Magazine - New Ransomes and Jacobsen Mowers for BrandHall Golf Club

By Peter Driver in Industry on 15th Oct 2006 9:00

Brandhall Golf Club, operated by the Sandwell Leisure Trust in partnership with Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, has taken delivery of new course maintenance equipment from local Ransomes Jacobsen dealer, TH White Ltd of Redditch. Ransomes Jacobsen is a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company.

The new equipment which includes a Jacobsen G-Plex ride-on greens mower and a Ransomes Highway 2130, is part of a five-year rolling replacement programme and takes the place of similar John Deere and Hayter machines previously used at the club.

Head Greenkeeper Paul Freeman specified the new equipment following a trial at Birmingham Council's Lickie Hills course and subsequent on course demonstrations at Brandhall. The greenkeeping team also visited and toured the TH White's facilities in Redditch. Although Paul specified the equipment it was Senior Operations Manager Mark Blades who sanctioned the decision after detailed negotiations with all the major manufacturers.

"We are charged with providing best value for Sandwell's residents," he said, "and are dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone living and working in the area. We do this by providing an extensive range of sport and leisure facilities including those at Brandhall. Our rolling replacement programme will ensure that the course continues to be maintained to the Council's high standards."

Commenting on the machines, Paul Freeman said,
"The G-Plex is a very competent greens mower; of course it has the Jacobsen groomers which are brilliant, but it is also very easy to use and set up. Personally, I particularly like the reel lift and lower lever on the steering column and the swing out rear centre unit, which makes daily maintenance quick and easy.

"The Ransomes Highway might at first seem a strange choice for course maintenance, but for us it is very much a multi-tasking machine. We use it for maintaining the fairways, semi-rough and on our banked areas. It has Sport 200, 8-blade, floating head units which we set at 15mm on the fairways and 25-28mm on the semi-rough. We have the four-wheel drive machine, which gives us excellent traction for the undulations around the course. Again, like the G-Plex it's very easy to set up and adjust and it's also very comfortable and operator friendly."

Read more articles in Industry, by Peter Driver or from October 2006.