Game Set and Match to Cat

The Wimbledon lawn tennis championships have long provided one south London golf club with a great opportunity to carry out important course maintenance and construction projects without interruption.

Situated within a golf ball's throw of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon Park Golf Club is traditionally closed for the duration of the tournament enabling large swathes of the course to become a secure car park for tennis enthusiasts.

As crowds gathered on the opening day of Wimbledon to watch the tennis, high-profile golf course maintenance and construction work started in earnest just across the road under the supervision of course manager, Dave Langheim.

This year, major projects earmarked by Dave for Wimbledon fortnight included the reconstruction of five bunkers on the 17th hole by specialist contractor, M J Abbott Ltd, and scarification and sand injection of all 19 greens by sports turf contractor and amenity supplier, Machines Direct. Greens staff from Wimbledon Park assisted with both operations, as required by the two contract teams.

Followed over successive days by fertilising, over-seeding and top dressing, sand injection of the greens was carried out by Graden Contour set to work 12mm deep at 25mm spacings. A total of 60 tonnes of kiln-dried sand was applied to the club's 19 greens during the two weeks that the course was closed.

Clear-up of surface debris was by Turfmech's CAT 800 ride-on core and thatch collector with all arisings tipped hydraulically onto a flat-bed trailer for disposal in dedicated screened areas located around the course.

Richard Gooding, owner of Machines Direct, commented that the CAT 800 had proved invaluable since joining his contract fleet in spring 2008.

"We were one of the pioneers of Graden turf machines in the UK and had been looking for many years for a mechanised method of clearing up the resulting debris," he said. "Not only does the CAT do a first-class job quickly and effortlessly, but it leaves the surface in a condition suitable for mowing, irrigation, over-seeding or top dressing, to suit the specific maintenance programme being carried out.

"Without the CAT 800, I can truthfully say that it would be impossible for us to to meet our deadlines. It's saving us time, labour and money and, most important, our customers like and appreciate the job that it does."

Pictures show Turfmech's CAT 800 core and thatch collector clearing one of Wimbledon Park Golf Club's greens in the wake of scarification and sand injection by Graden Contour. The machine incorporates high-tip emptying, enabling rapid disposal of collected debris.

For further information, please contact:

Austin Jarrett, Managing Director, Tel: 01889 271503, Mobile: 07880 746034, web: www.turfmech.co.uk