“You’re only as good as the blokes you’ve got working for you and this lot have been with me for years!”
And the rest of that story is now well known; the Graden took the agronomic world by storm and Kensett’s role in developing products with Graham Dryden has increased dramatically. So much so that the latest success story - the Sand Injector - was developed by Kensett and his former partner from STS, Jock Eddington (now selling Gradens in Las Vegas, honest!) as Kensett explained. “We told Graham that we needed a machine that could get sand right down to the bottom of the grooves and he told us it was impossible. We took it from there really, making suggestions and seeing what he came up with and making more suggestions. That’s what I like about working with Australians and New Zealanders, nothing is impossible really. Their countries are like ours was fifty years ago - no real bureaucracy, a government that actually wants to help and all backed up with solid engineering. Look what’s come out of it - a machine that can, for the first time ever, change the surface of a golf green without digging it up.”
Again that infectious enthusiasm for the innovative and original. It seems an easy enough blueprint - find an Antipodean engineer with a good idea, modify it to suit your needs and then sell like you mean it. The trick is to find the
good idea and recognise it for what it is - how many other blokes had walked past the little Graden booth in SF and not noticed the opportunity? Hundreds? Thousands? Likewise see what has become of
Kensett’s chance meeting with the good people at Gwazae from New Zealand - a deep aeration/decompactor originally designed for orchards has now become a deep aerator that can sort an entire football pitch out in a couple of hours. In keeping with the premise of selling a process rather than a machine Kensett is happy to bring in other machines when it is of benefit, “We used the Gwazae on a golf fairway and immediately followed it up with a verti-drain. The tines on the verti-drain could suddenly go in twice as deep as they could before, this has got to be good hasn’t it?” So good in fact that Kensett finds it amusing to note that: “I used to go to the American show to find out what’s new, it’s pretty much the other way round now isn’t it?” And so the process continues - a smaller, pedestrian ground probe aerator (GPA) will be launched in Harrogate with the ability to inject materials with the GPA process is being organised right now and nothing is standing still, least of all Kensett himself. Go and speak to him
Days OFF!
MIKE BIRD: Freelance technical journalist. I’ve worked as a freelance journalist and photographer since 1992, supplying words and images over the years to most of the publications (and electronic media!) serving the turf-care, amenity and landscaping sectors as well quite a few in agriculture and general horticulture. I drive around 20,000 miles a year to gather information for articles. Although the driving has become more of a bind, the people that I meet and talk with at the end of the journey have always made me feel very welcome and are pleased to take time out to help. It may sound a bit boring but the distinction between work time and days off has always been a bit hazy. Once a visit is completed, I don’t think that anyone could begrudge me an hour on a Cornish golf course on a lovely summer evening or a stroll around a stately home or historic garden when most other visitors have gone home. Many attractions also do great tea and cakes as you can tell from my photograph! Although I find driving a real pain at peak hours, I love cars and the freedom they can bring. There are few experiences better than seeing and hearing a rally car being powered along a remote forest track in the small hours when all sensible people are in bed. I got married (for the first
and you get caught up in it instantly - talk to his staff and you see that they too have been infected. Pat Johnson - who holds everything together back at base and even manages to work out where Kensett is at any given time - can also be found at trade shows. Although she is the office manager, Pat too is brimming with enthusiasm for the machines, for the process, for the company. The same with John Fitzpatrick and Keith Driver, David Charles and Steve Larbey- the same with all of them.
This is important to Kensett “You’re only as good as the blokes you’ve got working for you and this lot have been with me for years. I don’t know what I’d do without them”" Not least of which is wife, Jane - Kensett seeing fit to call me after our interview to emphasise that “Without her setting up the office and keeping me sensible, it just couldn’t work. She’s my guide on everything.” Having not met Jane it is hard to comment, I can’t help but imagine though that she is like Marge Simpson making all of Homer’s ‘owies’ melt away. And this is the real crux of what Kensett Sports is all about - larger than life characters that you simply can’t help but like and it really is just like a family. Hands up who wants to be Bart…
... or what Pitchcare readers get up to out of office hours
time) in 2005, so it’s great being able to share now the sights and sounds that I’ve previously enjoyed on my own: Sunset over the Welsh mountains; a duck flight along the River Severn; motor racing at Castle Coombe; a full orchestra raising the roof in Birmingham’s Symphony Hall; a Sunday walk on the Cotswold Way; and a great curry - and a pint or two - on a Friday night!
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