The Official Magazine of the GCSAI • www.gcsai.org • March 2010 greenside Annual Conference Heads to Limerick Calibrating your Boom Sprayer Using liquid and granular nitrogen fertilizers Also In This Issue • The Lowest of the Low • Regional Round-up • Trade News • Limerick Golf Club • Three Life Lessons Learned • Parnell Park Make us your of cial golf course equipment partner John Deere Golf engineers products for every inch of your course. We take you beyond precision course grooming with products that feature intuitive use, safety and comfort. Want to keep your staff working more ef ciently? For a professional demonstration, contact your local John Deere dealer today. www.JohnDeere.co.uk Freephone 1800 818 667 C 692.1 IE C_692_1_IE_A4.indd 1 13.11.2009 15:16:21 Uhr All is not as bad as it seems Contents News The floods and snow are now a distant put on a three day week, employees memory. I always feel that March is being forced to take pay cuts and GCSAI Turf Management a turning point in the year. We say the banks increasing their mortgage & Maintenance Conference 06 “goodbye” to the dark winter days, rates. These were the thoughts that while at the same time we anticipate were going through my mind, until News 10 the arrival of new growth and long I heard the devastating news of the summer days. Everyone is hoping, earthquake in Haiti, when I realised not just grounds men, that this will be that in comparison we have little to Trade News 52 a ‘normal’ summer, in other words, complain about. It reminded me of plenty of days when families can a comment made by an old woman bring their children to the beach, have while out for a morning stroll. When Features summer evening barbeques and golf asked how she was she replied “I have First the Floods then courses stay open for play without fear an awful pain in my back – Thank of closure due to heavy rain - surely God.” the Freeze 22 this is due to us. Limerick Golf Club - Worth It is hard to convince ourselves Waiting For 30 that things are not as bad as we are making them out to be – dole Parnell GAA Park – Home of the queues getting longer, people being Dubs 44 Harrogate – The Cheltenham for Reminder Irish Turf Managers 48 Three Life Lessons The deadline for receiving Learned 50 advertising and editorial for the next issue of Regulars Greenside is Letters & Education Report 04 April 23rd 2010 30 Wildlife Feature 12 Training & Development 16 Front Cover: Dun Laoghaire FEGGA Report 18 Golf Course Back issues of Greenside can Regional Reports 38 now be seen on the GCSAI Technical website Visit Photo: Alan Nitrogen Fertilization: Liquid and Mahon www.gcsai.org Granular 14 Calibrating a Boom Sprayer 24 The views expressed in contributed articles are not necessarily the views expressed The Lowest of the Low 46 by the editor of this publication. Editorial content and photographs cannot be reproduced without prior permission from the editor. greenside magazine | February 2010 3 LETTERS Dear editor, general water use and management practices. The survey I would like to bring to your attention a new initiative will be sent in the next few weeks. The information will be around water and golf that I feel is valuable for FEGGA consolidated for use in a summary format in the “state of members – and, very importantly, ask for your cooperation, the art” document. and the cooperation of your association members I am asking you to cooperate with this important initiative regarding a survey related to the initiative. by completing the survey when you receive it. The initiative is WATEURF – Water and Turf, Efficiency If you have questions about this, please feel free to and Use Reduction for the Future. It was started by a small contact me, Maria or Demie. If your members have group of people who have connections with FEGGA, GEO, questions, please let us know if you need help from us to and other European golf course maintenance related answer them. organisations, including Maria Strandberg from STERF I thank you in advance for your cooperation on this very and Demie Moore from Aquatrols. The primary objective valuable and important initiative. I believe it will help all of of WATEURF is to have “water and turf” become a topic us in various future discussions and negotiations regarding of focus at a European level, in order to consolidate water and golf course maintenance. information and secure research funding regarding optimizing efficiency of water use in turf maintenance, Kindest regards, reducing water consumption, protecting water quality and Dean Cleaver documenting the effects of well managed turfgrass areas on CEO FEGGA water resources. As such, WATEURF is very much aligned with the goals of FEGGA, GEO, R&A, and I think your own organisation. As you will recall, the topic identified as most Dear editor, important for further discussion after last year’s FEGGA I always enjoy reading your excellent magazine. I read meeting was ‘water.’ with interest in the December 2009 edition (page 4) A primary activity of the WATEURF initiative is to create about the reported death of a man when the mower a document on the “state of the art of water and turf” in he was driving rolled over and killed him. I believe that order to inform key people, and organizations who are all ride-on mowers/machines that you sit on to drive important at a European level, to generate interest in this should, by law, be fitted with roll over bars (ROPS). topic. This is where the request for cooperation comes in. All it takes is one line from the Government Minister Part of the state of the art document needs to address – in a responsible to make this law, which will make these general way - current water use by the sector. To generate machines safer and save lives. You cannot sell a tractor this information, the WATEURF group has commissioned a today unless it is equipped with a roll bar or safety cab. student group from Wageningen University (NL) to, among This has saved many lives since it became law over other things, conduct an online survey of golf courses about thirty years ago. Why can’t the same law apply to ride- on mowers? Golf courses, in particular, are death traps to operators using mowing machines where they are frequently mowing steep slopes around bunkers, lakes, high tee boxes and greens. Driver error and machine failure only increases the risk for accidents to happen. I believe a magazine such as Greenside has the influence to make this change and save lives. GREENKEEPER Yours sincerely. David Pullman THE ROYAL DUBLIN GOLF CLUB REQUIRES Course Manager, St. Columbas College Golf Course, AN EXPERIENCED GREENKEEPER. Dublin APPLICANTS MUST HAVE AT LEAST FETAC LEVEL 6 ADVANCED CERTIFICATE IN GREENKEEPING. PLEASE FORWARD CV TO: [email protected] 4 www.gcsai.org EDUCATION REPORT A very warm welcome to Limerick’s Radisson SAS Hotel for the 15th annual GCSAI conference. There is a fantastic line up of speakers from home and abroad that will make it the best conference yet! It is a tough time in the golf industry at the moment and lots of changes are taking place in and around the work environment, from redundancy, 3 day weeks and pay cuts, to a change in terms and conditions. It is Bobby important that the superintendent be pro- active in any changes that are being made McDermott at their facility. Firstly the superintendent Foxrock should evaluate whether there are changes Golf Club that can be identified and implement Participants of the Green Pass held at Grange Golf Club them as soon as possible while at the same time notifying owners/management of your The GCSAI will be hosting further educational intended strategy. Also at this time it is really events later in the year and members will be important to talk to other superintendents who notified nearer the time. Any member wishing may be experiencing similar difficulties and who to hear a particular topic should contact me can advise you on the right approach to take. immediately and I will arrange it if possible. Once I am delighted to report that two Green Pass again I hope you will enjoy this year’s conference courses took place in January, the first one and I look forward to seeing you all at various took place in The Hermitage Golf Club and events throughout the year. the second one was held at Grange Golf Club. If you would like to contact me please do so: Congratulations to all the participants on getting PH; 086 2627839/01 2065136 their certificates. greenside magazine | February 2010 5 GCSAI Conference GCSAI Turfgrass Management & Maintenance Conference, Radisson Hotel Limerick, March 3rd & 4th The theme of the 2010 GCSAI Annual Conference This year our thanks again go to Lely Ireland Ltd will be ‘Recession: Realities & Recovery’, an who, despite the recession, have still continued appropriate theme given the mood of turf managers with their sponsorship of our Annual Conference, a and grounds people in Ireland today. International conference not just aimed at the greenkeeping sector and Irish speakers, including Irish EU Commissioner but the entire turf industry. So whether you work as a Mr. Charlie McCreevy, will give encouraging landscaper, grounds person, or in local authority, this presentations bringing hope to a depressed industry conference has something for you. If you have not sector. The conference will be split into four sections, booked your place at this late stage, contact Maria with a theme in each section.