Tag Archive for: Club

DLF helps Bristol Golf Club create the right first impression

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DLF helps Bristol Golf Club create the right first impression: Despite a year of challenging weather, Bristol Golf Club has seen a remarkable improvement in its playing surfaces and overall visitor experience thanks to innovative seed solutions from DLF.

The team, led by Course Manager Dave Taylor, introduced Johnsons J 4Turf 50 across all 27 tees in early 2025 which has gone on to demonstrate outstanding resilience and strong performance, coping with the pressures of a busy championship course.

DLF helps Bristol Golf Club create the right first impression

DLF helps Bristol Golf Club create the right first impression

With far reaching views across the Severn Estuary into Wales, Bristol Golf Club boasts an 18-hole Championship Course, a 9-hole Par 3 and 18-bay driving range alongside a whole host of other practice facilities and corporate grounds. Seeking to deliver lasting improvements on and off the course for the last eight years is Dave Taylor who turned to DLF Regional Technical Manager Ian Barnett to tackle some particularly problematic areas prone to wear, disease and drought.

“We’re an incredibly busy site, with high levels of foot traffic on the tees which also don’t all have the benefit of full irrigation” Dave explains. “Because of this I spoke with Ian about a harder-wearing mix, that would germinate quickly and tolerate the challenges of footfall and less than ideal weather conditions.” The solution came in the form of J 4Turf 50 from the Johnsons Sports Seed range. The 50/50 blend of diploid perennial and tetraploid perennial ryegrass ensures rapid establishment even under low soil temperatures and creates a deep-rooting, disease-resistant sward.

DLF helps Bristol Golf Club create the right first impression

DLF helps Bristol Golf Club create the right first impression

“Even in the extreme weather, the results we’ve seen have been outstanding” Dave says. “It germinated quickly and, what small amount of dormant seed we had, kicked straight into action as soon as the rain returned in early September. The recovery, density and wear tolerance on all of our tees has been exceptional.” He adds, “Not only have we not had to do any additional autumn overseeding on the tees, we’ve also not seen any Dollar Spot this year which means we’ve saved time and money by not having to apply any fungicides.”

Beyond course playability, Dave has also worked with DLF to create a strong first impression for members and visitors with the introduction of a new wildflower area at the club entrance. Created with Carnival from DLF’s Colour Boost collection, the vibrant display of bright and bold annuals in the spring became quite the talking point. “Because we host weddings and corporate events alongside the golf, these visual touches make a big difference.”

The return of the rain has meant new waves of colour are now emerging, with plans in place to expand the trial to new planting areas across the course in 2026. “The flowers don’t just deliver visual impact, they help us to enhance biodiversity – creating environments to encourage and support all types of insects and wildlife.”

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New Club Car fleet for Ryder Cup venue Camiral

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New Club Car fleet for Ryder Cup venue Camiral: Camiral, host venue of the 2031 Ryder Cup, has elevated its golf experience with a new fleet from Club Car, the global industry-leading manufacturer of small-wheel, zero-emissions electric vehicles.

In a new video, Director of Golf Flavio Papa explains the impact the new lithium-powered cars have had – both for golfers and his team’s operational efficiency.

New Club Car fleet for Ryder Cup venue Camiral

New Club Car fleet for Ryder Cup venue Camiral

WATCH: Club Car at Camiral

Papa said: “As Spain’s No.1 Golf Resort and recently appointed host of the 2031 Ryder Cup, Camiral carries high expectations every time a golfer books a round. We always strive to give our members and guests the best possible experience, which is why we chose Club Car for our new fleet.

“The Visage technology is fantastic because not only are we able to monitor and control the cars, the screens give golfers detailed hole-by-hole information about the course, including yardages. It has really helped us speed up the pace of play.”

With a major sustainability project currently under way at the 36-hole European Tour Destinations venue just outside Girona, it was important the whole fleet was electric.

“The lithium batteries are much longer lasting than traditional batteries – the buggies can go out twice a day on one charge, and even a third time with just a 10-minute charging top-up, without any ill effects on the battery,” added Papa.

Marco Natale, Club Car Vice President EMEA, said: “We’re proud to see our vehicles having such a positive impact at Camiral, a Quinta do Lago Resort, which offers world-class golf experiences to its customers.

“Club Car continues to set the standard in golf mobility, which is why so many leading resorts and clubs around the world remain our valued partners.”

WATCH: Club Car at Camiral

Club Car supplies many of the world’s leading golf destinations with its wide range of vehicles, and is the official supplier of the DP World Tour, the Professional Golfers’ Association of Great Britain and Ireland, the PGA of America and St Andrews Links Trust.

For more information on Club Car visit: www.clubcar.com

For more information on Camiral visit: www.camiral.com

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First club in UK invests in Toro robotic mowing

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First club in UK invests in Toro robotic mowing: Thonock Park in Lincolnshire is the first club in the UK to invest in Toro’s Turf Pro autonomous mowers.

Having made the decision to move to autonomous mowing at the beginning of the year, the club was introduced to Toro’s new Turf Pro mowers at the BTME launch and has subsequently purchased five from local Toro dealer, Russells Groundcare.

First club in UK invests in Toro robotic mowing

First club in UK invests in Toro robotic mowing

The five Turf Pro 500 mowers are being used to cut both fairways and rough of 18 of the club’s 36 holes. According to General Manager Benjamin Hatch: “Our robot mowers are now cutting the fairways and rough for 18 holes on the Thonock Park course, and we are exceptionally pleased with their quality of cut and the definition between fairway and rough grasses.”

Thonock Park and Russells have had two comprehensive training sessions post-install from Lee Rowbotham, GeoLink and Digital Specialist at Reesink UK.

