Tag Archive for: Fleet

Enville’s new fleet finance deal

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Enville’s new fleet finance deal: Founded in 1935 and considered one of the finest examples of heathland golf in the UK, Enville Golf Club near Stourbridge features the 18-hole Highgate and Lodge courses, with the former being used by the R&A in recent years for Regional Open Qualifying tournaments.

It has also recently been announced that Enville will host the R&A Girls’ U16 Amateur Championship for the first time, for three years from April 2021.

Enville's new fleet finance deal

Enville’s new fleet finance deal

Enville’s course manager Andy Wood, who has been at the club for nearly three years, was previously at Robin Hood, Cosby and The Belfry Golf Clubs, so he knows his local dealer Farol Ltd well and has been using John Deere course maintenance equipment for over 20 years.

His avowed ambition is to produce two of the best courses in the Midlands for Enville’s members, guests and visitors, and in so doing to try to get the club as high as possible up the list of the top 100 golf clubs in England. The club has also invited five top golf course architects to tender for a master plan to take the course to the next level over the next five to 10 years. As part of this process, Andy has overseen a policy change to reduce the club’s reliance on capital purchases of new machinery with no real structured plan in place, other than a rolling programme with kit coming off operating leases needing replacement each year.

“I just felt that this was not a very sensible approach, for budgeting purposes in particular,” says Andy. “The club could be spending £50,000 one year and £100,000 the next, and this did not suit budgeting over a longer period. We therefore agreed a new budget for the next five to 10 years, combining a shorter operating lease for new mowers with a longer finance lease arrangement for the likes of tractors, which have a longer life expectancy, so that the club’s capital spend would be significantly reduced.”

All the main manufacturers were invited to tender for the demonstration and supply of individual machines for year one, including tractors, utility vehicles, leaf collectors and aerators, followed in year two by the cutting equipment. Each range was tested to see what fitted the courses’ and Andy’s needs best, followed by an assessment of service back-up and support, including product warranties, once the decisions on the choice of kit had been made.

“John Deere and Farol, with dealer salesman Jacob Shellis leading the way, ticked all the boxes,” says Andy. “Things like cut quality should be a given at this level. More important is that should any problems or issues arise, they get dealt with straight away and we’re not left stranded with broken down machines and unnecessary downtime.

“For me, it’s always been about building a good, sound relationship and trust in the supplier, its products and the dealer, and that people deliver on their promises, especially through the tender process. Farol has always supported me very well on the service side with warranty claims, tournament support, training programmes and the like. The John Deere Financial package was very favourable too, with competitive rates.

“With this new deal we’ve managed to rationalise the fleet and every bit of kit does the job I need it to. We’ve gone down from 122 machines and auxiliary pieces of equipment when I first came to 94, and we’ve saved on a lot of labour, time and repair costs. Among other things this has enabled us to invest £40,000 in a new machinery shed and a new seed and fertiliser store, so we’ve now got enough room to keep all the main kit and supplies secure and under cover.

“Being a heathland course built on very sandy soils, we’re fortunate in that we can stay open all year round and work on the course at any time of the year,” Andy adds. “This makes life a bit easier in the winter, but it also means that we require a good irrigation system in the spring and summer months, something the club also invested in last year.

“One of the most encouraging things has been our record income in 2019 from green fees, which is a great sign that things are moving in the right direction. Enville’s always had a good reputation, but hopefully the machinery, agronomic and other changes we’ve been making to the course over the last couple of years have contributed to this increase.”

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First Toro fleet for Cotswold Hills

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First Toro fleet for Cotswold Hills: When it comes to golf course machinery, time is money, and as such efficient machines are fast becoming a must have for golf courses across the country. Which is exactly the reason Cotswold Hills opted for the Groundsmaster 5900-D in its first Toro fleet deal.

