Course Maintenance

St George’s Hill Golf Club signs first five-year agreement plan

At the pinnacle of St George’s Hill Golf Club sits its iconic clubhouse, casting an eye over its three nine-hole courses widely regarded as Harry Colt’s crowning glory, and now in the hands of Toro to uphold.

Set within an exclusive private estate in Surrey, the club was in need of a fleet of turfcare machinery to maintain the high standards of the course, and it was a complete Toro package that proved to hit the mark with the club signing its first ever five-year agreement plan with Toro and its distributor Reesink Turfcare.

The historic club provides one of the most exclusive golfing experiences, currently ranked No.63 in the World by Golf Digest Magazine. With so much history and expectation, course manager Chris Godsen says the pressure to provide the very best is always on.

“Every day here is a big day,” he explains. “Everyone who comes to play is looking for the best and wanting an experience like no other, so we have to work to provide that every day, no exceptions.”

With the club boasting 500 members and the estate home to 420 houses, having a comprehensive and efficient fleet is vitally important.

“The fleet here was already about 90 percent Toro,” Chris says. “But we wanted to invest in new machines, so we’d be up to date with the latest tech and innovation.”
Despite looking at a range of options with other brands before making a commitment, for Chris, Toro was the only choice.

“We did look at a couple of other brands, but there would always be one or two unreliable machines that would really let the package down. But with Toro, there isn’t one piece of kit I can see doing that. Toro always has far superior machines that are durable, reliable and state-of-the-art, which is just what a prestigious club like St George’s Hill needs.”

And club secretary Gary Peddie agrees: “The decision to choose Toro was a relatively easy one. They are recognised in the industry as a leading manufacturer of golf course machinery. That position sits very well alongside St George’s Hill Golf Club, as we look to deliver the best in golf course conditioning.”

With the package deal comprising near thirty pieces, including three Greensmaster 3250-Ds, three Reelmaster 3555-Ds, two Groundsmaster 4300-Ds, four Workman HDX-Ds and a ProPass 200 to name a few, Chris is excited to put the new comprehensive fleet to work.

“We’re particularly excited to trial our new lightweight mowers as we haven’t had them before. The Multi Pro 5800-D sprayer is also going to be a big help. It’s bigger and faster than what we have now, so we’ll be able to get more coverage in less time.

“I’m confident this agreement is just the start of an ongoing partnership,” says Chris. “The service from Reesink has always been great and now with a full fleet of Toro equipment, I have total peace of mind that the course is in good hands.” 

World class education on the cards for BIGGA members awarded ICL Scholarship

The British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association and ICL are pleased to announce the five successful recipients of the fourth ICL Continue to Learn Scholarship.

The successful BIGGA members are:

William Curran, greenkeeper, Beaverbrook Golf Club
Phil Worth, head greenkeeper, Macclesfield Golf Club
Thomas Tomlinson, assistant greenkeeper, Boldon Golf Club
Joe Lamb, assistant greenkeeper, West Herts Golf Club
Melissa Winkworth, assistant greenkeeper, Goring and Streatley Golf Club

The ICL Continue to Learn 2020 Scholars will receive three nights’ hotel accommodation and 15 hours of training and personal development at the world-leading education programme, supported by BIGGA Partner and specialty fertiliser company ICL.

With the Continue to Learn education programme due to be announced on Monday 7 October, BIGGA’s Head of Member Development Sami Strutt said: “We received 75 completed applications for this fantastic member opportunity. Whittling them down to just five has been a real challenge! The recipients of the scholarship, sponsored by ICL, will benefit from both attending great education and networking with their peers. We look forward to welcoming the ICL Continue to Learn Scholars to BTME 2020 for what promises to be another great event.”

Ed Carter, ICL’s UK Sales and Development Manager, said: “ICL is delighted to sponsor such a worthwhile scheme. The calibre of recipients each year has been outstanding and we’re delighted that these five ambitious BIGGA members will join our growing community of ICL Scholars. Each of the applicants were of a similarly high standard and the selection decision was extremely difficult, as always.”

Continue to Learn at BTME 2020 will take place at Harrogate Convention Centre from Sunday 19 – Wednesday 22 January 2020.  The extensive education programme will run alongside the BTME, the largest indoor exhibition in Europe for the Sports Turf industry.
For further information on BTME and Continue to Learn 2020 visit www.btme.org.uk

1id verde Signs Contract With The Toro Company

Europe’s largest provider of grounds maintenance and landscape construction services, id verde, has signed a contract with The Toro Company. The contract establishes a three-year partnership with Toro as a preferred supplier to idVerde’s network of locations throughout France, the UK and the Netherlands.

Through this contract, all idVerde branches will have access to the full range of Toro products, including reel mowers, rotary mowers, flail mowers, and small-area and wide-area mowers, as well as landscape contractor equipment. Toro’s extensive product portfolio also includes irrigation and snow removal products, and its equipment is widely used at notable sports venues and historic sites around the world.

The decision to work with Toro complements id verde’s ongoing strategic expansion plans, aimed at adding to the company’s capabilities and geographical coverage. “We were looking for a reliable partner with a strong presence, both at the local level and throughout Europe as we continue to expand,” said Pascal Amico, director of purchasing at id verde. “With Toro’s distributor network, we will have full coverage in terms of product, service and support. It’s exactly what we need to ensure consistency in quality and performance across all of our branches.”

“Toro is an ideal partner for id verde, not only because of our presence throughout Europe, but also because of our shared values,” said Andy Brown, corporate accounts manager at The Toro Company. “Both companies have a long history of being committed to quality, environmental responsibility, customer relationships, and putting safety first. We’re looking forward to supplying id verde with the products and support they need to build on that legacy moving forward.”

According to Anthony Nadalin, senior marketing manager at The Toro Company, id verde will also benefit from Toro’s current focus on developing new products for the landscape contractor market. “Toro is investing heavily in new products so we can offer a total solution for contractors of any size, whether it’s a small independent business or a large group like id verde,” Nadalin said. “From clearing and preparing the site to landscaping and maintaining it, Toro has equipment solutions for virtually every aspect of grounds’ care. Our partnership with id verde is a real proof that Toro has the broad product portfolio that contractors can count on to get the job done right From Start to Finish.”

Beyond access to Toro’s wide portfolio of product, the partnership also relies on the network of support that Toro offers in France, Holland and the UK through its dedicated and long-term distributors in each country.

“We have processes in place throughout France to handle best-in-class parts delivery, local training and technical support” says Jean-François Larvor, commercial director at Solvert, Toro’s distributor in France. “We are here to ensure that the Toro equipment always delivers peak performance and optimal productivity to all id verde customers.”

Toro’s distributors Jean Heybroek in Holland and Reesink Turfcare UK, echo the same best in class support in their local markets.

“Toro’s strong commitment to developing innovative and safe products that yield performance, productivity as well as Toro’s relentless pursuit of eco-friendly and sustainable practices are a perfect match with id verde’s values around eco-responsibility and passion for delivering landscape beautification and maintenance.”