Appropriate words for the keen football fan, who started his career in sportsturf as an apprentice at Manchester United.

A move closer to home took him to Macclesfield Golf Club, and seven years ago to Astbury Golf Club, an 18-hole parkland course near Congleton, where a programme of targeted overseeding has transformed the greens over the last five years.

“On the advice of agronomist George Shields, we are gradually increasing the proportion of bent grasses on the greens, combating less favourable meadow grasses, particularly poa. British Seed Houses suggested that we try AberRoyal, which has already produced excellent results,” he explains.

A bit of research revealed that AberRoyal had performed well in STRI trials, offering the excellent wear resistance needed at the busy club as well as good tolerance to dry weather.

Until this year, concerns about the cost of extra seed restricted the programme to once a year. But from studying other leading clubs, Scott was keen to try overseeding in the spring as well as the autumn, and this year gained the agreement of the committee for additional seed.

The club’s use of a Charterhouse Verti-seed also favoured spring operations, offering the opportunity to overseed effectively with minimal disruption to the golf programme.

“We looked at both of the common methods of overseeding, but rather than broadcasting seed into holes made by a spiked roller, the Verti-seed drills them into grooves created by a set of discs,” Scott explains. “This means that once the greens have been rolled I can be confident that the seed will stay in the ground and not be pecked away by birds.”

The 1.2m wide Verti-seed also offered a lightweight, convenient overseeding solution that was an ideal partner for the club’s existing compact tractor, offering good workrates without the risk of damaging sensitive turf.

After rolling and watering, the greens are topdressed lightly and then brushed; by planning the work for the early part of the week when there are fewer competitions, they are fully back in play by the time the course gets busy.

“We were lucky enough to choose the optimum time for overseeding this spring, when there was a short warm spell in May,” comments Scott. “With the good weather, the seeds were through in eight days and were soon ready for mowing. I’m very impressed with my first experience of spring overseeding.”

Rates of 4g/sqm (40kg/ha) were used this spring, and Scott uses 5g/sqm (50kg/ha) in the autumn, with the weaker greens getting two passes.

“Effectively some of the greens get four applications. There was a high proportion of meadow grass when we started; now the greens are 40-50 per cent bents.”

Scott recognises that improving greens can be a long process. “We are just aiming to upgrade the course little by little each year, seeing a 2-3 per cent improvement at a time.”

There are also other developments progressing at the club, including a move towards a more sustainable environment which attracts more wildlife, by paying attention to the condition of the roughs. The landscape offers challenging and enjoyable golf, with a number of mature trees and the Macclesfield Canal running through the centre of the course, which was built in 1922.

“We have a long term vision for the club, and we’re not afraid to take our time,” comments Scott. “But the advice and help we have received from British Seed Houses has been invaluable.  Using AberRoyal, which is versatile enough to be successful in a spring overseeding campaign, we can accelerate the process and get even better results.”

The tremendous success enjoyed by Astbury and other golf clubs in improving greens with multiple overseeds is being watched with interest by British Seed Houses.

“We are getting increasing amounts of anecdotal evidence that AberRoyal germinates quickly at any time of year,” says the company’s Richard Brown. “This should not come as a surprise – the UK bred variety reacts quickly to the rising soil temperatures in the spring. Native grasses can also cope better with fluctuations in temperature, even in a difficult spring such as this year which saw a rapid drop from 26deg to 15deg in May.”

Historically autumn has been the optimum time for overseeding, offering the consistent temperature range needed by most bent grasses, but British Seed Houses’ customers report a consistent take when using AberRoyal in the spring.

“This gives greenkeepers the opportunity to overseed twice a year, reinvigorating favourable grasses and helping to win the fight against poa, which seeds virtually all the time.” comments Richard.

Overseeding twice, or even three times a year also provides ‘insurance’ against poor conditions in the conventional overseeding season, he points out. It also allows greenkeepers to make use of spring as a convenient time for rejuvenating the turf – to get two overseeds in the autumn risks running into bad weather, while in the summer there are increased demands on the playing surfaces.

Cost-conscious golf clubs could also get better value from lighter, multiple overseeds, Richard explains.

“Where 4-5g/sqm would be the usual rate for a single overseed, three applications of 3g can work well, or if the budget is tight, use half the usual rate in September and half in May.”

Harnessing the power of the sea, the Vitanica range will appeal to groundsmen and greenkeepers who are interested in using biological products as biostimulants in the fertiliser schedule, but also offers significant health benefits for the sward.

