime of treatment with
pesticides is begun, it would
be prudent to first check
whether this is the case by
having this confirmed with
a suitable soil laboratory.
The process is usually to
make several glass slides of
the turfgrass roots and
associated soil, after first
examining them with a
hand lens for signs of
lesions or other physical
abnormalities. Microscope
slides of the surrounding
soil are also produced.
Once these slides are
labelled and fully prepared,
they are examined under a
microscope at different
magnifications. The images
are then compared against
the exemplar slides that the
laboratory will have. These
will be slides containing
specimens of known soil
pathogens. This is
preferable to simply
looking at an illustration,
since the size of any
organisms under scrutiny
can be directly recorded via
the graticule in the
microscope, and directly
compared to the exemplar
specimen for morphology
and size. Once
identification has been
established, the most
appropriate course of
action can then
be pursued.
Nigel Fahey
is the Laboratory
Manager at BON
Lab, if you would
like to know more,
contact him at
lab@bonlab.co.uk
A small spoonful of soil
has in the region of five
billion bacteria that
cohabit with various fungi,
algae and other unicellular
organisms, insects,
earthworms, nematodes
and the roots of plants
• Reduces Nematode populations
in sports grounds and golf courses
• Quick, clean and easy to apply
• Economical - 1 litre treats 500m
• Improves the look and quality
2
of the grass
• Natural product - safe to use in
public areas
ECOspray Limited
Grange Farm, Hilborough, Thetford
Norfolk IP26 5BT United Kingdom
Tel: +44(0)1760 756100 /+44(0)7810 305605
Fax: +44(0)1760 756313
Email: ecospray@ecospray.com
109
Green thinking!
Charles Henderson, STRI Turfgrass
Agronomist for the South East,
outlines what renovation work is
required to achieve good playing
quality throughout the season on a
bowls green
R
enovations are an indispensable
part of an annual maintenance
plan for any bowling green. In
order to sustain playing quality on your
green throughout the playing season it
is important to:
• Maintain organic matter within
acceptable parameters
• Encourage and maximise root depth
• Ensure the rootzone is well aerated
• Provide adequate drainage away from
the surface and through the soil
profile
• Encourage and ensure an adequately
dense cover of finer grasses
Organic matter is one of the most
influential and common of soil profile
limitations, although other issues can
also lie beneath the surface that
requires attention. The type and nature
of renovation we carry out should very
much be targeted at each green’s
specific problem. Where your
SISIS Rotorake scarifier
renovations continually fail to address
your green’s agronomic issues we can
expect:
• Softer and slower playing surfaces
• Increased surface water retention
after rain events
• Increased disease and pest
occurrence
• Increased presence of undesirable
weeds and grasses
A combination of all the above
consequences may lead to less bowls
being played on the green, increased
maintenance costs and unhappy
bowlers and members.
The majority of clubs now renovate at
least once, if not twice, a year aiming to
reduce organic matter accumulations
and associated soil profile problems
such as:
MAT LAYER: A layer of newly
accumulated vegetative matter, usually
Graden heavy duty scarifier
dead leaf and crown matter, that builds
up within the surface (0-5 mm). Where
present in excess amounts this
contributes to disease occurrence and a
'squelchy' surface after rain.
THATCH: A layer of dead and
decomposing plant material consisting
of leaf, crown, stolons and/or rhizomes
and roots, which can be several
centimetres thick. When excessive,
greens will be prone to soft, wet, slow
and disease susceptible surfaces.
COMPACT SOIL: Clay and silt
dominated soils are particularly prone.
Compaction restricts air movement into
the soil, water movement through the
soil and root development. As a
consequence such greens are more
prone to stress and are usually
dominated by shallow rooting grasses
such as Poa annua.
LAYERED SOIL TYPES: Can consist or
two or more distinct thin (5-30 mm)
layers of different types of top dressing
Turfmech SQRL Core Collector
that haven’t been incorporated into one
another. This often occurs on older
bowling greens that have been
topdressed with quite different
materials over the years.
Your green could have any one, or a
combination, of these limitations within
the soil profile. More often than not,
though, it is excessive thatch. Carrying
out the same renovation as last year, or
using the machinery most conveniently
available to you, might not properly
address the issues specific to your
green. You can, therefore, expect the
problems to continue to some extent to
affect the quality of the bowling
surface.
New and more job specific renovation
machinery has entered the market, and
greenkeepers now have an abundance
of renovation machinery to choose
from. The question is, which renovation
tool will help address your renovation
requirements most effectively?
Verti-Drain
Renovation Machinery
SCARIFIERS/VERTICUTTERS:
Pedestrian or mounted on smaller
powered units, these devices are
designed to lift organic litter from the
mat layer that builds up in the surface.
HEAVY DUTY SCARIFIERS: Mounted
on bigger pedestrian or tractor units,
these devices are designed to lift
organic litter from within the thatch
layer to depth of 25-30mm.
HOLLOW/SOLID CORERS: Pedestrian
or tractor mounted units, these are
designed to remove and/or punch holes
through the thatch and soil to depths of
6-65mm.
Aeration Machinery
VERTICAL HEAVE-ACTION
AERATORS: Pedestrian or tractor
mounted units, these are designed to
punch holes and, if required, ‘kickback
or heave’ to fracture the underlying soil
and create new channels for air, water
Toro Hydroject
and roots. These can also be used as
hollow tine corers to depth (100mm or
more), if required.
HYDROJECT: Pedestrian units, these
are designed to punch holes into the
soil profile and 'blast' water into the soil
profile creating new channels within
the soil.
AIR INJECTORS: Pedestrian or tractor
mounted units, these are designed to
punch holes into the soil profile and
‘blast’ air at high pressure into the soil
profile creating new channels within
the soil.
You will note in the machinery
descriptions, each tool is designed to
address very particular issues within
the soil profile. Finding out what are
the limiting factors in your green's soil
profile is the first and most
fundamental step to deciding what you
must do for your renovation.
Continued over ...
SISIS Aer-Aid
Diagram 1
Diagram 2
Here are some common
examples of soil profile
limitations observed during
visits to bowling greens, and
the renovation requirements
necessary to address them.
DIAGRAM 1
Mat layer, excess thatch and
free draining soil:
The problems:
• Increased disease
occurrence
• More surface water
retention
• Soft slow playing surface
The renovation:
• Scarify 3mm deep, 1-2mm
blades, 10-12mm apart
112
Diagram 3
• Hollow core with 14-16mm
tines, 50mm x 50mm
spacings to 30-35mm deep
• Topdress, allow material to
dry and work into core
holes
DIAGRAM 2
Mat layer, good rootzone but
with fine sand layer
The problems:
• Increased disease
occurrence from mat layer.
Fine sand layer causing
‘root break’ encouraging
shallow rooting plants
• Shallow rooting plant more
prone to drought stress.
Possibly unstable ground
underfoot
Diagram 4
The renovation:
• Scarify 5mm deep, 1-2mm
blades, 10-12mm apart
• Solid tine core with 16mm
tines, 50mm x 50mm
spacings to 65-70mm deep.
Or combine shallower
hollow tine coring and
solid tining to at least the
depth of the fine sand layer
• Topdress, allow material to
dry and work into the
surface
DIAGRAM 3
Mat, good rootzone
The problems:
• Increased disease
occurrence from mat layer
Diagram 5
The renovation:
• Scarify 3mm deep, 1-2mm
blades, 10-12mm apart
• Topdress, allow material to
dry and work into core
holes
DIAGRAM 4
Mat, compacted clay/silt soil
The problems:
Carrying out the same renovation as last year,
or using the machinery most conveniently
available to you, might not properly address
the issues specific to your green
• Increased disease occurrence from mat
layer
• Poor water movement through soil
causing poor drainage in winter and
dry patch in summer
• Compact soil encourages shallow
rooting plants more prone to stress
and thatch accumulation
The renovation:
• Scarify 3mm deep, 1-2mm blades, 1012mm apart
• Solid tine core with 16mm tines,
50mm x 50mm spacings to 40-50mm
deep
• Top dress, allow material to dry
• Verti-Drain 16mm tine closest spacing
150mm deep
• Work topdressing material into core
holes
DIAGRAM 5
Excess thatch, good soil and gravel
drainage layer
The problems:
• Increased disease occurrence
• Increased surface water retention
The renovation:
• Solid tine with 10-12mm tines closest
spacing, preferably into the drainage
gravel blanket (no heave)
• Topdress, allow material to dry and
work into core holes
With any given soil profile, there can be
a number of potential or current
limitations that present both short and
long-term maintenance issues. The type
of machinery required to address each
problem varies, so choosing the correct
type of machinery and employing
appropriate spacing and depth is crucial.
Working in topdressing material
Generally, the use of dragmats as the
only means to work topdressing into the
surface of a flat bowling green is not
encouraged. Initially, the use of a
straight edge/level bar is preferred.
Whilst being dragged over the green the
straight edge moves topdressing material
into low spots, thus improving levels on
the green.
Where getting topdressing material into
large core holes, following hollow/solid
tine coring, is a priority, as with some of
the examples shown within this article,
the use of a dragmat or brush will allow
you to get more topdressing material
into the core holes and, in such a case, is
acceptable. Only using a dragmat will
improve surface smoothness not surface
levels.
When trying to get topdressing material
into core holes to create clean columns of
desirable topdressing material, ensure:
• Large core holes are made using 1216mm tines, smaller core holes will
limit material getting into the core
holes
• As much as practical, carry out the
renovation when ground conditions are
dry
• Only use dry topdressing and, ideally,
leave this on the dry surface for a few
hours to dry even further. Dry sand/soil
will be much easier to move into core
holes
• Don’t leave core holes open to ‘aerate’
for longer than a day, the grass may
Seeds of precision.
Don’t compromise on your choice of grass seed
if you want excellent performance and first rate
appearance.
British Seed Houses is the
premier source for grass
seed and fertilisers for your
Bowling Green.
BSH Grade ‘A1’ seed mixture for bowling greens
contains top performing cultivars and our range
of Floranid® slow release fertilisers are the
ultimate complement.
You can place orders for direct delivery on
our website or contact our office for all the
expert advice you’ll ever need for successful
overseeding.
...for Sports
Photo courtesy of Bexhill Bowling Club.
Visit www.bshamenity.com
or call 01522 868714 to contact your regional advisor.
113
Take care when covering the turf with large
quantities of topdressing in any autumn
treatments, and do not smother the surface
start to grow over the core holes
making it much harder to get
topdressing material down the hole
• Use an appropriate quantity of sandy
topdressing material - usually 2-3m³ is
recommended over a green. When
attempting to fill hollow core holes, at
least 3.5-5 tonnes will be required
Take care when covering the turf with
large quantities of topdressing material
in any autumn treatments, and certainly
do not smother the surface. It may be
better to split a very heavy dressing into
two treatments, allowing several days
between treatments. What is important
when topdressing is that decent growth is
taking place, so that the grass grows
through the dressing quite quickly.
Topdressing lying on the surface for any
length of time invariably increases the
risk of disease activity.
Verti-Draining and air or water
injecting (aeration)
Such practices are traditionally used
during the autumn renovation. It is
worth noting that the impact such
practices have on the soil structure is
strongly influenced by the soil moisture
114
at the time of use.
Using this machinery whilst the soil is
saturated is likely to have limited benefit,
as tines are likely to ‘slide’ through the
soil. In contrast, if carried out whilst the
soil conditions are drier, the tines or
compressed air are likely to fracture the
soil, creating new channels for air, water
and roots.
In summary, before booking in your
Verti-Drain or air and water-injecting
machine this autumn, try and judge
when the best soil conditions will present
themselves and the playing schedule
allows. This might not always be during
the autumn renovation.
Overseeding at renovations
Much debate goes on as to the best
overseeding practices. This is mainly
attributed to some people’s limited
understanding of just how successful
overseeding can be.
However, as we increasingly strive to
encourage finer grasses, so does our
understanding of overseeding. Here are
some commonly asked questions;
Should I overseed regardless of the
condition of my green?
The objective of oversowing is to ensure
the seed matures into a strong and
healthy mature plant. This is significantly
harder to achieve than just getting the
seed to germinate. It is the experience of
many greenkeepers that overseeding
finer grasses into poor draining and
excessively thatchy greens, achieves little
or no long-term benefit. On the other
hand, overseeding thatchy and poor
draining greens is not always a complete
waste of time; it’s just going to
significantly reduce the percentage of
seed that develops into mature plants.
It is my view that more benefit will be
obtained from addressing the main issues
of thatch and drainage before
overseeding with bentgrasses and
fescues.
Bentgrass, fescues or both?
Generally, most clubs overseed using a
mixture of fine fescues and bentgrasses.
This is a safe recommendation as, if done
correctly, the two species will hopefully
find a good balance in their long-term
survival. However, in drier situations the
fescue may dominate
If you are dealing with a wetter, thatchy
Remember, fescue seed and bentgrass seed
are significantly different in size and have
very different individual seeding rates
Poa annua dominated green, getting fine
grasses, particularly fescues, to thrive in
this environment will be very hard. In
this instance, as well as addressing the
thatch it may be better to encourage
bentgrasses alone. Establishing fine
fescues into such an environment will
have limited success and could be
considered as money down the drain.
Spring or autumn renovation
overseeding?
Of the two, autumn overseeding is likely
to be more successful as this gives the
plant a full winter to develop free from
wear, as well as heat and drought stress.
Spring seeding isn’t a complete waste of
time but is likely to be significantly less
successful in establishing mature plants.
What rate?
Remember, fescue seed and bentgrass
seed are significantly different in size and
have very different individual seeding
rates. A good piece of advice is to refer
to the supplier’s recommendations, but
as a guideline:
- Bentgrass: 4-6 g/m²
- Fine Fescues: 30 g/m²
- Mixture: 35 g/m²
for overseeding significantly weak or
bare ground.
How to best incorporate the seed into
my renovation?
The key objective with any overseeding is
to achieve maximum seed to soil contact,
without smothering the seed. If using
pure bent or fescue for overseeding (and
not a ready made mixture), the
methodology for achieving this is
different.
Fescue seed is much bigger and best
introduced a little deeper (say 6-8mm),
to enable good seed to soil contact. To
achieve this, holes or grooves in the
surface will have had to be made prior to
seeding. This could be core holes or
deep scarification grooves from
renovations. Alternatively a dimple or
other dedicated seeder could be run over
the green. Seeding of fine fescues will be
more successful when undertaken prior
to topdressing.
Where using bentgrasses alone, the seed
must not be buried deeply. Overseeding
can form part of the topdressing aspect
of renovation programmes, either before
light (2-3m³) topdressing applications or
after if applying heavy topdressing
applications (3.5-5 tonnes). In both cases
the seed and material will require
working together into the surface via a
level bar or dragmat as discussed.
When seeding mixtures of fine fescues
and bentgrasses it will again be a priority
to accommodate the seed by forming
shallow holes/grooves for the seed to
work into, finishing off the process with
topdressing.
Summary
• Assess your green and its specific
problems
• Provide tailor made solutions to your
requirements
• Employ appropriate machinery and
materials
• Complete in good time whilst dry
conditions and good growth is taking
place.
