these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

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Golf Dan Groome, Head Greenkeeper at Aqualate Golf Club in Newport, Shropshire, can now count on two additional staff to help tend the ten hole course and driving range. The story of the course has been one of steady progress due, in no small part, to Dan’s dedication. Our editor ‘pops down the road’ to meet the man who wants nothing more than to do the best job he and his team can Aqualate - being well Groomed!
As editor of Pitchcare, I am fortunate to interview many greenkeepers and groundsmen at all levels. The one uniting factor is their dedication and commitment to producing the best quality playing surfaces they can, with the resources they have available. Quite often, I am amazed at what is being achieved at the lower levels, often with the bare minimum of equipment and staff. So, when I got asked to visit Aqualate Golf Club in Newport, Shropshire, just down the road from ‘Pitchcare Towers’, by their Head Greenkeeper, Dan Groome, it was another opportunity to see how a facility on a shoestring budget was coping. [and it kept the travel expenses down!] Dan has been at the club for fourteen years. The layout is somewhat unusual in that it has ten greens and eighteen tees, providing a 5,659 yard, par 69 course, made up of two par 5s, five par 3s and eleven par 4s. A scattering of bunkers and water hazards, plus new tree planting, has increased the difficulty of the course. The team are currently building a new 2nd green. There is also a driving range on the site. Aqualate occupies a fairly flat area of land to the east of the town, on the junction of the two main road arteries, the A41 and A518. The course was created without a lot of fuss, simple self build greens laid down on the natural local soils, ranging from free draining sandy soils to local deposits of clay, and anything in between. Therefore, the performance of the greens is dictated by the underlying soil types, with some drying out quickly, whilst others retain water. Dan knows every inch of the course, and is well aware of the differing maintenance needs of each hole in terms of watering and fertiliser requirements. For the first eleven years, Dan had the assistance of Mike Thomas and, although now way past retirement age, Mike still helps out in the summer; “I’m such a good boss he just doesn't want to leave,” jokes Dan. Three years ago Dan was joined by Sam Mullinder, who had been taking Media Studies at a local college, but fancied a change of direction. “I’m glad he did,” says Dan, “as his help and willingness to learn has been invaluable.” With the addition of Joe Daws six months ago, Dan now feels he has the staff to continue to improve the course. Greens maintenance is the big issue here,” explains Dan. “With each one requiring something slightly different from the other, we have to have a degree of flexibility. I have set up a liquid feeding programme utilising a variety of products, with some finely tuned tank mixing. We mainly tend to use Headland products, but are not averse to using other branded products, if they are right for the job. That includes different forms of nitrogen, seaweed, tonics, humic acids Golf etc., all applied on a weekly basis.” “On average, we apply between 50 and 80 kg/ha of N and double that of K. Headland do leaf tissue samples to help us monitor nitrogen levels and other macro nutrients.” “A ‘typical’ summer feed will consist of 40kg/ha N46 urea, 15lts/ha Seamac Proturf and 10lts/ha Seamac Ultra Plus. This gives a consistent clipping yield for the week, enough growth to recover from wear and exceptional colour. Other products we use include Turf Complex, N46 urea soluble and 15:0:25.” “We aerate in the spring and autumn, using our Wiedenmann G160, utilising a combination of 8mm, 12mm and three quarter inch tines.” Greens are mown at 4mm in the winter and 3mm in the summer. Tees are kept at 14mm in winter and 10mm in the summer. Fairways are mown at 17mm in the summer and raised to 20mm in the winter. Approaches are kept at 10mm, whilst the semi rough is maintained at 50mm all year round. Dan has built up a reasonable shed of equipment, over time, that includes a John Deere 2500E Hybrid electric cylinder mower, John Deere 2653 tees mower, John Deere 3235C fairway mower, a John Deere 1600 turbo rough mower, a Propass topdresser, and the aforementioned Wiedenmann G160 deep aerator. Machinery maintenance is undertaken by Dan. “We do all our machinery servicing in-house. It’s more of a case of necessity than anything else. I’m very much ‘self taught, picking up things as I go along. I always say that, if you approach problems with the right attitude, there is nothing you cannot learn or, indeed, fix yourself!” “I am fortunate that, four years ago, the club agreed to buy me a set of Bernhard's cylinder and bottom blade grinders, after looking at how much we spent on having our grinding oursourced. This decision was based on a return of investment in five to six years, but I believe we have already broken even, as we did not consider the fact that we can get the full working life from a bottom blade, against when we sent the “I always say that, if you approach problems with the right attitude, there is nothing you cannot learn or, indeed, fix yourself!” Dan Groome, Head Greenkeeper, Aqualate Golf Club FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 PC 33
