Dudsbury Golf Club switches from liquid to granular fertilisers

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Warren Moss, course manager at Dudsbury Golf Club in Bournemouth, believes that his greens are reaping the rewards following a switch from liquid fertilisers to ICL’s SierraformGT and Greenmaster Pro-Lite granular fertilisers.

“I wasn’t happy with the way our previous liquid fertilisers were performing on the greens – they were just not looking healthy enough. A report revealed that the greens had poor root growth, so basically I felt that all the nutrients in the liquid were passing through the top 50mm and not getting used up by the rest of the plant. Therefore, I felt that I needed a product that would last longer and benefit the plant for an extended period of time.

“I spoke to Darren Hatcher (ICL technical area sales manager), and explained what I was trying to achieve and he suggested that switching to ICL granular fertilisers was something that I should consider. He was confident we would get the desired results and after using the first product I saw how good the results were and continued with the iTurf programme. There’s been no looking back since.”

Warren decided to change from the liquid fertilisers and turned to ICL’s SierraformGT and Greenmaster Pro-Lite granular fertilisers, with the aim of giving the greens the initial spring kick-start that is needed but also providing that longevity throughout the playing season.

“The first product I used was the Greenmaster Pro-Lite Cold Start and that just got the greens going. Combined with the SierraformGT, the greens went from looking really poor to me receiving comments from our members and committee that they were the best they have looked in the last 15 years. By the third or the fourth day after application we could already start to see the effects of using them.

“The greens look incredibly healthy now with great colour and I’d say that the feeds have lasted for approximately seven to eight weeks, which is a massive difference to what we were previously using.”

The Pro-Lite technology in Greenmaster gives plants an excellent head start during the colder period of the year while it improves the longevity and performance of the fertilisers. Each homogenous granule disperses quickly into the turf sward and so it will not be picked up by the mower. The fine granules result in a high amount of granules per square metre, which helps to create a denser turf area.

Each SierraformGT granule contains all of the nutrients that the turf requires. The Mu2 and SiLK technologies helps make sure that the plant receives these important nutrients, while it develops stronger cell walls to fight wear and tear, as well as disease.