When Chris McGhee took over as Course Manager at Pollok Golf Club in January, one of the first things he identified was the need to improve the heavily worn areas around the course.
Founded in 1892 and situated on the south side of Glasgow, Pollok Golf Club is a traditional, tree-lined members' course with design influences from both James Braid and Alister MacKenzie. While its rich history is part of its charm, it also presents modern-day maintenance challenges.
"Being designed so long ago, the spaces between greens and tees are quite small," explains Chris. "On newer courses you might walk 20, 50 or even 100 yards to the next tee. Most of our tees are right beside the greens, so those areas get heavily worn, especially through the winter."
With an active membership that continues to play throughout the colder months, alongside increased traffic from trolleys and ride-on buggies, maintaining grass cover in these high-traffic areas is a constant battle.
"It was one of the main reasons I wanted an overseeder," he says. "I wanted something that would help bring these areas back quicker and improve the quality and density of the turf."
That search led Chris to the Redexim Overseeder 3D 1575.
Having previously used Redexim equipment, including a Verti-Drain and a Redexim dimple seeder during his time working in Norway, Chris already had confidence in the brand.
"I'd worked with pretty much all of the disc seeders on the market," he says. "For me, the Redexim offered the right balance of ease of use, practicality and price. We have a lot of trees and a lot of manoeuvring to do around the course, and I felt the 1575 was the best fit for our needs."
Purchased in March this year, the Overseeder 3D 1575 has quickly become a regular part of Pollok's maintenance programme.
Designed for use across a wide range of surface types, the machine features a seed delivery mechanism with single-point adjustment, while durable discs cut precise grooves into the soil before a rear roller closes the groove and covers the seed. The result is accurate seed placement, excellent seed-to-soil contact and consistently strong germination rates. An adjustable seed aperture accommodates a variety of seed types, which can be easily adjusted to accommodate a variety of different seeds.
At Pollok, the machine has been deployed extensively across tees, aprons, walk-off areas, grass pathways and other worn sections of the course.
"In all honesty, we've used it everywhere apart from the greens," says Chris. "The walk-off areas and paths have probably been the biggest focus because they're the areas that suffer most from wear, but we've used it across the course."
The results have been immediate.
"It's been a really good investment," he says. "The strike rate has been brilliant. We're mainly using ryegrass in these areas to improve wear tolerance and the germination has been excellent. You can see the lines very clearly and they establish quickly. There's very little seed waste as well."
Ease of operation has also been a major advantage.
"We've all used it," says Chris. "Everyone in the team has had a go setting it up and adjusting the sowing rates. The instruction manual includes a table that makes calibration very straightforward.
"The hopper size is another big benefit. It holds around three full bags of seed, which means we're not constantly stopping to refill or carrying bags around the course."
The improvements haven't gone unnoticed by club members either.
"The members have definitely commented on it," he says. "They like seeing the seed lines because it gives them a visual indication of what's being done and where the investment is going. We regularly share photos of the germination and recovery work through our WhatsApp updates, and people have been really positive about the results."
Support from local dealer Hamilton Ross Group and Redexim also helped ensure a smooth introduction to the machine.
"Allen Whellans from Redexim came out with Paul Johnstone when it was delivered," says Chris. "The training was excellent. It was thorough, easy to understand and focused on exactly what we needed to know. We were confident using it straight away. We always get great support from Hamilton Ross."
After several months of use, Chris has no hesitation in recommending the Overseeder 3D 1575 to other turf professionals.
"The ease of use, the strike rate, the hopper capacity and the compact storage all stand out," he says. "It's very well built, very well made and it does exactly what it's meant to do. That's the most important thing."
For more information, visit https://www.redexim.com/uk/
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