Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare

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“It was seen as the perfect opportunity to install a sustainable water recycling plant to collect rainwater off roofs and hard standing areas for use out on the course” Rob Rowson, Course Manager, Forest of Arden Looking after two championship courses during recessionary times can provide additional opportunities for greenkeeping staff, as our editor found out on a visit to the Forest of Arden Country Club Arden One of the prime considerations for a golfer playing golf is the condition of the course, and any drop in its standard can have far reaching consequences, eventually driving away customers and damaging the income stream. So, whilst course managers have had to tighten their belts, redirecting resources and managing budgets more efficiently, they understand the need to maintain standards and continue with improvements. So, many are now encouraging their staff to take on projects themselves when, in the past, course improvement work and specialist irrigation projects were often outsourced. Rob Rowson, Course Manager at the Forest of Arden Country Club in Warwickshire, is one such person. Rob came to the club twelve years ago, taking on the role of course manager in 2005 when Kenny Mackay moved to The Belfry. The Forest of Arden is a Marriott Hotel and Country Club, and one of the UK’s most impressive golf destinations, featuring two top-class courses - The Arden and The Aylesford. The club is located in 10,000 acres of rural Warwickshire, surrounded by ancient woodlands and natural lakes. It has played host to some of golf ’s most prominent tournaments, including the British Masters and English Open. One of latest projects to be undertaken by the
fast rules... greenkeeping staff has been the refurbishment of the irrigation water storage system, which was originally installed in the late 1970s. The brief was to replace the old corrugated water storage tanks and replace them with larger capacity ones, plus a new pumping station, which will be fed from a bespoke water recycling plant that is due to be commissioned in September 2010. With the hotel undergoing a £5 million refurbishment, it was seen as the perfect opportunity to install a sustainable water recycling plant to collect rainwater off roofs and hard standing areas for use out on the course. Of course, one could say that, with £5 million being spent on the hotel, it seems a tad churlish to expect the greenkeeping staff to make cutbacks, but Rob saw this as a positive rather than a negative! Rob has always been keen on sustainable watering, and the new system has the ability to collect around 200 cubic metres of water each day, storing it in one of two new 300 cubic metre tanks. If Rob had to water greens, tees and fairways in one hit, it would take about 800 cubic metres to complete the task. Whilst this is rarely required, the new system will certainly reduce the strain on the mains water supply and reduce costs considerably. The staff undertook the complete rebuild of the water storage facility, with Head Mechanic, Bob Hill (more of him later), using his welding skills, dismantling the old tanks and helping to erect the new ones, including the fitting and placement of four brand new Grundfos pumps which are controlled by a Rainbird control system. The eventual saving to the club by doing the work inhouse was in excess of £20,000. The new system can be operated from a mobile phone and is linked into a computer that allows Rob to alter the amounts of water being applied at any time, anywhere on the course. There is also a weather station that GOLF and the environment keeps records of evaportranspiration rates, which helps him decide on the amount of water required. Rob has a team of twenty greenkeepers and gardeners, plus mechanic Bob. Greensmowers are usually bench set at 3.5mm in the summer which, in reality, means the actual height of cut will be between 2 and 2.5mm. Winter bench HOC is 5mm. Bench settings for other areas are: tees 7mm, collars 7mm, fairways 12mm, semi rough 25mm and rough 75mm. It is an early start for the staff, beginning at 5.30am every morning to ensure the course is set up for the day’s play. Greens are mown with pedestrian G1000 Toro mowers, bunkers raked and holes changed, if necessary. Tees, approaches and fairways are mown every other day, with any other cutting completed when required. Staff work until 2.00pm, but some are put on standby for any unforeseen works. Weekends see a team of eleven staff come in to set up the courses. 15
Page 1 and 2: SERVING THE TURFCARE INDUSTRY GOLF
Page 3 and 4: WELCOME TO pitchcare The One Show -
Page 5 and 6: Vic Demain, Uxbridge Cricket Club C
Page 7 and 8: Action with Communities in Rural En
Page 9 and 10: Open house at Ransomes Jacobsen Tur
Page 11 and 12: “In the UK, we have the best cour
Page 13 and 14: a real buzz from the members and my
Page 15: 2005 Feb Toro BUY Hayter Toro BY Ha
Page 19 and 20: Parts of the Arden course have a li
Page 21 and 22: A more modest stock of parts Variou
Page 23 and 24: We must ask questions like: Why is
Page 25 and 26: Treating the environment as a luxur
Page 27 and 28: The delicate nature of the land req
Page 29 and 30: from the wayward golf shot and prov
Page 31 and 32: Great Crested Newt haven for reptil
Page 33 and 34: Bad trousers... ...Ryegrass Sadly,
Page 35 and 36: they should be able to demonstrate
Page 37 and 38: pop-up, are they rotating, have any
Page 39 and 40: TORO GROUNDSMASTER. THE WIDEST RANG
Page 41 and 42: holes. This could involve a number
Page 43 and 44: “The future of golf lies in attra
Page 45 and 46: Excess oxygen is kept within the fr
Page 47 and 48: The Fall and Rise of Mark Perrin! N
Page 49 and 50: There’s really only a fag paper b
Page 51 and 52: Excellent results at the training g
Page 53 and 54: later than the first Saturday in Ma
Page 55 and 56: Orange laurels since the club gaine
Page 58 and 59: Saltley Leisure Centre, Birmingham
Page 60 and 61: FIFA is keen to stress the importan
Page 63 and 64: Welcome to Butleigh... Peter Edmond
Page 65 and 66: The British public seem to think we
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surrounded with their own grandstan
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A schedule of some of the work unde
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Chesterfield Football Club’s new
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“We have changed our “keep off
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ooting, attention to the daily main
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pitch through to the end of the sea
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equired an innovative programme of
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and then rolled for twenty minutes
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20:30 Between innings, Paul and his
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problematic. You might agree a stra
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“In a sector like ours, it has be
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“When the £60,000 installation c
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law of sod? section. The salary off
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Clydesdale Bank 40 game between the
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“I’ll just continue to do the b
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Getting cricket club members on to
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Cricket Tournament which is held as
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NOW WITH SPORTS SEED The worlds bes
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David Goodjohn of Green Infrastruct
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many guises. There are pedestrian s
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half as good to replace it, and I b
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“Incorrect end-ofseason maintenan
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for courses... boasts 28 hectares o
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fortified by humic acid. This produ
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Buyer Environmental Science 230 Cam
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“I have no preference on a brand,
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“These days our customers have us
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“It can be the make or break part
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Soil is spread in layers and cultiv
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John Deere dealers source the ideal
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low ground pressure, but also last
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The final presentation by Chad Pric
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exactly what the name suggests - ho
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The Hurlingham Club is an exclusive
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FAQs about Paul Moreton, British Se
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In a previous article (‘Don’t A
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AERATION AERATORS Full range of Gro
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DRAINAGE Draining and Gravel Bandin
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IRRIGATION Irrigation GREAT ALL OVE
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SPARE PARTS GOLF COURSE & SPORTSGRO
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SPORTS TURF CONTRACTORS SPORTSTURF
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TOPDRESSING & LOAM Top quality dres
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©BBC Ready, steady, cook ... Knotw
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Compact size, XXL versatility. 0% F
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Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare

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