Due to the flexibility of Toro’s UK distributor Reesink Turfcare’s finance options and with the help of dealer Chesire Turf Machinery. Dean Wood Golf Club signed its second Toro fleet lease agreement despite being in the midst of the lockdown.

Course manager Chris Halkerd, centre, with Reesink’s Mike Turnbull, right, and Cheshire Turf Machinery’s Chris Halley

Chris Halkerd, who has been at the club for 24 years and course manager for 15, explained, “We’d come to the end of our first lease deal with Toro in March, just as the lockdown came into force. This threw the club into a state of uncertainty, but luckily with help from Reesink and Cheshire Turf Machinery, we were able to continue our investment in the club.”

The club say the finance options available allowed them to reduce costs while bringing in a fleet of brand new and upgraded machinery.

The deal means the club now has the bulk of its payments scheduled for next year which Chris says has given the club “real peace of mind that the financial risk for this year has been reduced, without compromising on the service for our customers.”

And the excellence the club strives to provide has certainly been noticed. With the greenkeeping team posting on social media throughout lockdown showing them hard at work, interest has boomed. The club say they have gained around 100+ new members in the last four weeks alone, with some even joining before the course had reopened.

“We’ve had so much feedback from members saying that the course looks exceptional," said Chris. "Thanks to the new and upgraded machines, I’ve even had someone say it’s never looked better in the 40 years they’d been coming to the club!

"We are really lucky and grateful to be in the position we’re in now, but we wouldn’t have been able to do it without the forward thinking board and members we have here at the club. Not to mention the excellent support from both Cheshire Turf Machinery and Reesink who’ve been instrumental in navigating us through the best possible course of action during this time.”