Tag Archive for: GXi8

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

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Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD: Only a handful of top golf courses can boast a lighthouse at the end of their road. Fewer still have pods of dolphins swimming regularly on a rising tide, literally, minutes away.

The award-winning Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Links, on the Black Isle, near Inverness, is steeped in both history and nature.

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC selects Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Unsurprisingly, its golfing pedigree is also on point; a Championship links course, it is the 15th oldest recorded club (1793) and was redesigned by the legendary James Braid in 1932.

Head Greenkeeper, George Paterson, knows a thing or two about links golf. His greenkeeping journey includes spells at The County Sligo Golf Club, Rosses Point, Scotscraigs Golf Club and Moray Golf Club.

In September, George said goodbye to his 20-year-old Wiedenmann Terra XP6 deep aerator, trading it in for a new GXi8 HD.  The deal was struck with John Morton, Regional Sales Manager at Wiedenmann UK’s Scottish dealer, Fairways GM, who sold him a Wiedenmann SL6 Terra Spike six years previously.

“This investment is about productivity,” said George, “We’ve chosen the best tools that let us mix and match our approach to aeration.  Speed is now more important than depth because of the shingly nature of our soils.

“Compared to the XP6, the GXi 8 is much quicker. Being 20 cm wider is helpful, but ultimately our focus is to cover large areas very neatly in a shorter amount of time. With a narrower, slower machine, intentions were always to get around as many fairways when we could, but for lots of reasons we’d get diverted or miss the window. We’ll be far more efficient and get aeration done. This fits our John Deere 4610 perfectly, just skirts outside the tractor wheels and leaves very little disruption, even with a fair amount of heave.

“The SL6 is on our John Deere 2720 compact tractor and does a great job on hard-to-reach tees and greens. Mid-October we cone tined greens prior to overseeding and top dressing, so it’s still very much in our plans. The GXi 8 will take over some of its work though, it can do places where access isn’t an issue.

“We purchased multi-tine heads, nail tines and solid tines for the GXi8 to bring variety. The cluster heads (multi tine holders) were the first thing we used. Our greens were still reasonably firm, so didn’t want too much disturbance, but we gave them a quick treatment to help any heavy or freak showers to drain quickly from the surface. We inserted four 5 mm nail tines (5 mm/135 mm) to each multi tine head, set to 50 mm spacings, to a depth of about 100 mm on two rows of the machine.

“It’s not quite the same as deep aeration, but a very useful exercise. It just gives the tops of the greens a bit of air.  Annually, we’ll do that twice across the summer.  The greens have now also been solid tined with 12 mm tines to a depth of 180 mm with 4% heave.

“For the fairways, we’ll take a bigger solid tine, so 20 mm, but work will be much faster than before. We need to be mindful of play.  Even in winter our course remains very busy, visitor traffic tails off a little, but we stay open when weather affects other courses nearby, so we don’t see a big drop in numbers.”

George is assisted by a team of three qualified greenkeepers and a new apprentice.

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD helps Woolley Park advance aeration

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD helps Woolley Park advance aeration: Playing ‘catch up’ is a necessary evil for many turf professionals. Whether juggling weather windows, staff availability or extended playing schedules, quite often something falls behind.

Happily for the team at Woolley Park Golf Club, Wakefield, the delivery of a new Terra Spike in November, and four months of constant hole punching, has them ahead of the curve with their advanced aeration programme.

Terra Spike GXi8 HD helps Woolley Park advance aeration

Terra Spike GXi8 HD helps Woolley Park advance aeration

The West Yorkshire club is a family run business which features a challenging 18-hole course, and a measured Par 3 course, in the spacious and peaceful setting of an old deer park. The site is beautifully landscaped and ringed by trees.

This season, John Rowbottom and his team of four greenkeepers and apprentice, retired their long-standing greens aerator and separate fairways machine selecting the Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD to replace both.

