Having been machinery partners to Hertfordshire’s Centurion Club for a number of years, George Browns recently played a pivotal role in the successful delivery of the LIV Golf-London event in early July.
The supply of additional equipment and service training was the result of six months of intricate planning between Course Manager Andrew Garland, Stuart Gray from Baroness and David Fisher, Area Sales Manager at George Browns’ Chesham branch. The result, says Garland, was “outstanding support and a perfect playing surface from start to finish!”
Located several miles west of St Albans, the Centurion Club delivers a mixture of open, undulating holes combined with challenging woodland-lined holes, delivering a feeling of maturity to the club which opened to members and the public in 2013.
“Our relationship with George Browns was cemented roughly four years ago after we fell victim to the theft of our tees mowers,” said Garland. “David lent us their demonstration Baroness mowers to get us out of a really tricky situation at the time, and the team ended up liking the mowers that much that we purchased them! Since then, any time we’re in the market for a new machine, we’ll get David in and nine times out of ten, that’s the machine we purchase.”
Garland and his team of 12 currently run a fleet of Kubota tractors and RTV utility vehicles, three fairway and four tees mowers from Baroness, along with a Redexim Top-Brush and Verti-Drain – all supplied by the Chesham depot of George Browns.
“We started preparing for the LIV Golf League event in January. I sat down with Stuart and David to draw up a list of what we’d need – not just extra equipment, but ensuring that the machinery already in the shed was performing as it should,” sadi Garland. “My team received excellent service training in the run-up to July to get the fairway mowers in tip-top condition, and my mechanic was then advised on the correct way to grind them and set them up.”
In addition to training, George Browns also loaned the club a triple greens mower, four extra Baroness hand tee mowers, a rough mower and an aprons machine.
Say Garland: “We had six additional team members from the Turf Institute of South Africa and a further ten volunteers who all had to get stuck in and straight out with the equipment. All of them found the machines easy to use and were particularly impressed by the quality of cut. All of this, together with the support provided throughout the event, helped the whole tournament run smoothly.”
Commenting on the relationship, Fisher said: “It has been a real privilege to work closely with our franchises to maximise the knowledge we could provide to Andrew and his team in what promises to be a celebratory decade year for the club. All at George Browns congratulate Centurion Club on the tournament, and we look forward to continuing to build on this success.”
Gray added: “It’s been great working with Andy and his fantastic team and supporting them through the LIV tournaments in both 2022 and 2023, cementing the level of support Baroness and its dealers are proud to deliver to the industry.”