The Bedford Golf Club at Great Denham in the UK has invested in a new fleet of John Deere course machinery.

Almost £250,000 has been spent by the Bedfordshire club on the new machinery, which was purchased on a six-year finance lease from local dealer P Tuckwell of Maulden.

Included in the Bedford club’s new armada is a TE Electric and two HPX 4x4 Gator utility vehicles, as well as a Pro Gator equipped with an HD200 amenity sprayer.

The package also includes a 260SL walk-behind greens mower and trailer; two 2500E hybrid electric greens mowers with groomers; 7200 tees & surrounds and 7700 fairway PrecisionCut mowers; a 1600T Series II wide area rotary mower; an Aercore 2000 tractor-mounted aerator; a 3520 compact tractor with matching 300CX front loader; and a Tru-Turf greens roller.

Simon Trotter, greenkeeping team leader at the eighteen-hole course, said that the interests of the course were behind the new investment.

“We have a lot of pretty wispy rough, which grows quite long, and previous machines just weren’t suitable,” said Trotter. “From tees to greens, including the driving range, we have approximately 15 hectares of grass to mow, plus about 35 hectares of rough.

“The John Deere 1600T was therefore a big factor in our choice, and proved on demo to be by far the best solution for us – it just blitzed the job. It provides a better quality of cut and plenty of power, which is certainly needed for the size of area it has to mow,” continued Trotter. “The triplex ride-ons are used on the greens and tees, but the approaches are now mown by hand to give a better definition and quality of finish. There’s not been that much grass growth yet this year, but this has already improved the look and quality of all the approaches,” he concluded.