How Ventrac is helping Trump Turnberry

By Alistair December 4, 2024 10:23

Three Ventrac all-terrain compact tractors with numerous attachments are helping the golf courses and estate teams at Trump Turnberry to maintain the courses and hotel surrounds at the renowned Open venue.

Allan Patterson, the Director of Golf Courses and Estates, joined Turnberry as Golf Course & Estates Manager in 2015, before being promoted to his current position in 2017.

Commenting on the Ventracs he said, “The three machines have alleviated a lot of issues associated with working on steep banks. It can climb 30-degree slopes safely and with ease and cuts down on the number of hours the team previously spent strimming. This frees up many hours for other tasks. I also like the fact that it’s a multi-tool, which means it can undertake several tasks and can be out on the courses or around the estate, virtually every day. It’s an extremely versatile piece of equipment.”

Derek Scott is the Workshop Manager, responsible for the maintenance of all the equipment at Trump Turnberry.

“As an engineer, I appreciate just what a very good machine this Ventrac is,” he said. “Our first machine arrived in May 2019, the second machine arrived in June 2022 and the third machine a year later. So, we now have three tractor units together with four Contour decks, a Finishing deck, the Tough Cut deck, and a Power brush. We use the Contour decks mainly in the rough; one has a height of cut of 1½ inches, two are set at 2 inches and the final one at 3 inches. They are used on the courses and on the steep, tiered slopes at the front of the hotel.

“The Power brush is very effective and is used in the car parks and along the drive up to the hotel.

Presentation is everything here; litter and other debris is just not acceptable. We use the Tough Cut to maintain some rough areas out at the Quad Bike track and the finishing deck is used on the roadside verges into the village.

“Allan said earlier that it’s a versatile machine and we’ve certainly taken advantage of that. We’ve put a Team sprayer on the back for our sandy waste areas and it does a great job. I’ve also adapted a John Deere bunker rake for the back of the Ventrac, so we’ve now got our own bunker rake attachment, which not only does the sandy waste areas, but also our chip pathways. It used to take the guys hours, raking those paths by hand, but now we can do them in one pass, saving yet more hours. It really is one of the best, multi-use tools for golf course and estate management purposes.”