TOOLS , PLANT & EQUIPMENT
Brokenhurst Manor benefits from dealer support
ituated in the village of
S Brockenhurst in the New
Forest National Park , Brokenhurst Manor Golf Club is one of Hampshire ’ s finest woodland / heathland courses . The club likes to point out that theirs is the correct and original spelling although it is pronounced the same as with the c , which was added to the railway station name in the 19th century by mistake and stuck .
The club hosted the first of last summer ’ s eight Rose Ladies Series tournaments , sponsored by Justin Rose . This was held in June just five weeks after re-opening following a 10-week lockdown , when the greenkeeping team was only doing essential maintenance to keep the course tidy . The idea for the series came from club member and Ladies European Tour player Liz Young , who was beaten by Charley Hull in a playoff at the inaugural event .
It was the pre-tournament support that club manager Kevin Light and course manager Kevan Glass received from John Deere ’ s local turf dealer Hunt Forest Group , particularly groundscare sales & golf specialist Andy Johnson and golf demonstrator Rob Patrick , that contributed to the decision to sign Brokenhurst Manor ’ s first ever fleet package deal using a John Deere Financial contract lease arrangement .
As a result , the club ’ s greenkeeping team now uses a 7500A PrecisionCut fairway mower , two 2653B tees & surrounds mowers , TX Turf and TE electric Gator utility vehicles , a ProGator equipped with a Charterhouse top dresser and a 5075E utility tractor on low ground pressure tyres , plus ancillary equipment including a tractor trailer , a Campey TB 220 brush and a Tru-Turf greens roller .
“ Our previous five-year contract was up for renewal in the summer , and the decision to change to John Deere was influenced by a number of things ,” says Kevin Light , who has been manager for three years . “ Chief among these was that Andy and Rob were very forthcoming with loan machines for testing , demonstrations and tournament support . Both John Deere and the dealership did a very professional job all the way through this period and were really helpful when we needed it .”
“ We ’ ve run John Deere tractors here for 20 years , used Gators before and know the 2653 utility mowers well , but the A Model fairway mower and the Tru-Turf roller were firsts for us ,” adds Kevan Glass . “ We managed to stay positive through the initial lockdown period and utilised the time as well as we could . Along with the new kit , we were able to get quite a few extra jobs done and ticked a number of boxes while we were shut .
“ There are not a lot of clubs like this one , with the forest all around us – the natural beauty of the woodland feeds onto the golf course , it ’ s very tranquil and provides great views all the way round . However , with a clay subsoil and situated on a flood plain , it can be a hard job keeping it in top condition . Nowadays people want the full golf course experience , they don ’ t want tee mats and temporary greens during the winter months for example , so it ’ s definitely more of a challenge than it was 10 or 20 years ago .”
Since Kevin Light took over as club manager , a number of other significant changes have been made and there is a waiting list for members . “ We have a great team here now , with Kevan and the greenkeepers , our bar manager
46 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | April / May 2021