Rye Golf Club purchases ‘delicate tractors’

By Alistair April 21, 2017 04:30 Updated

Kubota’s high performance M7060 Utility tractor has joined forces with its L5040 counterpart to deliver a first class finish at the world-famous Rye Golf Club.

Recently purchased by deputy course manager and Rye Golf Club course expert, Garth Grand, the powerful M7060 machine was chosen for the East Sussex course based on Garth’s single requirement – to deliver delicate high performance.

With his father as Steward of the club, Garth spent his childhood growing up on the course along side his two brothers who are also Course Managers at other South East clubs. The three brothers honed their craft learning among the sand dunes that define the unique character of Rye, where Garth has been greenkeeping for 25 years.

As an expert of the 122-year-old links golf course, Garth and his seven strong team have spent significant time restoring the scenic beach paths which are the only way to navigate the course. In order to ensure the sandy trails aren’t disturbed yet the course can be accessed and maintained by machinery, the Kubota M7060’s perfect combination of performance and precision meant it was the only vehicle for the job.

“A true links course has a delicate balance, but I like to think we achieve it at Rye” Garth commented. “We didn’t want to undo the good work we have done on restoring the beach paths so we needed good traction from a tractor that was also light on its feet.

“As we regularly top dress the greens and fairways with local sand, we required a tractor that was light but also resilient and durable enough to pull heavy loads, and the M7060 is the only tractor in our fleet that can cope with the weight of a loaded top dress. Our L5040 was already at full capacity thanks to handling lighter tasks including regular verti-draining and over-seeding, so we needed the M7060 to make sure the course is kept in perfect condition every single day.”

Founded in the early 1890s and home to the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society, Rye Golf Club has over 500 local members and 400 London members thanks to its individual charm. The iconic course includes a botanical site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and is visited by hundreds of visitors each year, all waiting to play the course’s signature holes which are featured on the tops of the sand dunes.

“Many courses on the seaside call themselves ‘links’ but a true club is defined by it’s sand dunes. We work closely with Natural England to protect all that is special to the club and pride ourselves on creating top quality playing services 365 days a year, not just for big events.

“That’s why we needed such durable and reliable machines at our disposal. I really like the fact that the M7060 has a detent to run the hydraulics, so when you push it into place it stays there. We can now also run a flail behind the tractor and as the driving height is a good relative to the machine behind, you have much better vision when reversing.”

Kubota’s M7060 and L5040 allow Garth and his team to keep the course looking polished yet protected at all times. Pairing the two Kubota’s together was also attractive for the greenkeeping team as the course mechanic’s familiarity with the brand keeps all maintenance work in-house and keeps costs down.

“When I first started greenkeeping you used to concentrate on the greens and tees and the fairways weren’t so important, but now you want the whole course looking polished, something that we can easily achieve with our Kubotas.”