About the author: Charles
Henderson, originally from East
Yorkshire, has spent the last four
years working as a Sports Turf
Agronomist for the New Zealand
Sports Turf Institute (NZSTI)
throughout the northern North
Island.
engineered for perfection
A first class finish
…. every time
For more information on our full
range of bowling green maintenance
equipment call 01332 824777
PROUDLY BRITISH
www.dennisuk.com
115
Jane Carley talks to
Hazel Peplinski, who
was on secondment as
Clerk of the Course at
Ayr Racecourse at the
time of an horrific
accident turning into the
home straight
Straight
T
“I found the
verti-drain sitting
in the shed - the
groundsmen
were afraid to
use it as some
tines had been
lost on the
course and it had
never been
repaired”
116
he phrase ‘baptism of fire’ hardly
does justice to Hazel Peplinski’s
experience as Clerk of the Course at
Ayr Racecourse, where she is on
secondment from her regular role at
Hamilton Racecourse.
On July 13 2009, she was shadowing
departing Clerk, Katherine Self, at a busy
summer meeting and, anxious to get a
closer look at the course, headed for the
home bend. There, she found herself at
the centre of a major drama when a
seven horse pile-up occurred as the field
turned into the home straight.
“Despite media speculation, it was a
total coincidence that I was there. But,
whilst it was horrific, at least I was able to
see exactly what happened,” she explains.
What followed was a difficult period,
not least as Hazel was trying to balance
her new role with continuing to officiate
at Hamilton and looking after her
children as the school holidays began,
and felt she could, potentially, be the
outsider in a large racing team.
A boost was provided by former
general manager Mark Kershaw, who
offered his services on a consultancy basis
shortly after the incident. As a former
Clerk of the Course, he has also been
able to offer invaluable advice on
preparing the jumps track.
Hazel, however, was in the hot seat.
With the prestigious Ayr Gold Cup
meeting looming, she had the challenge
of addressing the problems and
regaining the confidence of trainers and
jockeys that the course was safe - and
quickly.
“As is usually the case in these
situations, advice came in from all
quarters,” Hazel explains. “But I chose to
rely on John Souter, who is turf
consultant at Hamilton, and, whilst he
undertook soil tests, I began to examine
the existing regime.”
She discovered that there were three
main areas to remedy. Running rail
specialist, Dan Grigg of MK Surveys,
studied the rail alignment on the home
bend, and pronounced that the radii of
the bend was not only too acute, but also
continued to decrease as the runners
rounded the turn.
and narrow ...
“Ideally the bend should be at its
tightest early on and then become more
sweeping, otherwise you are asking the
horses to do the impossible,” explains
Hazel.
New courses have a bend radii of a
minimum of 135m, and Ayr’s round
course now has 146m but, at the time of
the accident, it was just 100m.
“This, undoubtedly, was a factor,
although some courses have even tighter
bends than that,” says Hazel. “Jockeys
had commented on how tight the bend
was - it was a matter of the angle being
slightly wrong each time the rail was
moved, and getting progressively worse.
It is ironic because, unlike many courses,
Ayr has plenty of space to create a more
sweeping bend. We can still provide fresh
ground with the gentler turn and there
are no issues with camber.”
Hazel also examined the turf
maintenance programme, noticing an
overzealous mowing campaign.
“The course was being mown when
there was no grass to cut, which was
causing compaction - cores tested at the
European Turfgrass Laboratories Ltd. in
Stirling showed how bad this was. Whilst
it is common practice to cut frequently to
encourage vigorous growth, I proposed
that we should cut less often, and against
the direction of racing, so that the sward
was facing the horses.”
In addition, any attempts to remedy
the compaction had long since been
abandoned. “I found the verti-drain
sitting in the shed - the groundsmen
were afraid to use it as some tines had
been lost on the course and it had never
been repaired,” Hazel explains.
She comments that this was symbolic
of her greatest hurdle - that the
groundstaff had no confidence in their
ability to produce the racing surface.
“I insisted to the management that
there would have to be investment to
improve the course and they listened.
Perhaps it took a major incident to make
changes, but they were long overdue.
Many racecourses lack the budget to
invest in useful machinery such as the
verti-drain, so to have it out of use in the
shed was a great shame.”
The divot mix was another area that
needed addressing; Hazel had it tested at
the same time as the indigenous soil and
the results were not encouraging.
“The pH was too high and the mixture
was too high in clay based fines, which
restricted drainage and could have led to
the surface capping,” she explains.
“Green shoots would appear and then
just die back; there was a crossing area
on the course that clearly showed the
impact of this divot mix.”
Coupled with the acidic indigenous
soil, it meant poor growth, particularly
on the jumps course, and a ‘slimy’ feel to
the sward, so Hazel switched to the divot
mix used at Hamilton, after analysis for
compatibility.
“The groundstaff were again sceptical
at the appearance of my chosen mix, but
seemed pleased with the results achieved.
It was a tough time for them - no-one
likes to feel that their course is not up to
scratch,” she says.
Hazel credits the return of former
head groundsman Jimmy Deans in
September as a highly positive step,
117
“One of the most difficult
aspects of being Clerk of
the Course is the need to
balance what would be
ideal in groundsmanship
terms with commercial
considerations”
restoring morale and confidence within
the team at a crucial time.
Whilst the renovation work was going
on, the straight course was used for two
meetings, but the jockeys got an idea of
what was to come as Hazel had arranged
for the bends to be hollow cored and
these were used as pulling up areas and
to access the start. “These solid cores
came up which made the track look
black, but at least they could see that
something was being done.”
The treated areas also offered more
grip - previously, rain had lain on the
racecourse making the sward greasy; now
the moisture could move out of the
surface.
Verti-draining was also beginning to
have an impact on the jumps course.
“There were no worms in the top three
or four inches of the first sample core,
now they are all through it which is great
to see. Worms are free aeration!” says
Hazel.
At the final meeting before the Ayr
Gold Cup festival, Hazel briefed the
jockeys on the measures taken, and the
greatest vote of confidence came from
Robert Winston, who had been injured at
the course two years previously. “The
118
jockeys said that the course was riding
tremendously. This was against the
background of considerable scepticism
from the racing media - they were
looking for a story. Fortunately for us it
turned out to be a non-story!”
The condition of the course was also
praised by racegoers, including steward
David Goldie who knows a thing or two
about grass, being an Ayrshire farmer.
“Comments were that the turf looked
better and more vigorous. Not being that
familiar with the course it was hard for
me to see a big difference, so their input
was appreciated. Looking back it was
clear that the accident had been caused
by a number of factors, including the
condition of the grass, the compaction,
bend alignment and heavy rain that had
fallen, but we were now in a position to
move on.”
The Ayr Gold Cup attracted media
attention for all the right reasons, with
winning jockey Frankie Dettori
performing his famous flying dismount
and declaring that it was the race he’d
always wanted to win.
But, moving on into the jumps season,
Hazel was about to face another
challenge, as the British weather took a
turn for the worse.
“David Goldie told me that he had
never known so many days when the
temperature stayed below freezing,” she
reflects, “And we lost six of the first eight
meetings of the winter. I was on a steep
learning curve coming from the flat-only
environment of Hamilton, and was
desperate to get some experience of
jumps racing before the Scottish Grand
National meeting in April.”
When the course finally thawed at the
end of February, evidence of frost mould
and a seriously backward sward greeted
Hazel and her team.
“We needed a significant rise in
temperatures and had an uphill struggle
to prepare for the Scottish Grand
National,” she explains. “While the
ground was frozen we had to minimise
all traffic on the course as the surface was
so fragile.”
Race meetings across Britain that
survived the winter often did so only
because of the use of covers, but Hazel
explains that it is a delicate balance
requiring £50,000 of income to justify
the £30,000 cost of the covers.
“We are looking at a covers sharing
project with Kelso and Musselburgh, and
Www.fornells.com
Fornells 10100
Running Rail
Fornells 10108
Running Rail
Crowd Barrier
& Gates
we already cover all
vulnerable areas, but huge
manpower is required to lay
and remove them.”
And, when the ground has
been frozen for so long, the
covers may not even help.
Hazel points out that a late
February meeting was lost
despite two frost-free nights,
so deep was the ice in the
ground.
As the jumps season draws
to a close, Clerks of the
Course at dual purpose tracks
look to the flat season and,
with Hazel’s time at Ayr
coming to an end,
preparations for a revised
fertiliser programme, mowing
and aeration of the flat
course swung into action.
“I decided to wait for the
results of soil analysis before
choosing a fertiliser regime as
the course had always been
over-fertilised,” she explains.
“It was too acidic, with too
much nitrogen. We should be
aiming for good root
development and a hardy
sward rather than a flush of
growth.”
One action that she did
take was to purchase a disk
aerator slitter from
agricultural suppliers, Erth
Engineering.
“I already use one of these
at Hamilton, and it is great
for getting air into the turf
and encouraging root growth.
The only limitation is that it
can’t be used too much in the
summer without risking
brown lines in the turf.”
Hazel has a rather more
sedate programme ahead of
her on her return to ‘just’
being responsible for
Hamilton, but new challenges
are already being lined up,
including a concert from pop
group JLS, a progression
from the course’s after racing
entertainment programme.
“We’ve had to look at
promotion of the concert and
aspects such as safety
certification for the first time,
which makes it interesting,”
she says. “One of the most
difficult aspects of being
Clerk of the Course is the
need to balance what would
be ideal in groundsmanship
terms with commercial
considerations. For example,
at Hamilton we like to sand
dress to improve the clay soil,
but we can only put as much
sand down as we can afford.”
The impact of the recession
was a serious concern for
many racecourses, as Hazel
explains: “Both courses are
fairly remote from the main
training centres such as
Yorkshire, and we were
worried that trainers might
not continue to send their
horses. However, they were
very supportive in 2009 and
that support seems set to
continue this year.”
When asked what she has
gained from her secondment
to Ayr, Hazel has no
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119
“We took the groundstaff to the European Turfgrass
Laboratories to see the research that had been done for
the course and then on for a pub lunch; no-one had done
that before and it made them feel appreciated”
hesitation. “I realised that the confidence
of the groundsmen is vital. They need
good leadership to find pleasure in their
work - Jimmy Deans has been a real
boon in this respect - and get more out
of it if they can see the effects of changes
that are being made.”
“We took the groundstaff to the
European Turfgrass Laboratories to see
the research that had been done for the
course and then on for a pub lunch; noone had done that before and it made
them feel appreciated. I now
have a happy and motivated
team and that counts for a
lot.”
With a new Clerk being
appointed as we go to press,
Hazel has mixed feelings
about leaving Ayr. “It’s hard to
hand over responsibility, as my time at
Ayr has been so enjoyable, and I’m keen
for the new regime to continue. But, I
feel it is in safe hands with Jimmy Deans
and his team, and I’d be
delighted to remain involved
on a consultancy basis if the
need arose.”
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DAISY (Bellis perennis)
DAISIES (Bellis perennis) are lowgrowing perennials that are
commonly seen in turf grass
swards, the plant form is seen
as a rosette of oval basal
leaves with white or pinkish
flowers. Daisies flower profusely
on upright stalks throughout the
season.
They can grow and establish in a wide
variety of situations including lawns, golfcourses, playing-fields, pastures and roadside
banks.
Roots have strong structures, comprising a
tap root and rhizomes, enabling the plant to
establish itself in most soil conditions.
The flower has white petals and yellow
centres, although flowers are sometimes a
pink or rose colour. Plants have 75-100mm
flower stalks. The flower stalks are generally
longer than the leaves; stems are smooth and
leafless and support a single flower. They close
at dusk and reopen the next day.
Leaves are narrow at the base and slightly
lobed, usually grouped together forming a
rosette appearance. Daisies have a prostrate or
spreading growing habit. Leaf texture varies
and may be smooth or hairy.
Daisies reproduce by seed and rhizomes
and thrive in moist, cool and low fertile
conditions.
They are also known as European Daisies,
Boneflowers, March Daisies. The common
daisy is very popular with young children. For
generations children have picked the flowers
to make daisy chains, especially in May when
the flowers are at their best.
WEED
Watch
Daisies have also been cultivated to produce
colourful spring bedding material for gardens,
with a range of colours available (pink, reds
and whites).
Cultural Control
Daisies can be mechanically removed from
lawns. Rosettes should be dug up using a knife
or weed fork ensuring that all the root system
is removed. Maintain a high sward density,
preventing bare soil areas being available for
weed seed germination.
Chemical Control
Apply selective broadleaf herbicides when
plant growth is active. There are a number of
products available for controlling broad leaf
weeds in established turf.
These chemicals are best used when the
weeds are actively growing, usually between
April-October.
Scotts Intrepid 2 is a powerful selective
herbicide for use on amenity turf, containing
dicamba, dichlorprop-P and MCPA
formulated as a liquid. The three way mixture
provides excellent broad-leaved weed control
but at the same time established, actively
growing grass is unaffected. Intrepid 2.
(Contains 20.8g/L dicamba,166g/L
dichlorprop-p ans 166.5g/L MCPA). .
Bayer Longbow® is a translocated selective
herbicide which targets a wide range of turf
weeds. Its special formulation allows uptake
through both the leaves and the roots
providing exceptional weed control.
Longbow’s powerful combination of four
active ingredients ensures you are on target!
Longbow® contains 70g/l 2,4-D, 70g/l MCPA,
42 g/l mecoprop-P and 20g/l Dicamba.
Scotts Re-Act can be used as a selective
herbicide on all types of established managed
amenity turf, and newly seeded grass. It
controls many annual and perennial weeds
and is a non-ester formulation, so will not
vapourise in hot conditions.
It can be applied using standard spray
equipment or pedestrian-controlled sprayers.
Contains 256.25g/l (22.6% w/w) MCPA,
237.5g/l (20.9% w/w) mecoprop-P and 31.25g/l
(2.8% w/w) dicamba as the dimethylamine salt
formulated as a soluble concentrate.
Headland Relay Turf is a popular
herbicide and is active against a wide range of
broad leaved weeds in both fine and coarse
turf. Relay Turf contains 200g/l Mecoprop-P,
200g/l MCPA and 25g/l Dicamba (Headland
Amenity).
These herbicides are usually applied as a
liquid, using watering cans, knapsack sprayers
and vehicle mounted sprayers.
Ensure you follow manufacturer’s directions,
health & safety and product data sheets, and
comply with COSHH regulations when using
these chemicals.
Herbicides are an effective tool where high
quality turf is desired. However, they must be
applied with care and accuracy and in the
context of a good overall turf management
programme. Before using any herbicide,
carefully review the label for conditions of use
including rates, methods of application, and
precautions. Never use a herbicide in any
manner contrary to its label and be sure that
the herbicide will not injure the turfgrass
species.
121
Creating a new product is a major undertaking. Long
before the first sheet of metal is pressed the
commitment is made to invest thousands of man
hours and money into design and development.
John Shanahan looks at how Hayter go about
bringing a new product to market
H
ayter has an enviable
reputation in both the
consumer and
professional mower market.
One of the strongest UK
brands, the company is also
active in several overseas
markets. Therefore, bringing
a new mower to market has
to meet both the
requirements of their
reputation and their
customers.
People with many different
disciplines are involved in the
process. The most important
to be represented are the
customers. For Hayter, this is
not just their dealers, but also
local authorities, contract
investment is required, will
the project meet the
company’s requirements for
return on investment? No
fewer than twelve specific
fields, containing numerous
questions, are examined and
satisfactory answers are
needed for the project to
progress.
By the end of this stage
there will be a Product
Design Specification. This
extensive document first
identifies each model in the
range and each kit, including
those fitted as standard, such
as the ROPS frame and the
cost options, for instance a
full weather ROPS cab kit.
markets. Their views are
sought on all the
benchmarks, i.e. consensus is
established on what will
constitute a ‘best of breed’.
The outcomes are fed back to
the project engineers for
assent and incorporation.
