WHERE IS R.TEE NOW?

R.Tee Heron was involved in the golf industry for 45 years before retiring from Beacon Hall Golf Club in Aurora, Ontario, in 2006. For the past two years he has been building a beautiful home on Georgian Bay near Honey Harbour, Ontario.

As most of his friends and peers are aware, R.Tee was a past President of both the Golf Superintendents of Canada, and Ontario, and has a vast knowledge of the problems that face the average golf superintendent.

Over the years, he has made recommendations for new design and construction options at golf clubs, parks and athletic fields. He's planned, organized and supervised over 100 capital improvement projects with costs exceeding $5 million, as well as managed entire golf course maintenance programs.

During his seven years at Beacon Hall, R.Tee was first in Canada to successfully eradicate 'Poa Annua' using selective herbicides, and also for using protective winter covers on greens for earlier playing in the spring.

Having now finished building his house on the lake, R.Tee has decided to re-enter the golf industry to represent a new company called Natural Soil that has a 100% Organically Approved Fertiliser that is considerably less expensive than chemical fertilizers, with better results.

R.Tee commented, "I'm looking forward to a new challenge helping golf courses reduce their liquid fertilizer costs by as much as 50% by using this exciting new product from Natural Soil, which is proving a great success in the UK."

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How Natural Soil is making the 'New Lawn' at Forest Green 'greener'

Since August 2008, Matt Rainey, the head groundskeeper at Forest Green Rovers FC in Gloucestershire, has been using an innovative new environmentally-friendly product on the pitch at their New Lawn Stadium, which is proving highly effective and is also saving the club money - a real win-win situation.

This 100% organic soil conditioner from Natural Soil is a balanced blend of nitrogen-fixing beneficial bacteria ('probiotic for soil'), micronutrients, vitamins, trace minerals and elements. The special formula has been developed to boost growth levels naturally by triggering biological processes in the soil that produce a better growing environment for the root systems. As a result, grass is given a new lease of life creating stronger, healthier and more robust turf - ideal for high wear areas.

In his regular reports, Matt comments: "So far I have used four applications and the results are all positive. Feed leaching has been greatly reduced. Within 72 hours of applying, the sward has increased to become tighter, healthier and denser. The roots are stronger, reducing pitch divots and correcting the poor subsoil. The only down side to the faster growth is the increased organic matter produced, which requires a little extra verti-cutting, but all the other benefits make it worthwhile."

Certified 100% organic, the liquid concentrate can be mixed and applied with chemical fertilizers and herbicides. However, for the microbial formula to work its magic, it's recommended that you use only half the normal feed. Even when the cost of the soil conditioner is factored in, it still provides substantial savings, as Matt can verify:

"The first three applications reduced our use of fertilizer by 18 bags of 12-0-9 and 60 litres of slow release 25-0-0, providing savings of 50% so far. Not only has it enabled me to reduce the amount of fertilizer I apply at any one time, but it also allows me to leave it 3 or 4 weeks longer between applications, saving time as well as making my budget stretch further. Holding back two applications enabled me to add extra feeds during the winter to top up grass colour. In the current credit crunch climate this great product supplied by Natural Soil has become a very good money-saver as well as a good new turf product. The grass is getting the correct nutrients when it needs it, which in turn makes the pitch more hard wearing. I'll continue feeding with Natural Soil to keep the nutrients balanced, as good surface density is essential to cope with 65 plus games this season.

"I think everyone will agree that both the team and the pitch did Forest Green Rovers' supporters proud in the FA Cup 3rd round tie versus Derby. The game went ahead despite the temperature having dropped to minus 7 degrees overnight. By the time the covers came off on the morning of the big match, the sun was out for the first time in seven days, which heated up the turf to 2 degrees and the referee passed the pitch fit to play. I was able just to stick a fork into the soil, which I can only think is partly due to the microbial activity raising the temperature a touch. Forest Green Rovers FC was the only local game to go ahead in the FA Cup, as Championship club Birmingham FC versus Wolves was called off due to a frozen pitch after they had also covered their pitch, and League One Cheltenham Town FC versus Doncaster was called off too. Both clubs had the same week's weather as the 'New Lawn' pitch at Forest Green Rovers!"