A FEAST OF SPORT With turf professionals playing an integral role by TurfPro Editor, Laurence Gale MSC, MBPR
The Cricket World Cup finals, the Wimbledon Championships and the Women's Football World Cup have all offered wonderful drama this summer - all played on superb surfaces.
This year’s feast of summer sport cannot have been any better, with three major events coming to fruition, with a mixed set of results for the English participants. This year’s Women’s World Cup came alive and had extraordinary reviews and compliments on the standard of play and sportsmanship.
Although I felt the England team should have beaten the USA, going down on our usually poor penalty taking abilities, the tournament was a great event with all the pitches looking fantastic. This was no doubt due to many of the English groundsmen and British companies who were involved in the preparation and maintenance of these stadia pitches.
One such Brit was Jonathan Calderwood HG at PSG. He was responsible for managing and maintaining several pitches during the tournament.
Jon Calderwood
Jonathan has been working at Paris Saint Germain for five years now and has helped transform the quality of pitches in France.
Congratulations to the U.S. women's national team who held on to defeat the Netherlands 2-0 in the final last Sunday. While the U.S. was shaky in the first half, they came out even stronger in the second. Veteran attacker Megan Rapinoe and rising star Rose Lavelle gave the U.S. two goals to secure the USWNT's fourth world cup title. USA secured its fourth Women’s World Cup title (1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019), now winning twice as many Women’s World Cup tournaments as any other nation.
However, I am sure Phil Neville will be working hard to ensure we go one better and get to a major cup final in the coming years. Women’s football is definitely becoming more popular and the success of this tournament will certainly increase participation in women’s football.
This year’s Cricket World Cup held on British soil has also been an amazing tournament with plenty of exciting games of cricket being played, culminating in two interesting semi-finals between India and New Zealand at Old Trafford and a massive match Australia v England at Edgbaston.
Vic Domain and his staff at the Riverside Durham Chester le Street
Having spoken to Vic Domain HG at the Riverside Durham, Chester le Street, he said the whole experience of the tournament was very challenging and rewarding. He and his team of staff like all the all the other venues, have faced a full-on month preparing wickets for the tournament. However, in general the weather has been very favourable and in the main allowed us to prepare some decent pitches - that on the whole gave something for both batsman and bowler.
Vic and his team prepared three test pitches, 28th June, Sri Lanka v South Africa , 1st July Sri Lanka v South Africa and on the 3rd July England V New Zealand .
England v New Zealand during the group stage at Durham
Not to miss out our very own head of editorial, Steve Gibbs took a day off to watch the Semi Final between England and Australia, with England destroying Australia with a tremendous performance with bat and ball Steve enjoyed the day immensely and was able to follow this unique opportunity with managing to get tickets for the final at Lord’s.
England v Australia semi-final at Edgbaston (pic Steve Gibbs)
Steve said, “It was a real privilege to attend both those phenomenal matches. I don’t think I will ever experience a sporting event anything like that final at Lord’s ever again in my lifetime. I will be reeling for days.
“As well as the games at Edgbaston and Lord’s I was also lucky enough to attend England’s matches at Cardiff and Southampton – and at each venue the pitch preparation was exemplary. Such thrilling contests, where the teams of turf professionals more than played their parts in delivering such great drama.”
The final at Lord's (pic Steve Gibbs)
You can read TurfPro founder, Chris Biddle’s view of the pitch preparations during the World Cup here.
I personally was not able to watch the final as I was working, taking photos at the Ironbridge Brass Band festival, and having no signal meant I was not able to get any info on the game. However on driving home I soon found out that the match had drawn on 241 with a Super Over to be played out to determine the new world champions. I managed to race home and see that final over and see England take that last wicket to become ICC World Cup Winners 2019.
A fantastic achievement for all the players and fans and a great lift for the game of Cricket, I am sure there will be many crickets clubs up and down the country gaining some new players after this incredible cup final.