Based on the seaweed Kelp, Vitanica provides a balanced formula of macro and micronutrients for foliar application.  Kelp seaweed extracts are a natural source of nitrogen, providing the phytohormones Auxin and Cytokinin to encourage root development, for better root density and deeper rooting.

Turf gains impressive vitality with improved photosynthesis and greater tolerance to stress, helping greens or pitches cope with low cutting, drought and pH changes.

Two versions will be available. Vitanica P3 is an organo-mineralic NK-fertiliser with trace elements which offers greater resistance against fungal diseases. It is ideal for golf greens and high profile pitches such as football stadia.

Vitanica MC is an excellent all round NPK fertiliser with trace elements, providing higher plant vitality and better greening of turf. It is perfect for hard working turf which is also required to look good year round.
For a fast and reliable cure for iron deficiency in turf, Ferro Top fluid is an ideal mix for the immediate formation of plant enzymes and proteins which are responsible for photosynthesis and respiration.
This concentrated iron fertiliser also includes nitrogen, sulphur and trace elements.  It offers improvement of turf resistance against wear and moss growth and its effects are incredibly rapid. In just one day, turf looks healthier and greener, with better stress tolerance.

Suitable for all season use on sports fields, greens and tees, Ferro Top boosts energy efficiency and formation of chlorophyll, giving a quick greening effect without growth flushes.

Ferro Top can be conveniently and effectively used in a tank mix with Vitanica; use of Kick wetting agent is optional, and proportions are recommended to suit requirements from a simple vitality and colour boost to a powerful anti-disease cocktail. An application rate of 800-1000 litres/ha is recommended.

Once again British Seed Houses has come up with innovative fertiliser solutions to meet the needs of turf professionals aiming to produce top quality turf.

When Simon Marshall took the reins as Head Groundsman of ‘The Brewers’ in 2008 the pitch wasn’t in a particularly bad state he just thought it wasn’t looking and performing to its true potential.  Simon decided that the maintenance schedule wasn’t the true culprit so he started looking around for a new seed mixture that could deliver results.

Unconventionally for some, Simon had come to Burton Albion from Derbyshire County Cricket Club.  He had known of British Seed Houses from his time there, so when Paul Moreton of BSH visited The Pirelli Stadium, they looked at the available options and settled on the BSH A20 Premier Ryesport mixture.

He first applied A20 in the run up to the 2009/2010 season, “I began the renovation programme in May with fraise mowing of the entire pitch to remove the top layer, and with it any Poa. This was then followed by aeration and then top dressing with 70 tonnes of sand and Rootzone” Simon explained.  “I then applied 19 bags of seed using a mixture of dimple and drill methods to get a more random dispersal and fuller coverage”.

After applying a granular fertiliser, Simon reported that the A20 ryegrass mixture – which combines the Gallus, Versuvius, Lucius and Carnac cultivars – established into a thick sward and developed a rich, dark green colour. “The seed germinated within nine days which I was really impressed with, especially as we had appalling weather that year and rain washed some of the seed into banks at the side of the pitch.  Just three weeks after sowing I was able to make a first cut with a rotary mower to take the tips off, and then follow on with a finer cut with cylinder mowers to get a beautiful finish,” he went on to say.

Year two of his pitch renovation programme, pre season 2010/2011, saw germination occurring in just six days with good rooting and the grass establishing over all the pitch with no bare patches.  Just as well because the pitch took a real hammering this year with 55 games being played at the ground.  Without a disciplined and effective pitch renovation programme in place the quality and performance of the turf would have been in question.

“Clubs in League 2 don’t have the same type of budgets as the higher league clubs. This means we don’t have the extra staff and resources that they might have at their disposal. As a result, the BSH A20 mixture has performed excellently, allowing a relatively basic maintenance schedule.  I mow at least every other day, before each game during the growing season and divot the pitch after it has been played on, that’s it!

Even this years particularly harsh winter did not affect the appearance and performance of Simon’s pitch, Paul Moreton explains, “the grass survived without the need of lights, grow sheets or winter germination seed. With one application done properly, A20 will last all season long.

The maintenance schedule may be basic to Simon but the players think more highly, “I have had lots of good reports from the team when they return from an away game.  It seems not all the surfaces they play are up to our standard”, concluded a happy Simon who has just been awarded the Coca Cola Football League 2 Groundsman of the Year award for the 09/10 season.