Development: At Gate 3
the design work begins in a
more direct approach, taking
all the information learned
through the ‘Voice of the
Customer’ activities and,
importantly, the Product
Design Specification. The
engineering aspect in any
project is always involved as
ideas and suggestions have to
be considered and evaluated
Compare the M
managers, operators and
independent contractors.
Hayter has a long history
of successful innovation and
now, as part of The Toro
Company, it uses the
company’s established and
proven product development
system.
This organises the
development work into seven
stages, called gates - Concept,
Feasibility, Development,
Mid-Development,
Manufacturing Pilot, Project
Close and Audit Report.
There is no progression to
the next stage until each one
is completed.
Concept: At the first stage
the concept is defined. In the
case of the new compact
triples, the concept included
increased functionality,
reduced width and weight
and improved operator
comfort. The definition is
agreed and signed off by
senior design, technical, sales
and marketing people.
Feasibility: The feasibility
gate looks at the project in
considerable detail to
establish its viability. What is
the size of the target market
segment, what are the
competing products, what
Benchmarks are set for
more than thirty basic
attributes, such as machine
control in a variety of
conditions, vibration, traction
etc. These benchmarks are
established from those of the
best performing mowers
currently available, and the
requirement for the new
models is to meet, or exceed,
the performance of the
benchmark model.
The next section of the
product design specification,
the ‘general specification’,
goes into more detail. The
range of operating ambient
temperatures, the angle of
approach and exit on trailer
ramps, the depth of water
driven through with no
impairment to performance
are just a few of several dozen
parameters to be specified.
The product design
specification determines the
features and performance of
the new products from every
conceivable point of view.
This is the first stage when
the ‘Voice of the Customer’
comes in. A panel has been
established, representing
dealers, contract managers,
and operators from the UK
as well as Hayter’s export
as part of the feasibility
process. Establishing whether
the market needs, and wants,
a particular model can be
achieved within the desired
time frame and must be
established prior to this gate.
Within their product
development, Hayter
adopted the 3D CAD
package, Pro-Engineer, in
2003 and, since then, it has
been the backbone of
engineering developments.
The new computer
technology was developed to
allow the vast majority of the
components for any product
being designed before any
prototype production.
This method allowed the
design to proceed at a
smoother and faster rate than
older, more conventional
techniques. Once the CAD
model is at a suitable stage,
the first prototype is built.
Mid-Development: The
fourth stage is middevelopment. The ‘Voice of
the Customer’ is heard again.
Achievement against
benchmark objectives is
reviewed and the
performance against the
general specification is
measured. The service
specialists make their
contribution. Design work is
finalised and any tweaking to
the product design
specification is agreed and
referred back to the
engineers for assent and
incorporation.
Tooling is ordered and the
manufacturing unit starts to
gear up for production. The
‘Voice of the Customer’ is
heard yet again when the
prototype is available to be
driven to confirm that all
expectations are met.
For the first time, Hayter
has added a further trial
before signing in to Gate 5;
the mower is given an
accelerated life test by MIRA,
the leading automotive
industry product engineering
and testing organisation. The
test procedure at MIRA starts
with benchmarking a current
Hayter triple mower to
establish exactly how this
product is operated by a
customer, in real-life
applications. The collected
data is then interpreted into
a unique test programme to
which the product is then
subjected. The test essentially
accelerates two year’s life into
the space of 5-6 weeks. A
TWENTY
Questions
Chris Cooper - an
attentive petrol
head who needs to
change his diet!
Who are you? Christopher
Cooper, Product Manager,
Hayter Limited.
Family status? Engaged to be
married in July 2011.
Who’s your hero and why?
Winston Churchill. A great
individual who knew how to
inspire people and was a great
leader.
Market!
What is your dream holiday?
Anywhere where it’s hot and
there’s miles of sandy beaches,
clear seas and plenty of time to
relax in isolation away from the
hustle and bustle. Greece or
the Caribbean sound good.
What annoys you the most?
Standing in supermarkets
queuing at one of a handful of
open tills at the busiest time of
day, whilst the remainder stand
closed and the staff stand
around doing nothing.
What would you change
about yourself? My appetite!
Who wouldn’t you like to be?
A politician - it doesn’t matter
who, they’re all one and the
same.
Favourite record, and why? I
don’t know - there are loads of
songs that I like equally, but
Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash is
always a good one that springs
to mind, as it reminds me of
many good nights out with
friends at parties with live
music.
Who would you choose to
spend a romantic evening
with? My fiancée of course.
If you won the lottery, what
is the first thing you would
do? Run into the middle of the
street and shout about it, then
go on a really long holiday.
wide variety of tests are
applied including different
types and approaches to
kerb climbing, driving on
cobbled roads etc. All
contribute and test the
product in a representative
manner of real life.
Manufacturing Pilot and
Project Close: Stages 5 and
6 include building the
initial production units and
a round up of the project as
a check to ensure that all
expectations, goals and
objectives are met.
Audit Report: The final
stage is the Audit Report, a
review of the project twelve
months on.
If you were to describe
yourself as a musical
instrument, what would you
be and why? My fiancée
thinks a trumpet - but I can’t
think why!
What do you do in your
spare time? Loads really - ride
my bicycle, read books, mess
about with my car, go and
watch motorsport, airshows
etc. Go to car shows with the
Mini car club I helped found in
2007. I also get involved with
anything to do with World War
II. I love reading about it,
understanding the facts and
true stories, visiting battle sites
etc. I love surfing but it’s very
difficult to make that a regular
thing considering where I live.
What’s the daftest work
related question you have
ever been asked? Not a
question, but I had a customer
come up to me at the Chelsea
Flower Show one year who
started to complain about an
aspect of one of our products. I
was rather baffled at what he
was saying as I couldn’t relate
to it. It turned out he was
referring to a competitor’s
product which was of a similar
colour. I think he felt quite
embarrassed, to say the least.
What’s your favourite piece
of kit? My car - a Mini Cooper
S.
What three words would you
use to describe yourself?
Attentive, impatient,
considerate.
What talent would you like
to have? To be able to play the
piano.
What’s the best advice you
have ever been given? Don’t
put all your eggs in one basket!
What makes you angry?
People who don’t do something
that has been requested after
they have agreed to do it.
What’s your favourite smell?
Strangely, the smell of Rolls
Royce Merlin engines starting,
and the smell of fuel, glycol, oil
and everything else.
What law/legislation would
you like to see introduced? A
relaxation of speed limits in
road works when there is noone working.
Earlier this spring, Pitchcare visited
Newbury & Crookham Golf Club in
Berkshire to meet Course Manager,
Alec MacIndoe, and sprayer operator,
Andy Thrift, to run through some
essential sprayer checks and
calibration techniques to assure
accurate application
The Art of
Application
W
ith spray nozzles
being the final point
of delivery, it is
crucial that they are working
accurately and efficiently, if
operators are going to get the
spray on target, reports Tom
Robinson of Syngenta.
All nozzles wear over time;
the rate of wear being
dependent on the amount of
use and the products being
applied; coarse liquid
fertiliser or trace element
products typically cause faster
wear - low quality iron
products can be like
sandpaper going through the
nozzle.
I would always recommend
checking nozzle output at
least twice a year, and
possibly each month during
busy spraying periods. One
thing to look out for is if you
expect to spray eighteen
greens on a 400-litre
p
i
T
p
o
T
tion
tank, and you have
ra
b
li
a
ozzle
use a c
Always for checking n s are run dry after
g
r
ju
cylinde measuring ring
seventeen, then the
output; d for measu not
goo t, but are
nozzles may be to
c
te
u
prod ntly accura
blame.
sufficie checking
for
There is some
nozzles
opportunity to adjust
pressure or speed to get the
right application rate if all
the nozzles have worn evenly
Checking sprayer speed
(see calibration section below)
but, if nozzles wear too much,
then the spray pattern will be
affected and that will
influence the leaf coverage
and the potential
performance of
p
Top Ti hen products.
w
h
tc
o
top wa
More typically, and
Use a s g nozzles - twon
checkins difference
of greater concern, is if
k
d
c
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o
h
c
c
e
s
cond
one nozzle has worn
a 30 seuates to
eq
.
more than others and is
+/- 6%
applying at a higher rate.
Overall the machine may be
applying the required volume
across the six metre width
but, if one nozzle is applying
20% more than others, for
Checking nozzle output
example, then some areas will
be getting too much fertiliser
that may cause scorch or
striping or, if applying
fungicides, plants sprayed
with the lower output nozzles
may not be getting the vital
protection they require.
Operators need to check
the individual output from
each nozzle and that it is
consistent across all the
nozzles. Once the output per
nozzle has been established,
the other variable operators
need to know exactly is how
fast they are spraying? With
these two facts, the precise
spray volume can be
calculated and any
adjustments made to select
nozzle choice and pressure to
achieve the desired output.
Checking sprayer speed
It is very easy to check the
spraying speed. Accurately
measure out a run of 100m
on a turf surface, using a cane
to mark each end. Start the
timing as you drive over the
first cane at spraying speed;
stop the clock as you drive
over the second cane.
Divide 360 by the time
taken to drive the 100m in
seconds = speed in km/h.
Repeat if different spraying
speeds are used for different
areas, e.g. greens and
fairways.
Checking nozzle output
To check the consistency of
nozzle output across the
boom, fill the tank with clean
water, set the pump to the
standard operating pressure
and collect the output from
each nozzle for 30 seconds,
using a Syngenta Sprayer
Checker calibration cylinder.
Note down the output from
each nozzle. Add up the total
and divide by the number of
nozzles to give the average
output per nozzle across the
boom. Calculate the difference
from average for each nozzle.
If the output from any nozzle
is +/- 4% of the average,
nozzles are unacceptably worn
and the complete nozzle set
should be replaced.
Calculating application rate
With the knowledge of the
forward speed of the sprayer
and the output from nozzles,
the calculation to work out the
volume of spray being applied
per hectare is:
Spray volume (l/ha) =
Nozzle output (l/min) x 600 ÷
forward speed (km/hr) ÷
nozzle spacing (m)
This can also be turned
around so that you can calculate
the nozzle output per minute
required to apply a given spray
volume:
Nozzle output (l/min) =
Spray volume (l/ha) x forward
speed (km/hr) x nozzle spacing
(m) ÷ 600
Changing the
forward speed
or the
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volume
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application rate;
increasing pressure or
slowing down raises application
rate, lowering pressure or
speeding up will decrease
application rate. For greater
changes in the water volume
different sized nozzles may be
required.
Any changes can be worked
out and checked with the
manual calculations, or using
the on-line sprayer calculations
available free on the Syngenta
GreenCast Application Zone.
Alec MacIndoe
Course Manager’s comments
We use the sprayer repeatedly
throughout the year, not just for
disease control, but also for all
the fertiliser as liquid feed,
trace elements, worm
treatments and wetting agents,
reports Alec MacIndoe of
Newbury & Crookham Golf
Club.
“It is really essential for us
that the sprayer is operating
efficiently and accurately. Andy
has been on training courses
for spray application and
calibration and keeps up to
date with new developments.”
“Whilst we check, adjust and
maintain the mowers through
the workshop every week, it’s
fair to say that we possibly
haven’t given the sprayer the
same level of attention in the
past. If we are going to get the
best results from the inputs
used within the available
budget, it makes economic and
environmental sense to get the
application and the timing as
accurate as possible in the
future.”
COMPETITION
Enter the Pitchcare Free Prize Draw to win one of 10 Syngenta
Spray Calibration Checker Systems.
Visit www.pitchcare.com and click on the competition to enter.
The easy-to-use Syngenta Calibration Checker System features a
pre-calibrated cylinder especially designed for turf applications,
which gives an instant reading of the spray volume being applied
without requiring a calculator or reference to tables.
Newbury & Crookham Case Study 1:
Operating a well-used set of nozzles to demonstrate the
nozzle output check recorded:
Nozzle
Nozzle output in Difference from Pass/Fail
30 seconds (ml)
average (%)
1
730
+7
2
670
-2
3
640
-6
4
660
-3
5
690
+1
6
660
-3
7
690
+1
8
690
+1
9
710
+4
Total
6140ml
Average per
nozzle
682ml
Average + 4%
709ml
Average - 4%
654ml
The results showed seven of the nine nozzles were well
within application margins, but two nozzles were operating
marginally outside acceptable variance. As a result, the
whole set would be due for a change.
Interestingly, it was the nozzles at either end of the central
section which were giving the highest outputs. However,
when one of these nozzles was tried in a different outlet and
checked again, the result was an identical output, and
confirmed it was a problem with wear of the specific nozzle,
and not mechanical fault with the sprayer. The one nozzle
that gave a significant 6% below average output had a visibly
poor spray pattern, possibly indicating some blockage or
damage.
Newbury & Crookham Case Study 2:
With the nozzles normally used for spraying greens at the
measured speed of 3.8 km/hr and producing a flow rate of
1.36 l/min at 0.5m nozzle spacing, the calibration check
shows:
1.36 x 600 = 816 ÷ 3.8 = 215 ÷ 0.5 = 430 l/ha
Also, use the measuring cylinder for checking nozzle output and
sprayer calibration. It's supplied with full instructions, or visit the
GreenCast website and watch the video podcast of nozzle wear
and sprayer calibration.
The Calibration Checker System is part of the Syngenta Art of
Application, including turf specific nozzles for foliar and soil
applications, Boom Height Indicators and information for sprayer
operators on the GreenCast Application Zone www.greencast.co.uk
The prize draw is open to all turf managers and sprayer operators. Terms
and conditions apply. Contact details of entrants will be passed to
Syngenta Turf and Landscape only for marketing purposes. Details will not
be passed on to any other business for any purpose.
Since Mr Thrift normally puts in 400 litres of water to spray
19 greens totalling 0.9 hectares, he is achieving a very
accurate result.
A nozzle output check
on a new set of
Syngenta Turf Foliar
Nozzles fitted to the
sprayer gave a flow
rate of 1.48 l/min.
Spraying greens at 3.8
km/h at the current
settings would apply a
spray volume of 470
l/ha. On the fairways, sprayed at 6.3 km/h, the spray volume
applied would be 280 l/ha.
125
Bats about bats
Mark Witherall of Peak Ecology looks at the the lifecycle of
bats and dispels some of the myths surrounding them
I
t would be safe to assume
that bats will be flying
around most golf courses
in the UK at night
during the late spring,
summer and autumn,
foraging for insects around
wooded or shrubby margins
and the rough, or over lakes
and ponds. Even on a links
course bats may be found
foraging on cliff edges. They
may also be roosting
somewhere on the course,
perhaps in holes in mature
trees, or even in the
clubhouse roof or other outbuildings.
Bats are one of the most
misunderstood animals in the
world. With their nocturnal
habits and association with
things that go bump in the
night, they seem to instill
nervousness in many. But
these are truly amazing
animals.
There are over 1100
species of bats across the
world, making up about one
fifth of all the world’s
mammals. They are found on
every continent, except
Antarctica, and are incredibly
diverse. In the UK there are
seventeen species of bat
(including sub-species),
ranging from the widespread
pipistrelle (Pipistrellus
pipistrellus) to the rare
barbastelle (Barbastella
barbastellus).
Through the winter, bats
will be hibernating. They will
have sought out cool, damp
areas where they can roost,
waking up every few days to
urinate and defecate and to
have a drink, so it’s possible
Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus)
that you might see the odd
bat flying around over the
winter.
The bat year begins when
they emerge from their
hibernation roosts.