Finally, we also saw the conclusion of Wimbledon 2019 with two great finals played out at WS19. In The men’s final Novak Djokovic saved two championship points in Wimbledon's longest singles final to retain his title in a thrilling win over Roger Federer. On a Centre Court, with an atmosphere that felt at times more akin to football than tennis, Djokovic won 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 13-12 (7-3).
As for the women’s final a shock defeat for Serena Williams. Williams had been the pre-match favourite to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title but could not find an answer to Halep's brilliant returning game and movement around the court.
The Romanian's 56-minute 6-2 6-2 demolition of Serena Williams earned her a second Grand Slam title.
After a fortnight of thrilling tennis and lot of long hours worked by the groundstaff, Neil and his team will be glad that the courts and the standard of tennis produced was as expected for this year’s Wimbledon Championships.
The grounds are owned by the All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, and the total area, including the club's car parks, covers over 42 acres with capacity for up to 42,000 spectators.
Neil Stubley, head of courts and horticulture, has fifteen permanent ground staff, that usually grows to twenty-eight during the championships. In total they have, 18 Championships grass courts, 20 grass practice courts, 8 American Clay courts and 5 indoor courts to look after.
The grass courts are in play from May to September (except Centre Court and other Show Courts which are used only for The Championships). All courts are re-lined, rolled and mown daily during The Championships. Court wear, surface hardness and ball rebound are also measured daily.
Wimbledon Courts
In fact Neil will be running a grounds seminar at Wimbledon on the 6th -7th August. With speakers from The Queen’s Club and the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), the event is for grounds professionals and those responsible for grass tennis courts. It will cover all practical aspects of grass court preparation, maintenance and renovation as well as nutrition, grass seed mixtures, aeration and rolling, and research. There will also be demonstrations of the autumn renovations.
The seminar is part of a structured approach to the development of tennis grounds professionals, a scheme established between the AELTC, LTA and the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG).
The cost is £160 per person for the two days including lunch, tea and coffee and a seminar dinner on the first evening.
For an application form contact the Grounds Department at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
There is no doubt that the groundstaff at all these stadiums and venues have done a magnificent job in delivering pitches and playing surfaces of the highest standards for these three major events.
Quite often, the general public, a number of TV commentators and indeed some players rarely have an inkling of what is involved to produce these high-profile playing surfaces.
I firmly believe there should be more televised coverage of the work we do as groundsmen to ensure the wider public have a better understanding of the skills, dedication and the many variables that effect the preparation of top-quality playing surfaces.
NEWS
A CHANCE TO SHINE UK greenkeeper's life changed by U.S internship programme
Watch an exclusive video of Greg Jones from The Belfry GC near Birmingham, speak from Pebble Beach Golf Club and the wonderful opportunity that the Ohio State University internship programme offered him.
Mike O’Keeffe has been running The Ohio State University internship programme for many years that without doubt has offered UK greenkeepers a fantastic opportunity to work at some of the world’s most renowned golf courses, such as Pebble Beach and Sawgrass.
Mike has provided TurfPro with an exclusive video of one of this year's internees, Greg Jones from The Belfry GC near Birmingham, who is seen in the video from Pebble Beach, explaining how this programme has changed his life and expectations of working in the turf grass industry.
The Ohio Program participants use the J-1 non-immigrant visa that allows them to experience living in the USA and gain professional training related to their field of study and future career plans.
The Ohio International Turfgrass Intern Program offers students the chance to experience working in warmer climates while improving their turf grass management skills. It attracts applicants from all over the world.
The intern will assist with general golf course maintenance. Responsibilities will include mowing, fertilising, aerating, watering, pest management and maintenance of equipment and irrigation systems. Many turfgrass interns enjoy preparing golf courses for the most important tournaments in the US.
On 18-21 July 2019, The Open makes an historic return to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years and Toro say they are honoured to play a role in helping prepare the course.
On 18-21 July 2019, The Open makes an historic return to Northern Ireland for the first time in 68 years and bringing golf’s oldest international Championship back again is Royal Portrush in County Antrim.
As the club prepares to host the 148th event Toro say they are honoured to play a role in helping prepare the course.
