E J Churchill takes on the Polaris Ranger XP Kinetic

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E J Churchill takes on the Polaris Ranger XP Kinetic: The prestigious shooting grounds, E J Churchill, situated on the West Wycombe Estate of the Dashwood family, has recently added the Polaris Ranger XP Kinetic to its fleet of vehicles.

Built upon a century of heritage and excellence, E.J. Churchill is one of the finest gunmakers in the world. Today, they are the largest British-owned gunmaker, celebrated for crafting bespoke guns that seamlessly blend cutting-edge innovation with the timeless attributes of traditional craftsmanship, ensuring unrivalled reliability, quality, and elegance.

E J Churchill takes on the Polaris Ranger XP Kinetic

E J Churchill takes on the Polaris Ranger XP Kinetic

The 125-year-old British-owned company took on Polaris Rangers over a decade ago to help manage the most prestigious clay pigeon shooting ground in England. Spanning over 35 acres, E J Churchill needed a fleet of versatile vehicles that could be used to facilitate the general day-to-day management of all client sporting needs. Now in 2024, they have expanded this fleet to include the all-electric RANGER XP Kinetic.

Just like its combustion engine counterparts, the RANGER XP Kinetic is responsible for ensuring the shooting grounds are in tip-top condition and ready for various shoots E J Churchill hosts throughout the year. This includes restocking, servicing, and moving circa 300 promatic traps, all made easier by the Kinetic’s industry-leading instantaneous torque and impressive towing capacity.

The Ranger XP offers silent operation while at work, preserving the serenity of the shooting grounds while ensuring the groundskeepers can tend to the estate.

Rob Fenwick, Managing Director of E.J. Churchill Group Ltd, said: “For E.J. Churchill, it comes down to reliability, as our groundskeepers need a vehicle that can serve them day in and day out to keep things running smoothly. Polaris vehicles have continued to provide this to us for over 10 years.”

In addition to its role on the E J Churchills shooting grounds, the Ranger XP Kinetic has been lending a helping hand to the wider West Wycombe Estate, checking on the estate and clearing the grounds to ensure they are ready for shooting. With varying terrain across the whole estate, the Ranger XP Kinetic has proved more than capable.

James Norfolk, Head Gamekeeper, said: “It is the first electric vehicle that I have been impressed by. It’s a very agile, quiet machine that is ideal for looking after the estate. The strength of the machine with its instant acceleration is great for those more challenging tasks.

“The areas of the wider estate are open to the public, so it’s been great to be able to go about the day without disturbing the serene beauty of the grounds.”

Pushing the industry forward, the Ranger XP Kinetic is available in UK dealerships in both Premium and Ultimate trims. The Premium trim has a 14.9kWh battery offering up to a 45-mile range, whereas the Ultimate has a battery capacity of 29.8 kWh with a higher estimated range of 80 miles. Both models deliver unparalleled power and quick acceleration thanks to the 110-horsepower all-electric powertrain and 140lb-ft. of instantaneous torque. With an industry-leading towing capacity of 1,134kg and a payload capacity of 680kg, the Ranger XP Kinetic sets a new standard for off-road vehicles.

For more information on the Polaris RANGER XP Kinetic visit www.polarisbritain.com.

For further information, please contact us or call the Polaris UK Press Office on +44 (0) 1525 270 100.

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Terrain Aeration scores with Hallam Grange

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Terrain Aeration scores with Hallam Grange: Hallam Grange Bowling Club has its roots in a tennis and sports club dating back a hundred years. Located to the west of the vibrant city of Sheffield, today’s club draws enthusiasts of all ages and levels with first-class facilities and until recently the bowling green was no exception.

Well maintained and meticulously taken care of by a small number of members and led by volunteer green keeper, Martin Westley, the green had begun to suffer after last winter and the exceptionally wet build-up into spring. It was known the green was originally constructed on an area used for spoils from house building many years ago and the only drainage was in the gutters around the edge.

