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Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

August 3, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years Terrain Aeration’s Terralift system celebrates 50 years of successful deep aeration treatment of bowling greens, sports turf, golf clubs, parks, trees and more. At the end of September, when bowling clubs are thinking about carrying out end of season maintenance, aeration is a concept that is thought about but rarely addressed. Scarifying, […]

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

July 30, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro Gullane Golf Club in East Lothian, which operates three championship courses, took delivery of four Turf Pro 500 robotic mowers in April following a successful trial programme with Toro and the autonomous technology specialists from Reesink Turfcare. Since then, it has seen savings of up to 40 […]

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

August 3, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

July 30, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

August 3, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Terrain Aeration’s Terralift system celebrates 50 years of successful deep aeration treatment of bowling greens, sports turf, golf clubs, parks, trees and more.

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

At the end of September, when bowling clubs are thinking about carrying out end of season maintenance, aeration is a concept that is thought about but rarely addressed. Scarifying, re-seeding, and top dressing are on the front line of the main budget planning. Forgotten are the days when games had to stop play because the ground was waterlogged. A nuisance at the time, but now is the time to bring this problem up at a committee meeting and address it.

The Terrain Aeration Scamper Terralift machine was designed 20 years ago to be able to access most bowling greens. The Scamper Terralift machine hammers a hollow probe (1 1/2″ ( 37mm width) one metre into the soil before releasing a controlled blast of compressed air, to a maximum of 20Bar/280 psi. This pressure is monitored or changed by the operator, so there is a slight movement of the top surface before the turf settles back down. Then, the operator knows that he has aerated the ground from one metre to the top surface. On the tail end of the release of compressed air, dried seaweed is incorporated which sticks to the walls of the fractures and fissures created by the main air blast.

Over a period, the seaweed expands and contracts with the moisture content of the soil, swelling and contracting – similar to breathing underground, helping to keep the fissures open longer. The machine uses 2m centre spacings on a staggered grid pattern, each shot interconnecting with the previous ones, ensuring the whole area is aerated and decompacted. The probe holes are backfilled with an aggregate, with the top 1″-2″ backfilled with normal top dressing material. Once this deep aeration treatment has taken place, it would not be required for at least another 10-12 years, so it is extremely cost-effective. Deep aeration treatment of a green takes around 5 to 6 hours. The engine/compressor unit is kept off the green with an umbilical air hose to supply the compressed air, thus reducing weight on the green as well as having to start and stop the machine every two metres.

It is preferable that the greenkeeper slits or hollow tines before the Terrain Aeration treatment, to relieve the surface tension so the air can gently blow through those top holes. The treatment can take place before top dressing and re-seed. but if ground conditions at that time deem the green too wet, then the end of season maintenance can continue and later, the Scamper Terralift can come in and aerate the green. There is enough time to fit this in before March of the following year. Terrain Aeration has at times even treated a bowling green mid-season – one had a black squidge where the bowler’s back foot was placed. If the treatment hadn’t taken place, that green would have played itself out until the end of the season. It would not have been repaired/replaced. That green survived and is going strong many years later. One club commented that after Terrain aerated their green on one of their matches, rain stopped play. They found that they could only have one pint from the bar before the green had drained away of water and play could continue.

A final point. Clubs considering laying in drains will have disruption to their green, but still have compaction panning in between the drain runs. With a track record of treating greens for over thirty years, it’s certainly worth Terrain Aeration taking a look before committing to the expense of laying drains.

Terrain Aeration works nationwide, providing deep aeration relief for waterlogging and flooding for bowling greens, sports grounds, amenity areas, golf courses, public spaces and house builders.

Terrain Aeration 01449 673783 www.terrainaeration.co.uk

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Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

July 30, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

Gullane Golf Club in East Lothian, which operates three championship courses, took delivery of four Turf Pro 500 robotic mowers in April following a successful trial programme with Toro and the autonomous technology specialists from Reesink Turfcare. Since then, it has seen savings of up to 40 labour hours every week.

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

The introduction of this new technology reinforces the club’s commitment to innovation just a year after completing a full Toro fleet refresh.

“I’m always considering what’s best for the golf course, what’s best for the golf club and what’s best for the staff,” says Paul Armour, Course Manager. “We’re constantly looking at ways to move things forward and I think this is definitely the future.

“Ten years ago I wouldn’t have believed we’d see this so soon, but the industry is facing ongoing staffing challenges and technology like this helps us use our people more effectively.”

Working overnight across 16 fairways, the autonomous mowers allow the greenkeeping team to focus on detailed course presentation and agronomic work.

“We’re saving between 30 and 40 hours a week during the growing season,” Paul confirms. “The four machines are cutting four fairways each, overnight, so the golfers never see them working.

“When we first discussed the technology, some of the team asked if it would replace greenkeepers,” he says. “The answer is absolutely not. We’re still looking for staff and, with three golf courses to maintain, we never have enough people.

“What it’s done is free our team from spending hours sitting on machines. Instead, they’re hand mowing more areas, spending more time on bunker maintenance, trimming and presentation work, and focusing on the finer details that make a difference to golfers.”

Beyond labour savings, the club is already seeing additional operational benefits. “These mowers are rotaries not cylinders, yet the quality of the cut is very good. They don’t collect the grass clippings; these are left on the surface and that’s potentially feeding the grass and improving it. Results from this will take some time but it looks like it could be another promising benefit to using these machines.”

The autonomous fleet complements the club’s wider sustainability programme, including solar-powered charging infrastructure. “We installed solar panels in 2025 and are increasingly using renewable energy to power our growing fleet of electric equipment, the Turf Pros included. This brings significant fuel savings and there’s less oil and less servicing.”

The Turf Pro fleet is currently operating across Gullane No.1, No.2 and No.3 courses, with charging stations located around the site. Following installation and mapping support from Reesink Turfcare, all four machines were operational within 10 days.

While the technology required an initial learning period, Paul says performance has exceeded expectations.

“It’s been pretty seamless,” he says. “Like anything new, there’s a learning curve, but the support from Toro and Reesink has been excellent. The team has embraced it and some of them now help manage the machines, monitor schedules and look after the fleet, which increases their skill set.”

Discover how Toro autonomous and robotic solutions could benefit your course by calling distributor Reesink Turfcare at 01480 226800, emailing info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk or visiting reesinkturfcare.co.uk.

For the latest industry news visit turfmatters.co.uk/news

Get all of the big headlines, pictures, opinions and videos on stories that matter to you.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for fun, fresh and engaging content.

You can also find us on Facebook for more of your must-see news, features, videos and pictures from Turf Matters

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Terrain Aeration celebrates 50 years

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

Gullane reclaims 40 hours a week using Toro

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