As expected, preparations for The Open are years in the making and Toro has not only been there every step of the way since the news broke in 2015 that Royal Portrush would be the 2019 host, but for the last 25 years.
Course manager, Graeme Beatt, who joined the club in 2014, comments, “The relationship between Royal Portrush and Toro is a quarter of century old and for us there is no better machinery partner to ensure the optimum conditions for the players as well as the eyes of the sporting world.”
Preparing the all-important course, crews are using Toro’s Flex 2120 pedestrian mowers for the greens, Reelmaster 3550-D and 3555-D mowers on the fairways, approaches and surrounds, Greensmaster 1000 and TriFlex 3400 on the tees, Reelmaster 3100-D with Sidewinder system on semi-roughs and Groundsmaster 4500-D on the roughs. In addition, the team uses the Greensmaster 3250-D and GR1000 on the practice area and the ProCore 648 for aerating the courses. 25 additional Toro machines from Reesink Turfcare, the sole Toro distributor in the UK for golf and sports fields equipment and irrigation products, have joined the 50-strong Toro fleet already at the club in the run-up to and during the Championship.
But it’s not just a successful partnership with Toro machinery, Reesink and Lairds Grass Machinery that ensures the course will be tournament ready, but Toro irrigation too. In 2017, the irrigation system was upgraded to a Lynx central control system and Toro Infinity, Flex and B-Series sprinklers irrigate the rugged links course situated on the Atlantic coast.
“The location of the club is generally something of a challenge for an irrigation system, especially for the sprinklers,” says Graeme. “It’s quite a feat to deliver accurate spray in our unpredictable, windy and exposed conditions, but this has been no problem for Toro. We’ve been really impressed with the overall performance of the control system and sprinklers, but worthy of note are the B-Series sprinkler heads on the tees. They’ve really been put to the test and withstand all sorts.”
It’s not just an irrigation system that’s new for The Open. The world-famous Dunluce course has been extended from 6,867 yards to just over 7,300 yards and every hole has had some work in varying degrees, none so much as the 17th and 18th holes which have become the tented village areas and two new holes created at seventh and eighth. 22 miles of fibre optic cable has been installed with 12 miles of fibre ducts, 2,200 artic lorries-worth of equipment will have been used for the build and de-rig, 24 greenkeeping volunteers have been selected and a record-breaking number of tickets have been sold.
In fact, it’s this last fact that’s caused the only hiccup in the journey to being tournament-ready Graeme explains: “No Open Championship has ever sold out and when this one did, and in record time, the decision was made to release a further 15,000 tickets - that means we could have up to 230,000 spectators come through our gates! At that point we knew we needed to revisit the already established catering areas and extend them to accommodate this, which involved a lot of extra work. Let’s just say the Toro Workman MDX-D and HDX utility vehicles were really put to the test over this time moving kit around the course and aiding the team in construction work!”
Doug Reid from Reesink, who has worked with Royal Portrush for almost half of its 25-year relationship, says: “Royal Portrush has been nothing but consistent in its machinery purchasing over the years, but as expected in the last five years things ramped up and some fundamental replacements and changes to the fleet took place. The biggest change was the switch from the four-wheel Reelmaster 6700-D to the three-wheel Reelmaster 3550-D for a lighter tread on the fairways. The RM3550-D also happens to be ideal for a links course.
“The way we work with Graeme and the team is a definite partnership, and we’re glad that Toro remains the brand Royal Portrush has relied on for the last 25 years, and for its second Open Championship. Having the right equipment is vital in the preparation and performance for an event such as this, and we have worked closely with Royal Portrush to ensure all the tournament support needed from us is in place.”
It takes a tremendous amount of teamwork and coordination to prepare for an international event but as Graeme says: “I feel lucky to have been chosen for the job; it’s been such an honour to be involved. Probably the biggest achievement is that we’ve managed to do all the preparations we have with minimal disruption to our members. We’ve had their unwaivering support, and I’m sure that it will all be worth it to see their course presented on the world stage, challenging the world’s best golfers for golf’s greatest Championship!”
