The Jacobsen brand enjoyed a positive end to the year in Asia with a successful exhibition in Shenzhen, China coupled with support for the GCSAA’s training initiative at the event.
The Jacobsen exhibition stand at the Asia Golf Show featured a small demonstration area for test drives of Jacobsen’s all-electric Eclipse 322 riding greens mower, which has gained a wide spread of interest across Asia and the Pacific Rim in the past year. The Eclipse 322 on the stand was using a 48 volt battery pack with electrically driven power train, reel drive and steering. Alternatively it can be powered by a small petrol or diesel engine linked to a generator to create the required electricity to power the systems. The resulting fuel savings are in the region of 50% for the hybrid version and up to 80% for the battery powered machine.
Alan Prickett, who heads up the Jacobsen operation in the Asia-Pacific region believes that Shenzhen has been the best venue in China for trade shows to date. Commenting on the show he said, “Our level of qualified buyers has been excellent and we had a good volume of traffic with many visitors showing an interest in our product line for the entire show. This was pleasing and resulted in some excellent sales leads.
“I believe that over the past 18 months we have demonstrated our commitment to the region with education and field days and in the last year have added three more staff to support end-user customers. Distribution has also been enhanced; for example, there are now four distributors in China compared to one just a few years ago. This is in line with the global policy of our President, David Withers, to put the customer first and become more product focused while delivering unrivalled support over the machine’s lifetime.”
Jacobsen played a key role at the show, not only as a cornerstone exhibitor but as a sponsor of the education component. Partnering with GCSAA, they provided several days of educational offerings. The first day of the conference featured an outdoor training seminar called the TurfScienceAcademy. Participants went to the nearby Tycoon Golf Club where presentations were fronted by four significant industry suppliers and divided into five specific areas.
Jacobsen majored on the importance of controlling frequency of cut and correct sprayer calibration while Syngenta’s focus was on turf inputs and their new spray nozzles; Hunter’s presentation featured the benefits of irrigation efficiency with Bernhard looking at various grinding techniques.
Rhett Evans, Chief Executive Officer at the GCSAA’s added, “GCSAA was founded on the principle of creating a network for the purpose of educating golf course managers. For more than 85 years, GCSAA education has been recognized as the gold standard around the world. We are excited to take our expertise beyond the borders of the United States and share it with a market thirsting for these resources. We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Jacobsen and utilize their expertise in developing a program that transfers across cultural differences and will help to benefit the China and Asian golf industries.
Alan Prickett concluded saying, “It’s part of Jacobsen’s philosophy around the globe to support the education of greenkeepers and superintendents. We believe it is vital that we help the industry to provide people with the skills, drive and enthusiasm to move it forward. We’ll be supporting the Australian and New Zealand markets this winter by bringing a world renowned speaker to lecture in the region. We were delighted to partner with the GCSAA to help bring their education programme to a wider audience.”
Ransomes Jacobsen www.ransomesjacobsen.com