John Rowbottom, head greenkeeper, said:

“Over the last 8 months aeration across both our courses was taking too long to complete. Being a 27-hole golf centre, we need speed on the greens. Previously to get around them all could take 3-4 days; and it was a job no one wanted.

“In seasons past, we tried a shallow aerator, which was quick, but didn’t give sufficient depth. Last year with Balmers GM, Wakefield, we looked at what was on the market, favouring the ’two birds with one stone’ option and happened upon the GXi8 HD, with its access all areas credentials.

“We knew it was fast and incredibly smooth and were excited for its great results and minimal disruption, so reducing the impact of maintenance work on our golfers.

“All in we have 22 hectares of fairways and 3 hectares of greens.  Since November, we have achieved an aeration pass on the greens in each of the four winter months, varying depths as we’ve gone. We’ve also covered the fairways twice. During the last week of November, we hired an additional GXi8 from our dealers, Balmers to take best advantage of a weather window: completing one full rotation. We’ve been out with Our Terra Spike pretty much every day since, and have now two full circuits across booth courses.

“Our whole ethos is investment into the golf course. Our greenkeeping team are resourced with the machines they need for task.  Through sheer volume of work we’ve got through ten sets of tines, but the upside is we’ve an exceptional volume of holes in the ground. We’ve literally hammered holes in every square inch of this place but we are better for it. It’s helped no end to get that little bit of extra depth.

“The Wiedenmann has revolutionised the way we aerate. If we set our minds to it, with an early start and a late finish we can get all 27 greens done in a day, rather than the three to four days it took previously.

“Covering fairways used to be a two-to-three-week job and if you got bad weather in and amongst then heaven help you!

“Now the job is much less frustrating and takes less than a week. The team feel they are making real progress rather than plodding at a slow speed.

“On the fairways ideally, we only want to work the soil up to 15 cm. Ninety-five per cent of our land is built upon coal measures sandstone so we are just hoping to prick through the top soil and then let the stone layer do its thing. We have the off fairway where we know we have a clay pocket. On those we’ve been able to drill down to full depth; getting as deep as we can to help mother nature.

“In our part of Yorkshire we’re the last golf course to shut for rain and the first one to reopen after it.

“Aeration really is essential. With wetter winters and golfers wanting to play longer into the season, the GXi8 just brought us straight back up to speed. Keeping the surface open and, keeping it free draining in combination with managing footfall really helps.  The Wiedenmann is a real eye opener and fantastic piece of equipment.”

Darren Barker, Sales Director, Balmers GM said:

Thank you to John, Philip & Jane Rowbottom and the team at Woolley Park Golf Club for their purchase and positive feedback. We knew this machine would work hard and be put through its paces. The Wiedenmann is all about speed, reliability and increasing aeration productivity.”

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds: Myreside Stadium in Edinburgh is home to George Watson’s College and Watsonian rugby club. Regular fixtures held there include Tennent’s National League Division 1, FOSROC Super Six Championship and Tennent’s Women’s Premier League matches.

Beside the main pitch, Head of Grounds, Craig Eccleston, and his team of five, have eight other full size rugby pitches, two large training areas and three cricket squares to maintain, as well as the school’s estate.

Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

Terra Spike GXi8 HD gives boost to College grounds

In September, they took delivery of a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD deep aerator from Wiedenmann UK’s Scottish dealer, Fairways GM.

Craig Eccleston said: “Aeration is a massive part of pitch playability and it’s important that we give all our surfaces best care. In summer I went to a demo at Dollar Academy, where the Wiedenmann team answered my questions. I thought the GXi 8 pricewise would be out my range, and we’d go for a smaller one, but I was pleasantly surprised when it came in under my budget.

“The long life of the Wiedenmann was a big consideration. The school plays so much rugby, and if you factor the FPs’ activity too, all pitches are busy right through until the summer term, when focus switches to athletics and cricket.

