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John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

August 25, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham The course managers at Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham & St Annes have praised the monumental effort from volunteers and staff in executing The Open Championship and the AIG Women’s Open over an intense fortnight. John Deere and local dealer Turner Groundscare provided additional machines, technicians, […]

More Than Mowing

August 25, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

More Than Mowing As labour pressures and tighter maintenance windows continue to shape grounds care, getting more useful working hours from every machine is becoming increasingly important. As autumn arrives and morning dew becomes a familiar sight across golf courses and sports pitches, grounds teams face a familiar challenge. Daylight hours become shorter, but the […]

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

August 25, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

More Than Mowing

August 25, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

August 25, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

The course managers at Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham & St Annes have praised the monumental effort from volunteers and staff in executing The Open Championship and the AIG Women’s Open over an intense fortnight.

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

John Deere and local dealer Turner Groundscare provided additional machines, technicians, and training for the two courses to ensure preparations were perfect, while dozens of volunteer greenkeepers descended on the venues to support.

Both clubs are established John Deere customers, but for the strict timescales required for televised tournament golf, they benefitted from additional resources to prepare for the events.

The Open Championship – Royal Birkdale

Birkdale’s Course Manager, Sean McLean, has worked Opens before, but this was his first in charge.

“It’s been years in the planning with John Deere, talking about what machinery would be needed, how we were going to work it, and how many volunteers we needed,” he said.

For tournament week, Birkdale’s regular team of 16 swelled to around 45, with volunteers drawn from other Open venues, among others.

Tee times started at 6.30am on Thursday and Friday, so the crew was on course from 4am with seven John Deere 8000AE fairway mowers and seven 2775 E-cut greens mowers deployed simultaneously to get everything ready before the first drive.

The standout addition for Sean was the John Deere 2775 E-Cut. Birkdale took delivery of two of the new electric triple riding mowers just months before The Open, specifically to have them ready for championship week. They were cutting greens, tees and surrounds.

“The staff really enjoyed using the electric mowers,” Sean said. “It’s less noise, and the finish they provided was ideal for what we needed for The Open Championship.”

Dealer Turner Groundscare arrived on site around five weeks before the tournament to begin machine preparation alongside Birkdale’s own workshop team. They supported with key tasks such as servicing, sharpening, setting bottom blades, and dialling in roller settings. During championship week a dealer technician was present full-time.

“For the week before and the week of the tournament we had a Turner Groundscare technician here pretty much all day, every day. Even outside of tournaments, the dealer provides very good support for us,” he said.

John Deere’s own staff from its Langar headquarters in Nottinghamshire also arrived on site to work with the greenkeeping team and dozens of volunteers. They provided on-site training for anyone who was not familiar with John Deere machinery, ensuring everyone was up to speed before championship week began.

“It was invaluable to have help with training for all the volunteers that might not have seen these machines before. That support made a real difference,” Sean added.

Fresh from seeing New Zealander Ryan Fox close out his first major championship, the team moved up to Royal Lytham & St Annes for the AIG Women’s Open.

AIG Women’s Open

Royal Lytham’s Course Manager Paul Smith began preparations for hosting the Women’s Open years in advance, making sure the course is ready to host the world’s very best players.

“It takes a lot of planning, hard work, dedication, and professionalism to maintain and manage a well prepared and conditioned course all year round, which is never that far away from being the best it can be,” he said.

John Deere has been instrumental in supporting Royal Lytham & St Annes in hosting every major championship since 2001, over time proving to be a very beneficial relationship in helping the greenkeeping team plan, learn and develop from each competition.

“Having John Deere and Turner Groundscare present and supporting on site provided us with an added level of assurance, knowing that any problems would be addressed promptly, ensuring the continued smooth running of the operation throughout,” said Paul. “John Deere worked closely with the club’s mechanic and lead ensuring that we delivered the very best.”

An extensive fleet of John Deere machinery was deployed on all areas of the Championship course, made up of eleven 2775 greens mowers, six 8000AE fairway mowers, and eight TE Gators, with over 30 greenkeepers operating the machines – double the amount of Royal Lytham’s regular team.

“The feedback on the performance and quality of the John Deere machines was recognised widely from not just the professionals who operated the machinery, but also by the elite players testing their game on the surfaces that the machines helped refine.”