“We have a team of six here to maintain a 157 acre course,” explains course manager Wayne Vincent. “Plus, with the course draining naturally because of its position on Limestone rock it’s playable year-round, which means there’s no let up on maintenance. That’s why it’s so important to have efficient machines that get the job done quickly to a high standard.”

First Toro fleet for Cotswold Hills

First Toro fleet for Cotswold Hills

The 18-hole, 6,800-yard course at Cotswold Hills is situated at the top a hill 850 feet above sea level. With the club’s impressive views and stunning tree-lined course, it’s attracted a membership of near 1000, with member expectations for the course as high as they are above sea level.

With that in mind, updating the club’s machinery fleet after years of replacing one machine at a time was of the utmost importance. And it’s the Groundsmaster 5900-D, capable of mowing 17 acres an hour, that heads up the new fleet of efficient Toro machinery.

“We have a lot of rough to cover on the course and previously we were spending three days each week cutting it,” says Wayne. “It was obvious we needed a larger machine to get the job done quicker. Although our fleet was already predominantly Toro and had served us well, we looked into other brands for due diligence. But there wasn’t another brand that had the size of machine we wanted available – no one could match the offering that Toro provided not only when it came to the spec of the GM5900-D, but the fleet too.

“The GM5900-D has cut our rough cutting time in half already,” Wayne says. “With the increase in cutting width and speed, alongside its excellent contour following, we can now get the whole course done in a day and a half and the finish of cut is brilliant.”

Joined by a new Reelmaster 3100-D Sidewinder, RM3575-D and a Greensmaster Flex 2120 pedestrian mower, the new Toro fleet has certainly made an impression.

“From experience I know that Toro machines are incredibly durable, which is why we’ve had a fleet of purchased Toro machines for so long. But having these four new machines with the latest upgrades and technological advancements has made a vast difference already.

“The Greensmaster Flex 2120 follows contours really well and is helping us extend the collar cut into the aprons and run offs and the Reelmaster 3100-D Sidewinder is giving us a better, cleaner cut, particularly in wet conditions.”

And going forward, this first lease deal with Toro is just the beginning of a longer term investment in the club’s machinery to help improve the course.

“Continuing an agreement plan with Toro will mean that we can consistently bring to the course the newest technology and upgrades, while simultaneously reducing machinery downtime. We’ve already seen the team’s productivity increase after only having these new machines for a few months, so it’s definitely proven to be the right move for the club” concludes Wayne.

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BGL Golf invest in 175-vehicle Club Car fleet

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BGL Golf invest in 175-vehicle Club Car fleet: Club Car, a brand of Ingersoll Rand and Official Supplier to The European Tour, has delivered a new fleet of 175 golf vehicles to leading multi-course owner, Burhill Group Ltd.

The fleet consists of 162 new Tempo golf cars and 11 Precedent cars. It is the fourth Club Car fleet the golf and leisure group has invested in over the past 11 years, underlining BGL’s commitment to maintaining the highest standard of customer experience at its 10 UK golf venues.

BGL Golf invest in 175-vehicle Club Car fleet

Colin Mayes, CEO of Burhill Group Ltd, said: “By upgrading our fleet to the latest Club Car models we know that we’re getting a reliable product that is easy to work with and that our customers will value the comfort and look of the cars.

“Managing the vehicles at each of our venues has been easy and using Club Car has served us well over the course of our partnership. We look forward to that continuing and many more years of a positive relationship.”

Watch Video: Colin Mayes interview

Delivered by Club Car’s UK dealer, Bradshaw, the high-spec vehicles feature a rust-proof aluminium frame, new alloy wheels, premium comfort seats and a spacious dashboard, as well as proven engineering and industry-leading durability, designed to deliver enhanced ride comfort.

In addition to the golf fleet, BGL has taken delivery of two Villager 6 vehicles, part of Club Car’s Carryall range. These utility vehicles include ergonomic seating to accommodate up to six people and a Kohler 429cc overhead valve engine with electronic fuel injection for increased horse power and fuel efficiency.

