Despite increasingly desperate advertisements for green fees at knock-down prices, the news from the Irish golf industry is not all grim. In fact, decidedly upbeat stories right now include a small, specialist company which has doubled its workforce in the last 18 months, largely in response to international demands for its expertise.
Volunteers Required – The 2011 Solheim Cup
The success of every professional golf tournament is dependant on volunteer participation.
Nine parties bid to host The 2015 Solheim Cup
Nine parties have expressed their desire to host The 2015 Solheim Cup when the event takes place in Europe. Six of the candidates have publicly announced their intentions to host the biannual transatlantic womens match play tournament.
Rory McIlroy Update
This week at Rory McIlroy’s academy, we have dropped the height of cut to 4mm on both the Creeping Bent and Poa annua greens with great success.
Preparations continue for The 2011 Solheim Cup
Annika Sorenstam, the greatest woman golfer of all time and 2011 Solheim Cup Captain Alison Nicholas (MBE) arrived at Killeen Castle as part of their ongoing preparations and planning of the biannual Europe versus USA battle which takes place in less than 12 months time.
Turfgrass Consultancy, Chambers Bay & the US Amateur 2010
This week golfs US Amateur Championship is being held at Chambers Bay, Tacoma, Washington. Turfgrass Consultancy had the honour of working alongside Robert Trent Jones II as the agronomists for the grassing plan and grow in of the course. As an Irish based golf development and agronomy company, the Trent Jones organisation wanted to replicate the typical links land found alongside the coastal waters of Ireland. Ireland contains more than 30% of the total links courses around the world and over the years we have experienced many different scenarios with the fine fescues that adorn our fairways. Robert Trent Jones II asked Turfgrass Consultancy to produce playing surfaces similar to those found on the world famous links courses such as Portmarnock, Ballybunion and Waterville.
Rory McIlroy
In May, Turfgrass Consultancy were recruited by Rory McIlroy to project manage the construction of a new 3 hole academy and driving range in Northern Ireland. This work is ongoing and seeding took place 3 weeks ago. This has germinated very well and already the greens with creeping bentgrass are at a height of 6mm. This will eventually be reduced to 3mm creating the same surfaces as found in Augusta National. Turfgrass Consultancy has employed the services of a golf course superintendent to manage the academy.
Golf Club de Genève
Golf Club de Genève recently commissioned Turfgrass Consultancy to complete an audit of their golf course. Our brief was to assess the current course condition and to recommend opportunities for improvement. These recommendations are currently being implemented and we are delighted to say that the club has also now chosen to extend our close working relationship by retaining our agronomy services to consult on golf course conditioning and tournament preparation.