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Picture-perfect course at Killarney

February 11, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Parratt

Picture-perfect course at Killarney: At Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, presentation is everything. With breathtaking views out over Lough Leane and the undulating Killarney National Park beyond, players come from all over the world to experience the two, 18-hole Killeen and Mahony’s Point courses. It’s a club steeped in 129 years of history which includes […]

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

February 11, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge: After trialling various tractor mounted scarifiers, Steven Harvey, Head Greenkeeper at Stourbridge Golf Course, concluded that the SISIS Veemo MK 2 was by far the most suitable for his fairways. Stourbridge Golf Club in the West Midlands was formed in 1892 progressing from the original 9 holes laid out […]

Picture-perfect course at Killarney

February 11, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Parratt

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

February 11, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Picture-perfect course at Killarney

February 11, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Louise Parratt

Picture-perfect course at Killarney: At Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, presentation is everything.

With breathtaking views out over Lough Leane and the undulating Killarney National Park beyond, players come from all over the world to experience the two, 18-hole Killeen and Mahony’s Point courses.

Picture-perfect course at Killarney

It’s a club steeped in 129 years of history which includes hosting the Irish Open four times, with Nick Faldo winning in 1991 and 1992, Ross Fisher in 2010, and Simon Dyson in 2011.

With such rich heritage and high expectations, the greenkeeping team has to maintain the highest possible standards to satisfy the 500-plus golfers who could arrive to play at the complex during its busiest days of the year.

Enda Murphy is in charge of the 18-strong team responsible for presenting the course. He’s in his 30^th year working at the club after joining as an apprentice from school.

“I completed a four-year apprenticeship in Killarney and then worked a year at Wayzata Country Club near Minneapolis in the States,” he explained.

“It was wealthy club with 28 greenkeepers for one 18-hole course, but what struck me was how neat and tidy the whole place was. The machinery sheds were immaculate – everything was organised and every machine had its place with a back-up machine in reserve too.

“I thought the whole attention to detail was amazing and something I wanted to bring back to Killarney.”

Enda became head greenkeeper in 2013 and takes immense pride in setting up a course which will live up to members’ and visitors’ expectations.

“It’s all about the location here – when you’re out on the course on a beautiful spring morning there is no better place,” he said. “When every hole is neat, tidy and looking sharp, that’s what it all about and what we strive to achieve.”

Being such a popular destination for visiting players while keeping the large playing membership happy is not without its challenges.

Enda says he has 1.7 metres of annual rainfall, a herd of 40 Irish Red Deer, and a constant procession of players to contend with, plus the environmental responsibility of maintaining a course so close to the iconic Irish lakes.

“We have a high level of play which creates compaction, wear and tear, he said. “Having lots of rain on a busy course is also a challenge but we have to keep golfers happy – we have strong competition from the other fantastic courses in Ireland.”

Last year Killarney’s members’ council – with the support of the membership – put pen to paper on a new fleet deal to replace its aging mowers and other course machinery.

“It came to a point last summer when greens mowers were breaking down on the morning of a competition, and the back-up machines were cutting tees because the tees mowers had broken,” Enda said.

“We were working on fairway mowers that were 10 or 15 years old and the repairs were starting to cost more than what the machines were worth, so a change was definitely needed.”

Enda and his team are familiar with a number of brands and researched prices and specifications as part of the purchasing process, but decided to stay loyal to John Deere as their mowers and utility vehicles had served the course well for a long time.

For cutting they purchased two new 7700A fairway mowers with rear roller power brushes, two 2750E hybrid greens mowers with tender conditioners and 14-blade reels, and two 2750PC mowers for tees and surrounds. The club also took a new 1570 front rotary mower with 72-inch deck and a 9009A for tackling the rough.

For full course maintenance the new fleet also included a 2030A with ARC HD200 sprayer, three TS Gators and a 4066R compact tractor.

“A big factor in the decision was that we have a dealer on the doorstep in Seamus Weldon so parts, sales and servicing is right here which is really convenient,” Enda said.

“They are good machines but if something goes wrong I can get a new part in 10 mins and get the machine back up and running in no time. That’s really important for us here on a busy course where we need to get the job done and be out of the way so golfers can enjoy their game.”