The new fleet comes on the back of significant investment across the BGL portfolio of golf venues, including enhanced facilities and improved sustainability measures both on and off its golf courses.

The group recently reported an increase of 25% in golf club membership over the past four years.

Kevin Hart, Sales Director Golf for Club Car Europe, Middle East and Africa, says: “BGL is a leader and innovator in the industry, and the root of that success is its clear, customer-centric ethos.

“Club Car has an important role to play in the customer experience at contemporary golf venues and we greatly value the endorsement of the quality and reliability of our products, and the successful long-term commercial partnership we have with BGL.”

For more information on BGL, visit: https://www.bglcompany.co.uk

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

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New Toro Fleet At Bradford GC

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New Toro Fleet At Bradford GC: If success is a fresh pair of eyes, then The Bradford Golf Club in West Yorkshire has well and truly succeeded since the arrival of its first Toro fleet.

Darrell Crowley re-joined the club as course manager in 2018, and one of his first big decisions was to choose the supplier from which he would source his new fleet, as part of the club’s commitment to continually investing in the course.

New Toro Fleet At Bradford GC

Having seen the difference and improvements that the previous Toro fleets had made since his return, it was an easy task. Darrell comments: “There have been Toro machines, among other brands, at the club since the millennium, but it wasn’t until 2006 that the first package deal arrived. I had recently started as an assistant greenkeeper at the time and the club wanted to move away from updating individual machines to getting a bulk amount of new kit from one brand to see what difference that made, and if that approach further improved the course.”

And while Darrell could see the immediate improvements the switch to a Toro fleet deal with Reesink Turfcare made to the overall quality and condition of the course, it’s coming back to the club now as course manager and seeing the long-term benefit that this has made when it really hit home for Darrell.

“The course is looking better than ever. It goes without saying each individual machine makes a difference, but of course only to its particular area such as the greens or tees, so to get a fleet of new machines to cover all areas of the course, well the collective improvement is simply striking.

“The board has been working tirelessly for the last twenty years to keep the club in the modern era, keep up with the latest machinery advancements and make it more self-sufficient, the first Toro fleet deal was a big part of that. It’s been so successful and made such a positive improvement to the course since that we have continued our relationship with Toro, and this is now our third lease agreement.”

And it’s an impressive fleet of Toro machines that have been brought on board. The fleet consists of like-for-like renewals of the Greensmaster TriFlex 3400, Groundsmaster 3500-D, and Workman HDX, plus three new additions in the Groundsmaster 4500-D, Reelmaster 5010-H and Multi Pro WM sprayer, which are already making a strong impression.

“The Multi Pro WM sprayer and RM5010-H are definitely my new favourites,” says Darrell. “The Multi Pro WM’s information centre gives us more accuracy and the hybrid drive system on the RM5010-H is really beneficial for fuel savings.

“The demonstration process for these two was great as well. Russell Groundcare were able to get us the machines we wanted quickly and then gave us the time to really test them out. They then worked closely with us to help supply the package once we were set on the machines for the fleet. The whole process from start to finish was seamless.”

Named 2018 West Yorkshire Golf Club of the Year by Your Golfer Magazine, the club is a popular destination for golfers and keeping the course up to standard has proved even more vital in recent years with the club undergoing a large development project. But the Toro fleet has been more than up for the job says Darrell.

“In recent years we have restructured several holes and undergone tree removal to help return the course back to its traditional moorland roots, this has been coupled with a major refurbishment of the clubhouse.”

With Darrell, the team and the board all having seen the benefits Toro has brought to The Bradford Golf Club, it’s likely Toro will continue to have a place at the club.

“What Toro provides is reliability, high quality of cut and high quality of build, all at a competitive price. I don’t think other brands can really offer the same, and if the quality is there, there’s no need for me to look elsewhere,” says Darrell.

