England’s most south westerly course, the nine-hole Isles of Scilly Golf Club, offers stunning views and is maintained by a team of three volunteer greenkeepers, headed by Derek Metcalfe. Having no previous greenkeeping, or even gardening, experience Derek relies on advice and guidance from trusted friends and industry contacts – like Headland Amenity for the…

The prestigious Toro Student Greenkeeper of the Year awards are returning for 2017. Last year Jimmy Heritage, of Maylands, joined the list of talented greenkeepers who have secured the highly coveted award, which is now in its 29th year. “Winning the award was the culmination of three years’ hard work,” said Jimmy, 25. “Greenkeeping has…

Mount Lawley Golf Club, located in Perth, Western Australia, has taken delivery of a fleet of machinery from renowned turf equipment manufacturer Jacobsen. Local dealer McIntosh & Son made the delivery. The club decided to invest in brand new machinery to improve the playing surface of the golf course. The machinery leased through Jacobsen included…

Top Shropshire course, Market Drayton GC has taken delivery of the first Terra Spike SL6, Wiedenmann’s super light aerator for fine turf. “It came along just as I was looking for extra depth,” said head greenkeeper, Simon Cotterill. “Our previous micro-tine machine operated to about 100mm but going to 210mm just suits us better.” No…

After having to rely on outside assistance for the past few years, Castleford Tigers RLFC are now able to keep all of their turf maintenance tasks in-house after purchasing a brand new Dennis G860 cylinder mower. Stuart Vause has been involved with the club for 13 years part time and three years as head groundsman…

The turf care event Turf Maintenance LIVE!, which has an emphasis on working demonstrations and up close inspection of the new season’s products, is returning for 2017. The collaborative event by eight of the industry’s leading innovators will be held on Wednesday, April 26 and Thursday, April 27. Location is The Worcestershire Golf Club at…

OutThere, one of the leading grounds maintenance and landscaping businesses in Northern Ireland, has strengthened its fleet of Kubota machinery following a successful 2016 and a strong start to the new year. The company, which has developed an excellent reputation in the market for its commitment to the environment and the communities it serves, is…

Spey Valley Golf & Country Club may have been voted the most picturesque course in the UK, but for head greenkeeper Dave Beardwood it has its drawbacks. At 400 feet above sea level, and set in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, this 18-hole championship course delivers some spectacular views for the players. With a…

A support team of members of the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association (BIGGA) will be heading to The Wentworth Club this May to help prepare the course for the BMW PGA Championship. The greenkeepers will be on hand to assist director of golf courses and estates, Kenny Mackay, and his team throughout the European…

Terrain Aeration has been receiving a marked increase in the number of golf courses requesting its specialist soil compaction and aeration service. Normal aeration on fairways such as Verti-draining is a fast, short term solution but for many courses recent weather patterns have resulted in the need for much deeper aeration than the usual six…

DLF Seed’s newest nitrogen seed coat technology, ProNitro, has been shortlisted for the “Innovatieprijs Sportaccommodaties” or “Sports Innovation Prize” for 2017. The award, presented for the first time this year, is intended to stimulate a focus on innovation and the introduction of new concepts in the sports sector. The European initiative is run is conjunction…

The recent Dennis and SISIS Cricket Groundsman’s Seminar recorded its highest ever attendance with an impressive 260 delegates making their way to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club all looking to refresh and enhance their education on a variety of topics. The seminar, which was supported by Gloucester Cricket Board, Boughton Loam, CricketWorld.com, Limagrain UK, Lister Wilder,…

Rigby Taylor, the company at the forefront of supplying innovative products for the successful management and maintenance of turf surfaces, has given its Apex turf fertilisers a major ‘make-over’ resulting in a range of high-organic content fertilisers with low salt analyses and rich humic acid levels to encourage root development and stimulate soil microbial activity.…

All bottles of the barrier acting, total herbicide, Pistol® from Bayer, are now supplied with two low drift sprayer nozzles and a stewardship checklist attached. The addition of the low drift nozzles forms part of the new authorisation for Pistol® which was officially re-registered by the Chemicals Regulation Division (CRD) under the new registration MAPP17451…

A charity that offers help to greenkeepers who are struggling with financial issues has said it saw an almost 100 percent increase in the use of its ‘advice only’ service in 2016. Perennial, which provides support and information to people who work in horticulture, said the demand for its service, which is delivered by caseworkers…

Working closely with Swan Golf Designs, EcoBunker has recently installed three revetted bunkers in front of the 9th green, as part of a complete re-model of the green complex at Holywood Golf Club in Northern Ireland. The club, famously known as the home of Rory McIlroy, became the latest one to use EcoBunker’s triple stacked…

Highspeed Group, buoyed by the success of its ClearWater prize draw at BTME 2017 in the UK, ran the same prize draw at the Golf Industry Show in Orlando USA this year. Managing director, David Mears, said: “ClearWater is the sole product we focus on at the GIS and the prize draw certainly increased interest…

DLF’s Johnsons Sports Seed has released its 2017 mixture guide. Whilst no new cultivars have been introduced for 2017, a number of the key mixtures dedicated for sports turf have been reformulated to further enhance performance. All these mixtures have been carefully created using the best cultivars available, taking into account wear tolerance, density, colour,…

John Deere has been named the ‘Official Golf Course Turf Equipment Provider’ to the PGA of America. The wide-ranging five-year agreement includes support of the PGA Championship, KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. John Deere will offer equipment programmes to PGA-owned facilities and championship sites over the term of the agreement.…

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.…

With this year’s wet and warm winter weather creating the perfect conditions for turf diseases such as fusarium, snow mould and anthracnose to thrive, maintaining healthy rhizosphere conditions is the first step in preventing infections from detracting from turf performance and appearance. That is the advice from Richard Brown of Germinal who recommends that an…