A new fleet of Toro mowers and one of the company’s HydroJect water-injection aerators are playing a big part in helping St Andrews Links maintain its courses to the highest quality while at the same time coping with the hectic demands of wall-to-wall high-season play. More than 100,000 golfers had played the Scottish links courses by mid-July.
St Andrews cemented its relationship with Toro through a new five-year preferred supplier agreement. This saw a fleet of more than 50 new greens and tees mowers arrive at the world’s most famous golfing venue earlier this year. Since then, Links Superintendent Gordon Moir and his greenkeepers have been putting their new kit through its paces.
Gordon Moir said: “So far we’re very pleased with the kit’s performance. We put everything through a thorough evaluation programme last year so we know the capabilities of each machine, but the real test is long-term performance with regular usage.
“We try to use the Greensmaster 1000 pedestrians a minimum of twice a week over the greens and the 1600s once a week on tees. They are both so easy to operate, extremely reliable and leave a lovely finish.
“The Greensmaster 3250-D ride-ons are used on both tees and greens. We find that the finish they deliver is to an excellent standard.”
Gordon finds his Reelmaster 3100-D Sidewinders perfect for cutting tight areas around the course, as well as for bunkers and tees where the machines’ cutting units – which can be offset to the right and left – give a clean cut without scalping. “This product is unique to Toro,” he said. “It’s saving us so much time because it delivers a standard of appearance that before we could achieve only with pedestrian mowers.”
With such a hectic schedule of play on the courses in summer, Gordon is putting his Toro HydroJect water-injection aerator to good use on all greens, particularly at entry and exit points. “It’s ideal for our purposes because it gives good, deep aeration with minimum disturbance to the surface, and play can carry on immediately – you’d never know we’d been there,” he explained.
But of Gordon and his team’s favourite Toro machine, he said: “Every one of my greenkeepers, and the workshop technicians, is very impressed with the Greensmaster 1000. This is specifically because it’s a joy to operate, it leaves a beautiful finish and has proved very reliable.”
Back-up support is vital to St Andrews and as part of the deal it receives Toro’s industry-acclaimed service. “Our local dealer George Henderson and Toro distributor Lely give us a very high level of support,” Gordon added.
St Andrews new Toro fleet comprises: 20 Greensmaster 1000 and 14 Greensmaster 1600 pedestrian mowers, along with eight transportation trailers; three Reelmaster 3100-D Sidewinders; 15 Greensmaster 3250-D ride-on mowers; and a HydroJect aerator.
Toro Commercial Products www.toro.com