Royal Blackheath Golf Club in Eltham, London, has chosen Toro for the first time to look after its 110-acre 18-hole landscaped parkland course, which is unchallenged as the oldest golf club in England.
Allen Blizzard, course manager at the 400 year-old golf venue, took delivery of the new fleet which includes the TriFlex 3420, Reelmaster 5510, Groundsmaster 4300, Groundsmaster 4000, three Workman MDX-D and a Workman HDX-D, plus Multi Pro WM spray system at the beginning of the year.
The favourable weather this year and new machines have combined to bring improvements to the course and changes to the maintenance regime, says Allen. “The weather conditions this year have been perfect for presenting the golf course in a favourable manner. We’ve changed our course maintenance regime slightly as a result and have taken down the height of the cut. This year we are cutting the surrounds and tees with the TriFlex 3420 at 8mm and the fairways with the Reelmaster 5510 at 14mm, that’s the lowest we’ve ever gone. This gives a really nice tight cut, smooth finish and has improved the condition of the course.”
Allen and his team of five greenkeepers, plus mechanic have all commented on the impressive build quality of the Toro machines. Easy adjustment and maintenance have also been highlighted as key benefits to using Toro and specific praise was kept for the RM5510 and GM4300. “The RM5510 is a very good fairway mower and the GM4300 is doing an excellent job on the semi roughs, bringing a good quality of cut to the tees and green banks. The team rate both for their comfort and ease of use, too.”
It wasn’t long after the new machines had been delivered and Allen was adding to the fleet with the inclusion of the Groundsmaster 3500 with Sidewinder cutting units! He says: “I was very pleased with the machines chosen by the club, but I’ve always wanted the GM3500 with Sidewinder so I snuck this into the order, too! We have lots of open ditches around the course, which were really labour-intensive to tend. I knew the Sidewinder would be the perfect bit of kit for this. It has saved us time and allows us to concentrate on defining other aspects of the golf course.
Toro turf products are distributed throughout mainland UK by Lely (UK) Limited, 1 Station Road, St Neots PE19 1QH. Call 01480 226800, email turfcare.uk@lely.com or visit www.lelyturfcare.com for further details. And in Ireland by Lely Ireland Limited, Kilboggin, Nurney, Co. Kildare. Call 00 353 (0)45 526170, email turfcaresales.ie@lely.com or visit www.lelyturfcare.ie for further details.
Royal Blackheath Golf Club www.royalblackheath.com