Series of events that showcased the latest research information and technological innovations in turf agronomy, attracted over 200 turf professional delegates.
ICL and Syngenta recently held a series of Turf Science Lite events, which took place at Aston Villa FC’s stadium Villa Park, Slaley Hall Golf Club in Northumberland and Liverpool FC’s Academy facility in Kirkby.
The series, which showcases the latest research information and technological innovations in turf agronomy, attracted over 200 delegates including turf managers, groundsmen, agronomists, greenkeepers and course managers.
Syngenta Technical Manager, Glenn Kirby, kick-started each event with an insightful presentation entitled Life After Propiconazole – an outlook on future disease management strategies. Within his presentation Glenn explained that good practice of integrated turf management techniques to promote turf health is going to become ever more important with the loss of important fungicide actives. He also revealed that there are exciting new fungicide options in the UK registration system, and that the company’s £1.4bn annual investment in R&D will continue to create new innovations.
“The loss of propiconazole is undoubtedly a serious concern for maintaining turf quality,” warned Glenn. “Adopting new turf technologies alongside fungicide programmes, such as Ryder pigment, Qualibra wetting agent and the potential for bio-stimulants will be key. Furthermore, pioneering innovations, such as sensor technology, predictive modelling and application, does offer a positive future for turf management.”
Dr Andy Owen, ICL’s International Technical Manager, was next to take to the stage to present The Devil is in the Detail in which he talked about controlled release fertilisers (CRF) and the technology which goes into developing each product. Andy focussed on how to select a CRF in a crowded marketplace and the questions that could be asked about products; for example, what is the % coated material in the bag? How are the claimed longevities calculated? Also featured in the presentation was the Pearl technology found within two new SierrablenPlus products and how these can be best used to support sports turf renovation and establishment.
Following a complimentary lunch, Daniel Lightfoot, Syngenta’s UK and Ireland Business Manager, gave an informative presentation on the Art of Application, explaining how best to get the active ingredient where you want it. According to Daniel, this includes understanding the product being applied, where you want it to end up and then fine tuning the variables of nozzle selection, water volume and sprayer set-up to deliver to the right place at the right time. Daniel also demonstrated how too little water volume may not achieve sufficient coverage, while too much could over wet leaves and run off. “The sprayer operators’ role is vital to balance all these factors to optimise results,” he added.
Henry Bechelet, ICL Technical Manager for UK & Ireland and Simon Taylor, ICL Product and Business Development Manager for Turfgrass seeds, were next to provide top tips on how to Improve your Grass Seed Knowledge in which they discussed various topics regarding seed breeding, selection and management. The audience were asked to select from a list of 10 seed topics and then Simon and Henry thrashed out the issues in an entertaining and forthright fashion to get to the nub of each issue.
Commenting at the event which took place at Liverpool FC’s Academy facility, Tony Sinclair, Manchester United FC Grounds Manager, said, “I came along today and realised just how important these days are in terms of upgrading your education and learning new things. One thing about the industry we work in is that everything changes so quickly and every day is a new day so it is important to keep up with everything that is going on. There is no question that as things continue to move forward ICL will be a part of that – they are a massive player in educating people around the country.”
Scott Reeves, Course Manager at Leyland Golf Club, added: “We are at an interesting point within the industry regarding the use of chemicals and there seems to be a lot hearsay and misinformation around. Therefore it is worthwhile coming to an event such as this to get an update and find out exactly where we are.”
Dr Christian Spring STRI, Research Operations Manager, said: “Today we have been looking at the practical demonstrations and they have been really fascinating because they have focussed on how to get the best out of the products we use and how to get optimum efficiency when we are applying wetting agents, fungicides, liquid nutrition and granular nutrition. It has been incredibly beneficial because it is all about getting the best bang for your buck and looking in details at all the stages we need to focus on in order to get the best possible results.”
Durabunker Ltd construct high performance, low maintenance bunkers with a growing international portfolio and a product line that includes patented synthetic bunker edge technology and multiple bunker liners.
In its new capacity as Education Supporter for BIGGA, the company will help provide valuable professional development opportunities for BIGGA members.