“We’ve relied on contractors to come in on a pre-booked day which can bring limitations. Sometimes the conditions don’t suit, or fixtures change, and it doesn’t get done. I made a financial case that if we owned our own machine, we could go out as often as necessary, making use of any windows of opportunity, especially as a full pitch can be done in just over 2.5 hrs. Having as many pitches, the numbers stacked up.

Craig, who took up his position almost three years ago had previous experience of working with Terra Spikes when he was head groundsman at Giggleswick School, North Yorkshire.

“This is a newer model to what I had before and I like that there are minimal grease points, so it is easy to maintain. This one is so quick and so smooth. When we look at the weather forecast for the week ahead, I say to the team, ’let’s get the machine on and we’ll pick a couple of pitches off each day and get around everything’. It makes such a difference.

“As soon as the GXi8 arrived in September we did all, rugby pitches with 20 mm tines at once. A few had a second aeration in November. During January or February, we will go again once, leaving them until renovations time, which for us is the end of July.

“Our cricket wickets only need to be done annually so ours were aerated at the end of October with 8 mm tines.

“I’m happy with its progress. Ultimately, we invested in the machine to improve the overall playability of the pitches to enhance their durability and performance. This enhances the enjoyment for the pupils, letting them play fast expansive rugby. The school has been particularly good investing in what we need.”

George Watson’s College is a single campus co-educational independent day school in the heart of Edinburgh, for young people from 3-18 years.

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Penwortham GC opts for Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

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Penwortham GC opts for Wiedenmann GXi8 HD: A busy Lancashire Golf Club which wants to target excess thatch on fairways and rough has chosen a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD deep aerator.

Preston’s Penwortham GC is a fine parkland course, situated on the banks of the River Ribble. The northwest club is part of the prestigious Classic Lancashire Tour. It has an active year-round membership and a full-time greenkeeping team of five.

Penwortham GC opts for Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Penwortham GC opts for Wiedenmann GXi8 HD

Head Greenkeeper, Steve Hemsley, has been in post since June 2021, and already is starting to tick off key projects on his list.

“Ours is quite a clay-based site, relatively flat and reasonably wet.  The recently established USGA greens are doing well. Elsewhere, fairways and roughs are just a little too thatchy, so we needed to develop a regular aeration programme. We brought contractors in last winter, but it made sense to have a machine of our own,” said Steve Hemsley

Following a successful demo with local Wiedenmann UK dealer, Balmers GM at Burnley, the club’s machine arrived at the end of April.  Wiedemann’s lead demonstrator, Andy Kerr, along with Balmers’ salesperson, Ben Cooke, returned to give a thorough session of induction training.

“Its first task, early May was to spike the fairways and some choice areas of rough with 20 mm diameter tines,” continued Steve.  “Our fairways aren’t huge but with a 1.8 m wide machine we easily got finished in around 2 ½ days. When the contractor did the fairways, they went to 150 mm without issue, so with the new machine we targeted around 175 mm, getting more air into the profile and decompacting the surface underneath.  Ideally, we’ll go again in September and, conditions allowing, during the winter again, so three times yearly.

“I had the GXi8 at my previous club, Bolton Old Links GC, so was aware how much time we would save compared to the long-serving machine we retired. The shock absorption and the speed set it apart. The spring systems mean no shock is delivered to the tractor or the operator, so it is an entirely smooth operation. Speed for me though is the biggest thing. It’s just easy to set up and go, just much less time out on the course interrupting play.”

Penwortham’s greens also had deep aeration in May to encourage deeper rooting. “After the fairways, we switched to 8 mm needle tines to do all greens. I’ve renovations booked in for mid-August so they will be done again then, but the priority is elsewhere in the course.

“During Autumn, with 20 mm tines we’ll get back to the spiking the fairways to break up the surface underneath. Then we’ll target the roughs and finally the fairways again in winter when conditions allow.”

