UK's Finest Sprayer Operators Wanted for 2025

 

 

Entries are invited for the Amenity Sprayer Operator of the Year (ASOOTY) Awards 2025, celebrating the finest professional sprayer operators working in the UK's sports turf, amenity, and landscape management industries.

Organised by the Amenity Forum and supported by ICL and Syngenta, the awards recognise excellence in safe, accurate and responsible application, while sharing knowledge that can help raise industry standards nationwide.

Whether you’re a lawncare professional in Essex, a greenkeeper in Glasgow, maintaining grass in York, or spraying parkland in Cardiff, the competition welcomes entries from every corner of the UK amenity sector.

 

Raising Standards Across the Industry

The competition judging will not only consider technical application skills, i.e, nozzle choice, calibration and spray pattern accuracy, but also the operator's broader awareness of Integrated Turf Management (ITM). This includes knowing when not to spray, looking at alternatives, and making proactive choices with a view to achieving long-term sustainable results.

Amenity Forum Chairman, Ian Graham, said:

“This contest hopes to bring to the limelight the high calibre of talent that is present in our industry. We have many highly skilled sprayer operators who apply a very broad spectrum of products using complex equipment. Our past winners have demonstrated the professional mindset necessary to succeed over these challenges, and I encourage as many operators as possible to participate."

 

Recognition and Rewards

Finalists will be revealed at the Amenity Forum Conference in October, with the overall winner announced at the BIGGA Awards ceremony at BTME 2026.

All applicants will be automatically entered into a draw to win one of five Syngenta Sprayer Calibration & Application Kits, with CPD points up for grabs for all participants.

Last year's winner, Peter Pattenden from Carden Park Golf Resort in Cheshire, is urging others to enter:

“The awards are a great way to test your skills, share best practice and learn from others. It's not just about winning - it's about improving our standards as an industry.”

Syngenta Technical Manager, Sean Loakes, emphasised the importance of the awards for the future of the industry:

“Effective, efficient and safe use applications are central to the long-term sustainability of both amenity management and turf care. The ASOOTY awards offer an opportunity to identify the best operators and learn from their expertise."

ICL Landscape & Industrial Business Manager, Lewis Blois, added:

"This is a unique and vitally significant project for everyone involved in spray application. It works to spread techniques, highlight excellence, and ultimately improve results across the industry.

 

How to Enter

The first stage is a short online quiz designed to test an operator's everyday knowledge and problem-solving approach. Entrants are not expected to know every answer, the goal is to determine how they would tackle everyday problems.

Closing date for entries is Friday 12 September 2025.

 

To learn more and to enter, visit the Amenity Forum website.