Turf technology was the theme of the most recent seminar for groundsmen and greenkeepers in the Channel Islands which was organised by Sherriff Amenity.

Twenty-five turf professionals representing sports grounds, golf courses and the Jersey States local authority visited the Royal Jersey Showground for a series of technical presentations that the company had arranged by key turf industry manufacturers. The aim was to give the latest information on key areas, providing an opportunity for direct dialogue between end users and product manufacturers.


The recent seminar hosted by Sherriff Amenity for groundsmen and greenkeepers in the Channel Islands was very positive

Among the speakers was Mike Finney, BASF's Turf & Amenity business manager for Europe, Middle East & Africa, who covered the use of agronomic pigments to improve turf quality and introduced Salute WSP, a grass conditioner with potassium silicate. Lewis Blois from Everris gave a demonstration of the Parry Meter, a new performance measurement tool that provides data on the trueness of fine turf surfaces utilising smart phone technology, while David Malloy from OGT spoke about the benefits of using cold processed seaweed, detailing the Seavolution and Rootmass Plus products.

"There are six golf courses on Jersey along with a small number of sports grounds and pitches, and even fewer on Guernsey, so it's a limited yet high quality and important market to us," said Sherriff Amenity's Rebecca Turner, who both organised the event and covers the island for the company.

"Greenkeepers and groundsmen on the Islands may in the past have felt just a little isolated from the rest of the UK turf market, but I'm delighted to say the response from everyone who attended our seminar was very positive and it was a great success."