Royal Aberdeen Golf Club has invested in a Toro ProCore 648 aerator, with course manager Richard Johnstone declaring it a "must have tool for golf aeration".

Royal Aberdeen Golf Club’s course manager Richard Johnstone, right, with Reesink Turfcare’s John Rankin

Prior to Richard’s arrival a tractor-mounted aerator was being used on the classic Scottish links course but when Richard joined the club 10 months ago it was one of the first things he looked to change.

Richard explained, “The Balgownie course in particular is known for having undulating greens and surrounds with steep slopes rising to tees situated high up in the dunes. The proximity of the tees and slopes are small and tight making it difficult for the tractor-mounted aerator to access everywhere we needed it to.”

Richard continued, “I was at Nairn Dunbar Golf Club for eight years as course manager prior to arriving in Aberdeen, where we’d had a ProCore 648 since 2013. It was nimble, manoeuvrable, effective, and easy to use. When you’ve had an experience like that with a piece of machinery you don’t tend to look any further. I did however have a team to persuade, so we enquired about getting a demo model in to ensure it was right for our particular site.

“Everyone on the team got to trial the aerator and evaluate it on a feedback sheet, and it scored very highly. The conclusion was that it was the best pedestrian aerator for our site.”

The new purchase has arrived in time to assist in some course construction, as Richard explains: “We’re hollow coring two hectares of greens and approaches to reduce the organic matter within the profile and the cores will be used to construct a new green and approach within our practice ground. This will provide consistency and a perfect match for the type of grasses maintained across the greens within our site.”