Performance Bowling Greens the key to Bowling Club Survival

The quality and consistency of the playing surface on your green and your club’s chances of long term survival are inextricably linked, why?

Well if we consider the sport of bowls as a business for a minute it is clear, at least in the UK , that there is a vast over supply in the bowling marketplace. There simply isn’t enough demand for bowling to sustain the sheer volume of clubs that currently exist. The reasons for this are manifold and include some really “deep” factors which economists and sociologists might describe as, well… socio-economic, but the most important thing for bowling clubs to consider is that there simply aren’t enough bowlers around to make every UK bowling club economically sustainable. In other words some, maybe many, clubs will perish  in the years to come.

Of course, there are big picture issues that can be addressed and might help to improve the uptake of the game, like for instance the way bowls is marketed, and the general image of the game, perhaps more TV coverage of tournaments would help. All of that is big stuff, that can and will take a long time to bear fruit.

Meantime, if we come back to the close up view, the view out of your clubhouse window in fact, we can all start to do something this year to give our own club the greatest chance of survival; and that is to (Read on …)

Agronomics, Business, Club Survival, Critical Issues
8 February 2010 0 TrackBack-URI

Performance Bowling Greens-the 4 biggest obstacles to success

When I set out to write my new book, Performance Bowling Greens, which is released on this site on Monday 15th February, it made me think about the main obstacles to success encountered by many of the bowling clubs I visit and in many ways it comes down to what can only be described as Common Sense versus Commerce. The 4 biggest obstacles I encounter again and again are as follows:

1. Desperation Mode; or a state of mind that permeates a club when nothing they do seems to yield the results they crave.
2. Lack of Consistency; which is direct result of the 1st obstacle, and is when the club repeatedly changes its approach to maintenance because it basically has no faith in any of the maintenance models it encounters.
3. Tradition; although a lot of the traditions in question are not that old.
4. Greenkeeping Myths.

The reasons for the problems I have just mentioned are mainly to do with (Read on …)

Agronomics, Business, Club Survival, Critical Issues
7 February 2010 0 TrackBack-URI

The Pursuit of Excellence and…economy.

Now that the snow and ice seems to be going (I hope I’m not tempting fate!) and of course that the new season is suddenly just around the corner, we’ve been getting a lot of enquiries asking two basic questions:

What is the ideal maintenance program to ensure an excellent bowling green surface this year? and…

How can we reduce costs for maintenance without compromising the performance of the green?

Well, although both of these questions are fairly easy to answer, the actual solution depends a lot on what has gone before and at what stage your green is at, in terms of performance at the moment.

The pursuit of excellence on a sensible budget has been very firmly on John Quinn, our Managing Director’s mind over the last few months also. That’s because he’s been absorbed in (Read on …)

Agronomics, Business, Club Survival, Critical Issues
6 February 2010 0

Ice Age… Free!

We have received a lot of enquiries over the past few days asking for advice on dealing with the snow and ice on bowling greens and the aftermath:

The main concern during and after snow cover is the potential for the outbreak of snow mould which is caused by the same fungal pathogen as fusarium patch; and indeed, fusarium might well be encountered after the snow has melted. Although many clubs will have applied a preventative fungicide in the Autumn, this might not have provided total protection, but should have minimised the risk of attack.

When the snow has gone you might well find active areas of Fusarium and this should be treated with a curative fungicide containing the active ingredients iprodione  or chlorothalonil applied as per the manufacturer’s advice.

Many of the enquiries we have received have been related to the actual snow cover and (Read on …)

Agronomics, News, Soil Science
23 January 2010 0 TrackBack-URI

Free Report – The Essentials for a Great Green in 2010

Regardless of whether your green played well this year or not, the winter months are a critical time for ensuring your green is in top condition when the new season starts in Spring 2010. Winter Green Maintenance is so often overlooked and if you had even the slightest trouble with your green’s playability or health this season, you must address the underlying causes in the close season to have any chance of a great green next year.

We’ve released a Comprehensive Free report which you can access by clicking here

In this comprehensive free report we cover all (Read on …)

Uncategorised
21 August 2009 0 TrackBack-URI

Don’t get in the way at Feeding Time!

2 things in bowling green maintenance annoy me more than anything else. One is the feeding frenzy stirred up and enjoyed by many bowling green maintenance contractors in the autumn, usually driven by an unsolicited sales letter offering “Autumn Programs” sent by someone who has never seen your green!

Many clubs across the country will succumb to this sales gimmick year after year  without ever realising that it isn’t necessarily the best thing to do. You see Autumn has traditionally been (Read on …)

Business, Critical Issues
7 August 2009 0 TrackBack-URI

WANTED 25 Clubs for Excellence Project

At Greenmaster, we are about to undertake a major project which aims to show clubs how they can have the very highest standards of outdoors bowls playing surface.

We are looking for 25 clubs in Central Scotland to take part in our GREENKEEPING EXCELLENCE PROJECT. This is a 3 year project where we will take greens that are currently under-performing or have specific problems and apply a scientifically measured program to bring the greens up to TOURNAMENT standard as quickly as possible and maintain them at that level. More details here

Agronomics, Critical Issues, Green Speed
5 August 2009 0 TrackBack-URI

Neil marches on to final 16 at Ayr

Greenmaster’s Neil Barlow has stormed into the final 16 at Ayr with a 21 to 16 victory in the first round. Well done Neil from everyone at Greenmaster and the best of luck for the next round.

Uncategorised
30 July 2009 0 TrackBack-URI

Our Own Green Master is walking on Ayr!

Our longest serving team member Neil Barlow has excelled himself again and has qualified for the Scottish Singles Finals at Northfield in Ayr, next week.

In addition to this great achievement Neil is a 2009 Fife Fours Champion, was Fife Singles Champion in 2005 and qualified for Ayr in the Pairs in 2006.

Neil plays out of Newburgh Bowling Club in Fife where he is 5 Times Club Champion.

So now we know what he does all day!

Well done Neil and the very best of luck from everyone at Greenmaster.

Incidentally, if you are going to Ayr (and why wouldn’t you be when Neil’s playing?) you will see that we have taken over the back page of  the Scottish Finals Programs. If you get a hold of one you will see a very important announcement from Greenmaster that is set to revolutionise bowling green maintenance in Scotland! Get a sneak preview here.

Uncategorised
20 July 2009 0 TrackBack-URI

Feeding the Roses with Pound Notes

I have lost count of the words I have written, conversations I have had and arguments I have inadvertently started about one of  greenkeepings’ greatest follies;  routinely top-dressing your green with high sand content top dressing composts year in and year out. During my greenkeeping career over 3 decades and during countless hours of research I have been amazed to find clubs where 5, 7 or even 10 tonnes of top-dressing is being applied every autumn.

The really tragic thing about this practice is that (Read on …)

Agronomics, Business, Club Survival, Critical Issues, Top-Dressing
9 July 2009 0 TrackBack-URI

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