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD frees up more time

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Terra Spike GXi8 HD frees up more time: Panmure Golf Club in Carnoustie, Angus, established in 1845, is one of the clubs that originally helped purchase the Amateur Championship trophy. 

A very close neighbour to Carnoustie Golf Links, Panmure, is widely acknowledged as a distinguished links course, and highly regarded for its immaculate fine turf and well kept fairways.

Terra Spike GXi8 HD frees up more time

Terra Spike GXi8 HD frees up more time

Head Greenkeeper, Gary Nicoll, took delivery of a Terra Spike GXi8 HD in early January, his first ever Wiedenmann.

“I’d been wanting to move to the next level with aeration for a while. We were due an upgrade. Our previous machine had done well but time was right for something faster, with a real clean finish.  Wiedenmann’s GXi series is used widely across the industry and its popular for good reason.

“We have around 11 hectares of turf, seven of which are fairways. All aeration is done inhouse, so, it’s our team of six and no contractors.  Recently, we have borrowed a machine to have two going at once to get through it more quickly. We do all greens, tees, shoulders and fairways, virtually the full course.  The old machine was 1.6 m wide and just doing Panmure’s fairways took around four weeks. I’m confident the team with the GXi8 can knock at least a week off this as it’s 20 cm wider and a good bit faster. Even just one week a month would make a healthy saving on greenkeeper time, on fuel and efforts to avoid play being interrupted.”

Installation and induction training was by Wiedenmann UK’s lead demonstrator, Andy Kerr and Mike Lindsay, Area Sales Manager, from local Scottish dealer. Fairways GM, at Kinross.

“It wasn’t a case of drop a machine at the gate and leave,” said Gary, “Andy cut the PTO shaft then he and Mike systematically showed us how to set every aspect to suit our course. It was as thorough a handover as I’ve known.  There are lots of moving parts but despite that, it’s easy to set up and easy to maintain.”

The next day, Gary took the immediate opportunity to do all 18 of his greens and the practice green before a combination of rising water tables, thick ice, and then lying snow, halted meaningful work across the course for over four long weeks.

“In that first run out we got a real good taste of what the Wiedenmann can do for us. Instantly it was quicker than what we had been used to, neater and smoother.

“The clean finish is such a benefit.  At the demonstration we found on our fairways, even with a moderate amount of heave, say 10°-15°, the GXi8 makes no disruption to the turf surface; Nor does a departing tine lift up the ground.  All disturbance is contained below the surface, just where you want it.  The surface is left stable with no requirement for extra rolling.

“However, after our initial run, the rest of January and February’s ground conditions were so poor we didn’t have the opportunity to do as much as we had hoped.

“Extra runs are planned for several choice areas. In a few places standing water has remained, so once these patches are fully dried out, we will revisit them with a decent set of tines. The beauty of the faster machine is that we nip out at times of our own choosing; targeting areas that need more work.

“Going forward we’ll be out probably every month from October through until March. I think we’ll always stay with 12 mm tines on our fairways.  For us, I don’t want golfers ever to ask for any preferred lies so I’ve politely declined any wider tines, happy with the 12 mm and with the 25 cm depth.

“I’ve also invested in the multi tine holders which take 5 mm pencil tines. After we come through the winter, I’ll play it by ear how often and where we’ll go with those. But it’s very pleasing to know we’re now equipped with the technology to keep ahead with our aeration needs and replicate best practices across the industry,” concluded Gary Nicoll.

Fairways GM’s, Mike Lindsay said: “The GXi8 HD ‘s fast speed is derived from its twin drive while its eight legs of tines are timed to hit the ground in pairs, which further enhances its smoothness and makes it kinder to turf. Advance Tine Control (ATC) allows precise tine entry into the ground, all tines exactly spaced, making a neat and clean job with surface disruption negligible. We were just so fortunate that Gary’s team got that one run in before the really bad weather took hold.”

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