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Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane

June 10, 2025/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Admin

Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane: A sustainable relationship is one that is easy to maintain and doesn’t feel like hard work – and that’s certainly something Gullane Golf Club, one of Scotland’s most prestigious members clubs, and Toro know something about as their relationship nears its third decade. The reason for this enduring and […]

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

June 9, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf: In drought conditions, compacted turf is your worst enemy. It seals the surface, blocking irrigation water from reaching roots, and accelerating turf stress. Then when it does rain, you get a surface full of puddles that eventually evaporate off with little benefit to the turf roots. Regular […]

Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane

June 10, 2025/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Admin

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

June 9, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane

June 10, 2025/in Machinery, News, Press Release/by Admin

Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane: A sustainable relationship is one that is easy to maintain and doesn’t feel like hard work – and that’s certainly something Gullane Golf Club, one of Scotland’s most prestigious members clubs, and Toro know something about as their relationship nears its third decade.

The reason for this enduring and continued success is, according to the club, down to the attention to detail the machinery provides in creating the best possible conditions for the fast-draining Scottish links microclimate.

Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane

Course Manager Paul Armour, who has been at the club for 20 months but is aware of the ‘Toro effect’ from his time as Supervisor on the Old Course at St Andrews, explains why the relationship has stood the test of time: “The quality of product and the brand’s obvious role as the market leader are instrumental. But it’s as much the relationship with Reesink Scotland too which has been built up over time and works well for both Toro and Gullane.”

As the club receives its latest fleet order there’s an obvious focus on sustainable machinery to align with the club’s overall ethos says Paul: “Gullane as a club strives to be as sustainable as possible, whether that is reducing diesel use or recycling materials onsite. The plan is to have as many electric machines as possible and for all our hand mowers, utility vehicles and triplexes to be electric in the next couple of years.”

It’s a plan already well in play. Three years ago, the club invested in five Toro Workman GTX Lithium utility vehicles and has been so impressed with their performance it has invested in another four bringing it to a total of nine.

Paul explains how they have proved themselves so thoroughly in that time: “The GTX machines have been a massive success here at Gullane. They have coped well with the terrain, and we have found them useful for most tasks thanks to being able to load the back and tow. That covers most jobs we throw at them such as transporting raking bunkers, changing holes, pulling greens and tees mower trailers, divoting fairways and building bunkers – and they have an impressive longevity of charge.”

Similarly, the club’s five all-electric Toro Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 greensmowers collection is about to become eight. Paul says the obvious answer as to why he’s almost doubling the numbers of this machine is the minimal noise.

“With the golf course bordering the village these machines have meant we can be more efficient earlier in the morning,” he says. “Plus, we save on fuel, but still get the same quality of cut as a diesel mower.”

Neil Mackenzie from Toro distributor Reesink Scotland says: “The Toro’s Greensmaster eTriFlex 3370 with its lithium-ion battery was first to market and we’re seeing its popularity increasing year on year as clubs embrace the benefits of running a much quieter greens mower with zero exhaust emissions and no hydraulic fluid. With these mowers a burst hose is a thing of the past and lower maintenance costs come as standard.”

Despite the increase in fleet numbers of battery powered equipment, there’s little infrastructure accommodations that have had to be made confirms Paul: “We haven’t had to change too much in the shed. We’ve added individual charging points for each machine just in case we have any points trip, but that’s just a contingency.”

These sustainable machinery choices form part of a bigger sustainability plan as Paul explains: “The long-term plan is to cover as much of our electric costs as possible with the installation of solar panels on the equipment shed. We’re in discussions about that now.”

It appears the long-term plan is to continue sustaining its relationship with Reesink too, as Paul concludes: “I’ve really enjoyed building a relationship with Reesink. Our sales representative Neil Mackenzie has been great to deal with, he keeps in touch with any queries or issues that may arise, and the servicing and parts teams are great too, always available when I need them and on the other end of the phone.”

That certainly defines a sustainable relationship!

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

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How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

June 9, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf: In drought conditions, compacted turf is your worst enemy. It seals the surface, blocking irrigation water from reaching roots, and accelerating turf stress. Then when it does rain, you get a surface full of puddles that eventually evaporate off with little benefit to the turf roots.

Regular surface aeration is therefore crucial, and GreenTek has a wide range of specialised equipment to help with this. Here we will look at the various options in detail.

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

Sarel Rolling

This is a long-proven technique, using spiked rollers to prick through the turf surface and enable entry of air, water, wetting agents, and nutrients into the root-zone. GreenTek offers three Sarel-Roller options:

Triplex mounted

The Thatch-Away Supa-System units take a wide range of interchangeable turf maintenance attachments including Sarel-Roller Cassettes. The three separate units give a working width of 1.5m, which combined with the greensmower’s speed and manoeuvrability makes this the most popular option for the majority of golf clubs.

Tractor mounted

Some golf clubs, and also other sports clubs, prefer to operate their Sarel-Roller on the back of a compact tractor or utility vehicle like the Pro Gator or Workman. The popular 1.6m Tractor Mounted Sarel-Roller is ideal for greens and tees.

However, for larger areas such as golf fairways, and sports complexes with multiple pitches, the Multi-Sarel is ideal. Its three hydraulically folding units give a massive 5.4m working width, enabling 18 fairways or multiple pitches to be sarel-rolled in just a matter of hours.

Alternatives for extreme conditions

If your golf greens have got so hard that not even sarel-rollers will penetrate, there are two further options from GreenTek’s Dynamics range to help solve your problem.

Dyna-Spiker

The Dyna-Spiker units fit to your greens triplex and have extra long slitting spikes which are powerfully driven into the turf. The mower’s hydraulic or electric motors drive an eccentric camshaft, causing the spikes to vibrate and penetrate deep into the surface, breaking open compaction and allowing entry for vital water, wetting agents, and nutrients.

Dyna-Corer

The other member of the Dynamics range, the Dyna-Corer units, also fit to your greens triplex, and these have a punch action with interchangeable tines. Most commonly used with hollow core tines for year-round micro-coring and thatch removal, in dry weather these can be swapped for solid needle tines to open the surface up without disturbance.

Survival

The key to surviving drought conditions is to take action quickly! Don’t wait till your grass is dying before you act. Opening up the surface is an immediate priority. Then when heavy rain does inevitably come, your surfaces will drain freely without puddles, and the turf roots will get maximum benefit form the precious water.

Maintaining an open surface through the summer protects your turf health, and saves the need for extensive remedial and reseeding work later in the season.

GreenTek provides a full range of aeration equipment which can be viewed here.

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)

Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Sustainable relationship and machinery for Gullane

How to Stop Surface Compaction Killing Your Turf

Sarel Rolling

Triplex mounted

Tractor mounted

Alternatives for extreme conditions

Dyna-Spiker

Dyna-Corer

Survival

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