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Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

May 20, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers: Nicklaus-designed, the Santa Maria golf club is a private club in Panama City, opened in 2012. Managed by Troon Privé, Santa Maria also includes a five star Luxury Collection by Marriott hotel. Panama is a tropical climate, and this caused challenges for the club’s maintenance crew, especially given the large area […]

LX builds on Kubota legacy

May 19, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Jane Carley

LX builds on Kubota legacy: An ongoing programme of improvements is reaping rewards for Old Fold Manor Golf Club in Hertfordshire, with Kubota’s latest LX compact tractor tasked with helping to manage the impressive workload. Established 110 years ago, the club has 400 members and a burgeoning academy and junior section. The Par 71 parkland […]

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

May 20, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

LX builds on Kubota legacy

May 19, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Jane Carley

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Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

May 20, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Adam Lawrence

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers: Nicklaus-designed, the Santa Maria golf club is a private club in Panama City, opened in 2012. Managed by Troon Privé, Santa Maria also includes a five star Luxury Collection by Marriott hotel.

Panama is a tropical climate, and this caused challenges for the club’s maintenance crew, especially given the large area of bunkers on the course, which total 150,000 square feet of sand. “Panama City receives a great amount of rainfall, particularly between the months of May and December, leading to sand washouts in the bunkers,” says general manager José Ignacio Olea. “Since the opening of the golf course, the frequent washouts have led to maintenance difficulties. Therefore, we needed to take action and, not only improve the bunkers, but change the style of bunkers and simplifying their maintenance, guaranteeing an overall improvement on the conditions and enhancing the playability.”

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

Santa Maria’s management resolved to install a new liner to the bunkers. “We teamed up with Troon Golf, Nicklaus Design and Capillary Concrete to discuss the options available, including the concept, the scope, the construction methods, technical assessment,” says Olea. “Capillary Bunkers was suggested and supported by Troon Golf, which has been involved in a number of bunker renovation projects, so its experience, coupled with the vision and expertise of the golf course designer, Troy Vincent, paved the path to the selection of the Capillary Bunkers. On its side, Capillary Bunkers has always been very accommodating and approachable when discussing the options, visiting the project and validating the quality of the product that was provided locally.”

Mexican contractor Roca Golf handled the installation. “After seeing the first few holes finished, the result is impressive, and we are extremely confident with Roca Golf and their ability to translate the vision of the architect into the final product,” says Olea. “We believe that Santa María is the best golf club in Panama and we try to stay ahead and provide the best golfing experience to our members and their guests throughout the year. We trust our partners and their expertise, and we are confident on the fact that our neighbour courses will be watching us, and it is just a matter of time that they embark themselves into the same solution. Our members are extremely pleased with the new look. We have had some rains and the bunkers have taken it very well, considering that the sand is not fully compacted yet.”

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LX builds on Kubota legacy

May 19, 2022/in News, Press Release/by Jane Carley

LX builds on Kubota legacy: An ongoing programme of improvements is reaping rewards for Old Fold Manor Golf Club in Hertfordshire, with Kubota’s latest LX compact tractor tasked with helping to manage the impressive workload.

Established 110 years ago, the club has 400 members and a burgeoning academy and junior section.

LX builds on Kubota legacy

The Par 71 parkland course is mainly on clay which receives plenty of care and attention from course manager Mark Burniston and his team to maintain standards and keep up with a busy programme of in house and outside competitions, with a round of the Clutch Pro Tour and a PGA event among this year’s highlights.

“We’ve had Kubota tractors for many years,” explains Mark, “and some seven years ago added an STV-40 compact. We found it offered much more power for its weight compared to our old L5740, which is still doing good service, and was ideal to use on the greens.”

This year, a new LX-401, which has replaced the ST series in Kubota’s range, joined the armoury and is deployed for eight hours a day, on at least five days a week.

“We use compact tractors for blowing on roughs and fairways, plus we’re spraying once or twice a week,” explains Mark. “Then we have three ‘maintenance weeks’ a year when we can be spreading up to 60 tonnes of sand spreading on greens, approaches and tees, and using a Pro Core, along with monthly sand spreading and coring.”

“The LX is perfect for this as it has lots of power and will help us to keep up; I haven’t seen anything else on the market to compare.”

The 40hp LX-401 has a three-range hydrostatic transmission for easy operation which has proved popular with the club.

“It’s so convenient to drive around the course, and the cruise control is ideal to set a speed for work such as verti-draining and spraying. New features on the LX such as an A/B switch to preselect engine revs also save fuel and wear on the engine when moving between greens,” comments Mark.

He adds that the simplicity of operation makes it ideal for any of the six-man greenkeeping team to get on the tractor and carry out any task required.

“We like the ROPS platform too, it’s much easier to get on and off to refill the top dresser or remove and replace a flag when you are spraying.”

Mark comments that the ST has proved to be highly reliable and will be retained for other work.

“We have our own fitter, but George Browns carry out annual servicing; their salesman David Fisher has provided excellent back up and was able to source the LX very promptly when the committee agreed the purchase.”

Ongoing drainage work is being undertaken to help the course deal with the increasingly unpredictable weather, while it has also benefited from a new irrigation system. Developments are also catering for a new generation of golfer, Mark explains.

“We have a three-hole academy course that has been built on former wasteland, the junior section is being developed by one of the pro team, and we’ve rebuilt the driving range, so there’s plenty of opportunity for new golfers to develop their confidence and skills ready to go out on course. It’s an exciting time for the club, and it’s great to be well equipped to meet the demand.”

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)

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

LX builds on Kubota legacy

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

LX builds on Kubota legacy

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers

Panamanian club installs Capillary Bunkers: Nicklaus-designed, the Santa Maria golf club is a private club in Panama City, opened in 2012. Managed by Troon Privé, Santa Maria also includes a five star Luxury Collection by Marriott hotel.

LX builds on Kubota legacy

LX builds on Kubota legacy: An ongoing programme of improvements is reaping rewards for Old Fold Manor Golf Club in Hertfordshire, with Kubota’s latest LX compact tractor tasked with helping to manage the impressive workload.

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