Lee explains the process: “We were there at the point of delivery to install the chargers and base station. The mowers are blind out of the box, so training involves telling them everything they need to know, like where the charging station is, the route to the fairways, what the safe areas, and not safe areas are. And of course, for the team to understand the operation and the terminology involved.”

Once set up, Course Manager Rob Acheson was shown how to control all five mowers through the Smart App. Operation is something Lee likens to how irrigation sprinklers are controlled.

“They are controlled individually, one at a time, and can be set up in advance,” he says. “Just like you can set a sprinkler to come on at 5am, you can set the Turf Pros to start mowing at 10pm once everyone has gone home if you wish.”

This provides a big advantage in getting course maintenance ahead of play. All fairway mowing can be completed before the course opens, supported by “the almost non-existent noise levels” as confirmed by Benjamin.

Another added benefit of these mowers comes from how the club has been able to redefine the job requirements of the team and can guarantee all-year round value.

“Very importantly, these mowers have enabled us to reassign some of our skilled greenkeeping team to other tasks on the course that require more specialist work,” Benjamin says. “During the wetter months, we expect to keep using these mowers, when ordinarily we would struggle to use the much heavier diesel machines. All in all, it has been a very positive investment for us and one that we believe we will continue to benefit from year after year.”

Just as Reesink sees the value in providing dedicated support for this new technology with the new digital specialist role created for Lee, so too do Russells who have recruited two dedicated employees to demonstrate and install Russells’ autonomous mowing offerings to customers, including private properties, estates, schools, golf courses and other sporting venues.

Mark Willerton, Groundcare Sales Manager at Russells, says: “Russells see autonomous mowers as an important part of our future business, it’s something we’re investing heavily in with dedicated specialist staff and demonstration machines.

“Working alongside Thonock Park and Reesink to understand this next generation of mowing and how to maximise the potential and efficiency of the mowers has been a great learning experience. We look forward to continuing working with the team at Thonock Park to ensure they always have the best turfcare options available.”

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Deer Park Golf Club invests in Eco 400 Sprayer

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Deer Park Golf Club invests in Eco 400 Sprayer: Deer Park Golf Club in Livingston has upgraded its course maintenance equipment with the addition of a Cleveland Gambetti Eco 400 tractor-mounted sprayer, supplied by Fairways GM at Kinross.

The Eco 400, part of the British-made Eco range, is designed specifically for golf and amenity use and replaces the club’s previous Gambetti sprayer, which had served for 12 years. Head greenkeeper Mark Campbell continued with the 400-litre tank but opted for the extended booms, blotter, and triple nozzle setup.

Deer Park Golf Club invests in Eco 400 Sprayer

Deer Park Golf Club invests in Eco 400 Sprayer

“We spend on average 20 hours a month spraying, so the extended booms will pay for themselves with the time they help us save,” said Mark Campbell.

The new configuration has virtually tripled the coverage capacity while offering greater control and precision. With 50% less pipework, stainless-steel spray lines, and balanced manual controls, the sprayer delivers accurate application and faster clean-down times.

Mark and his colleague, Martin McKenzie, both hold spraying certificates at Deer Park, ensuring precise and efficient use of the new system.

“Spraying is less stressful now and much faster,” added Mark Campbell. “We can spray confidently, knowing everything works perfectly without clogging. The improvements in consistency were noticeable straight away, and the time saved allows us to focus on other tasks.”

The new sprayer is being used across the entire course, from weekly treatments on greens to summer fairway applications and targeted work on roughs, including growth retardant sprays and pre-competition enhancements.

Hayden Laing, Area Sales Manager at Fairways GM, provided sales and technical support to the West Lothian course during the upgrade process.

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It’s onwards and upwards for Moffat Golf Club

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It’s onwards and upwards for Moffat Golf Club: With two new mowers from Baroness it’s ‘onwards and upwards’ for the maintenance team at Moffat Golf Club – literally!

Situated in the heart of the Southern Upland Hills of Scotland, the challenging topography of the moorland course has proved no match for the new LM311 triple greens and LM551B fairway mower which are delivering improvements in cut quality and presentation to the delight of the members.

It’s onwards and upwards for Moffat Golf Club

It’s onwards and upwards for Moffat Golf Club

For Course Manager Fraser Mitchell the recent purchase was made even more exciting by the fact the pair of Baroness machines were the first new additions to the club’s machinery fleet for many years. “Financial pressures had meant that most of our equipment was well overdue for an upgrade and I was tasked with assessing what was the most critical need” he explains. “When I opted for a new greens and fairway mower there was a lot of pressure to make the right choice – thankfully we got it spot on!”

“Getting equipment on demonstration is so important for us given the challenging nature of our course. From the very first phone call, Colin Gray at Hamilton Ross Group and Richard Connell from Baroness were fantastic, they brought us demo units and we knew there and then they were exactly what we needed to improve reliability, presentation and quality of cut around the course.”

Renowned for their samurai sword sharpness and robust build quality, the Baroness LM311 greens mower and LM551B for fairways set the standard for pinpoint precision and turf quality. The LM311 all-hydraulic triplex, with fully steerable units, economic Kubota diesel engine and optimal operator comfort is ideal for greens and tees – delivering consistency in even the most challenging conditions. Promising similar consistency for fairways thanks to its industry-leading range of motion, is the LM551B.

Strong on paper, Fraser has been delighted with their performance in the field. “They’ve been fantastic. They’re very well built and stand up to the challenge – delivering a far superior cut and finish which has been admired by so many of our members.” He adds, “From an operator perspective, they’re also incredibly comfortable and easy to maintain. The pair give us everything we need to focus our efforts on the course and not spend all of our time in the shed with our heads under the bonnet!”

For more information on any of the models within the Baroness golf range, visit www.baronessuk.com

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