Adi Porter, course manager at Greetham Valley Golf Club, has said that he is now in full control of thatch build-up since using the SISIS Rotorake TM1000.
In 1990, a farming family called the Hinch’s saw the possibilities of the delightful rural setting where Greetham Valley stands today. Tucked away in a secluded valley, Greetham is now one of the finest golf, hotel, leisure and conference venues in the East Midlands and keen golfers come from far and wide apart to test their skills.
Two 18-hole championship golf courses criss-cross the stunning valley, with lakes and brooks that meander across the landscape. The Lakes course, par 72, is the longest at 6769 yards and has deceptively tricky water features on each one, while the Valley course, par 68, may be shorter at 5595 yards but still proves a challenging course. The golf facility also includes a driving range, putting green, a 9-hole par three course and a golf academy.
Overseeing the maintenance of the golfing facilities at Greetham Valley is course manager Adi Porter – someone who the Hinch family put their faith in 21 years ago. Throughout this time Adi has seen the club go from strength to strength and perhaps one of the key factors in the success of Greetham Valley is that Adi believes there is no room for complacency.
“I’d say that the biggest challenge in my role is to continually produce the very high standards throughout my department that are required in order to stay competitive and attract new members and visitors in a very difficult market.”
To continually reach these high standards, Adi has assembled a highly professional and experienced team which consists of himself, a deputy course manager, a first assistant, six assistant greenkeepers, two mechanics and a trainee greenkeeper. The team works tirelessly to maintain the two 18’s and 9-hole course, the driving range and bowling green, and while this is going on, the club also offers a contracting greenkeeping service.
“We manage the vast workload by investing in our staff and purchasing good reliable machinery,” said Adi.
As Adi says - good, reliable machinery is an absolute must to stand any chance of success in such a competitive market, so when he decided he wanted to reverse the trend of thatch build-up, Adi knew that only the best turf maintenance machinery would suffice.
“Over the past 21 years I have seen the percentage of thatch in the top 50mm rise from zero to 3.5, and I didn’t want this to continue, so I decided to look for a solution.”
“The criteria for me had to be about the machine’s performance in thatch removal and the cleanliness of the operation, but also it had to be productive. The SISIS TM1000 matched all of the above.”
The SISIS Rotorake TM1000 is a tractor mounted heavy duty scarifier and linear aerator and is un-rivalled when it comes to removing and controlling thatch. It includes a collector box and floating unit to follow ground contours and its contra-rotating reel throws debris forward ensuring a clean, consistent groove resulting in an excellent finish when the time comes to scarify. With interchangeable blades and a quick, simple depth setting without tools, it’s no wonder why so many greenkeepers and course managers like Adi, have reaped the benefits of using the TM1000.
“Since using the SISIS TM1000; the thatch in the top 50mm has reduced to three percent and I am now in full control. Another benefit has been better germination rates of the bent seed, which has allowed me to reduce sowing rates. And with us altering the direction of travel each time, the new seed integrates really well in the green.”
“The machine is more than capable of removing thatch down to 40mm, the collection works really well, and the speed across the green is very impressive, taking around 20 minutes to complete an average size green.”
For further information or a no obligation demonstration, please contact SISIS on 01332 824 777 or visit www.sisis.com
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