Sherwood Forest Golf Club in Nottinghamshire, a longtime Toro customer, recently decided to sign a five-year preferred supplier agreement with Toro
Sherwood Forest Golf Club in Nottinghamshire, a longtime Toro customer, recently decided to sign a five-year preferred supplier agreement with Toro and its UK distributor Reesink Turfcare. The decision to make this commitment comes after almost 40 years of using Toro and never having been let down, says course manager, Kim Kirkham.
“I’ve chosen Toro throughout my career, which is coming up to 40 years, and I have never been let down by them, said Kirkham. And while I’ve never wanted to be tied to a particular brand, with this latest order it felt like the right time. I’ve always bought Toro, so it made sense to commit to them.”
Sherwood Forest’s most recent Toro machinery order includes two Greensmaster TriFlex 3400ride-on mowers
The Club decided to invest most recently in two Greensmaster® TriFlex® 3400 ride-on mowers, and is also one of the first customers in the UK to opt for the new Toro® Workman® GTX utility vehicle in place of its existing electric Workmans. Both showcase the very latest in technology, of which Kirkham comments on how far things have come since the first Toro machine he used – the Greensmaster 3.
“By buying Toro, you are buying the best and that is evident in how long these machines last,” he says. “Nothing has changed on that front, since I ordered my first Toro machine nearly 40 years ago. I know that when we order new machines, such as the TriFlex for the greens, we can move the older Toro’s into a new role. The Toro Greensmaster 3250-D mowers, for example, which were previously cutting the greens, are now on the tees, which don’t need such a fine finish, and they’re doing a great job and will do for a good few years.”
It requires foresight and planning, but a plan like this ensures Kirkham and his greenkeeping team of six always have the best for the course and consider their machines with the long-term in mind.
Economy is the reason for bringing in the Workman utility vehicles. “We are a 200-acre course, so the new GTX, which is a light utility suited to a broad and diverse range of jobs, is ideal.”
Being surrounded as it is by some of Europe’s finest trees and heathland, thanks to its proximity to the legendary Sherwood Forest, the golf club is now a designated site of specific scientific interest due to it containing the largest area of low-lying heathland in the Midlands. It has, says Kirkham, been an intentional decision to focus on the heathland aspect of the course rather than opting to be a parkland course, which would have been possible, and potentially an easier decision, considering the club’s location. Instead Kirkham and the team have focused on bringing in plenty of heather and are delighted that it is making a difference. And with plans in place for a new golf academy and driving range just opposite the course, it’s from one challenge to the next.
Not that it’s a bother, says Kirkham with a shed of Toro and the support of dealer Chris Sellars Groundcare, with whom Kirkham and the club have a long-standing relationship: “I’ve always said Toro machines are the Rolls Royce of the industry, you can tell it just by looking at them, let alone using them, and they always prove their worth.”
