Enville Golf Club, in Stourbridge, South Staffordshire, has seen the latest of a 17-strong fleet of Toro equipment arrive on site in a three-year deal with Lely UK.


Jonathan Wood, course manager, seated, with Ray George from Oakleys Groundcare to his left and Lely's John Pike

Among the fleet are two Toro Greensmaster TriFlex 3400s with extra cutting units, three Greensmaster 1600 pedestrian mowers and two Reelmaster 3550-Ds, plus a Greensmaster 3250-D, MDX-D utility vehicle, Toro MultiPro 5800-D sprayer and Groundsmaster 4700-D.

The machines have been chosen by the club to help the 11-strong greenkeeping team maintain the club's two 18-hole courses to championship standard.

Jonathan Wood, course manager, comments: "Over the past past seven years we've been converting the bulk of our ground care equipment to Toro. We've tried other manufacturers' equipmentover the years and we think Toro gives us the best quality and value for money."

In addition to this the machines also have the task of helping the club, which is the first UK golf course to have entered the government's agri-environmental stewardship programme, manage the complex nature of the course's heathland and woodland areas.The two courses cover a total of 320 acres of predominantly sandy heathland with half the courses on open heath and the rest playing through woodland.

The club recently installed a new maintenance workshop and has worked closely with Toro engineers to fine tune the cut and performance of the machines for the club's specific mowing and conservation needs.

Plus there's the added benefit of being in a renewal agreement. "All our equipment is leased through Oakleys Groundcare," says Jonathan."The frontline equipment such as greens, tees and fairways mowers which are used the most,are changed every three years, the remainder of the equipment is replaced every five years."