Durabunker director Rhydian Lewis said, “Since first bringing the Synthetic Bunker Edge to market in 2010, I have had the pleasure to meet and work with so many genuinely friendly and supportive characters in the greenkeeping industry. It still amazes how professional and knowledgeable greenkeepers are and how much of a challenge many of them face in their working lives. It’s a tough gig and I’m constantly impressed at how they rise to that challenge.
“Having spent a large part of my career in training and education, I remain passionate about the benefits that lifelong learning brings to any profession. Given I now make my living through the help of greenkeepers across the UK and beyond, it seemed the right time for Durabunker Ltd to commit to supporting BIGGA by becoming an Education Partner. We are all looking forward to working more closely with BIGGA and to supporting the industry that is the lifeblood of our company’s success.”
BIGGA Business Development Manager Lauren Frazer said, “Durabunker is a dynamic and modern company that is bringing innovative new methods of construction into the golf industry. I’m delighted that Rhydian and the rest of the team are so eager to engage with BIGGA members to develop the opportunities we are able to offer to further raise standards across the golf course maintenance industry.”
Ben Burgess GroundsCare Equipment, have become the official distributor for Predator across England and Wales and will be looking to appoint a select number of dealers.
East Anglia grounds care equipment retailer, Ben Burgess GroundsCare Equipment, have announced they have become the official distributor for stump grinder supplier Predator across England and Wales.
Ben Burgess say Predator manufacture narrow access tree stump grinders with a reputation of producing high quality, reliable machines to serve the arboricultural industry.
Ben Burgess first partnered with Predator in February 2018. Since then they say demonstrations and sales of the machines have been extremely successful and complement the other arboricultural brands Ben Burgess have within their range.
Ben B Turner, Ben Burgess’ Group GroundsCare Equipment manager, said, "We are very pleased to be making this announcement. We have had great success since becoming a dealer for Predator and hope to go from strength to strength in the coming years. We will continue to sell Predator equipment directly within East Anglia and the Midlands and we will be appointing a select number of other dealers to assist us further afield.”
In order to support the sales and aftercare of the product across England and Wales as well as assisting the new network of suppliers, Ben Burgess have appointed Neal Hussey as arboricultural specialist. Neal has been with the company for 18 years.
“Predator stump grinders are very popular with our customers as they are compact and suit varying terrain and areas often difficult to access with other larger machinery”, commented Neal. “There is fantastic potential for the Predator range in the UK and I look forward to providing arborists with the opportunity for demonstrations across the country.”
Simon Bradshaw from Predator said, “This exciting development builds on the team's incredible success over the last year, providing the highest level of service to Predator users. Their drive to appoint new dealers & service points across the region will be a huge asset to our existing customer base, providing a more local contact for sales and servicing.”
Highwood will be increasing their staff and service support to cover the new area that previously operated under Longham’s.
Kubota (U.K) Ltd has announced that Dorset based dealership, Highwood, will be expanding its groundcare territory into the Bournemouth area.
Highwood, which has been a dealer with Kubota for over 15 years, will be increasing their staff and service support to cover this new area that was previously operated under Longham’s.
The expansion between Highwood and Kubota strengthens the existing partnership, displaying the Kubota groundcare range of equipment across the south of England from Southampton to Bere Regis.
New groundcare dealer manager, Phil Catley, who joined recently in the role of dealer mnager - Southern region for the tractor and groundcare division last month commented: “We are delighted that Highwood will be increasing its territory to include the Bournemouth area. Our dealerships are instrumental to Kubota’s growth and we’re excited to continue working with Highwood for many years to come.”
Kubota UK say they are committed to investing in and expanding its dealer network in order to support more businesses like Highwood.
Nick Green, operations director of Highwood commented, “With the full range of Kubota groundcare equipment available, we look forward to providing our new customers with the same first class service enjoyed by our current clients. This opportunity further enhances our successful relationship with Kubota and is reward for the quality work put in by our dedicated team”.
The team behind the T H White Groundcare dealership have relaunched their website with a refreshed look.
