The ability to help keep St Andrews Links perfectly groomed for Scotland’s highest ever profile sports event won a contract extension of over £500,000 for the country’s top ground care machinery supply business.
St Andrews Links Trust, custodian of the Old Course, has extended its deal with Scottish Grass Machinery. SGM are supplying Textron greens, tees and fairway’s fine cutting mowers, aerator equipment, golf cars and utility vehicles.
Having worked with the Trust since 1996, the £10 million turnover SGM Group secured an extension to its initial contract at St Andrews through to 2001. Under the terms of the deal, SGM will provide round the clock support to the ground keeping staff, helping to maintain the highest standards of course presentation during the Championship.
SGM is Scotland’s largest ground care machinery business, is in the top three Textron dealers in Europe and accounts for a massive 15% of all Textron sales in the UK, despite operating only in Scotland. Textron’s product range includes arguably the world’s finest ground care equipment: E-Z-GO golf cars and personnel carriers; Cushman and Ryan turf maintenance equipment; Ransomes, Jacobsen and Iseki compact tractors.
David McInroy, managing director, Scottish Grass Machinery, said, “For SGM to be the exclusive supplier to the Links Trust on this historic occasion is arguably one of the proudest moment in SGM’s history.”
Alan McGregor, general manager, St Andrews Links Trust, said, “The combination of the quality of the Textron equipment range backed by SGM’s outstanding approach to customer service made this, relatively speaking, one of our easier decisions to make.
In addition to the levels of service and equipment provided throughout the year, SGM are also providing access to their field service team and key standby support machinery for the duration of the tournament.”