Emergence time can be
influenced by weather or
physical condition, and can
begin as early as March or as
late as May if there has been
a bad spring. Times may vary
between individuals and
species. Maternity roosts are
usually occupied in May,
where bats usually remain
until August or September.
The gestation period in
bats begins in spring after
which they give birth to a
single pup (twins are rare) in
June or July. (Mating has
already taken place in the
preceding autumn and sperm
is retained). The gestation
period lasts from 40-70 days,
depending on species and
available food resources.
Birth is highly
synchronised within a colony
where a large percentage are
born within two-three weeks
of each other. Bats, being
mammals, suckle their
young, they remain attached
to the female in the roost,
except when she has to go
out to feed and young bats
are then left in nursery
clusters until females return;
they recognise their young by
smell and calls. Sometimes
bats will move roosts and
carry their young to the new
roost.
Young bats are weaned 4560 days after birth. Males
play no part in rearing
young.
Mating begins from late
summer, autumn and can
continue into winter. Female
bats may disperse from
maternity roosts to smaller
roosts or mating roosts.
Males will have roosted
singly, or in small groups,
throughout the summer.
After feeding up to
increase their fat deposits, in
late autumn and early winter,
bats take to their hibernation
roosts, in the main selecting
cool, relatively humid sites
with a stable microclimate
and free from disturbance.
Site selection varies between
species; but most British bats
will use caves, mines, cellars
and tunnels. Some, such as
pipistrelles, will hibernate in
stone or brick wall cavities,
others such as barbastelle
and brown long-eared bats,
will hibernate in trees.
The summer is when bats
are most active and when you
are most likely to see them. I
expect you, like me, will have
been sat out enjoying a cold
one on a warm summers
evening and had bats flying
around your garden or golf
course! At this time they will
be feeding, catching insects
on the wing, gathering energy
and building reserves for the
coming winter. Importantly,
bats will be feeding young as
well through the early
summer.
Bat roosts
It is often the case that bats
will have different winter and
summer roosts; in addition
there will be special mating
roosts in the autumn along
Barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus)
with roosts that are just used
to rest-up or feed at night.
The numbers of bats within a
roost can vary from one or
two to hundreds of
individuals.
A common myth about bats
is that they only roost in
churches and old buildings.
In fact, some bats will also
use modern buildings.
Pipistrelles, in particular, are
very adaptable and will
squeeze into gaps as small as
15mm wide, and can be
found roosting under roof
tiles, soffits, in cavity walls
and loft spaces. In addition
to buildings, bats will roost in
a variety of places, including,
caves, bridges, walls and
trees.
So, how do you know they
are there? In an initial
survey, evidence such as
greasy marks around access
points, or droppings on the
floor, wall and window sills
will be looked for, and these
signs will give away the
presence of bats. If there is
evidence of bats, then activity
surveys will need to be
carried out.
Surveys involve trained
surveyors going out at dusk
and dawn, with bat detectors,
recording bats flying around,
and, hopefully, identifying
where they are roosting.
The main possible roosting
areas for bats on golf courses
will be in buildings, trees,
caves and cliffs, and these
would need to be assessed in
terms of potential for being
habitat to bats.
Generally speaking, bat
activity surveys are carried
Hibernating Brown Long-Eared Bats
“The inspection of buildings and trees for bat roosts is
often an essential component of a planning application
and, after the inspection, activity surveys may be required”
out between May and midOctober when bats are not
hibernating. Building and tree
inspections to identify bat
roosts can be undertaken at
any time of year.
Bats and the law
Bats have declined alarmingly
over the past 100 years for a
variety of reasons - these
include habitat loss and
fragmentation, a reduction in
insect numbers, the
destruction of roosts and the
use of toxic timber treatments
in roofs. Climate change also
threatens bats; a milder spell
in winter can rouse them from
hibernation when there may
be little food resources
available.
Due to these declines in
populations, bat species and
their roosts are now fully
protected under the Wildlife
and Countryside Act 1981 (as
amended) through inclusion
in Schedule 5. All bats are
also included in Schedule 2 of
the Conservation (Natural
Habitats &c.) Regulations
1994, which defines
‘European Protected Species
of animals’. In net effect, it is
a legal offence to:
• Deliberately capture, injure
or kill bats
• Intentionally or recklessly
disturb bats
• Intentionally or recklessly
damage, destroy or obscure
access to a breeding site or
resting place
• Possess, control, transport,
sell or exchange a bat or
any part of a bat, unless
Bat droppings
acquired legally
In summary, bats and their
roosts are fully protected so, if
there is a winter roost in a
building, which is unoccupied
in the summer, the roost is
still protected in the summer!
In fact when occupying a
roost, bats can still go totally
unnoticed for long periods of
time.
Bats and development
If you are considering any
development works,
demolition or tree felling, it is
wise to consider bats early on
in the planning process. The
inspection of buildings and
trees for bat roosts is often an
essential component of a
planning application and,
after the inspection, activity
surveys may be required.
This will help avoid
unnecessary delays. For
example, having to wait for
the survey season. If bats are
discovered during the work
itself the whole job may have
to stop! One case in point is
the Jack Nicklaus-designed
course at St. Mellion,
Cornwall when, in 2007,
hibernating brown long-eared
bats Plecotus auritus delayed
the £100 million
refurbishment of buildings in
the complex.
A situation where bats
should be considered, which
may not obvious at first is the
construction of driving
ranges, which would be
floodlit at night. Although
some species of bat can be
attracted to the insect prey
that fly around floodlighting,
other species will actively
Bat boxes
avoid it. A bat survey would
be recommended before such
development goes ahead. If
there was a roost in close
proximity to such a
development it may cause the
bats to desert the roost. The
proposed range may be a
good foraging area for bats,
which would likely be
impacted by the presence of
floodlighting.
I have often heard it said:
“If you have bats in your
building then that’s it, ‘they’
won’t let you do anything”.
But, the truth is, having bats
in a building very rarely
restricts a development to any
significant degree.
In practice, there are many
things that can be done to
mitigate or compensate for the
loss, or potential disturbance,
of a bat roost. Taking bats into
consideration should be
viewed as an opportunity to
make a positive contribution
to conservation, and golf
courses are ideal sites for
enhancing habitats for bats,
for example, putting bat boxes
up on trees or buildings to
improve roosting habitat or
planting shrub species
particularly attractive to
insects. This not only helps
bats, but also enhances the
golf courses’ environmental
profile.
Peak Ecology Limited
markwitherall@peakecology.co.uk
www.peakecology.co.uk
More information available from the
Bat Conservation Trust at
www.bats.org.uk
Images © Hugh Clark, Mark
Witherall.
Main image © Warner Bothers
Are you
compliant?
As with many other industries,
legislation applicable to our own is
often updated and it is increasingly
difficult keeping abreast of changes.
Here, Highspeed Group’s David Mears
guides us through recent developments
T
he most important
introduction in recent
months which affects us
all is The Groundwater
(England and Wales)
Regulations 2009. This new
piece of legislation became
law on 30th October 2009
replacing The Groundwater
Regulations 1998 with
tougher conditions and
penalties applying.
For example, if convicted, a
fine of up to £50,000 and/or
imprisonment is now
possible. The act covers both
hazardous and non
hazardous substances and
makes matters quite clear as
this extract (Regulation 13)
shows; “It is an offence to cause
or knowingly permit the
discharge of any hazardous
substance or non-hazardous
pollutant in circumstances that
might lead to an indirect input of
that hazardous substance or nonhazardous pollutant into
groundwater unless it is carried
on under and in accordance with
a permit granted by the Agency
under this regulation”.
Substances (of interest to
the turf maintenance sector)
now include:
• Mineral oils and
hydrocarbons (oil, grease,
petrol, diesel fuel etc.)
• Many pesticides and
herbicides
• Many solvents
• Many biocides
• Ammonia and nitrates
To avoid any confusion,
these Regulations implement
in England and Wales the
new EU Groundwater
Directive 2006/118EC and
continue to implement the
EU Water Framework
Directive 2006/60/EC. So,
whilst The Groundwater
Regulations apply specifically
128
to England and Wales, all EU
member states are affected.
In Scotland, for example, you
are committing an offence if
you carry out an activity that
is likely to cause water
pollution without SEPA’s
authorisation.
These are powerful pieces
of legislation and must be
complied with. The
Environment Agency (EA),
through its Environmental
Officers, frequently carries
out compliance inspections
and enforcement duties.
Prosecutions for waste and
pollution offences are
increasing and figures for
2008 show that 250
companies were prosecuted,
with fines totalling over £3
million.
Is now the time to upgrade
your facilities to ensure you
are within the law?
Take a close look at your
washpad. Is it compliant or
does the washwater go to
ground? A dedicated
washpad should be in use.
That’s one with a low curb
surround that prevents
washwater leaving the pad
except to a suitable facility.
Installing a closed loop
biological water recycling
system is probably the best
solution. It is future-proof
and offers the added benefits
of water savings. A cost
effective system, such as the
WTL* approved ClearWater,
makes wash-off far more
efficient, enabling you to turn
round machinery that much
quicker.
Are your petrol and
chemical storage facilities
compliant?
The Control of Pollution (Oil
Storage) (England)
Regulations 2001 and The
Water Environment (Oil
Storage) (Scotland)
Regulations 2006
apply. Most
responsible
establishments will
have invested in
properly bunded fuel
storage and
dispensing but, if
not, can you afford to
ignore legislation?
Many are now
incorporating such storage
with a wash system, creating a
pollution prevention area.
“Turn-Key” packages for
washpad build, recycling
system and installation with
fuel and chemical storage are
available. Don’t forget that
Spill Kits are a requirement
too!
What about oft neglected
or outdated appropriate
signage in and around such
storage areas?
If you store and carry petrol,
an inexpensive and legal way
to store and transport up to 4
x 5 litre jerrycans of petrol is
to use a Transit Box.
And finally...
Check to see if you are
meeting your responsibilities
for Waste Management. As
producers of hazardous
waste, you will have
registered with the EA and
have a Premises Code. No
doubt you also have a
contract with a fully licensed
waste management provider
who will be providing you
with UN approved and
labelled waste containers
(replaced at each collection).
Check you have proper
documentation each time
collections are made and
that, if inspected, audit trails
have been established;
especially important if the
company you have the
contract with is not actually
collecting your waste.
You may have requirements
for “one-off ” collections and
disposal of redundant
chemicals, paints, old
electrical appliances,
fluorescent tubes, batteries,
etc. It is not safe to hoard
many such items, and correct
disposal under appropriate
regulations should be sought.
Check your facilities and
services now and remember,
ignorance of legal
requirements is no defence
for non-compliance!
*WTL is the UK
Government backed Water
Technology List and
approves water saving
technologies that meet
certain criteria.
David Mears, Joint Managing
Director, Highspeed Group Ltd.
Tel: 0845 600 3572
Email; info@highspeed.co.uk
Web: www.course-care.co.uk
Employer’s
Liability
Products
Liability
Professional Equipment
Indemnity
‘All Risks’
“
Public
Liability
“
We’ve always had problems getting
insurance. There was only the NFU
who would cover us. Our premiums
were so high that, in the end, they were
our biggest single expense after wages
and fuel. GroundCover gives us a
complete package including Professional
Indemnity for half the money!
It’s about time we were recognised as
a group of professionals who have
nothing to do with agriculture. We have
been paying a fortune for insurance
which did not fit our need.
GroundCover is more comprehensive
and we could take on an additional
operator on the money we have saved
”
”
www.groundcover.co.uk
Mike Seaton, Managing Director, Weed Free
David Green, Managing Director, Terrain Aeration
Or call 08456 434161
Does my business qualify?
You should qualify if your business activities fall within the following descriptions:
Grounds Managers, Groundsmen, Grounds Maintenance Managers, Greenkeepers and those involved in the management of public
and private playing fields, sports pitches, golf courses, bowling greens, polo lawns, tennis courts, parks, gardens, grounds and estates
in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands
Sports clubs, manufacturers, suppliers, dealers, distributors and contractors in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland,
Isle of Man and the Channel Islands
Why won’t you be
open with me?
Part 1: I can’t tell you!
Fresh from successful speaking assignments
in Vienna, Ireland and Chipping Sodbury Performance Consultant and Conference Speaker,
Frank Newberry, makes the case for more
openness in the workplace.
In Part 2 he will look at the sophisticated
methods people use to avoid being open with
others and how we can tackle this problem in
ourselves and in others
L
et us pause for a moment and make
a list of some of the things we would
like to be able to discuss more
openly in the workplace: wages and
salaries perhaps, terms and conditions,
job security, promotion prospects, why we
need to do some tasks in a certain way,
how key decisions are made, why some
decisions are delayed, how we are getting
on as an enterprise in the recession, what
about those people who are not pulling
their weight in the team, and that
favouritism I have noticed, to name but
ten.
Why don’t we always talk about these
topics openly at work? Why do things
have to reach a crisis point before
anything is said? Why do some
supervisors keep so many things to
themselves? Why do team members
gossip about a colleague, but will not tell
the person to his/her face? Why does
everyone in the team discuss the boss’s
performance, but never include the boss
in these discussions?
Why? Because of fear. Fear of setting a
precedent, fear of being seen as soft, fear
of failure, fear of rejection, fear of being
found out ... please add to your list any
other fears that you think might apply.
Fears lead to conspiracies, rumours and
gossip. Managers refuse to discuss
certain things and staff keep quiet about
other things. Rumours and gossip can
cause fear and anxiety. Fear and anxiety
can damage morale. When morale
suffers - performance suffers. All because
we are afraid of discussing some things at
work.
I can vividly recall the remarks of a
fellow consultant, named Nick, who had
been called into a big airline company to
help them with what had been described
as a ‘communication’ problem. Some
serious and embarrassing breakdowns in
130
communication had been reported that
led to concerns about the way
information was shared in the company.
Like me, you may have personal
experience of your openness being
punished.
Part of any consultant’s work is
diagnostic and, so, Nick began by asking
questions like “how long” they had had
the problem (ever since anyone could
remember); “what had been tried
already” (nothing much) and what sort of
information was not being
communicated effectively.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could feel
confident enough to say whatever we like
to anyone, without fear or worry that it
will be taken the wrong way or used
against us!
On this last point, Nick gained some real
insights. The company had been formed
after World War II and most of the
managers had previously been in the
RAF where, during the war, because of
the very high security levels, people were
only told things on a ‘need to know’
basis. The person who had information
to share would decide who needed to
know the information and would then
tell only them. If they were in any doubt
about whether a particular person should
be told, the rule was - don’t tell them.
This led to a culture of secrecy, as the
company grew, which lasted until the
present day, or certainly until the day
Nick arrived. Nick pretty soon began to
go through something like our list of
topics above to check what was
‘discussable’ by people at all levels in the
company.
He got as far as ‘wages and salaries’ and
was interrupted by a person who said;
“You can stop right there Nick. You need
to know that there are some things in
this organisation that are so
undiscussable that their very
‘discussability’ is not discussable.” Not
much openness there then.
There is also research that tends to
suggest that we fear the reaction our
openness might get ‘in the moment’, and
then the negative consequences that
might follow after we have been open.
Of course, we sometimes come across
people who are very blunt and like to
‘call a spade a spade’. However this
‘spade calling’ is often done in a crude
‘there you are, I’ve said it now’ kind of
way, which can cause people to take
offence at what is said. Worse still, people
can then harbour a grudge forever, or
never take that person into their
confidence again. Why? Because just
blurting something out only eases the
frustrations of the ‘blurting’ person, it
rarely helps the other person or the
situation they are in.
