Master greenkeeper chooses aerator for Mid Kent GC

By Alistair May 26, 2017 22:53 Updated

Mid Kent Golf Club course manager, Lee Sayers, has opted for his fourth Wiedenmann Terra Spike purchase in a row. The master greenkeeper at the Gravesend club already has an XP8, the deepest aerator in the Wiedenmann range, and previously two others.

“At the demo the quality of the GXi8 HD’s finish was exceptional so it wasn’t a difficult decision. We know first-hand that Wiedenmann aerators are strong and reliable but we wanted this one for its versatility,” said Lee Sayers.

Every six weeks or so, the greenkeeping team of six at Mid Kent has a planned maintenance day. Until now their XP8 has been deployed everywhere, including tees and greens. At 2.1 m wide, weighing 1200 kgs and going down to 400 mm it has been hugely productive. However, the addition of the GXi8 HD means the heavier machine will be allowed to concentrate mostly on fairways while the new one does both fine turf and fairways.

“We’ve managed well with the 65hp tractor but ultimately a smaller tractor (50hp) and aerator (900kg) will get in and around the tees and greens more easily,” he continued. “Now every five to six weeks definitely on our green we’ll be doing some kind of aeration. Three different sets of tines have been delivered so I will use all three regularly. It might be a 8mm tine going 60-70mm deep or 12mm tine going 250mm or on occasion a side eject hollow tine. I could have gone for something even smaller or lighter but 1.8m is a decent working width to cover ground fast and make the most of our window of opportunity so we get through all the greens in a day and a bit more elsewhere. When maintenance time is as precious, it suited me the best.”

John Bignell, groundcare area manager from dealer, Ernest Doe & Sons, Dartford, which has supplied and serviced machines for Mid Kent GC for many decades, said: “Lee and his team purchased a Wiedenmann Whisper Twister blower last autumn so they know build quality is a given with any type of Wiedenmann and not just Terra Spikes. This was all about speed and coverage and an absolute requirement for the neatest of finishes so the GXi8 HD was the machines for purpose.”