Page 1 and 2: SERVING THE TURFCARE INDUSTRY KEYNO
Page 3 and 4: WELCOME TO pitchcare 2012 - and all
Page 5 and 6: Andy Gray, Southampton FC Artificia
Page 7 and 8: Reverting to farmland! The Norfolk
Page 9 and 10: Amenity-specific NSK revamped More
Page 11 and 12: Launching Spring 2012 www.ransomesj
Page 13 and 14: getting the MBE, without doubt. It
Page 15 and 16: THE REAL STARS OF WEST HAM, WIMBLED
Page 17 and 18: time. He also was the man who donat
Page 19 and 20: eason we run the electric triplex a
Page 21 and 22: times. Cycle times are then modifie
Page 23 and 24: easonable £12,000. And so Parkston
Page 25 and 26: Controlled burning of scrub Fairway
Page 27 and 28: However, in collaboration with the
Page 29 and 30: after Kerry defeated Cork in last y
Page 31 and 32: involved various management strateg
Page 33: convincing the greens committee to
Page 38 and 39: Golf In October last year, Ian Robs
Page 40 and 41: Golf As the course has 100% floodli
Page 42: Golf turn, pays for the course. Our
Page 45 and 46: thought, at the time, the greens we
Page 47 and 48: Augusta National levels of crickete
Page 49 and 50: You don’t often hear a golfer say
Page 51 and 52: THE NEW LT3340. HEAVY-DUTY MOWING F
Page 53 and 54: natural pitches artificial pitches
Page 55 and 56: one area? Clubs are then likely to
Page 57 and 58: also of the RFU and a number of ins
Page 59 and 60: “Artificial rugby pitches must be
Page 61 and 62: Rootzone top-up The concept for a N
Page 64 and 65: Winter Sports With Southampton flyi
Page 66 and 67: Winter Sports Professional lights s
Page 68 and 69: Winter Sports “Our most worrying
Page 70 and 71: Winter Sports 68 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH
Page 72 and 73: Winter Sports ViewPoint Our anonymo
Page 74 and 75: Summer Sports - Bowls Expectations
Page 76 and 77: Summer Sports - Bowls Rainbird irri
Page 78 and 79: Summer Sports - Bowls When it comes
Page 80 and 81: Summer Sports - Bowls “Consistenc
Page 82 and 83: Summer Sports - Cricket “No, I’
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Summer Sports - Cricket trimming of
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Summer Sports - Cricket SMITH famil
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Schools & Colleges After thirty yea
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Schools & Colleges One of Chris Edw
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Schools & Colleges Ransomes 305 a g
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Schools & Colleges Neville Johnson
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Schools & Colleges Head Groundsman
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Schools & Colleges Joe Cooper’s l
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Schools & Colleges Look through any
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Equestrian Craig Williamson “This
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Equestrian The home straight from t
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Technical Seed germination is one o
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Technical Trees represent an import
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Technical Giant Polypore heaviness
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Technical Normally carried out unde
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Technical Choosing the right sand c
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Technical which is determined by th
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Technical In this final article in
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Technical “In order to tie the go
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Technical “The words ‘gas oil
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Technical MONTHLY Diaries I STILL s
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Technical Aeration and sweeping Aer
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2. The “threat” scenario If the
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Alongside our General Sports Turf M
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one I had not predicted, but I stil
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“There are many different covers
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come of it. They’d look at it and
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since day one. Barry is, essentiall
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Gravel banding is a secondary drain
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Ideal for use around tree bases Jap
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present a key challenge. “Typical
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Quote me happy “... they are comi
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