Terrain Aeration scores with Hallam Grange

Terrain Aeration scores with Hallam Grange

“Usually, we have a smooth, even, and top-quality surface,” says Martin, “but last winter was so very wet and we started to get pooling across the green. We have done regular vertidraining down to about twelve inches, but each time there’s heavy rain we have standing water. We were certain the combination of the original foundation of the green and sixty plus years of play had led to compaction at depth and lack of drainage.”

Martin did some research to see what was available to solve the problem. He came across Terrain Aeration and spoke to other clubs whose greens had been treated as long as fifteen years ago and were still draining freely.

The Terrain Aeration Terralift system works on the principle of a probe drilling down to a metre depth and releasing compressed air at a maximum of 20Bar (280psi). This fractures and fissures the soil to allow drainage. On the tail end of the blast, dried, milled seaweed is injected. Over time, the seaweed expands and contracts in the soil, similar to ‘breathing’ underground, to help keep the fractures open. The probe is removed, and the process repeated using two-metre centre spacings on a staggered grid pattern. This grid ensures that each probe shot links with the previous ones. Terrain Aeration says the long-term solution leaves little surface disruption and allows immediate play after treatment. That was certainly the case for Hallam Grange. Martin says, “Terrain Aeration arrived at ten in the morning and worked through to about three in the afternoon, and you couldn’t really tell where they had been. We played a league match at six-thirty the same day.”

Terrain Aeration www.terrainaeration.co.uk  01449 673783

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Baroness fleet a ‘gamechanger’ for Southwick Park

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Baroness fleet a ‘gamechanger’ for Southwick Park: Built up over the last six years, a fleet of eight mowers from Baroness have played a pivotal role in the significant improvements in course condition at Southwick Park Golf Club.

Attaining a consistent and outstanding quality of cut in conditions described as a ‘grass factory’ by Course Manager Jim Fancey isn’t easy, but it’s what he says they’re achieving day-in, day-out with their suite of ride-on and pedestrian mowers.

Baroness fleet a ‘gamechanger’ for Southwick Park

Baroness fleet a ‘gamechanger’ for Southwick Park

The course, widely regarded as ‘Hampshire’s Hidden Gem’, is located in the countryside on the outskirts of Portsmouth though for Jim – who has been with the club for the last nine years – things haven’t always been plain sailing! “When I joined the club, I was faced with a shed full of archaic and underperforming machinery” he explains “which was costing the club in terms of downtime, repair bills and what we could realistically achieve results-wise. When we were able to look at investing in new equipment, a triple greens mower was high on the priority list and that’s where our relationship with Baroness began six years ago. We’ve not looked back since!”

Jim’s first purchase was an LM315 triple greens mower which has since been joined by a second LM315, together with an LM331 for use on surrounds, an LM551B fairway mower, a GM2810A five-deck rotary mower and, most recently, another LM56GC pedestrian cylinder mower to add to the two previously purchased.

“Baroness talk a lot about both the quality of cut and how the units stay on-cut better than the competitors and they’re true to their word” Jim says. “Our site is a bit of a grass factory and our fleet cope with this vigorous growth, staying on-cut and incredibly sharp – saving the club thousands of pounds every year on re-grinding fees. They’re robustly built, reliable and intuitive to operate.” He continues, “The GM2810A in particular has proven incredibly versatile. You can change the cutting height in a matter of minutes meaning that when worm casts appear in the winter months, we can quickly adjust the height and rotary cut fairways to give us the presentation we need without the issue of blunting cylinder blades on the LM551.”

When it comes to winter, Jim is now well placed to weather the challenges posed by softer ground conditions with a trio of LM56GC pedestrian mowers. “These have been an absolute gamechanger for us, delivering a fantastic cut and finish on the greens, tees and approaches.” He adds, “We’ll also use the LM56 machines for tournament preparation to give us that extra finishing touch.”

“The club, the management, the players have all noticed the site-wide improvements and, for us, we’ve demonstrated how quality machinery makes all the difference. We also can’t praise Adam Butler and Luke Collins from Baroness, and the team at Lister Wilders, enough for their fantastic support and back-up which has always been second to none.”

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