As I have said in these pages before, it is
great to be kind and good natured as are
most people in the turfcare professions.
But, sometimes, things have to be said
clearly and openly so that we can have
the kind of effective communication that
will lead to improved morale and a
better performance from the work team.
In the next edition I will look at the
sophisticated ways that people avoid
being open and honest, and what we can
do to improve our own openness and the
openness of others at work.
Frank Newberry has been helping people in the
turfcare sector to get better results for over
twenty years. If you are facing a situation that
needs more openness and honesty, and you
think it might help to speak to someone, you
can contact Frank by email or by telephone via
the contact tab of his personal website which is
www.franknewberry.com
To advertise in this section contact
Football
Classifieds MADDY MADNESS!
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
AERATION
AERATION
TERRAIN
Turf and Trees
10” drill aeration
1m air injection
1m soil coring
Air excavation
Tel: 01449 673783
www.terrainaeration.com
terrainaeration@aol.com
WORTH
DRAINING
25 years in
sports turf maintenance
Verti-draining
Blec Groundbreaker
Overseeding - Sanding
Top Dressing
Hollow Coring
Tel/Fax 01476 550266
Mobile: 07855 431119/20
email: worthdraining@talktalk.net
www.worthdraining.co.uk
AERATORS
Full range of Groundsman
pedestrian and tractor mounted
models with all accessories
SALES AND HIRE
Contact Synergy Products on
01380 828337
Dave on mobile: 07971 843802
Email: sales@synergyproducts.co.uk
www.synergyproducts.co.uk
ARTIFICIAL
ARTIFICIAL
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WORTH
DRAINING
25 years in
sports turf maintenance
Artificial sports surfaces
cleaning and maintenance
Tel/Fax 01476 550266
Mobile: 07855 431119/20
email: worthdraining@talktalk.net
Artificial turf and synthetic grass supply & installation
We offer a full range products and services including:
Synthetic Grass Pitches • Multi Use Games Areas
Tennis court resurfacing and remarking
Synthetic Cricket Wickets • Sports fencing
Sports pitch maintenance services • Ancillary Services
Fencing • Sport Equipment and Supply
Line marking • Maintenance and Repairs
Tel: 0871 288 3425 Email: info@astrosport.co.uk
www.astrosport.co.uk
132
www.worthdraining.co.uk
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suppliers websites www.pitchcare.com
Damage to pitch caused by lighting tower
Ontario Sport are responsible for the pitch at
the Vassil Levski stadium in Sofia. This
responsibility was tested to the limit when
they were told ‘in mid August’ that the
stadium was to host a concert by Madonna on
Saturday 29th August, just seven days before
a World Cup qualifying match between
Bulgaria and Montenegro
W
hen we think of the old
Eastern Bloc, we tend to
imagine donkey carts and
Trabants. However different the
work methods may be, the ability
of companies such as Ontario
Sport, based in Sofia, Bulgaria are
on par with other world experts.
The President of Ontario Sport is
Hristo Todorov who, as a young
man, was one of Bulgaria’s football
greats. During the Communist era
he was a pharmacist and, following
the fall of the Communist regime,
he was able to follow his passion
and became a member of a
scientific research team
specialising in sportsfield
construction. This was followed by
work in Canada before returning to
Bulgaria to start his own company.
Amongst the achievements
accomplished by the company was
the complete reconstruction of
Bulgaria's Vassil Levski national
stadium. The pitch benefits from
full computer controlled irrigation,
underground heating, the use of
diffusion misers to supply top-level
drainage and a deep rooted turf,
giving a playing surface as good as
any in the west.
The Vassil Levski Stadium is run
by a Stadium Manager in
combination with a representative
of the Bulgarian Ministry of Sport.
Ontario Sport are, however, still
responsible for maintaining the
playing surface.
This responsibility was tested to
the limit when they were told, in
mid August, that the stadium was
to host a concert by Madonna on
Saturday 29th August 2009, just
seven days before a World Cup
qualifying match between Bulgaria
and Montenegro!
The preparations for the concert
required the whole pitch to be
covered in aluminium and the
erection of a stage weighing
hundreds of tons, as well as
lighting towers on the playing
surface.
It was an immediate concern
that the pitch would not have
sufficient time to recover before the
scheduled World Cup qualifying
match. Conventional plant
fertilisers and stimulants would not
be able to work within this very
short time frame, and Ontario
Sport looked to the open market
for a solution.
They contacted Massey Hiku EU,
in Scotland, whose approach is to
work from a perspective of soil
science as opposed to conventional
plant based technology. The
remediation work involved was a
tall order. However, given a well
established plant, excellent growing
temperatures and total irrigation
control, it was felt that it may just
be possible to stimulate root
growth to an extent as to
encourage sufficient surface
growth to allow the world cup
qualifying match to go ahead.
In a perfect world it would have
been preferential to commence
treatment prior to the pitch been
covered but, as this wasn’t
possible, it was agreed between
Massey Hiku and Ontario Sport that
the remediation work would go
ahead, but that no guarantee would
be given. It was further agreed
between the two companies that
Harry Richmond-Watson would
travel to Sofia to personally oversee
the remediation works.
The soil is not only full of plant
life, but also contains beneficial
fungi and numerous soil microbes.
These interact with the root system
to allow the plant to draw from the
reserves of both major nutrients
and trace elements within the soil.
The movement of microbes within
the soil structure relieve
compaction and introduce oxygen
to the rootzone.
By using a combination of
vermicompost tea, a fish meal
based stimulant and a readily
available phosphate source, it was
felt that the root growth could be
put into overdrive, thereby
stimulating both the recovery of the
To advertise in this section contact
Classifieds
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
Stage area on Wednesday 2nd
September - note fresh growth
existing leaf and new growth.
Bulgarian Airlines allowed the
products to be carried as baggage
and Harry arrived in Sofia at
lunchtime on Sunday, the day after
the concert. He was met at the
airport by a representative from
Ontario Sport and they both went
to view the damage at the
stadium.
As the aluminium covers were
being removed, it became
apparent that all was not well on
the now exposed pitch. For some
reason the irrigation had been
allowed to run while the covers
were in place. The result was that
the leaf had been literally cooked,
and the added moisture had
resulted in the surface becoming
corrugated under the aluminium
covers.
To add to this, it became
apparent that the stage crew
would need at least another
twenty-four hours to expose the
whole pitch. On the plus side,
Ontario Sport did have a vertidrain,
and a member of staff was
immediately dispatched to the
Black Sea coast to collect it!
The main difference between
East and West is that here we are
very dependant on machinery,
whilst the Bulgarians are reliant on
a large workforce of well trained
professionals, and they
immediately started raking the
dead material from the pitch.
Meanwhile, both Hristo and Harry
were interviewed by national
television.
Monday’s newspapers were full
of doom and gloom as they
described the stadium as
“smelling like a compost bin and
looking totally dead”. The last of
the covers were removed by
6.30pm that evening and the first
application of soil stimulants was
applied.
Tuesday saw the application of
the tea to stimulate and introduce
soil microbes and beneficial fungi.
Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Prime
Minister asked questions in
parliament. By Wednesday, the
pitch was starting to show new
growth and, according to the
press, the applied stimulants were
a combination of wonder drugs,
plant extracts and “witchcraft”.
Meanwhile, the reality of the
situation necessitated
compromising between wanting to
concentrate on stimulating root
activity and the need to use a
vibrating roller and an application
of sand to level the pitch, which
caused considerable compaction
below the surface and added
further stress to the plant.
Although this was alleviated, to an
extent, by using the vertidrain, it
was far from ideal when looking to
give the plant a stress free
environment in which to recover
within a very limited time frame.
Fresh growth was apparent
across the whole pitch, which
proved that the stimulation of the
root system was working well.
However, with an inspection by
FIFA scheduled for Friday
Bulgarian team practising
on Friday 4th September
lunchtime, the time-line for the
remediation package to work was
reducing.
The importance of the
forthcoming world cup qualifying
match between Bulgaria and
Montenegro was more than
apparent from the television news
and the national press. The main
areas of the pitch were looking
good. However, the combination of
the pitch being irrigated whilst
covered with daytime
temperatures in excess of 30OC,
and the colossal weight of both
the stage and the lighting towers,
resulted in these areas still being
very discoloured.
The whole country knew how
badly the stadium had been
damaged, due to continual press
and television coverage. Questions
were being asked at the highest
level. The damage was greater
than anybody had anticipated. The
recovery to the actual structure of
the plant was well advanced, as
indicated by the fresh growth
across the whole pitch. However,
the forthcoming match was still in
question due to the cosmetic
appearance of both the stage and
lighting areas.
To overcome this, it was agreed
that both these areas be treated
with a cosmetic dye to enhance
the appearance, and this was
applied very early on the Friday
morning. It is common practice,
when televising important golf
fixtures, to similarly dye areas that
are not up to par.
The pitch was approved by FIFA,
and both Bulgaria and Montenegro
were able to have a practice
session on the Friday, and the
world cup qualifying match went
ahead, as scheduled, on Saturday
with Bulgaria winning 4-1.
Talking to Harry RichmondWatson, he admits that a great
deal of the credit has to go to the
team at Ontario Sport who,
although looking from the
perspective of the actual grass
plant, had already included
beneficial bacteria within their
maintenance regime to stimulate
a deep rooted plant.
The differing viewpoint of
Massey Hiku is to concentrate on
the soil structure. By providing a
mix of the correct soil activity, it
allows the plant to establish a
greater root mass, supplies oxygen
directly to the roots and converts
nutrients that could otherwise be
locked within the soil into a form
that is usable by the plant.
Although the symbiotic
relationship between plants and
their environment have been used
for centuries, recent decades have
seen amenity managers,
horticulturists and farmers
concentrate on feeding the plant
rather than the soil. However, the
developments of technology have
not been restricted solely to plant
science, and it is now possible to
provide a greater understanding of
the environment in which we ask
our plants to live.
ARTIFICIAL
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Experience enhanced playing
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Tel: 01362 851930 Mobile: 07879 495445
Email: info@pitchclean.co.uk www.pitchclean.co.uk
CYLINDER GRINDERS
F.T. MACHINES
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Tel: 01462 683031
email: admin@huntergrinders.com
www.huntergrinders.com
DRAINAGE
45
Cost effective drainage
quick and neat trenching work with
minimal disruption to play.
DRAINAGE SPECIALISTS
DESIGN & INSTALLATION
PRIMARY SYSTEMS
AFT Trenchers
Tel: 01787 311811
info@trenchers.co.uk www.trenchers.co.uk
SAND SLITTING & GRAVEL BANDING
Tel. 01722 716361
www.mjabbott.co.uk
Draining and Gravel Banding
also Vertidraining, Hollow Coring,
Overseeding, Field Top Maker,
Deep Scarifying
Mobile: 07860 259692
Tel: 01284 735105
Email: peter@buryturfcare.com
www.buryturfcare.com
To subscribe to pitchcare
magazine log on to
www.pitchcare.com
or telephone 01902 440 252
133
To advertise in this section contact
Sports Complex
Classifieds CENTRE OF
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
DRAINAGE
EXCELLENCE!
Philip Dixon Contractors Ltd
Established 1978
Sportsturf Drainage Specialist
Drainage t Construction t Renovation
Slitting t Banding t Maintenance
Tel 01772 877289 (Preston, Lancs)
Email: info@dixondrainage.co.uk
www.dixondrainage.co.uk
Miles Drainage Limited
Quality Land Drainage Systems for Sports
Pitches, Golf Courses and other Amenity
Areas
•Advice, design and installation
•Piped systems •Sand Slitting
•Gravel Banding
Tel: 01359 259424 Fax: 01359 258073
Web: www.milesdrainage.co.uk
Email: trenchers@milesdrainage.co.uk
Traditional
drainage and
Lytag banding
of greens and fairways
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SPORTSTURF
DRAINAGE
CONTRACTOR
DRAIN TODAY - PLAY TOMORROW
Tel: 01430 430762
Email: sales@sweetingbrosltd.co.uk
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Machine sales
Hire and contracting services
134
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The Leekes Group’s continued quest for
sporting excellence at The Vale in Wales.
Laurence Gale reports
T
he Vale Resort, at Hensol, near
Cardiff, is a leading
independent four-star hotel,
golf, leisure and spa resort based
within a beautiful 650-acre private
rural parkland setting.
The resort, and neighbouring
Hensol Castle Park, are owned by
the Leekes Group, an independent,
family-run group of leisure and
retail businesses under the
chairmanship of Gerald Leeke OBE.
The Leeke family has
contributed significantly to the
profile and growth of Welsh
business and the local economy
over the past thirty years. They
were the promoters that enabled
the first British Open squash
tournament to come to Wales in
the 1980s, and a commitment to
sport has been underpinned with
decades of backing for grass-roots
development in football, rugby,
swimming, golf and squash.
The resort’s origins go back to
1993, when the Leeke family took
ownership of the local golf club at
Hensol, which they developed into
the world-class Vale Hotel, Golf &
Spa Resort. It is run by Managing
Director, Stephen Leeke, the eldest
son of Gerald Leeke.
The successful expansion and
development of this high profile
business has continued unabated
throughout the last seventeen
years. A hugely successful Health
and Racquets Club and Spa was
officially opened in 1998, and is
the largest private health club in
Wales.
The luxurious 143-bedroom
hotel opened its doors to its first
hotel guests in November 1999,
just before the Rugby World Cup,
and has now played host to a
staggering 750,000 hotel guests
during its first decade in business.
The family has invested a further
£35 million into buying and
developing the Hensol Castle Park
with the aim of transforming the
grade one listed castle into a 50bed exclusive five-star hotel and
spa.
One of the most recent jewels
in the crown at the Vale is the
establishment of a Centre of
Excellence - a unique and
unrivalled 40-acre sports and
training facility which plays host to
elite sports teams, academies and
teams in development.
It provides world-class training
facilities for the Welsh rugby teams
(WRU), National Welsh football
team (FAW) as well as the Cardiff
Blues and Cardiff City FC, and
includes an indoor training centre
for the WRU, six international
standard practice pitches for
football and rugby and one of the
most technically advanced 3G
outdoor floodlit full-size artificial
rugby training pitches in the world.
The Vale Pavilion is
headquarters to the Cardiff Blues
and Cardiff City and houses stateof-the-art facilities including fitness
zones, conditioning areas, medical
and physio rooms, office and
boardroom facilities, players
lounges, meeting rooms,
refectories and changing areas.
All of the pitches on site have
been designed by consultant
Jonathan Smith, the director of
GEO Turf Consulting Ltd (www.geoturf.com), who also undertook all
of the cost management work. The
construction work was successfully
completed by White Horse
Contractors (WHC) of Abingdon.
The natural grass pitches have
been built to a high specification,
all having sand ameliorated topsoil
overlaid onto a grit carpet profile.
Primary drainage was installed
at 5.0m centres using 80mm
perforated pipe backfilled with 510mm gravel and covered with a
100mm deep grit layer. A 100mm
deep base sand layer was overlaid
on top of the grit layer followed by
180mm depth of site-derived
topsoil and sand (2:1 sand/soil
mix), ameliorated with
medium/fine sand (2:1 sand/soil
mix), manufactured on site by WHC
that was then covered with a
20mm medium/fine sand
dressing.
A secondary forced drainage
system (sand slits) was then
installed at 1.0m centres. Finally, a
dwarf ryegrass and smooth-stalked
meadow grass seed mixture (Bar
8) was sown drilled in four passes.
A fully automatic pop-up
irrigation system was also installed
to enable efficient and effective
pitch establishment and on-going
maintenance.
