Coventry Hearsall Golf Club has extended its relationship with Toro by a further five years as the Midlands venue signed by a lease renewal agreement for course machinery with UK distributor Reesink Turfcare.
The machinery deal, which first began in 2012, is on a five-year rolling contract and although the latest set up was inherited by Course Manager Chris Low when he joined midway through tenure three years ago, it wasn’t one he had plans on changing.
“I’ve worked with Toro before and being with the same brand for machinery and irrigation makes everything really easy,” says Chris. “The main components of quality, reliability, and performance are applicable to both and having one point of contact, good back up and support and the power of competitive finance in addition means it’s a hard deal to beat.”
The latest fleet deal comprises greens, tees and fairway mowers and utility vehicles, and the biggest change to the fleet set up is bringing in walk-behind mowers – the Toro Greensmaster Flex 1021 – for greens, tees, collars and run-offs. This is, says Chris, a “conscious decision to move away from ride-on mowers for these areas. We think the level of control and precision they will bring to these smaller areas will elevate their aesthetic.”
Work starts on a bunker programme as soon as the architect’s approval is in and some of the machinery choices reflect these changes to the course. “We’ll be creating shorter mowing areas and the machinery investment and selection had this in mind,” Chris continues. “It was felt the Greensmaster TriFlex 3420 and Reelmaster 3575 in particular would work well in these new areas.”
As the first club in the country to upgrade to Toro Lynx central control system and a combination of Infinity, T5 and T7 sprinklers using Reesink Hydro-Scapes’ fixed term finance for irrigation, Coventry Hearsall has been enjoying hassle-free, precise watering application ever since.
“In terms of maintenance all we’ve had to do is replace one decoder in seven years, that’s it,” Chris explains. “It’s been so easy to scale – we’ve doubled the coverage on the approaches and have more run-off areas. We wanted the capacity to expand as needed and the set-up has allowed us to do that. It was undoubtedly the right choice.”
Chris finished by saying it would be wrong to underestimate the power of a Toro Total Solution: “Regular investment in the machinery and an irrigation system that allows for consistent year-round coverage does not go unnoticed by the members. They are happy and membership is full.”