NEWS
MAKING TURF MATTER
www.turfmatters.co.uk
R&A agronomy service offering for golf clubs The R&A has expanded its Sustainable Agronomy Service to provide expertise and best practice advice to all levels of golf facilities in Great Britain and Ireland and continental Europe, aiding in the effective management of courses. First launched in the Asia-Pacific market, the service will now offer facility operators worldwide with support in the delivery of sustainable agronomy, golf course auditing and benchmarking, management planning and strategic advice, annual maintenance programme planning, and project management support and drainage design. The service is already actively supporting and guiding clubs to become more resilient and sustainable in the face of changing legislation on pesticides, climate change and access to resources. Clubs such as Haydock Park, West Sussex and Blackwell are among over
100 facilities in Great Britain and Ireland and continental Europe already being encouraged to use more resilient grass mixes and improve growing environments for grass, in addition to making the turf less reliant on pesticides. “We’re here to provide expertise and support to golf facilities, highlighting the most efficient and accessible methods surrounding sustainable golf course management,” said Alistair Beggs, Head of Agronomy at The R&A. “This will enable them
to develop plans that will present facilities with optimum conditioning all year round but have sustainability at the heart of the decisions and processes put in place to support this aim.” The Sustainable Agronomy Service includes a team of agronomy experts which has acquired a wealth of knowledge and experience from its active role in supporting worldclass golf championships run by The R&A each year – including The Open and AIG Women’s Open.
The team will offer facilities a bespoke service with ongoing support and advice in the planning and implementation of effective and sustainable management practices. “We have already seen facilities in the AsiaPacific region benefit greatly from the support and collaboration that have been provided for the sustainable management of facilities,” said Paul Woodham, Head of Agronomy, Europe, at The R&A. “The introduction of the service in Great Britain and Ireland and continental Europe forms part of the organisation’s aim to encourage facilities to adopt a more sustainable approach to the management of courses. Furthermore, we are fully committed to reinvesting proceeds into research and education for those operating in the industry.” n sustainableagronomy@ randa.org
New Faunamaster seeders from BOSS ORV Faunamaster Seeders will be launched on the Corvus stand at Saltex 2023. BOSS ORV, the UK distributor of Corvus Off-Road Vehicles has been appointed as the sole UK distributor of the seeders. These are multifunctional and timesaving seed drills
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designed for use with an ATV, UTV or tractor. The Faunamaster, which comes from the Danish company Faunamaster ApS, sows seeds of virtually any size to a depth of up to 80mm. It is ideal for sowing into existing grass fields, wildflower meadows, tilled soil, paddocks or any area where normal planter equipment is too big. It’s of great benefit in parks and gardens to plant flowers or herbs and the compact size when used with an ATV or UTV ensures it leaves minimum marks. The seeder handles
seed in many sizes, from small flower seeds to clover, alfalfa, beans, kale and corn, and can apply fertiliser at the same time as seeding. A seed table shows the settings for each type of seed. On the seed meter, there are 2 funnels: the blue is for small seeds, the yellow is for big seeds like corn, and seed blends. Connecting the Faunamaster to an ATV or UTV ball hitch is made easy and a built-in actuator allows the driver to operate the planter without getting off the ATV. When fully raised, the clearance
is 200mm inches and when used with an ATV, the seed flow is easily adjusted through the handlebars. The Faunamaster uses discs to cut into soil and where it is used for no-till planting, the recommended depth is not exceeding 10mm. Depth control is via two bolts located on the wheel arm. The working width is 1050mm. There are seven adjustable rows with the distance between them being 150mm in seven rows, 350mm in three rows, 525mm in two rows. n www.bossorv.co.uk