SUNNINGDALE FAIRWAYS GET SUPERLIGHT TREATMENT

Murray Long, Courses and Estate Manager at the prestigious Sunningdale Golf Club in Berkshire, has recently taken delivery of three Jacobsen SLF1880 super light fairway mowers from T H White’s Grasscare branch in Reading.

The club’s previous fairway mowers were proving too heavy when turning close to the heather areas after cross cutting the fairways on the Old Course. As a result the heather was suffering.

“Our previous fairway mowers were old and we needed to replace them,” said Murray. “They were also heavy and were damaging the heather as they turned after each pass across the fairways. I was looking for a solution; something lighter, but with a similar work rate. We’re also encouraging more fescue on the fairways, so a lighter machine will result in less compaction and, hopefully, a more amenable rootzone.

“A couple of years ago I was invited on a trip to the US by Ransomes Jacobsen and was fortunate to visit Wingfoot, Augusta, Westchester and Quail Hollow. Although not a user of their equipment, it certainly raised my awareness of their product range and I remembered seeing the SLFs in action.

“We contacted TH White and had two machines here on demo. We timed them against the older machines using different reel configurations and although the cutting width of the SLF is slightly reduced, they performed superbly. What’s more, the operators really liked them!

“We have introduced a dedicated ‘Fairways’ team, who will be responsible for mowing the Old Course, under the leadership of Daniel Turner. We’ve just finished a British Open Qualifier and are now preparing for the Ricoh Women’s British Open, which will be played here at the end of July. It will be the first time that we use the SLFs for tournament preparation, so we’re busy brushing out the existing lines and redefining every fairway.

“The professionalism of the TH White team throughout this purchasing process was second to none. They could not have been more accommodating; not only have they provided everything to a tight timeframe, they’ve also invited our workshop manager Ian Hazell to their Reading depot to look at the machines from a technical angle and brief him on the regular maintenance programme.”