GOLF COURSES
Toro the right decision for Olton
nvesting in your first fleet deal
I is a big decision , but after seeing both Toro irrigation and machinery in action , Olton Golf Club in Solihull was confident Toro was the way to go .
For the past ten years Olton Golf Club in Solihull has been slowly turning its fleet Toro red in order to improve the course and stand out against its competition . And now , with the support of the club ’ s committee , it was decided the time had come to make the biggest leap yet to progress the club and invest in a Toro fleet deal .
As the club ’ s first ever package deal it was far from a snap decision , explains course manager Mark Smith : “ Moving the club from purchasing one or two new machines per year , to investing in a full five-year package deal with a mix of lease and purchase machines took a lot of time . The Toro machines we ’ ve been adding to the fleet throughout the years were proving themselves but the benefit that level of commitment to one brand would bring is something I ’ ve been bringing to the table for ten years . With the help of a forward-thinking committee , it ’ s finally become a reality .”
With an abundance of clubs in the local area , the committee and greenkeeping team have been working hard to improve the course in order to stand out and Toro has played a large part in that .
“ Securing the package deal is our next big step in improving the course , but before that we already knew Toro was the way to go ,” says Mark . “ Over the years we ’ ve been steadily replacing machines in the fleet so we could have majority Toro equipment . Toro machines are reliable and high quality and give us the confidence that we are in safe hands . It made sense with our drive to continuously improve the course that we would continue to invest in Toro .”
And before agreeing the Toro package deal , the quality of the Toro brand had been proving itself on the irrigation side too .
Mark says : “ The year before we agreed the Toro machinery deal , we decided to improve and expand on our irrigation system and added Infinity and Flex800 sprinklers across the greens , surrounds , aprons and around 50 percent of the tees . After that it was time to turn our attention to our control system .”
And with confidence in the quality of the Toro brand at a high , Mark says : “ It was logical to look at the options from Toro and after a demonstration of the Lynx Central Control system by Reesink Turfcare , we were sold immediately . And so far , it ’ s been great . It ’ s incredibly easy to use , particularly the mobile app .”
“ Securing the package deal is our next big step in improving the course , but before that we already knew Toro was the way to go ,” says Mark .
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56 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | April / May 2021