Upton-by-Chester Golf Club opts for electric mower

By Alistair April 19, 2017 05:23 Updated

Upton-by-Chester Golf Club has taken delivery of an all-electric Eclipse 322 ride-on greens’ mower, and an AR522 rough mower.

Three sides of the golf course are surrounded by a residential area, and after several complaints about noise early in the morning, Head Greenkeeper Simon Ashford and Course Director Fred Hopley decided to invest in the battery-powered Eclipse 322. Commenting on the situation, Fred said:

“Many of the greens on the course are located very close to residential housing. For a number of years, Simon and his team have had to adapt their mowing routine in consideration of our neighbours. This has meant using more fuel to go back and forth between greens; on average we were using 5l of diesel per day (a cost of around £5 per day). Now, it costs us 17p of electricity per day to run the Eclipse 322, and it cuts all 20 of our greens on just one charge.”

The Eclipse 322 is available in either hybrid or electric and features Jacobsen Classic XP™ reels and allows users to electrically programme frequency of clip, mow speed, transport speed, and other settings through a password-protected menu. Battery units can lower annual operating costs by 86 percent through fuel savings up to 2,860 litres of fuel, 118 fewer litres of waste oil and reduce scheduled maintenance.

“As well as being an extremely quiet and economical machine, the Eclipse 322 produces an incredible finish on our greens,” Hopley said. “It produces a hand-mown finish, which has been very well received during special events at the club; the quality is unquestionable. The lack of diesel and hydraulics has also been a weight lifted from Simon’s shoulders, as there is no chance of leaks now. The whole team took to the machine straight away, and given all of the benefits, the purchase was a no brainer for the club.”

Commenting on the new AR522 rough mower, head greenkeeper Ashford said: “The AR522 is a fantastic machine. We have a lot of trees on the course, and it is the only mower that we have come across that mulches leaves with ease. We previously had to use a vacuum and dispose of the leaves regularly, so the AR522 has saved us a lot of time in that respect. The cut is also brilliant, and the unit is narrower than our previous mower, which makes it easy to manoeuvre in and out of trees; it is the ideal mower for our course.”

Upton-by-Chester was originally designed as a 9-hole golf course in 1934. Today, it is an 18-hole parkland course with mature tree lined fairways and features USGA specification greens keeping it in play all year.

Find out how much money the Eclipse 322 could save your course: http://ransomesjacobsen.com/eclipse-calculator/