New location, venue and Toro Total Solution for The Maidenhead
The Maidenhead Golf Club has embarked on the next era of its 130 years by relocating to Ascot. Supporting plans to update and improve the new course, it invested heavily in a Toro machinery five-year rolling lease programme and committed to the future by signing a Toro Total Solutions Agreement with distributor Reesink UK to include a new irrigation system.
Course Manager at The Maidenhead Martin Dearlove, right, with Reesink’s
Paul Bell.
With 36 extra acres and a more demanding layout, the club’s new home has the potential for not only a significantly enhanced golfing experience but realistic ambitions to make a top 100 golf club in the UK.
But first there’s some work to do and that is the responsibility of Course Manager Martin Dearlove.
“The new course layout is fantastic but there is work needed to bring it back up to standard and reinstate its original features,” he says. “That process is well underway. We’ve invested £1 million in fairway drainage, there’s a significant bunker renovation planned, we have a brand new fleet of turfcare equipment from Toro, and installation for a new Toro irrigation system planned to start this summer.
Working with Paul Bell from Reesink Southeast branch, the club has received three Greensmaster Triflex 3420 mowers, a Reelmaster 5610 and Reelmaster 3100, a MultiPro 5800 sprayer, the MDX and HDX Workman utility vehicles, a ProPass 200 topdresser, and for the very first time a ProCore 648s.
All but the ProCore 648s are replacement mowers for a previously ageing fleet, says Martin, and while it is the first time the club has owned a ProCore aerator, it is not the first time Martin has used one.
“I love that machine; we’ve always used it but up until now we’ve hired one when it was time to aerate. However, with the new course clay based and susceptible to waterlogging, we knew we’d need to aerate more often to ensure standards are maintained throughout the year.”
With 16 years of experience working at top British golf clubs and time spent experiencing life on the course in Australia, Martin knew the Toro brand well and when it came time to decide on who to commit to for a lease deal it was “the first choice”. At the same time, he knew he needed to invest in the team to help with the increased workload and he’s expanded the team from eight to 11.
“The next 5 to 10 years will be crucial in setting the foundations for taking the course forward. There’s a lot of work to do but we have the right machinery and manpower to support it.”
The next priority is the irrigation system. The inherited system is 35 years old and doesn’t have the precision, reach or capabilities Martin requires for the site: “The system in place is causing us issues, we need the reliability of a modern irrigation solution. We’ve opted for Toro Lynx Central Control with Infinity sprinklers for the greens, tees, approaches and all the fairways with work starting July.”
With a complete Toro package plus support from Reesink, The Maidenhead Golf Club can begin the next era knowing technology, quality and precision are on its side.