Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club has signed a second five-year machinery agreement plan with Toro as the famous Kent links aims to maintain and improve upon its reputation as one of the UK’s top courses.
Course manager James Bledge is on a mission to make the club the best it can be by choosing to invest in the complete Toro Total Solutions package to help it get there.
Speaking about his decision to recommit to Toro, Bledge said: “Royal Cinque Ports has been at the top of its game for over a century. Next we want to make this course a bucket list destination for golfers, and to do that investing in our course maintenance is vital. With our first Toro fleet we saw a real improvement and you wonder if that could happen again. But it has. Toro is an innovator and that never changes, the product just keeps getting better.”
The Toro fleet currently includes new Greensmaster Flex 2120 pedestrian mowers, a Reelmaster 3100-D Sidewinder and three Greensmaster TriFlex 3420 mowers, plus three Greensmaster 1000 pedestrian mowers and a Groundsmaster 4500-D purchased from the club’s previous fleet.
“In particular, the new Greensmaster Flex 2120s have been great,” said Bledge. “The course seems flat from afar, but is actually incredibly undulating, especially the greens, which can be tricky to work with. But that’s not a problem for the Flex 2120 – the head of the mower follows the green closely and contours seamlessly, so we don’t get any scalping which is pretty special. We have seen instant improvements in appearance and so have the golfers which is even more important.”
The club has also invested in Toro irrigation, which has also brought instant results to the overall conditioning of the course.
“The quality of the machines is fantastic, and we saw the same with the irrigation system,” said Bledge. “It became clear that the Total Solutions package was the best way to get our course to where we want it to be. Plus, we’ve got a great relationship with Toro distributor Reesink, and sales rep Richard Wood, which made the decision a lot easier. Whatever we need they’re always there, whether that’s backup service or general advice – Reesink really feel like a part of the team.”
He added: “There are some incredible courses nearby doing amazing work and we want to be at that level. Places like Royal St Georges, and further afield at St Andrews Links which also use Toro. They invest a lot in their maintenance, and it shows.”