Surbiton Golf Club

Background

When Andrew Kerr joined the club in Chessington as Head Greenkeeper in 2017, he went straight to work with the Greens Committee to deliver a complete overhaul of the way the club acquired and replaced its machinery. Surbiton Golf Club had done things the same way for many years and Andrew felt it was time for a change.

Brief

The club used to purchase machines outright when required, as part of its capital investment plan. This meant it had machines of varying ages, some of which couldn’t provide Andrew with the performance he needed to deliver the course results expected. 

This change in approach was a big step forward for the club and as a club owned by its members it had to secure the backing of not only the committee, but 700 members too.

It was agreed that rather than replace a few machines, a whole new fleet that is optimised to meet the very high expectations of the members should be acquired and Andrew approached Reesink Turfcare with a clear vision of what he wanted from a machinery order.

Results

A machinery demonstration was arranged which involved the whole team and was instrumental in helping Andrew and the team decide which brand to go with to raise the bar.

It was agreed the first fleet should include four Greensmaster 1000 and three Greensmaster 1600 pedestrian mowers, two Reelmaster 5510-D ride-ons, two TriFlex 3420 hybrids, one with an 11-blade set-up and one with an eight, a Groundsmaster 4700-D, two Groundsmaster 3500-D mowers and a Multi Pro 5800-D. This would give Andrew enough machinery resource to realise his vision. 

The management and the members were entirely supportive and in absolute agreement when it came to the benefits a lease agreement would bring. A decision that was only confirmed as soon as the Toro machinery arrived and began delivering what Andrew believed it would. 

Andrew says: “The new technology we have at our fingertips means the greenkeeping team is making a real difference to the playability and quality of the course.”

Conclusion

It only took one viewing of the latest Toro equipment, brought in by Reesink, to convince everyone that Toro was the brand to go with, confirming that you don’t need the biggest budget to get the equipment you want, or the finish you feel your members deserve. Andrew’s advice is look at the options with your management committee and where relevant the membership. Find the best people in the dealer and distributor network to talk to about what you want to achieve and consider that, just like a picture, a demo is worth more than a thousand words.