The team behind the T H White Groundcare dealership have relaunched their website with a refreshed look.
Developed to complement the existing line up of T H White group websites, including Agriculture, Dairy and Construction sites, the company says the new Groundcare website offers an easy to navigate structure.
As well as a wealth of information on the full range of grounds and tree maintenance machinery on offer, the new site also features the ability to request a free demonstration via a quick form, as well as make online enquiries, or call your local depot.
Details of the service, parts and hire support available can also all be found on the new website.
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HAIL THE GRASS MASTERS! Boorish media comments about pitch quality are wide of the mark by Chris Biddle, TurfPro founder
As we all draw breath after the unbelievable scenes at the Home of Cricket yesterday, we surely must celebrate team-work.
As we all draw breath after the unbelievable scenes at the Home of Cricket yesterday, we surely must celebrate team-work. From the squads from 10 nations whose efforts over 7 weeks came down a single ball, to the support infrastructure, the ‘Cricketeers’, the media, the crowds (especially) - and the grounds teams who contributed massively to the overall quality of play, the safety of players and the presentation of playing surfaces across the host venues. They were an integral part of a successful 2019 Cricket World Cup, whatever the outcome.
Which brings me to the boorish and insensitive remarks of former Test opener Mark Butcher who described pitches at some World Cup games as “Garbage and uneven two-paced shit heaps”. I’m not sure, whether his words were deliberately provocative, headline grabbers, but they demonstrate a lack of appreciation of the 24-7 commitment of grounds teams during the season, often working round the clock to ‘get the game on’ in sometimes trying conditions.
Butcher singled out Edgbaston during the India v New Zealand semi-final. Head groundsman Gary Barwell quite rightly took umbrage, but ask the crowd, ask the viewers and even those players not seeking to make the pitch a factor, they will have participated in and witnessed one of the most exciting games of the tournament. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
But nobody could have predicted that the tension of the Edgbaston game could have been surpassed by the Final. I’ve been an MCC member since 1963, and the ground and pitches have always complemented Lord’s status as the undisputed and iconic Home of Cricket. Building on a lifetime of single-minded commitment by Mick Hunt, this was Karl McDermott’s baptism, and how he rose to the challenge. Perhaps the Irish connection between Captain Morgan and Karl runs deeper than we thought. Lord’s has never looked more magnificent. But there will be no respite, a Test Match against Ireland looms next week, and the Ashes Test three weeks later (not to mention a couple of 20-20 Blasts in between). Grounds teams are as adept with coping with pressure as the players themselves.
Glory be that we still play cricket on grass pitches. I played club cricket on matting in Holland during the 1970’s - and it was boring. Grass pitches are living, breathing, organic entities, susceptible to climatic conditions, which are then micro-managed by skilled turf professionals. The World Cup was played in English conditions. Pitches in the Caribbean and on the sub-Continent have their different characteristics, but for a balanced view look to Australia where Cricket NSW has slammed plans to install a drop-pitch at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground – at the request of the ground-sharing AFL Sydney Swans.
Cricket NSW chief Executive Lee Germon says it will make cricket ‘boring and unattractive and remove the renowned characteristic of the SCG as being spin friendly”.
He adds, “Having a diverse range of pitches across Australia has been an integral part of our game for 100 years, and is the major cause of producing world-class players who need to experience a range of pitches at major matches testing the cricketers complete skill-sets.”
Isn’t that the truth? What we witnessed at the World Cup was the versatility of top-class players adapting to conditions – no more so than during the Final. They really are super-stars, many of them switching seamlessly from frenetic 20-over games to 5-day Test Matches where the pitch quality does come into play over the longer period.
Purile criticism of pitches ignores stupendous individual feats during this World Cup which has thrilled spectators – and been a real tribute to the groundsmanship community who are often unable to express their real feelings in the face of unfair comment.
FOOTNOTE: Because of recent knee operation I was unable to use my Pavilion ticket yesterday, but colleague Steve Gibbs was there (and is in recovery today), whilst the pictures were taken by my son-in-law Darren D’Costa.