So far Enda is delighted with the new fleet – purchased using John Deere Finance – and so is his team.

“When you’re going out and everything is working it’s just a pleasure to do the job. The team gets frustrated when something takes too long and things break down – we’re just trying to get everything done to a high standard and then move on as quickly as possible.

“You can really notice the difference in the quality of cut and the reliability of the new machines. We now want to get into a rhythm of replacing them every five years, ideally.

“Bookings for the summer are looking really strong so it’s going to be another busy year as we, hopefully, come out of covid and look forward to welcoming players to Killarney.”

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Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

February 11, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Lucy Nicholls

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge: After trialling various tractor mounted scarifiers, Steven Harvey, Head Greenkeeper at Stourbridge Golf Course, concluded that the SISIS Veemo MK 2 was by far the most suitable for his fairways.

Stourbridge Golf Club in the West Midlands was formed in 1892 progressing from the original 9 holes laid out on the former Pedmore racecourse to 18 holes in 1909. The basic outline of that course remains today, and marks somewhat of a divide according to Steven.

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

“There are essentially two halves to the course,” he said. “The old common ground at the bottom where the racecourse used to be and then you have more of a parkland course at the top. It really is chalk and cheese.

“It is also a small course; in fact, it was once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as being the course with the ‘longest yardage over the smallest acreage’. Being a small plot of land to look after, it comes with both positives and benefits.”

Steve oversees a team of four members of staff and full credit must be given to the team for achieving a course which is highly praised by members and visitors alike.

With a humble budget and unfavourable weather conditions to work with, Steve claims that he is always looking at new methods to achieve best results and over recent years, he has largely focussed on the fairways.

“Historically our non-irrigated surfaces such as the fairways do tend to struggle and fail to hold on to moisture. No work has ever really taken place on the fairways other than slitting so they are heavy on organic matter. When it is hot, they really do bake and we have lost a lot of grasses, particularly the fescues.

“A couple of years ago, knowing that we wanted to scarify the fairways, we begged, and borrowed machines just to get the ball rolling,” he continued. “However, the problem always came on the undulating common land and whichever machine we used, it basically scalped them, didn’t hit the low spots and was very hit and miss. But we knew that if we had the right one then it would help us achieve exactly what we wanted to.

“Then we came across the SISIS Veemo.”

The SISIS Veemo MK 2 is a tractor-mounted scarifier used for removing thatch from large areas of turf, such as golf course fairways. The Veemo’s strong cutting blades are designed for minimum surface disturbance and maximum thatch removal via three floating heads which are independent from the main frame. The heads each move in all degrees of motion and follow any undulations of the ground on a fairway without any danger of damaging / scalping the turf, whilst the tungsten tipped hook blades with variable spacing cut effectively through the thatch layer.

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

“The Veemo simply stood out from all the others – mainly for its durability and the way it hugs the ground, particularly on the fairways on the bottom half of the course.” said Steve. “It is fantastic the way it hits every part of the surface we want it to hit, due to the floating heads. The way it connects to the back of the tractor is also so simple.

“It is well built, and I can’t envisage any issues with damage or maintenance. The Veemo basically does everything we want it to do.

“We use the Veemo anytime between March and November, and the beauty of it is that not only can I use it on the fairways, but I can get it onto our tees and the approaches as well. I’m also going to be looking to use it on the greens very soon, and I think it will do a great job. I want to use it to its maximum capability.

“Overall, I’m very impressed with the Veemo and we are seeing the improvements from using it already.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com

For more news, reviews and insightful views, you can follow SISIS on Twitter and Instagram @SISISMachinery and like the company’s Facebook page – www.facebook.com/SISISMachinery. You can also view the latest SISIS videos by visiting www.youtube.com/SISISMachinery

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)

Picture-perfect course at Killarney

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

Picture-perfect course at Killarney

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Picture-perfect course at Killarney

Picture-perfect course at Killarney: At Killarney Golf and Fishing Club, presentation is everything.

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge

Veemo hits the spot at Stourbridge: After trialling various tractor mounted scarifiers, Steven Harvey, Head Greenkeeper at Stourbridge Golf Course, concluded that the SISIS Veemo MK 2 was by far the most suitable for his fairways.

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