Turfing the 3rd green
from various growers over the years, but I asked a range of people in the industry for their opinion - my peers, the ‘middle men’ who supply turf and agronomists - and their name came up again and again as a company who had the best quality turf, the fewest returns and excellent customer service. We asked three companies to submit proposals and everyone was in agreement that Tillers’ proposal best met our requirements.” Tillers were awarded the contract to custom-grow the turf and preparation began to source the specified rootzone and seed from suppliers. The turf was grown on Rufford’s MS35 sand from the company’s Messingham quarry near Scunthorpe. Although the Turfstart rootzone used in the construction of the greens at Wentworth was from Redhill quarry in Surrey, the particle size distribution mirrored the Messingham material exactly, ensuring complete compatibility.
Tillers Turf has grown its specialist turf on Rufford’s rootzones for more than a decade and Tim Fell has total confidence in the products they supply. The company’s in-house laboratory at Moneystone Quarry, Staffordshire, is one of only three laboratories in the UK, and fourteen worldwide, that take part in the USGA Greens Section Proficiency Testing Programme. The rootzones were tested in-house and verified by the USGA accredited European Turfgrass Laboratories (ETL) in Stirling.
The selected seed was sown in mid-
July. The specification stated that cultivars were to be selected from the top five on the BSPB/STRI seed listings. Eventually, it was a Barenbrug blend of 50% Heriot and 50% BarKing Colonial Bentgrasses that was the project group’s preferred choice, BarKing for its wear tolerance and winter colour, and fine-textured Heriot for its summer performance. Jayne Leyland, Barenbrug’s Research
& Development Manager, agrees that colonial bent was the best choice for the greens turf at Wentworth. “100% bentgrass turf offers the potential for greens to perform under additional stresses such as shade, high-volume winter play and very close mowing heights. Growing it requires great skill and expertise, and when Tim Fell took me to see the finished turf on a recent visit the quality was outstanding. Great credit must be given to his team.” “The main challenge for us in
growing turf for greens is to produce a turf that’s strong enough to lift and handle, without building up a thatch layer,” Tim Fell explained. “With no fescue in the mixture, strength was always going to be compromised, so we needed the full twelve months growing time.”
MS35 sand was spread over the nursery at a depth of 15mm, and the seed sown into it in mid July. Temperatures were well into the high 20s at this time and it was vital to keep
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