| John Deere Press Room 2007 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Changing for the better
Managing change is a fine art, and it’s one that course manager Alec MacIndoe has had to master since taking over at Newbury & Crookham Golf Club, Greenham in Berkshire at the end of 2005.
Eighteen months later, one of the biggest changes can be seen in the colour of the machinery used on the 18-hole parkland course. The club took delivery in January of a complete range of new John Deere equipment, supplied by local dealer Golf & Turf Equipment of Wokingham on a five year contract hire deal. The fleet now includes three 220B walk-behind greens mowers, two 2500A greens mowers, a 3235C fairway mower, a 3245C roughs mower, and three Gator utility vehicles – a 6x4 diesel model, a 4x2 TS petrol machine and a Pro Gator equipped with an HD200 sprayer.
Alec MacIndoe (pictured centre front) – whose father David is course superintendent at the prestigious Killarney Golf & Fishing Club in Co Kerry, south-west Ireland – joined Newbury & Crookham from nearby Donnington Valley Hotel & Golf Club, following a spell at Stockley Park Golf Club in Uxbridge, where he took over as course manager at the age of only 24 when Cameron McMillan left for another job.
"I always loved helping out at Killarney when I was younger, and the PGA course at Stockley was a huge learning curve," says Alec. "My father and Cameron were great tutors, and I learnt such a lot from both of them – lessons I’m now trying to put into practice here at Newbury & Crookham. This is a great opportunity to improve the course and get the club back to a competitively high standard in terms of private members’ clubs in Berkshire.
"When I arrived, the machinery fleet was well past its sell-by date, and really needed replacing. The club and committee were incredibly supportive, and in a very short time backed up my wish to invest in a lot of new equipment, including the installation of a new irrigation system.
"Fortunately last winter was the driest we’ve ever had, so we could get a lot of work done in a short time. We needed to improve the drainage, as the course was so wet and soft before, everything was generally overfed and over-watered.
"We therefore Verti-drained everything extensively, slit every 10 days, and redirected some heavy traffic areas, but there was no major digging, just lots of good cultural management. This improved things immensely, and the course immediately became more playable, with better surfaces and a tidier all round finish.
"As a result the number of members playing in winter competitions increased by around 30 per cent, and generally there was more of a buzz around the place. This was very satisfying, because having bought all new kit and a new irrigation system in my first full year here, the expectation levels were huge!"
Golf & Turf dealer salesman James Moore first dealt with Alec MacIndoe at Donnington Valley after initially meeting him at Saltex about four years ago, and kept in contact even when he wasn’t buying any John Deere machines. The relationship is now paying dividends, and the course hosted the dealership’s regional qualifying tournament for the John Deere Team Championship in 2006.
"When deciding on the new fleet, we went through a thorough demonstration process on the course, which meant that we changed the original equipment order a little to ensure that we chose the right machines for the conditions," says Alec. "I manage five qualified greenkeepers and a full-time mechanic, and all were involved in the decision-making process. They are the ones who use the machines, so I wanted them to be happy with our choice – the fact is the staff will be using the equipment far more often than I will.
"Increasingly when it comes to buying new machinery, a key part of the decision is based on back-up from the dealer, and the team at Golf & Turf have been superb in that respect – nothing’s ever been too much trouble. Our mechanic Brian Lewington and greenkeeper John Pilbrow have also had full technical training on all the machines at the dealership.
"Even with good machines and great support, the course would not have improved the way it has without the help and input of the green keeping staff – so it was very encouraging when club manager Steve Myers wrote to say how pleased the club was with the progress that had been made."
|
