One of Ireland’s top golf resorts has taken delivery of two new John Deere 9009A TerrainCut rotary rough mowers.
The K Club resort superintendent Gerry Byrne (left) with his deputy Jamie Robson
The famous K Club 5-star golfing resort in Kildare, just half an hour’s drive from Dublin, hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006 as well as the Irish Open in 2016 and 13 European Opens.
When the need arose for new rough mowers at the resort, thorough research was carried out by the greens staff to investigate what each brand had to offer. In the end the John Deere models came out on top, and two 9009A mowers were ordered from local golf & turf dealer Dublin Grass Machinery.
Gerry Byrne has been resort superintendent at The K Club for the past 24 years and is pleased with the machines’ performance. “We recently bought the two new John Deere rotary mowers as we wanted to improve the overall presentation of the rough areas on both the Palmer North and Palmer South courses,” he says. “We carried out extensive research into all the main brands and decided that the 9009A suited our needs best of all.
“I have used John Deere mowers in the past but not that recently, just the company’s tractors. It’s been good to reconnect with Dublin Grass Machinery, as I have known Stan Mitchell and the dealership team since I was a trainee many years ago.
“We have operated other makes of rough mower here, and they carried out a good job of overall course maintenance. However, we felt the more versatile John Deere 9009A mowers would give us a better quality of cut.” he adds.
Most of the servicing and maintenance of the machinery at The K Club is carried out by the resort’s staff mechanic. A good parts and backup service from Dublin Grass Machinery was another influential factor in the purchasing decision for Gerry Byrne and the greenkeeping team.
“Our mechanic Pat Freany has been with us for over 25 years,” he says. “Pat carries out all the servicing and repairs and has a very good working relationship with the dealership. The quick turnaround on parts delivery and service kits is a unique selling point for John Deere, which Pat really appreciates.”
As for future investments in new machinery at The K Club, Gerry Byrne is confident that John Deere will feature again. “The K Club has significant investment plans for the whole estate, and John Deere mowing equipment will certainly be part of our continuing strategy to enhance the overall presentation standards for our members and guests.”