The building of the pitches was
carried out in two phases, The
Football Association of Wales
(FAW) pitches were constructed in
2005-2006 with Sepp Blatter, the
President of FIFA officially opening
them in September
2009.
WHC returned in
2008 to begin the
talking to us
second phase of
about the merits
construction, to
of having good
complete a further
pitches and why
four natural grass
it is important to
pitches, three
respect the
training areas and a
groundstaff and
world class 130 x
Geraint Scannell
work closely
80m 3G artificial
and Jonathan Smith
together. They
turf rugby pitch. A
both meet on a
number of the
regular basis and
pitches are floodlit
agree on what is needed whilst, at
with Abacus 200 lux lighting.
the same time, ensuring the
The timescale for the work was
pitches are used on a rotation
one full year, with the pitch
basis.
constructions starting on two
Mowing is done with a
separate greenfield sites located
Ransomes Tri-king, cutting the
on the Hensol estate in October
football pitches at a height of
2008 and proceeded through the
25mm-27mm depending on the
winter, a season normally avoided
time of the year, whilst the rugby
at all costs in the UK for this type
pitches are kept at 37mm. Honda
of work.
pedestrian rotaries are used to
This was made possible through
clean up the pitches after divoting.
the careful use of the company’s
Geraint uses a SISIS Quadraplay,
specialist plant and machinery,
fitted with brush, spiker and roller
excellent communication and close
to help present and repair pitches
liaison between all parties.
for play.
An extensive cut and fill
He marks out the pitches using
earthwork balance was
a Bowcom transfer wheel (100mm
undertaken, moving some
width) line marker using supreme
14,000m3 of subsoil to
paint. There are plans to purchase
accommodate pitches. The
another triple mower, probably a
earthworks operation was helped
Toro, from local dealer, Ted
by the installation of large
Hopkins.
groundwater cut-off drains installed
As for aeration, Geraint uses a
into the perimeter of the works
combination of vertidrain tines to
areas prior to the cut and fill works
vary the depth of aeration plus an
commencing.
Earthquake rotary decompactor,
The 3G artificial pitch was
working on a 6-8 week
constructed using TigerTurf Total
programme. White Horse
Rugby artificial turf overlying a
Contractors have also promised to
Brock performance base in order
let Geraint have their SISIS V Mow
to offer the players the safest
on permanent loan.
possible surface to train and play
The pitches are monitored for
on.
hardness using a Clegg hammer
The Brock was laid on 50mm of
and, with readings hovering
a specially blended aggregate
between 84-90 gravities, this is a
which was used to achieve the
score they are happy to maintain.
required level tolerance whilst
The pitches are regularly
retaining porosity. Beneath this a
monitored by GEO Turf for traction
depth of 300mm of porous suband hardness. Surface hardness is
base stone was laid by laser
monitored using a 2.25kg Clegg
grading bulldozer, all above a
hammer and, with readings
‘Triaxial’ geogrid to stabilise the
hovering between 84-90 gravities,
soft and wet ground encountered
this is a score they are happy to
on site.
maintain.
With the bulk of the work
Jonathan Smith praised WHC for
completed by June 2009 all that
completing the pitches on time in,
remained was to ensure seeding
what was, a very wet summer, and
was completed by July, thereby
Geraint and his staff for coming
making good use of air and soil
through a very tough winter, with
temperatures.
the drainage working well, and
All the pitches are maintained
keeping a decent amount of grass
by the staff of the Vale Resort who
cover. Spring renovations will be
liaise with Jonathan Smith and
centred around topdressing and
work closely with the managers of
overseeding along with some
both the football and rugby
repairs to localised low spots.
facilities.
Credit must be given to The
Geraint Scannell is in charge
Sports Council for Wales for their
and has two assistants, Lee Parfitt
finical support of the WRU Centre
and Adam Martin. Geraint, who
of Excellence facilities, and the
has worked for the resort for
enduring hard work of Helen
thirteen years, was approached to
Adams from the Council who has
look after the pitches and has not
been involved in the project for
looked back. He enjoys his new
many years.
challenge and has been pleased
From what I saw the Football
with the work they have achieved
Association of Wales and the
under the stewardship of Jonathan.
Welsh Rugby Union have some of
He gets on well with both the
the best facilities on offer in the
FAW and WRU staff, including Lee
UK.
Evans, head groundsman at the
The vision shown by Gerald
Millennium stadium. David Jones,
Leeke and his family, and their
current manager of Cardiff City,
support for sport in Wales, must be
has been impressed with the work
commended and the future
Geraint and his staff have achieved
success of international sport in
since the pitches were completed.
Wales will be greatly influenced by
Geraint introduced me to David
the use of these excellent facilities.
Jones, who kindly spent some time
To advertise in this section contact
Classifieds
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
DRAINAGE
GRASS CUTTING MACHINERY
Groundscare
Machinery
SPORTS TURF DRAINAGE
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Tel: 01524 850501 ukinfo@major-equipment.com
Email: melvyn@turfdry.com
WWW.MAJOR-EQUIPMENT.COM
FERTILISERS
Green Infrastructure specialises in
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managing sports surfaces
A range of quality traditional gang mowers at
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Tel: 01296 738197
Email: sales@rtmachinery.co.uk
Website: www.rtmachinery.co.uk
30 Connaught Street, Kettering NN16 8NU
Office: 0845 5191 586
Mobile: 07780 580379
greeninfrastructureco@gmail.com
www.green-infrastructure-ltd.co.uk
Trimax PegasusS2
Tractor not included ...
... but everything you
need for years of
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Tel: 01933 652235
info@trimaxmowers.co.uk
www.trimaxmowers.com
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135
To advertise in this section contact
Moss
Classifieds HOW BEST TO
CONTROL MOSS
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
IRRIGATION
OVERSEEDING
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Contact Synergy Products on
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Dave on mobile: 07971 843802
Email: sales@synergyproducts.co.uk
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ROLLERS
Laurence Gale MSc
looks at moss and how
best to control it
Design
Installation
Service
Irrigation supplies
H
Tel: 01785 812706
E: NSIrrigation@aol.com
www.northstaffsirrigation.co.uk
British Turf & Landscape
Irrigation Association
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POWEROLL
ROLLERS
NEW AND USED
Tel: 01822 832608
www.poweroll.com
REPLACEMENT PARTS
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Bottom blades
and cylinder
blades for all your
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equipment
Telephone:
01902 826826
www.crocodilegolfproducts.com
Fax: 01902 826827
Advertising in this classified section costs as little as
£200 a year. Telephone: 01747 855335
136
aving come through one of
the worst winters in years it
not surprising that many
playing surfaces have suffered
from the consequences of this
poor weather. One of the biggest
problems facing groundsmen and
greenkeepers is the amount of
moss and algae that has
flourished and infected many
playing surfaces.
There are over 12,000 species
of moss and algae, of which over
fifty are found to affect turf
surfaces. Mosses are primitive
non-flowering plants that have no
root structure and rely on
sufficient moisture being present
in the environment for
reproduction and survival.
The majority of them are
tolerant of acidic conditions and
are stimulated by cool, wet, humid
conditions. Rapid colonisation of
moss and algae usually occurs
during the autumn and winter
months, when soil and artificial
sports surfaces are lying wet and
saturated for long periods of time,
and particularly when little or no
regular maintenance has been
undertaken.
There are three main types of
mosses found in turf:
Cushion forming: Tiny upright
clusters of growth, those
associated with closely mown and
scalped turf situations.
Trailing mosses: Feathered
looking types of moss, those
associated with poor drainage and
shade problems.
Upright mosses: Larger tuft type
mosses, those associated with
drier acidic soils.
Symptoms:
Mosses grow slowly and are
tolerant of shade and close
mowing. They are able to populate
turf situations when turf grasses
are under stress and bare soil
areas are available for the moss to
invade. Moss can spread either by
spores or by detached fragments
of the parent plant material.
However, mosses are less tolerant
of wear. Mosses are not the cause
of turf decline, but a symptom of
environmental conditions or poor
maintenance regimes. Mosses are
also a common sight on infertile
acidic sandy soils that are allowed
to dry out. Mosses may invade
when any of the following
conditions are prevalent:
• Long periods of wet or dry
weather
• Low soil fertility
• Compacted soils
• Low or high soil pH
• Excessive shade
• Poorly drained soils
• High thatch contents
• Poor air circulation
• Closely mown/weak grass
growth
• High nitrogen levels
• Ineffective maintenance
regimes, particularly mowing,
fertilising, aeration, brushing,
scarifying and pesticide/weed
control operations
Grasses grow poorly in dense
shade because of low light and
increased disease activity;
therefore, shady grass areas
usually have more moss than
areas in full sun. Thinning out
trees by selective pruning, or
removing trees completely, may
reduce moss encroachment. In
some cases, it is easier to
redesign the area and eliminate
turf than it is to improve lighting.
When planting new areas in
shady sites, be careful to select
shade-tolerant grass species.
Wet soils, caused by poor
drainage or excessive irrigation,
provide a perfect environment for
germination and growth of moss
spores or plant fragments. Poor
drainage sometimes can be
improved by
promoting
water
infiltration by
core
cultivation,
slicing or
thatch
removal.
These
practices also
improve
turfgrass
vigour and
competitiveness.
Often, drainage can be
improved by the installation of
primary or secondary drainage
systems to help remove surface
water.
Algae can cause a glutinous
slime (squidge) which is
associated with fine turf
situations. It is more prolific during
the springtime when the ground
conditions are moist and wet, and
air temperatures and light levels
begin to increase, thus stimulating
the growth of these algae.
The symptoms show as dark
green or black slimy growth that
covers the plant and soil surface,
resulting in a very slippery surface,
which can be quite dangerous and
affect surface playability.
Conditions that increase the
likelihood of an attack of algae
are the same as moss, but are
encouraged when surfaces remain
waterlogged and smeared.
Surfaces affected:
Both natural and synthetic
surfaces can be affected by moss
and algae attack when the
favoured conditions are prevalent.
Playing characteristics are
affected in that moss and algae
can affect ball bounce/roll on fine
turf situations. The slime that
algae produce causes the biggest
problem on sport surfaces,
making them dangerous,
particularly if algae has formed on
sloping grass areas, such as golf
fairways. Moss and algae also
cause surface traction problems
for players on artificial surfaces,
which may result in injuries.
Control of Moss and Algae:
Any cultural practices that
encourages turf growth and
development should be employed
to control moss. Evaluate the site
and make necessary plans to
implement maintenance regimes
to improve the soil environment,
reducing excessive moisture and
water from the turf surfaces.
Natural Turf surfaces:
• Improve surface soil drainage
• Monitor and maintain soil pH
levels
• Reduce soil compaction by
aeration
• Improve air circulation over
surfaces
To advertise in this section contact
Classifieds
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
• Maintain soil fertility (carry out
soil analysis)
• Maintain trees to prevent
shading
• Avoid excessive irrigation
• Avoid close mowing
• Control thatch
• Choose and grow recommended
grass varieties for location and
sport surface requirement
• Chemical control using
approved pesticides
Artificial Turf surfaces:
• Keep surface clean
• Regular brushing and sweeping
of surface
• Chemical control using
approved chemicals at approved
rates of application; it is
important to seek
manufacturer's
recommendations on what
product to use on synthetic
surfaces to prevent damage or
discolouring
Conclusions:
The best form of eradication is to
ensure a healthy grass sward is
maintained, which is usually
achieved by good regular
maintenance regimes, particularly
aeration to keep the soil in good
condition. If, however, you are
saddled with a turf situation that
has a lot of moss present, there
will be a requirement to kill the
moss off with an approved
chemical containing an active
ingredient of Sulphate of Iron and,
when it has died off, remove the
dead matter by scarification or
raking.
Other chemical control products
available for the control of moss
are:Lawn Sand that contains 3% Iron
Application Rate: 35-140g/m2
Scotts Greenmaster Pro-Lite
Mosskiller is a granular weed and
feed product that kills moss
14:0:0:8 with 9%Fe. (Contains
26.8% w/w ferrous sulphate)
Scotts Jewel is a dual acting
weed/moss killer that has a post
emergence contact activity with
Carfentrazone-ethyl and a
systemic activity with Mecoprop-P.
ALS Turfclean Bio 7:3:20+3% MG
an organic mineral compound
fertiliser with a high potash
content acts as a moss inhibitor.
Hard Surfaces
MMC-PRO moss killer is a dynamic
combination anti-viral/antibacterial disinfectant,
fungicide/algaecide and
detergent. It kills mould, algae and
moss in, typically, 2-4 days, and
has a slow cleaning action in the
following weeks and months.
RUBBER CRUMB
SOIL SCREENERS
The use of RUBBER CRUMB on
grass as top dressing has been
granted a PATENT in the UK and
Ireland under Number EP0788301B1
ULTRA T1500 TROMMEL SCREEN
TEBBUTT ASSO.
ARE THE LICENSEES
with CROWN III rubber crumb Turf
Reinforcement, the licensed product.
Contact Tebbutt Asso.
on 01253 342003 or Fax 01253 346644
e-mail: tebbuttasso@btconnect.com
www.tebbuttassociates.co.uk
SAFE SURFACES
HIRE AND SALES
Produce high quality topsoil from
recycled soil/green waste
Contact Synergy Products on
01380 828337
Dave on mobile: 07971 843802
Email: sales@synergyproducts.co.uk
www.synergyproducts.co.uk
SOIL ANALYSIS
FIELDGUARD
SAFE
SURFACES
A2LA Accredited & USGA
Approved physical soil
testing laboratory for the
analysis of construction
materials for the
sportsturf industry
Soft, non slip
honeycomb
rubber mats
• Grass protection
• Muddy pathways
• Slippery surfaces
• Gravel containment
• Soft grass driveways
• BS:EN 1177 & 7188
certified
Contact ETL on
01786 449195
email:
europeanturf@aol.com
www.etl-ltd.com
SPARE PARTS
Tel: 01483 275182
Fax: 01483 275341
Email: info@fieldguard.com
www.fieldguard.com
www.pitchcare.com
SEED SUPPLIERS
Call for your
copy NOW!
Central Spares Ltd
3-7 Brook Road
Wimborne
Dorset BH21 2BH
01202 882000
www.centralspares.co.uk
Sportsground Mixtures
• Next day delivery
• Technical advice
Tel: 01522 868714
Fax: 01522 868095
seeds@bshlincoln.co.uk
Order online at
www.bshamenity.com
Cricket Renovation Seed Mixes CR1 & CR2
WASP coated seed also available
24 hour delivery
Hurrells Specialist Seeds, Beverley Road
Cranswick Driffield East Yorkshire YO25 9PF
Tel: 01377 271400
Fax: 01377 271500
Email: nick@hmseeds.com
www.hmseeds.com
HANCOX
THE ENGINE SPECIALISTS
A complete line of
premium power petrol
and diesel engines
DIRECT SALES SERVICE order today and receive
your goods within 24 hrs
Tel: 0844 800 6493
Email: sales@hancox.co.uk
View parts or replacement engines online at
WWW.HANCOX.CO.UK
Help us to help you! When
responding to advertising
please mention that you
‘saw it in Pitchcare’
137
To advertise in this section contact
Compost
Classifieds COMPOST ...
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
SPARE PARTS
SLITTERS, SPIKES & TINES
BACK TO THE
FUTURE?
For a
Free
Brochure please contact us at:
P S Marsden
(Lawnmower Services) Ltd
TEL:
0115 9614734
FAX:
0115 9615473
Website - www.protine.co.uk
E-mail - sales@protine.co.uk
High Performance, Standard & Custom-Made Tines
GENUINE PARTS & TINES
GOALS MAKE GAMES.
