Top quality equipment produces a clean and tidy course
The 18-hole heathland course in Leicestershire is carved out of the ancient Charnwood Forest, where there is an abundance of silver birch, oak, pine, beech, gorse, broom and other flora on show.
Each hole on the course has its own unique signature and each manifests a different challenge for golfers of all playing abilities.
Course Manager Peter Sands faces his own challenges in keeping the course in excellent condition, helped somewhat by new equipment purchases.
With all those trees the new addition to the fleet of a mighty Trilo SG400 vacuum collector, to collect leaves from the course in autumn and winter, has been a godsend. Says Peter, "I used a Trilo at another club, and it is brilliant - very quick and efficient.
The wander hose is extremely useful in that it can collect leaves and debris from ditches and other inaccessible areas." Material that is extracted is collected into its large container with a capacity of 4 cubic metres and has high tipping for easy unloading.
The SG400 will be used in a dual role; a real bonus these days with tight budgets. "We bought the optional scarifying head to help in thinning out the rough areas across the course," added Pete. "Overall the Trilo is quite a big piece of kit; very robust but well designed and user-friendly. However, we only need a 60hp tractor to pull it. "
Longcliffe Golf Club trialled other makes but considered the Trilo to be 'a very good machine that's been built to last'. They believe they bought value for money and, with good care and attention, will last a long time.
Now that spring has arrived the attention on the course is now turned to greens maintenance. Here again, Peter is getting more use out of his equipment by using ATT's TMSystem™ cassettes fitted to the club's Toro ride-on triples.
Peter again, "The cassettes are well made and simple and easy to fit and remove from the mower. We've initially bought two of the nine SMART cassettes available - SMARTScarifier™ and SMARTVibe™ and they are proving highly durable."
"The scarifying cassette," says Peter, "is used periodically to remove thatch and debris. As part of our early summer renovation we work to a lower depth than normal before
The five bladed 1.6mm super tough blades of the SMARTScarifier™ are spaced at 40mm apart and capable of working to a depth of 15mm. Brush spacers ensure thorough clean-up and effective throwing of the removed thatch into the grass catchers. Consecutive use in multiple directions will still result in minimal surface disruption.
Just coming into its own now is the vibrating roller. "We do have a dedicated greens iron, but this cassette is proving more useful in not only preparing greens, but also to vibrate debris off the surface," says Peter. "When the dry period comes we will be able to vibrate the greens flat rather than distressing the grass plant by cutting it".
The TMSystem SMARTVibe™ has an operating frequency of 83Hz transferred through two 63mm diameter rollers to achieve fast, true putting surfaces with no chance of corrugation occurring on the green surface.
For more information visit: www.thegrassgroup.com or Telephone: +44 (0) 1638 72012