Scottish club strives for perfection with support of Toro fleet

By Alistair September 28, 2021 09:07 Updated

Having worked at Gleneagles and St Andrews, John Watson, course manager at Downfield Golf Club in Dundee, knows a thing or two about immaculate greenkeeping. As well as expertise and timing it’s about having the right equipment, which is where the club’s exclusive relationship with Toro comes into play.

John explains: “I’m a firm believer that when it comes to maintaining greens, it’s best not to overcomplicate it. Simply, if you want to produce the best finish you need the best machines.

“That’s why we work exclusively with Toro – the quality of the machines and the standard of the cut is better than anything.

“We’ve been using Toro for years and you get what you pay for. The machines are simple to operate, have very few technical problems and the build quality is the best in the market. We like the ease of servicing and that a lot of the bearings are sealed meaning they require less maintenance.”

Downfield Golf Club has a full mowing fleet on site, which includes greens, tees, fairway and rough mowers, utility vehicles, sprayers and aerators.

“In having an all-Toro fleet we are able to streamline our consumables,” continues John. “For example, we use one type of engine oil and one type of hydraulic oil which, from a servicing point of view, makes our job more straightforward.”

John heads up a six-strong greenkeeping team who are responsible for maintaining the course, which has previously hosted prestigious tournaments such as S.P.G.A Masters, P.G.A Scottish Open and been a former British Open Qualifying Course. The course is famed for its location within lush Scottish parkland, as well as its diversity of tree species and native wildlife.

The Toro fleet is operational all year-round with the Greensmasters out daily, the apron mowers out three times a week and the fairway mowers cutting twice a week.

Having such a rigorous schedule it’s imperative that the machines are in excellent working order and John credits Rab Wilson from exclusive Toro distributor, Reesink Turfcare, with quickly trouble-shooting any issues to minimise down-time.

John continues: “Rab is fantastic. We get on very well and he will always come to our assistance immediately if we have any problems, although they are few and far between.

“It’s all about getting the job done at the right time and if you haven’t got the right kit you can’t do it. We are experiencing more extremities in the weather – colder, drier springs, milder winters, prolonged periods of snow and ice – so in having the Toro fleet we know we have the very best machinery for the job!”