North-West based Gathurst Golf Club have invested in a brand-new fleet of machinery, facilitated by dealers GGM Groundscare, with a retail value of circa £200k to futureproof the club.

L-R: Chairman of Greens, Eddie Cunliffe with Peter Mercer, GGM sales manager

The prestigious 18-hole parkland golf course is a private members-owned club located in Shevington, Wigan. The club say their ageing fleet, with machines that were up to 20 years old, had started to become both problematic and costly and were failing to deliver the standard required. The team realised that a sizeable investment in an entirely new fleet was essential.

Chairman of Greens Eddie Cunliffe called upon local dealers GGM Groundscare, having purchased a machine from the business two years ago and being impressed with the service received. Several considerations had to be taken into account when selecting the best machinery for the job, with reliability and productivity of equipment being key. Being based in the North West of England, it was key for the machinery to perform well in all-weather conditions and operate well on clay surfaces. In addition, the 9th hole has a large dip which the previous machine was unable to get up, proving time consuming for the greenkeeping team to manage.

The club trialled a range of products from Baroness and Kubota and the greens team instantly pleased with the results.

“The new machines have been absolutely brilliant so far and our team have already noticed a huge difference in terms of ease of use and providing a truly outstanding quality of cut," said Eddie Cunliffe. "More so, this new fleet is far more efficient and cost effective”.

He continued, “It was a huge step for the club to move away from the previous manufacturer, and particularly when it came to making an investment of this size, however GGM Groundscare made the process so easy and we have already received outstanding after sales service care. It’s fantastic to know that we’re heading into the future with the very best fleet for our club.”

Chris Gibson, managing director at GGM Groundscare said, “We are absolutely delighted to supply this fleet of machinery to Gathurst Golf Club. There are no better machines for golf clubs to use to maintain one of their biggest assets - their course”.