Gleneagles has signed an exclusive contract with John Deere for the supply of golf course maintenance equipment and related technology to the three championship golf courses at the award-winning hotel and golf resort in Perthshire, Scotland.
The resort’s Director of Golf Gary Silcock and John Deere’s worldwide Agriculture and Turf Division President James M Field officially confirmed the agreement at the John Deere Financial headquarters in Johnston, Iowa, in mid-August.
This took place just before Gary Silcock’s visit to The 2017 Solheim Cup matches that were held at the nearby Des Moines Golf and Country Club, where John Deere equipment was used to prepare and maintain the tournament course.
Gleneagles is the venue for The 2019 Solheim Cup, the biggest event in women’s professional golf, which will take place on the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course that also hosted the 2014 Ryder Cup. The inaugural European Golf Team Championships are being held on the same course at Gleneagles in 2018.
Known as ‘the glorious playground’, the 850-acre Perthshire estate was recently voted Best Golf Resort in the World for an unprecedented sixth successive year by readers of Ultratravel, the Telegraph’s luxury travel magazine, and was also named Scotland’s Best Hotel/Resort in the Today’s Golfer Travel Awards 2017, retaining this title for the fourth consecutive year.
“Following completion of recent renovation work on the King’s & Queen’s courses to bring them back more in line with James Braid’s original design vision, our courses continue to provide customers with a world class experience that is second to none,” said Gary Silcock. “With three critically-acclaimed 18-hole championship courses to choose from, Gleneagles remains, quite simply, a golfer’s paradise.
“This new agreement with John Deere will see our two worldwide brands working together to further increase quality and productivity on the courses, through the adoption of innovative, market leading technology. We are going through an exciting period for the greenkeeping industry, as we see the introduction of satellite guidance and telematics fleet management systems dedicated to turfcare.
“As part of our ongoing investment programme, we look forward to working alongside John Deere and local dealer Double A Trading to help develop these systems and keep Gleneagles at the forefront of European and world golf.”
Tim Merrett, John Deere’s Vice President, Agriculture and Turf Division, said: “Gleneagles and John Deere both owe much of their success to a heritage of great performance and strong values, and both organisations are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. Like Gleneagles, we have built a reputation on quality – not only in our products and dealer support, but also for the way in which we treat our customers and do business.
“John Deere equipment helps to maintain many of the world’s greatest golf courses. We are delighted and honoured to now see our mowers, tractors and utility vehicles at work on The King’s, The Queen’s and The PGA Centenary courses at Gleneagles.”
Brian D’Arcy, John Deere Limited’s UK & Ireland strategic account manager who has worked closely with Gleneagles to tailor the agreement to the estate’s requirements, added: “We see this as a first step towards building a long lasting and productive relationship, so that Gleneagles can become a leading strategic partner with John Deere in the golf industry not only in the UK & Ireland, but across Europe and beyond.”
John Deere Limited www.JohnDeere.co.uk
Gleneagles www.gleneagles.com