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Leigh Expand Dennis Fleet

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Leigh Expand Dennis Fleet: Keith Porter, head groundsman at Leigh Sports Village in Greater Manchester, has expanded his fleet of Dennis mowers by purchasing four G860 cylinder mowers and four PRO 34R rotary mowers.

Leigh Sports Village certainly lives up to its name by comprising of a main stadium pitch – a Desso Hybrid GrassMaster, three additional soil based sand ameliorated pitches with primary and secondary drainage and irrigation; and two full size, three seven-a-side and a 5-a-side floodlit 4G synthetic pitches. The village also features an indoor sports centre and a swimming pool.

Leigh Expand Dennis Fleet

It is home to a number of professional sports teams including rugby league side Leigh Centurions and Manchester United FC U23’s, U19’s and most recently the ladies team. It is also used by local teams and organisations such as Leigh East Amateur Rugby Club, Leigh Athletic FC, Team Elite Football Academy, Pro Football Academy and various age groups of Leigh United FC and Hindley Green Juniors.

Keith has been the head groundsman at this impressive facility for nearly eleven years and in that time has excelled in improving the quality of the playing surfaces.

To cut and prepare the pitches for match days he has long relied on the Dennis G860 cylinder mower. However, with games coming thick and fast, and armed with some rather ageing rotary mowers, Keith felt the time was right to add to his Dennis armoury.

“Quite often, we will have back-to-back games and have three games in a week – so we need good equipment for a quick turn-around,” he said. “Our old rotaries were about four years old and had become unreliable. I’ve used lots of Dennis machines in my time and they have always been incredibly reliable so we decided to look at their new rotary mower.

“We had a PRO 34R on a demonstration and were really impressed with it so we decided to go ahead and purchase four. It was also the ideal opportunity to bring in more G860’s because they have always given us great results.

“They are both light machines compared to competitors, so they are lighter on the pitch and therefore there is not as much compaction.”

The new Dennis PRO 34R is a 34” (860mm) rotary mower which has been designed to help groundsmen achieve an aesthetically pleasing appearance and desired playing surface. It is ideal for sports pitches and lawns producing the enviable ‘Dennis Stripes’ while a powerful vacuum flow collects debris quickly and efficiently. The angle of the cutting deck and twin blades can be easily adjusted using a single ‘click adjuster’ ensuring the mower is suitable for changing conditions and meeting groundsmen’s requirements.

Keith believes the two mowers perfectly complement one another and that both play a vital role in his maintenance programme.

“We use the G860’s to cut the pitches for match preparation and then the day after the games the rotaries are used to clean up and present the pitches in time for the next game,” he said. “The rotaries keep it free from debris and nicely stripes them up – in fact, the presentation on the PRO 34R is very comparable to a cylinder mower.

“The rotaries also save us so much time because before we had the PRO 34R’s we used to have six rotary mowers out there at one time but now we just have four which do the job in a faster time. This is because there are two blades as opposed to one and a wider cut. A quick turnaround is essential here especially if you are going from rugby to football.

For a number of years now the Dennis G860 has been the number one choice for groundsmen like Keith. Lightweight at just 166kg; it is easy to manoeuvre and comfortable to operate. The handlebar console houses the controls for – throttle, parking brake, roller drive and cutting cylinder drive. The mower also features a large diameter front roller with an adjustable scraper which has been designed for a precise height of cut control, giving an excellent finish on every occasion. The Dennis G860 also features an interchangeable cassette system to assist with a wide range of tasks.

“What I like about Dennis as a company is that they are very interested in your opinion,” Keith continued. “They are always asking you about your experience with their mowers and ask if they could make any improvements. They then go away and genuinely listen.

“It just adds to the overall package and everything about the company is great. The mowers are British made, they have been around for a long, long time, they put a lot of thought into the machinery based on industry feedback and their main priority is their customer.”

For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact Dennis 01332 824 777 or visit www.dennisuk.com

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

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