“I’ve known Noel MacKenzie for over 20 years and worked with him as my club’s Agronomist at 2 golf clubs now. He is a truly independent Agronomist with a fantastic knowledge of all things turf maintenance, soil biology and course ecology with added management and business awareness. Always on hand at the end of a phone for advice when needed and his reports to the club really back up what I need to show my club and how we are working to keep improving things for the playing members.
I would recommend Noel to anyone in the industry that is looking for an outside professional opinion on everything from day to day maintenance, small budget improvements or even the largest of turf related construction projects”.
"I first met Noel MacKenzie when I took the post of General Manager at Sherborne Golf Club in 2000. He was the Club’s retained agronomist, supporting and advising the club which was at the beginning of a significant course improvement programme. This upgrading extended the course by 500 yards and involved constructing five new greens to USGA standard together with the creation and reshaping of many tees and bunkers. He played a significant role in that programme and was also a key member in the selection process for a new Course Manager/Head Greenkeeper.
More recently his knowledge, experience, advice and support following a greenkeeping disaster during the drought dominated summer of 2018 proved invaluable facilitating a measured and organised recovery programme to be put in place. I have always found his measured and considered advice invaluable."
"I have known Noel for over 20 years where he has been my go-to source for independent agronomical advice. I have used Noel as my agronomist across 3 Head Groundsman positions, and whether these include basic renovation or maintenance advice or extensive re development designs and input, Noel's has been invaluable. Noel's knowledge and experience of turf management is extensive, but he has so much more to offer the modern Turf Manager with his strategic planning, ecological and man management skills he really is an excellent resource to call upon when needed.
Noels advisory reports are laid out in a very easy to understand format but with full detail, and I use these very much to support my recommendations for turf management programmes, but also as my own auditing tool to demonstrate to my managers that I am doing all I can to improve and manage the turf surfaces."
"I have known Noel Mackenzie for over 20 years, in a variety of capacities.
His knowledge and thorough approach to agronomy, along with clear, concise reporting has been a tremendous help to me over the years.
Noel was consultant for a major construction project at St James in 2014/15, turning an ex-landfill site into a 2 Hectare sports field.
The project was complex and involved several outside agencies but was delivered to budget and ahead of time.
The new field continues to exceed expectations.
I have no hesitation in recommending Sports Turf Consulting for your agronomy and construction consultancy needs."
"Noel MacKenzie was engaged by us back in 2001 to work on golf course agronomy support at our golf complex for Agronomy support. The course was developed with a 9-hole USGA Academy course which Noel took an active role in overseeing both in construction and grow-in. Noel provided a professional technical input to recruiting our Head Greenkeeper who remained in role for many years working closely with Noel in improving the presentation and playing performance of the course proving this was a really good way to use Noel’s skills and knowledge to make an excellent HR decision much easier. For us Noel MacKenzie has bought additional insight and technical knowledge that gave our course added value and enhanced our product to the public and club player alike resulting in greater income.
Beyond the golf centre Noel was engaged for bowling green, cricket and rugby agronomy support which saw a substantial improvement in the playing quality, especially on our bowling greens. Noel provided insights on market place products improving our inputs and avoiding wastage. He was instrumental in training of staff on bespoke sessions and coaching some of our team and we experienced an increase in performance and motivation within our maintenance team as a result. Noel took time to offer education advice and guide staff with personal encouragement to study and better themselves.
We also engaged Sports Turf Consulting in a number of construction and drainage projects with superb SUDS system installed at one site, Putteridgebury, and a new football pitch at Challney School. A very extensive feasibility project was also undertaken on our behalf which although not seen through on the ground was a strong supportive technical document and exercise.
As a Parks Manager with multiple demands on myself and my team it I have found it a great help to be able to utilise Noel’s expertise and support in so many positive ways to move forward the facilities in our Borough for the enjoyment of all stakeholders. Noel has advanced our in-house team’s knowledge and motivation resulting in improved performance on the ground. I have no hesitation in recommending Noel and Sports Turf Consulting to anyone who has any turf and sportsturf related issues whether routine Agronomy or large construction works, in my experience his skills are of a high professional calibre and yet he remains personally interested with all he works with and takes pride in what he does."
"Noel Mackenzie of Sport Turf Consulting provided consultancy services for the design and implementation of the Barnhurst Lane Grass Pitches Project for the City of Wolverhampton Council between 2013 and 2015. 10.82 hectares of high quality multi pitch grass playing fields were built on an old sewage works site at Barnhurst Lane, to replace playing field lost to development across Wolverhampton. Noel was a key member of the team that delivered this successful project working in conjunction with the Design Team at the City Council and the main contractor Cleveland Land Services. The project’s success owed much to Noel’s professional expertise and in depth knowledge of the design and construction of sports facilities."