WE MAKE GOALS.
TALK TO MARK HARROD
01502
710039
www.markharrod.com
design, manufacture
and distribution of
turf aeration solutions
for the past 20 years
Blair Precision
Engineering Ltd
began
manufacturing
tines in1987 after
Carnoustie Golf
Links approached
the company
looking for
custom shapes and sizes of tines to fit their
aeration machines. More than 20 years later,
Steelmaster Tines are used by greenkeepers
and groundsman all over Europe.
Tel: +44 (0)1241 853639
www.steelmaster.co.uk
E: sales@steelmaster.co.uk
Deep Aeration - Pure & Simple
OLD & NEW MODELS
Tel: 0845 026 0064
PARTS@JSMD.CO.UK
SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS
GOLF COURSE & SPORTSGROUND
CONSTRUCTION
RENOVATION & MAINTENANCE
IRRIGATION SYSTEMS
LAND DRAINAGE SCHEMES
WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Tel. 01722 716361
www.mjabbott.co.uk
Established 1998
Andy Laws of
Whitemoss Eco talks
about the benefits of
Certified Green
Compost
A
s many of you more mature
turf managers will know and
remember well, compost has
been used on sports and golf
areas for many years, once being
the organic of choice for those
making their own dressings and
divot mixes in the sheds during
winter.
Compost was, in those days,
very much a DIY operation with no
real informed research into what it
offered, and no ideas what the end
product was of months of storage
and wetting and occasional
turning of the compost heap would
be.
The main source of this
compost was grass clippings and
some leaf mulch with a small
amount of branches etc as a
bulking agent. What the result
was, most of the time, would be a
high nitrogen, unstable organic
material which would, most likely,
still contain harmful pathogens
and, in many cases, would be the
cause of disease and fungal
attacks.
Unstable composts also tend to
draw nutrients from the surface
they are applied to as they are still
in the feeding stage, thereby,
rather than adding benefits, they
had quite the opposite affect.
So, what is so different now?
As much as anything, it is the
rigorous regulation that has
changed, certainly in the case of
green composts that are able to
achieve PAS100/2005
Certification. These composts have
to be consistent, batch after batch,
ensuring that Certified Green
Compost is the most consistent
organic amendment to use above
topsoil, sphagnum moss peat or
any other organic materials.
The secret to producing a Class
A green compost is to maintain a
temperature at the centre of the
Replacement Tines
Hollow, Solid and Cross specialising in carbide tipped
technology.
Verticut and scarifier blades.
SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS
Brush sections
OEM specification.
Natural & synthetic pitch
design & construction
Accessories
Backlapping paste, linkage
pins, PTOs, specialist grease
and bedknives cold rolled for
uniform hardness.
All major brands catered for
and special requirements met.
L VERTI-DRAIN
L THATCHAWAY
L WEIDENMANN L TORO
L JOHN DEERE
L GRADEN
L RYAN
L RANSOMES/JAC
Fast efficient service from
our extensive stock.
0800 083 0216
Division of Campey Turf Care Systems Ltd
www.pitchcare.com
138
the pitch of performance
Football, Hockey Multi-Sports,
Cricket, Tennis & Bowls
Design and construction of synthetic
and natural sports surfaces and facilities
Tel: 01474 364320
www.activeleisurecontracts.co.uk
Tel: 01494 866776
Email: info@agripower.co.uk
www.agripower.co.uk
Broomfield Farm, Rignall Road, Gt. Missenden, Bucks, HP16 9PE
windrow of at
least 55OC for a
minimum of
fifteen
consecutive days.
Composting of
this standard
reduces bacterial
and vial
pathogens to non
detectable levels and it has also
been
demonstrated
that virus and
helminth ova do
not re-grow after
thermal
inactivation.
Composting at
this standard is not a sterilisation
process, and a properly composted
product maintains an active
population of beneficial micro and
macro organisms that compete
against the pathogenic members.
Addition of green composts to
turf has been shown to increase
the soils phosphorous, potassium
and nitrogen levels alongside
increasing organic carbon content.
Also, seen over prolonged use of
compost amended topdressing
and rootzones, is a reduction in
diseases - and it has also shown to
ward off turf pests.
So, back to the future or simply
look to the future?
The future - As the recession bites
(despite us being told it is now
over), all turf managers are having
to find real-time cost savings from
their already tight budgets; We
have been informed over the last
7-10 years, by many of our
customers who changed their top
dressings, divot mixes and, when
constructing new tees and greens,
their rootzones, to sand/green
compost blends, that they are
seeing real savings in terms of
fertiliser applications, irrigation
requirement, fungicide and
pesticide applications - and they
are also seeing substantially less
need to use wetting agents.
To illustrate the potential
savings by switching your
materials to incorporate certified
green compost, I am taking an
average 18 hole golf course as an
example:
Traditional sand/soil topdressing
application:
100 tonnes over the season @ £35
per tonne delivered (loose bulk
density 1.7t/m3)
Total cost: £3,500
Typical irrigation cost per year:
Total cost £20,000
Fertiliser programme - Tees and
greens: 60 bags @ £30 per bag
To advertise in this section contact
Classifieds
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS
Total Cost £1,800
Total Spend per year £25,300
Sand/compost topdressing @ £38
per tonne delivered ( loose bulk
density 1.45t/m3)
84 tonnes required to cover the
same area
Total cost: £3,192.00 - saving
£308
Irrigation saving: Typically 40%
Total cost: £12,000 - saving
£8,000
Fertiliser programme saving:
Typically 25-40 %
Total cost @ 25% saving: £1,350 saving £450
Total spend per year: £16,542
Saving £8,758 per year - a
massive 34% reduction!!
This example does not take into
account any savings on fungicide,
pesticide or labour.
One last word, as I hope that
the aforementioned has at least
sparked some interest from you. In
the words of an agronomist who I
had the good fortune to meet on a
recent research trip to the States,
with in excess of thirty years
experience of composting and
compost benefits, “do not ever go
for the easy route with green
compost, if its screened or milled
too small, below 3/8”, it has lost
most of its benefits”.
We live in an age where the job
of a turf manager is like that of a
child in the 19th century - be seen
but not heard. You have to do your
job without disruption to the
members. However, when it comes
to topdressing, you are not just
levelling the surface, you are also
putting something back.
Using dressings, divot mixes and
rootzones with certified green
compost as the organic
amendment is, without doubt, the
future!
Andy Law, Managing Director,
Whitemoss Eco Supplies Ltd.
Avonmore Associates
sportsfield construction
•
25 year of experience in
bowling greens, fine turf
management, pitch design,
sportsfield construction
and irrigation
•
email: info@avonmore-associates.co.uk
www.avonmore-associates.co.uk
Mobile: 07860 259692
Tel: 01284 735105
Email: peter@buryturfcare.com
www.buryturfcare.com
www.pitchcare.com
'PSUIFWFSZCFTUJO
TQPSUTQJUDIDPOUSBDUJOH
%SBJOJOHTQPSUTUVSGMBOEJTTUJMMUIFGBTUFTUXBZPGSFNPWJOHTVSGBDFXBUFS
RVJDLMZ8FBSFTQFDJBMJTUDPOUSBDUPSTDPOWFSTBOUXJUIUIJTUZQFPGXPSL
0OMZBDPOUJOVFEQSPHSBNNFPGHSPVOENBJOUFOBODFBOEDPOEJUJPOJOHDBOHVBSBOUFFBRVBMJUZTVSGBDF
Sports Ground Contractors Ltd
$BMEFS'BSN4BOET-BOF
.JS¾FME8FTU:PSLTIJSF8')+
5FM
'BY
.PCJMF
&NBJMJOGP!BMBODIBQQFMPXDPVL
8FCXXXBMBODIBQQFMPXDPVL
D W Clark
DRAINAGE LTD
SPECIALIST SPORTSTURF CONSTRUCTION
& DRAINAGE CONTRACTORS
• Gravel Banding • Sand Slitting
• Top Dressing • Renovation • Irrigation
SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS
Tel: 01789 293439
Vertidraining, Hollow Coring,
Overseeding, Draining,
Gravel Banding, Field Top Maker,
Deep Scarifying
•
•
Supplies
Renovation
Drainage
Construction
01797 252299
www.bourneamenity.co.uk
enquiries@bourneamenity.co.uk
Unit 7, Brailes Industrial Estate, Winderton Lane, Lower Brailes
Banbury, Oxfordshire OX15 5JW
Tel: 01608 685800 Fax: 01608 685801
email: jim@dwclarkdrainageltd.co.uk Web: www.dwclarkdrainageltd.co.uk
Why not visit our on-line Buyers Guide for
direct links to suppliers websites www.pitchcare.com
139
To advertise in this section contact
Bowls
Classifieds PAULLEY
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
SPORTSTURF
SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS
CONSTRUCTION
Sports Fields and Golf Courses
DRAINAGE
Sand Slitting, Gravel Banding
RENOVATION
MAINTAINED!
iain watson
GREENKEEPING
Renovation, construction
and spraying
Tel: 01772 335162
Mobile: 07894 727361
Email: IWGreenkeeping@aol.com
www.iwgreenkeeping.co.uk
Verti Draining, Hollow Coring, Scarifying,
Koro Field Topmaker, Topdressing,
Overseeding, Sand Spreading
A N Y S P O R T - A N Y S U R FA C E
CONSTRUCTION - MAINTENANCE
w w w. s g c g ro u p . c o . u k
Mobile: 07768 122577
Tel: 01772 780545
danvicturfcare@btconnect.com
SeniorGolfConstruction
RapidTurf
SeniorSportsMaintenance
SeniorSportsConstruction
Tel: 0161 343 1044
Natural and synthetic
pitch construction
• Sports Pitch Construction
• Earthworks • Maintenance
• Drainage & Irrigation
• Custom Grown Turf
• Install n Playball Turf Tiles
01400 251605
www.fine-turf.co.uk
info@fine-turf.co.uk
FTS
Sportsturf Services Limited
Sportsground & Amenity Contractors
Drainage, Construction, Renovation
& Maintenance
Cricket Pitch Specialists
Unit 39, Centerprise House,
New Greenham Park, Newbury
Berkshire, RG19 6HW
Tel. 0845 519 2729
Fax. 0700 349 6494
Mobile. 07768 696291
web.www.fts-sportsturf.co.uk
email.info@fts-sportsturf.co.uk
Tel: 01256 880488
Email: info@kestrelcontractors.co.uk
www.kestrelcontractors.co.uk
Help us to help you!
When responding to
advertising please
mention that you
‘saw it in Pitchcare’
Penkridge Bowls Club
have employed the
services of Lee
Paulley, of Vital Turf
Management, to
improve their green
M
any bowls clubs are finding
it difficult to attract new
members, and even those
that do play are at the ‘higher’ end
of the ‘age scale’, and balancing
the books can be difficult.
On average, bowls clubs have
around 100 members paying £30
a year plus match fees. So, a total
income of about £3,000 leaves
little in the coffers for work on the
green.
It’s a dilemma. Traditionally,
day-to-day upkeep of the green is
carried out by volunteers but,
when there are problems, they
often do not have the skills to
rectify them. And this is where a
professional sports turf contractor
can help.
One such club taking this route
is Penkridge Bowls Club in
Staffordshire who, last year,
decided to call in a contractor to
undertake the end of season
renovations and provide expert
and ongoing advice on their green.
They believe that, by doing this,
they will ensure a good quality
playing surface for the existing
members and, in return, attract
new ones.
Their decision was prompted by
areas of the green dying, an
outbreak of dry patch and poor
growth elsewhere on the sward.
The club’s current volunteer
groundsman and committee
member, John Simpkis, along with
chairman, Brian Aldridge, called in
Vital Turf Management, a family
owned business, for advice.
The company is run by Lee
Paulley. It began as an Estate and
Grounds Maintenance company
back in 1992 but, by 2000, had
become purely a fine turf
contracting business.
Lee has a National Diploma in
Horticulture from Rodbaston
College and graduated from
Reaseheath/Harper Adams with
an HNC in Golf and Sports Turf. He
is also the ECB Pitch Advisor for
Staffordshire. Other qualifications
have been gained through the
ECB, FA, RFU, IOG and English
Bowls.
Lee’s partner, Lauren Jennings,
joined the business on a full time
basis in May of last year. She had
SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS
SPEEDCUT
CONTRACTORS LTD
Quarry Hall Farm, Spring Bottom Lane
Bletchingley, Surrey RH1 4QZ
T: 01883 340 969
F: 01883 346 533
E: info@earthboundservices.co.uk
W: www.earthboundservices.co.uk
140
Earthbound Services specialise in the highest
quality sports pitch construction, renovation
and maintenance. A professional and friendly
service based in the South East of England.
Sportsfield Construction
Drainage Schemes
Renovations & Improvements
Cricket Specialists
Tel: 01529 455757 Fax: 01529 455775
e-mail: steve@stevenpask.co.uk
www.stevenpask.co.uk
A professional service
for all Sportsturf:
• Drainage
• Construction
• Renovation
Oxford 01865 331479
www.speedcutcontractors.co.uk
always been involved behind the
scenes, on the admin side, but
now enjoys taking on an active
role. Her favourite job is operating
the Turfmech SQRL 600 - “Lee
makes the mess and I clean up
after him, it's just like being at
home!” she says. Lee’s mum, Jan,
is also a valuable member of the
team.
Lee was invited to Penkridge to
assess the condition of the green.
After examining profile cores, and
physical and chemical soil
analysis, a renovation programme
was recommended.
Problems included a 50mm
layer of thatch, dry
patch/hydrophobic soil, low ph,
high phosphorous levels, high
organic matter, a high percentage
of sand content, loss of sward
density and coarse weed grass
species.
The work carried out in the
autumn began with scarifying the
green in two directions, just
touching the soil surface with a
pedestrian scarifier to remove
lateral growth and dead leaf
tissue.
Renovation began with hollow
coring with 12mm diameter tines
to a depth of 100mm at 3inch
spacings and core collection to
reduce thatch, soil exchange and
decompaction, using the
Groundsman 460 HD aerator. This
was followed by deep linear
aeration with the Graden GS04 in
two directions, the first at 37mm
and the second at 43mm,
collecting the arisings with the
company’s latest addition to the
machinery shed, a Turfmech SQRL
600 pedestrian collector.
An application of British Seed
Houses specially selected blend of
cultivars - Vital bowling mix containing two chewings fescues,
two slender creeping red fescues
and bent grass - was sown using a
Scotts Accu Pro 2000 rotary
spreader in several directions.
Topdressing was applied using a
Turfco Metermatic pedestrian
dresser and dragmatted in two
directions to incorporate. Bathgate
TD5, heat treated and screened
70:30 greens dressing, was used.
A 3:10:5 pre-seed fertiliser,
granular wetting agent and greens
grade granular lime was also
applied.
After germination, and growing
in of the surface, the grass was
topped to a height of 12mm.
approximately eight weeks after
renovation. An application of turf
hardener 3:0:3+4%Fe+ 2%MgO,
followed by a further application of
5:0:28+3%Fe, helped to
strengthen the grass plant cells
against fusarium and winter
weather conditions.
Additional cuts of the green
To advertise in this section contact
Classifieds
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS
were carried out with the Hayter
Harrier rotary rear roller mower as
required to maintain a 12-15mm
height.
As part of the aftercare package
the company undertakes a
programme of monthly aeration,
carried out with appropriate tines
for the time of year and/or soil
conditions, from November to
August, at a reduced cost.
