London, England: Thirty-eight groundsmen from Denmark and Spain have spent three days learning from some of the best turf professionals the United Kingdom has to offer on a Campey Turf Care Systems educational tour.
The trip was arranged by Thomas Jorgensen, Chairman of the Groundsman Association of Denmark, Campey’s Danish dealer, Havdrup Maskinforretning, and Spanish dealer Deltacinco. The emphasis of the tour was to learn from experienced groundsmen while looking at the technology they are using.
Typically, Danish groundsmen operate on lower budgets compared to their United Kingdom counterparts, and this was taken into consideration when picking venues with Salford City Reds and Newcastle Under Lyme Football Club both chosen to show that high-quality surfaces can be achieved with a smaller budget.
The 38 strong group also visited leading venues such as Arsenal’s London Colney training centre, Liverpool Football Club, Stoke City Football Club, Tottenham Hotspur’s Enfield Training Ground and the new Tottenham Stadium where Darren Baldwin, Head of Playing Surfaces and Estates, led the group on a tour of the facility.
Jorgensen said: “I thought the variety of venues we visited was excellent. We saw the top of it all in terms of stadium, but we also experienced some more down-to-earth facilities that we can better relate to. It is important to experience both on such a trip.
“It is also very important to be able to learn from others in the industry who have experiences that we don’t yet have ourselves. The English football pitches are on a different level to Denmark, so the experience is important. However, we must remember that the money is also different in England.
“For me, the experience was great. We visited Steve Braddock at Arsenal. He is simply fantastic and has tremendous knowledge. He gained great respect throughout our group.”
As well as talks from leading figures in the industry, the group also saw a grass-roots renovation in action at Newcastle Under Lyme FC and had the chance to view machines at Campey’s headquarters.
“Campey has always focused on providing education to further the knowledge of those in the industry and is delighted to continue its support of groundsmen abroad,” said a spokesperson for Campey, a Full Business Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.