The extra machinery and dealer back up made the difference when combined with additional greenkeepers volunteering for the event.

“Delivering a modern-day championship is reliant on the support of an adequately sized, professional and skilled team,” said Paul. “The level of planning, organising, and directing is maintained at a high level throughout, with data collection and course preparation critique positively influencing informed decision making, helping to deliver the marginal gains in all areas for the course to be at its very best.

“A major championship is only ever achievable by having this high level of support, backup, and knowledge in all areas, but particularly the machinery element that John Deere and Turner Groundscare provided.”

While hot and dry conditions made it an especially difficult year for greenkeeping in the build-up to the tournament – which was won by Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki – Paul praises his team and the support team for delivering a successful championship.

“The challenges were exacerbated by the difficult conditions but ensuring that the course and the competition was a success was the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and professionalism by an outstanding team.

“Our support team were also fantastic and made the championship that bit more special.”

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More Than Mowing

August 25, 2026/in News, Press Release/by Admin

More Than Mowing

As labour pressures and tighter maintenance windows continue to shape grounds care, getting more useful working hours from every machine is becoming increasingly important.

More Than Mowing

As autumn arrives and morning dew becomes a familiar sight across golf courses and sports pitches, grounds teams face a familiar challenge. Daylight hours become shorter, but the list of jobs rarely does.

Before the first tee time or match, dew may need clearing, grass needs cutting and driving ranges require ball collection. For teams already working with limited labour and narrow maintenance windows, fitting everything into the day can place considerable pressure on both people and equipment.

It also raises a simple question when facilities invest in automation: once an autonomous mower has finished cutting, what does it do next?

The FJD Rough Ranger has been developed around the idea that one robotic platform can remain productive beyond mowing. At its core, it is an autonomous mower designed for demanding turf environments, while interchangeable attachments allow the same machine to take on other routine jobs as priorities change.

That versatility starts with capable mowing. Golf course roughs and facility surrounds can present slopes, uneven ground, dense grass and obstacles. The Rough Ranger combines a front suspension chassis with a floating cutting deck, helping it remain stable on uneven terrain and follow ground contours for a more consistent cut with less turf scalping. It can operate on working slopes of up to 20°.

But its working day can begin before mowing starts.

On an autumn morning, the Rough Ranger can be fitted with a three-section dew brush spanning 2,930 mm. Working ahead of play, it can clear dew from the turf, while automatic lifting and folding allow the brush to retract during turns and manoeuvring around obstacles.

Dew brushing is a simple but repetitive and time-sensitive task. Moving it to an autonomous platform can free experienced staff to focus on work that requires more judgement and attention.

Once dew removal or mowing is complete, the same machine does not have to return to the shed. With the ball-picking attachment fitted, it can move to the driving range and collect up to 3,000 golf balls per hour, returning automatically to the unloading area when its basket is full.

In practical terms, one machine can begin work before golfers arrive, move on to mowing during the maintenance window and later continue working on the driving range.

That is the real value of a multi-functional robotic platform. The point is not simply how many attachments can be fitted to the same machine, but how much of the working day it can remain useful.

Other attachments can extend the platform into tasks such as sports-pitch line marking and the collection of grass clippings, leaves and light debris, giving facilities additional flexibility as requirements change.

Autonomous navigation uses RTK fused with LiDAR to build a 3D terrain map, helping the Rough Ranger operate in challenging areas such as under trees or around obstacles. Real-time LiDAR obstacle detection adds another layer of support for autonomous operation.

For grounds managers, this changes the conversation around automation. The question is no longer only how much labour an autonomous mower can save while cutting grass, but how much useful work the same machine can complete across the rest of the day.

For teams under pressure to maintain standards with limited time and resources, keeping one machine productive across different tasks can be as important as autonomy itself.

The thinking behind the FJD Rough Ranger is straightforward: rather than using robotics for one job at a time, make better use of the robotic platform already on site.

Doing more does not always mean having more machines. Sometimes, it simply means getting more from each one.

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)

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

More Than Mowing

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

More Than Mowing

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

John Deere supports back-to-back championships at Birkdale and Lytham

More Than Mowing

More Than Mowing

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