Braehead Golf Club acquires two Toro machines

By Alistair July 31, 2024 06:08

With Reesink Turfcare’s Ree.Own scheme, Braehead Golf Club located in Alloa, Scotland has taken ownership of two new – or rather used – Toro machines as a cost-effective solution to updating machinery.

Harvey Harrower, the club’s head greenkeeper who has been at the club for 38 years, says when it comes to Toro, going second-hand isn’t a worry: “One of the things we like about using Toro is that they’re built to last.

“Like most other clubs, we look at buying new machines every five years, but unlike the bigger clubs we tend to look in the second-hand market. The fact that the new ones could already be six or seven years old doesn’t concern us. The machines we’re replacing are 15 years old, and we have other Toro machines that have been going for over 20 years.”

The machines – a Groundsmaster 4300 and hybrid Greensmaster TriFlex 3420 – came to the club via Reesink’s Ree.Own scheme, a dealer network that provides access to all the best quality, Toro turfcare machinery in the UK and Ireland.

Machines rehomed with Ree.Own are guaranteed to have less than 3500 hours use on the clock, used for less than seven years and been through a rigorous multipoint check by Reesink’s expert turfcare technicians.

The scheme is one that works well for the club. “This isn’t the first time we’ve sourced second-hand machines and it certainly won’t be the last,” says Harvey. “Because of the club’s finances, it’s the option that works best for us, and the machines still perform at a really high level. They go through the workshop and are refurbished before they get to us – ours also came with a 12-month warranty.”

Both machines were replacements for mowers the club had used before, but the Greensmaster has one key difference.

“We decided to go with the hybrid model of the Greensmaster 3420. You can slow the speed down and it just gives a better finish,” says Harvey. Something that can be appreciated by the very youngest of the club’s members.

“We have a very active junior section that has taken off recently. The club has put a lot of effort into that, building new tees and reserving tee times every Sunday throughout the year allowing them to play. Being able to play on a course maintained by Toro machinery means they’re able to play and learn on the best quality surfaces from the outset.”

The club’s new-used machinery came through Reesink’s Scottish branch in Livingston, who according to Harvey, made the whole process easy. “Working with Reesink has been great, they were really good at keeping me informed throughout. I just told them what machines I was after and when the machines became available they emailed me pictures with their age and condition, etc.”