The course manager at Banchory Golf Club in Aberdeenshire explains why the venue is an ecological haven that is rightfully being recognised for environmental best practice. 

A decade ago we profiled Terry Wharton, one of the longest-serving greenkeepers in golf, as he’d celebrated his 30th anniversary at Haydock Park. He’s now amassed 40 years at the same venue. 

Alec talks about why the presentation of the greens helped drive a membership boom in June, and gave confidence to the club to invest in its facilities.

With plenty of wet weather starting the year and May the driest on record since 1986, this year is fast shaping up to be very much like 2018 for its extreme weather.

Two months of no golf, in most cases with minimal course maintenance, followed by unprecedented footfall and almost no rain. What should greenkeepers now be asking about their golf courses?

The head greenkeeper at Selby Golf Club, one of the oldest golf clubs in Yorkshire, takes us through his average day.

“Throughout my travels, the only consistent trend I’ve observed regarding the effects of the weather on sports turf maintenance is its inconsistency!’’ Aquatrols’ technical support and European account manager, Michael Fance, says.

As France reopens its borders, golfers at Golf d’Hardelot and Le Touquet Golf Resort on the country’s northern coast can now enjoy a number of course enhancements, practice area improvements and new routings.

The Dennis Razor Ultra 560’s development was fine-tuned using feedback from greenkeepers following ‘out in the field tests’ and was the first product which utilised the company’s CAD system back in 2009.

With a fleet of natural and synthetic machinery from Charterhouse Turf Machinery, head groundsman Robert Cheape is well equipped to maintain the four separate sites that make up The Glasgow Academy.

Delivering the strongest coverage, density and recovery head groundsman Andy Ellett has seen in his 13 seasons at the club, J Nitro Premier Wicket is taking the quality of Exeter’s County Ground to new levels.

As temperatures rise and new season growth commences, as does the ingress of many unwelcome weed species appearing in amenity and professional lawncare situations.

For Bob Hayton, grounds chairman at Maidstone Rugby, deciding whether to aerate or apply fertiliser, or to delay either for a few days, can make all the difference to successful pitch care.

Excessive thatch has ruined many a golfer’s perfect round. Kelly-Marie Clack discusses this issue and offers an insight into how the soil biology can be utilised and correctly managed to improve conditions.

The course and grounds manager at Roehampton Club in London talks about maintaining a prestigious course during the Covid-19 lockdown, the environmental work the club has carried out in recent years and why he still loves being a greenkeeper after three decades in the job.

GKB Machines, the company behind sustainable, reliable and robust maintenance machinery for natural, synthetic and hybrid turf, is offering the possibility to remove organic matter and sand-fill in just one simple and efficient operation, thanks to the GKB Sandfiller.

Augusta National Golf Course is one of the most spectacular golf courses in the world. We are used to seeing the Georgia course in April, at the height of spring, however, the 2020 US Masters is set to take place in November.

The course manager at Gullane since 2006 details how he improves the smoothness of the ball roll across the green and increases the greens speed without damaging the grass.

After two months of lockdown, most greenkeepers are back maintaining golf courses. But what safety procedures should they now follow, and what damage has been made to the course with limited maintenance work done to it in April and May? Noel MacKenzie reports.

The course manager at Saltford Golf Club, a 116-year-old venue located between Bristol and Bath, takes us through what his average day was like during the lockdown.

Three of the industry’s main suppliers of course machinery to golf clubs have been adapting their products so they are more efficient for greenkeepers.