Douglas Park Golf Club, located in Glasgow, Scotland, has invested heavily in Jacobsen machinery since opting for orange 11 years ago. The club has purchased another Jacobsen fleet this season after major bunker and drainage work means that the course is now open for play all year-round. Local Jacobsen dealer, Fairways GM, made the delivery.
The club has purchased two GP400 mowers for tees and greens, a Tri-King ride-on triplex trim mower, an LF570 lightweight fairway mower, an AR522 rough mower, and a Turfco Topdresser 1530. The club also currently operates a fleet of E-Z-GO RXV golf cars to transport golfers around the 18-hole parkland course.
Drew McKechnie has been at Douglas Park Golf Club for 28 years and oversees a team of four greenkeepers in his current role as course manager. Commenting on the purchase of the Jacobsen fleet Drew said,
“The club has a rich history of providing pristine conditions for golfers both on and off the golf course. Our pride and determination to ensure a first-class golfing experience for customers means that Jacobsen was an obvious choice for the club to purchase maintenance equipment from. We are more than happy to invest in quality machinery because we know that you get what you pay for. The Jacobsen kit has never let us down, and that keeps the club happy because money isn’t being thrown down the drain for repair work and purchasing parts all the time.
“Of the machines we have bought this year, the AR522 stands out for me. The machine’s ability to cut well in wet conditions is a huge bonus, especially being located in Glasgow! We have used every variant of the AR rough mower over the years, and the AR522 is an improvement on an already very good machine. At Douglas Park we need power to be able to get up and down the slopes on the course and the AR522 glides up slopes where other competitor machines we have had on demo have struggled.
“Our dealer, Fairways, has been brilliant as usual. The communication throughout the whole purchasing process is constant, which means we can be more organised when it comes to planning our maintenance regimes because we know when we can expect new machines to arrive on the course. Fairways obviously places a big emphasis on customer service, which is refreshing to see. I believe that whilst you may have the best machines on the market, without your local dealer and the support they provide, the machinery becomes futile.”
The origins of Douglas Park can be dated back to 1897 when the land that the current course sits on was drained and a nine-hole course was constructed. In 1903, additional land was acquired, and an 18-hole layout, designed by Willie Fernie of Troon, opened for play. Douglas Park has produced a number of well-known golfers, including Harry MacAnespie, winner of the British Boys Golf Championship at St Andrews in 1949, and David Carrick, winner of the Scottish Amateur Championship in 1985 and Great Britain and Ireland representative in the Walker Cup in 1983 and 1987. Belle Robertson, who played in seven Curtis Cup matches subsequently captained the British team and has been an honorary member of Douglas Park since 1989.
Jacobsen www.jacobsen.com
Douglas Park Golf Club www.douglasparkgolfclub.co.uk