Through the season a slow
release fertiliser programme,
linked to soil analysis, will be
undertaken. This is due to the high
sand content and recent summers
of high rainfall and leaching of
nutrients. Lateral growth and
coarse grasses will be controlled
by verticutting, and this should
also improve green speed and
consistency of roll.
A further application of a
wetting agent early in the season,
plus spot weed control, will also be
carried out. At the end of the
season, the condition of the green
will be assessed and an
appropriate end-of-season
renovation recommended.
The club are also looking to
purchase a fully automated
watering system which, they
believe, will help the condition of
the green, especially if the ‘hotter
than 1976’ summer arrives.
Osprey Irrigation has drawn up a
design specification for the club to
consider. This work to will be
organised once appropriate funds
become available. They are
currently applying for funds for this
project.
With the club keen to attract
new members, the move to
employing the services of a
contractor is seen as a positive
one. With the correct maintenance
now being carried out, with the
appropriate machinery, the green
has already improved
considerably.
John Simpkis, and other
volunteers, will continue to carry
out the day-to-day duties, but with
Lee Paulley keeping a close eye on
things.
8YVROI]REXYVEPERHEVXM´GMEPXYVJTMXGLIW
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141
To advertise in this section contact
Golf
Classifieds TEAM BUILDING...
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
SWEEPERS
TREE SUPPLIES
KERSTEN SWEEPERS
We offer the largest and most comprehensive
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SALES • SERVICE • PARTS
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TOPDRESSING & LOAM
Left to right - Kevin Butterworth, Billy Cooke, Tony
Simpson, Kevin Kelsall and Mark Sneap, standing
in their piece de resistance, the new triple
bunker bordering the 6th Green
TURF SUPPLIERS
Growers of natural & rootzone sports
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• Custom grown turf
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• Nationwide delivery at a time to
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Tel: 01724 855000
email: info@countyturf.co.uk
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• Sports Pitch Construction
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GROWERS OF
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Help us to help you!
When responding to
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‘saw it in Pitchcare’
142
Telephone:
01842 828266
Website:
www.qlawns.co.uk
Email:
sales@qlawns.co.uk
Renovating bunkers can be a time-consuming
and costly job so, when Doncaster Golf Club
set about the task, their in-house team chose
the turf layering method. It’s a revetting
subject as Carol Dutton reports
FACED with a number of bunkers,
all needing renovation, the five
man greenkeeping team, in
conjunction with the Greens
Chairman and the Pro at
Doncaster Golf Club, an 18 hole,
parkland course in South
Yorkshire, decided to use the
revetting, or turf layering technique
and do the job themselves.
Led by Head Greenkeeper Kevin
Kelsall, Billy Cooke (Deputy), Mark
Sneap, Kevin Butterworth and Tony
Simpson began rebuilding their
bunkers last autumn, and now,
having completed fourteen to their
own high standards, are waiting
until the end of the busy playing
and growing season before
making a start on the rest.
“With each bunker you do, you
get better,” says the team. “The
bunkers were in a bad state of
repair and, although none of us
had done the job before, it was
decided that we’d tackle it
ourselves. Basically, you build a
wall of turf, laying it upside down
until you get the height and shape
you want. This creates the new
bunker face.”
Having drawn an exact replica
of the new bunker base on the
ground, one metre long strips of
turf are slit, across the width,
every three or four inches so that
the turf can be curved and fitted to
shape. The first four layers of turf
need to be laid completely level.
After that, the layers are tapered
back one inch per layer, with the
back having considerably more
layers than the front. Each layer of
turf needs to be backfilled with
soil to keep the new structure
stable.
Lindum, who are supplying the
club, have developed a method of
harvesting the turf in strips
290mm wide instead of the usual
600mm, so that Kevin and his
team are saved the time
consuming task of cutting them
lengthwise down the middle. “After
TURF SUPPLIERS
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Tel: 01652 678 000
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Step 1. The new bunker is
marked out and cut back
Step 2. The bunker base is levelled ready
to receive the first four layers of turf
Step 3. The thick turf is laid, stepping back
one inch every layer. The team back fill as
they go
Step 4. The area is landscaped
ready for turfing
they’d rebuilt the first
bunkers they decided that
they wanted a thicker
turf,” said Lindum’s
Assistant Production
Manager, Roger Moore,
who has been working
with Kevin for the last
three years. “We, again,
developed our harvesting
methods to provide what
they wanted. Using the
thick turf makes the job
quicker and easier.”
One of the team’s most
impressive achievements
to date is the creation of
three new bunkers from
one large original,
bordering the 6th green.
“We built the two side
bunkers first, starting with
a completely flat base and
ensuring that they were at
the same level,” Kevin
explains. “Both the left and
right hand bunkers are the
same depth. The middle
bunker is six inches lower.”
Having back filled each
turf layer throughout the
building process, the team
finished the job by
landscaping the area with
Lindum’s LT7 turf to match
the surrounding area. It’s
impossible to say how long
each renovation job will
take because each bunker
is different. “This particular
bunker at the 6th took us
three weeks to complete,
but it depends on the size
and the amount of ground
work we have to do.” Kevin
explains. “Having
renovated and rebuilt
fourteen we think we’ve
become pretty expert.”
Roger Moore has
nothing but praise. “They
know what they want and
they like it right,” he says.
“I’m pretty amazed.”
To advertise in this section contact
Classifieds
Peter Britton on 01747 855335
email: peter@pitchcare.com
WASTE WATER MANAGEMENT
WEED CONTROL
www.pitchcare.com
USED MACHINERY
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The benefits of the
revetting method
The turf creates a good,
stable face for the bunker,
which is less likely to
erode than bare soil.
The grass on the top of the
bunker does not need to
be strimmed, it can be flymowed.
Step 5. The finished bunkers ready
to receive new bunker sand
The finished bunker
requires minimal
maintenance - spraying the
face with selective
weedkiller annually should
suffice.
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143
I don’t believe it!
The not so serious side of the industry
©BBC
Ground swells ...
In the pink!
A MAN has completed a
marathon mission to visit
every FA registered football
ground in England and Wales
with a trip to Scarborough
Town FC’s home at George
Pindar Community Sports
College.
Scott Poleykett, 22, from
Maidstone in Kent, has
travelled 50,000 miles and
had his picture taken at an
incredible 2,456 football
pitches and stadiums.
After completing the
mammoth feat with his visit
to Scarborough, Scott, who
supports conference side
Ebbsfleet FC and works as a
children’s entertainer, said: “I
feel really pleased. Some
people look at you like you’re
mad, but you get to see lots
of places and meet people.”
“I choose the grounds on the
basis that they are either FA
registered or county status
grounds with regular
Saturday league matches.
SADLY, there’s no picture to
accompany this story!
It appears that Aussie
greenkeeper, Luke Mulheron,
had been drinking in the
clubhouse from lunchtime
until 9.30pm but, feeling a
tad worse for wear, had
decided to walk to his friend’s
residence close by - a gated
complex of units - to sleep it
off.
Having slept there for over
an hour, he eventually
decided to walk home, but
heavy rain made him turn
back. And here’s where it
went horribly wrong.
He broke into the wrong unit
and was found, by the owner,
standing in the bathroom,
with his underpants around
his ankles!
“You know me,” Mulheron
They also had to have a
physical mark, like a chain or
fence, to distinguish them
from, say, a village football
pitch.”
His obsession started as a 10year-old after his parents
took him to Wembley. He has
now set his sights on Europe,
having booked trips to visit
obscure venues in Lithuania
and Belarus.
He says the best ground he
has visited in the UK is
Newcastle United’s St James’
Park, whilst the worst was
Elgin’s Bishopmill. “It wasn’t
even straight,” he added.
Grumpy old groundsman!
It would seem that nothing
has changed, groundsmen
were grumpy, even in the
‘olden days’!
Welsh Rugby legend, Gareth
Edwards, recalled the time he
turned up for his first game
for Wales at Cardiff Arms
Park in 1967.
“Preparations couldn’t be
more different then to what
they are today” he said.
“There weren’t any squad
sessions and we didn’t have a
coach. It was up to players to
take the initiative. Dai
Watkins was my half-back
partner and we arranged to
meet at the Arms Park so we
could run through things.”
“When I arrived Dai was
there, with his coat slung over
a shoulder. I asked the
Cardiff groundsman for a
rugby ball but he snapped:
144
“No, nobody has told me you
were coming. I don’t care
who you are playing for.”
“So Dai rolled up his coat
into a ball and we threw that
around. After about fifteen
minutes, the groundsman
took pity on us, relented and
kicked us a ball.”
slurred.
“I don’t know you,” the victim
replied, and promptly
grabbed Mulheron in an arm
lock, wrestled him to the
ground and, with the help of
his brother-in-law - who also
lived at the premises, taped
his arms and legs together
before calling police.
Officers arrived at 1.00am to
find Mulheron stomach down
on the pavement at the back
of the dwelling, wearing
nothing but pink underwear.
Mulheron pleaded guilty to
entering the premises of a
person without a lawful
excuse and was fined a total
of $526.
No mention was made of how
he came to be wearing pink
panties!
Express delivery ...
The world’s first airline
dedicated to golfers took
off in April with a range
of routes connecting
some of Scotland and
Ireland’s most
spectacular courses.
Golf Links Express, an
offshoot of the award
winning Loch Lomond
Seaplanes, will ferry
golfers on a number of
routes between Prestwick,
Lough Erne golf resort in
Ireland, Machrihanish Dunes
in Kintyre, Loch Lomond and
Machrie on the island of
Islay.
The new service opens up
some of the finest and most
remote courses, and will
operate out of Prestwick
Airport providing instant
links to remote courses for
thousands of golfers who
travel to Ayrshire every year.
Travel time between some of
the country’s most
spectacular destinations will
be reduced to minutes by the
on-demand service.
Golf Links Express will be
able to carry up to 10 golfers
and their clubs from
Prestwick to Islay in around
25 minutes, on to
Machrihanish in 15 minutes,
then to Loch Lomond in
another 25 minutes.
According to Brian Keating,
founder of Machrihanish
Dunes, the airline opens up
tremendous possibilities.
“Scotland and Ireland have
some of the best golf courses
in the world but, traditionally,
people have been unable to
reach them because of the
travelling time.”
Quote me happy
“When the crowd were singing ‘what a load of
rubbish’, I can tell you I was leading that
chorus.” Luton manager Richard Money after
his side’s 3-2 defeat to Ebbsfleet.
“That guy can catch pigeons.” Commentator
discussing the speed of Newcastle United’s
Jose Enrique.
“Someone’s been sent off, Jeff ... no idea who it
was because I wasn’t concentrating. This game
is about as flat as my wife’s Yorkshire
puddings.” Dean Windass on Soccer Saturday.
“We decided to put the foot on the pedal
towards the end - and it came off.” Paul
Collingwood describes the painful-sounding
tactics employed by his players in the
Twenty20 win over Pakistan.
“Let’s see if we can lip-read and hear what he
said.” Lee Dixon on Match of the Day.
“It was Miaz Bohill, no
Biaz Molehill, no it was
Boaz Myhill!” Chris
Kamara getting in a
muddle over the Hull
keeper’s name.
“Very rare to hit a
double-hundred in the
50-over format.” Sky News’ Chris Roberts on
Sachin Tendulkar's record 200 not out against
South Africa - the ONLY double hundred in
the history of ODIs.
“We’re gonna win 10-9!” Stirling Albion fans
after Ross County scored their ninth goal in
the 9-0 Scottish Cup win.
“Cruciate ligament injuries are a pain in the
backside.” Ray Wilkins on Joe Cole’s long
road back from injury.
“They’ve just had a huge chunk of slice.” Paul
Walsh - Sky Soccer Special.
“People have to realise we’re the only northern
hemisphere team in cricket.” Geography
lesson from Paul Collingwood, forgetting that
West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh are also north of the equator!
“Just look at the noise here.” Marcel Desailly
at the Inter-Chelsea match.
“Nine goals without a game for Rasiak.” Mick
Conway reporting from the Reading-Sheffield
Wednesday match on Soccer Saturday.
“Boy George, I mean George Boyd, has had a
chance for Nottingham.” The BBC’s Ivan
Gaskell during the live coverage of
Nottingham Forest v Swansea.
More at www.bbc.co.uk/sport
Forward THINKING
Dates for your diary
MAY
12th - Football, UEFA Europa
League Final, Hamburg, Germany
(www.uefa.com)
15th - Football, FA Cup Final,
Wembley Stadium
(www.wembleystadium.com)
20th to 23rd - Golf, BMW PGA
Championship, Wentworth Club,
Surrey (www.europeantour.com)
22nd - Football, UEFA Champions
League Final, Bernabeu Stadium,
Spain (www.uefa.com)
22nd - Rugby Union, Heineken Cup
Final, Stade de France, Paris
(www.ercrugby.com)
25th to 29th - RHS Chelsea Flower
Show, Royal Hospital, London
(www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea)
27th to 31st - Cricket, 1st nPower
Test, England v Bangladesh,
Lord’s (www.cricketworld.com)
29th - Rugby Union, Guinness
Premiership Final, Twickenham
Stadium
(www.guinnesspremiership.com)
JUNE
4th & 5th - Horse racing, The
Derby Festival, Epsom Downs
Racecourse
(www.epsomderby.co.uk)
4th to 8th - Cricket, 2nd nPower
Test, England v Bangladesh, Old
Trafford (www.cricketworld.com)
7th to 13th - Tennis, The AEGON
Championships, Queens Club,
London
(www.aegonchampionships.com)
Hung sung notoriety ... definitely!
Here we go with another collection of Laurence-isms. Our man is devoted to the cause of
wordsmithery. A A Gill eat your heart out!
I’ve got tickets to Murrayfield to watch
England v Wales
The Hung Sung Heroes awards
... he did not approve of us listening to
the radio whilst devoting
... there are many examples of how Les
built up his renown notoriety
... my eyes are diluted
Talk about falling on you feet ...
... probably more than definitely
... with patches of overgrown grass,
low spots and bear areas
... and coarse weed grass spices
Dave and his staff help out on a add
hock basis
However in 1995 it acquired the
opportunity to move from its old ground
The hours he puts in are relentless
usually at least five hours on weekdays
You can now follow Loz on Twitter http://twitter.com/pitchcareloz
11th to 11th July - 2010 FIFA
World Cup, South Africa
(www.fifa.com/worldcup)
15th to 19th - Horseracing, Royal
Ascot, Ascot Racecourse
(www.ascot.co.uk)
19th - Cricket, Scotland v England
One Day International, Edinburgh
(www.cricketworld.com)
21st to 4th July - Tennis, The
Championships, AELTC,
Wimbledon (www.wimbledon.org)
21st to 25th - FACTS training
course, STRI, Bingley
(www.stri.co.uk)
JULY
5th - Cricket, Twenty20
International, Pakistan v
Australia, Edgbaston
(www.cricketworld.com)
8th to 11th - Golf, Barclays
Scottish Open, Loch Lomond GC
(www.europeantour.com)
15th to 18th - Golf, 139th Open
Championship, Old Course, St.
Andrews, Scotland
(www.opengolf.com)
To add your event to Forward Thinking
please email details to
ellie@pitchcare.com and don’t forget
that you can add it to Pitchcare’s online
calendar yourself! Simply log on to
www.pitchcare.com, select ‘Calendar’
in the Home drop down button on the
top banner and click on “Add event’ at
the top of the page.
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Code: PC/04/10/H3
Driving Environmental Performance