Comment
Adam King, Radley College
Andy Mackay, Sussex CCC
Andy Gray, Southampton FC
Paul Worster, Minchinhampton GC
James Mead, Rugby School
ROUNDTABLE F
So, how is it out there? Are you getting the quality of staff coming through, is current training doing its job and are the associations representing the industry? These questions, and many more, we put to leading turfcare professionals across all sectors. Their answers make for very interesting reading
irst, let’s introduce the participants. From left to right above we have Adam King, Head of Grounds and Gardens at Radley College in Oxfordshire. It is an independent
boarding school of 690 boys, set in a rural location within a beautiful 800-acre campus, comprising a multi-sports site that includes, fourteen rugby pitches, twelve football pitches, three hockey astros, ten cricket squares and a nine-hole golf course. Next up is Andy Mackay, Head
Groundsman at Sussex County Cricket Club who looks after the 1st Central county ground - and its impressive slope - in Hove, along with the academy and outgrounds. Andy Gray, Grounds Manager at Premier
League Southampton Football Club has overall responsibility of the St Mary’s stadium pitch, along with the club’s extensive facilities at their Staplewood training ground. Minchinhampton Golf Club is where our
next contributor plies his trade. Golf Courses Manager Paul Worster looks after three courses; The Avening and The Cherington, situated near the village of Avening, and The Old Course set upon Minchinhampton Common. The Avening frequently hosts National Championships and County and Regional Events, and The Cherington course hosted the Open Championship Regional Qualifying between 2002 and 2007. Paul was BIGGA Chairman as recently as 2010 and is a current FEGGA board member.
And, last but not least, we have James
Mead, Head Groundsman at the world famous Rugby School. The school grounds and vast sporting facilities total 250 acres and host students and professional teams from the local area.
The purpose of this first article in a series is to gauge the state of the industry at the highest level. So, without further ado, lets make a start.
What has been the biggest technological advancement in the past ten years?
“Where to start?” begins Adam King. “Too many to pick just one, but certainly all the modern machinery, surface planing, linear aeration equipment and, now plant health products are getting better and better, there’s a lot of good things in the locker to make life easier.”
“I would say the pitch grow lights,” says Andy Gray. “They have been around properly now for about ten years and I believe they are still the single most advanced tool to take your pitch to the next level. Especially with advancements in the last couple of years within them.”
Andy Mackay agrees. “The lighting technology that is widely used in football. Unfortunately this has not made it into cricket yet, at least in any serious way. The SeeGrow tunnels look particularly excellent and it is not difficult to imagine a covering system whereby ‘perfect’ pitch preparation
conditions were artificially created inside. The tunnel could be positioned over the pitch and left there for however long it took, whilst mowing and rolling continued inside of it (my guess would be five to seven days). The same tunnel could then be set up to renovate the pitch. This would be a game changer but, unfortunately, few clubs have the money to buy the kit ... if I did, then I would, but I don’t!”
“The other technological advancement that has really been picked up in a big way is the Koro Fieldtopmaker. This is something that all major clubs should own, but again the cost seems to be deterring people. I think we will one day see all major cricket clubs fraise mowing at the end of each season.”
James Mead picks up on machinery. “And you can add the Verti-Drain, the Toro ProCore, the new ATT INFiNiSystem™ and TMSystem™ cassettes and the improvements in stadium mowers in general. They’ve all helped to make our lives easier.”
“For me,” says Paul Worster, “it’s the accurate and objective monitoring and measuring of conditions which allow reasoned and economic maintenance and response. In short, it is possible to measure and understand levels of organic material, moisture, greens smoothness, speed and quality. This enables us to quantify and justify the effect (and value for money) that the various processes provide, both on and under the playing surfaces.”
PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 I 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164