Essex Greenkeepers attend sucessful seminar
A Educational Seminar was held at Stock Brook The Country Club recently The day was well attended with 43 delegates including seven sponsors.
After registration and coffee the seminar was opened with Section Education Officer, Paul O'Kane, welcoming the guests and running through the scheduled programme of events.
The first speaker was Richard Parmee who is Project Officer for the River Colne Countryside Project. He gave a very interesting talk on various aspects of conservation that could be used on golf courses to promote a greener approach and to encourage flora and fauna and wild life onto the golf course. His presentation was well received and sparked a number of enquiries from delegates at the interval.
The second speaker was John Farrell, from Baileys of Norfolk Ltd, who very kindly stepped in at the last minute to present the topic of The Importance of Seaweed in the Soil Medium. This presentation was originally to be given by Ian Somerville, Course Manager and Soil scientist, Brocton Hall Golf Club, who broke his ankle on the previous Monday. So all credit to John who gave a very interesting talk, pointing out the benefits that seaweed gives us when applied as either a fertiliser or as part of a top dressing.
After our second speaker we all enjoyed a break when a full English breakfast was served. This gave delegates the opportunity of networking.
After breakfast we moved onto our final speakers who were Ben Taylor and Steven Nixon, from Bernhard and Company. They gave a very interesting talk about the importance of grinding and its effect on our golf courses. This was quite a lengthy and in depth presentation which gave rise to many questions from the delegates.
When Ben and Steven had finished their slide presentation all delegates were invited to join them and Gary Woodward, Bernhard's Territory Manager, in the greenkeepers' shed where they had set up a grinder for a practical demonstration on how to achieve the perfect grind.
The seminar finished at 1.30 and we have received quite a lot of feedback from the delegates. This has enabled us to be confident enough to start organising similar events for next year, hopefully using the same venue.
We would like to thank Mr Terry Peachey for the use of the facilities and the staff of Stock Brook for all the help they gave.
Our thanks also go to, Richard Parmee, John Farrell. And to Ben Taylor, Steven Nixon and Gary Woodward (Bernhard & Company) for the thought provoking presentations they delivered.