La Manga Club has already started to feel the benefits of its latest purchase, a new Toro GreensPro 1200 roller.

The course and greens received widespread praise during February’s Spanish International Amateur Championship, delighting greenkeeping staff.

Ahead of the competition, the greenkeeping staff were able to raise the speed of the greens on the resort’s South Course from 9.8 feet to 12.4 feet on the stimpmeter, a similar green speed to that faced by participants at The Masters.

Europe’s top amateur players faced tricky conditions and an element of the unknown during the prestigious tournament, with the speed of the greens posing plenty of challenges for the competitors.

No player broke 70 during the event’s two-stroke play qualifying rounds and the effects were still evident once the knockout stage of the competition was reached, which was eventually won by Irishman Reeve Wilson.

“The Toro GreensPro1200 came to us highly recommended,” said Gary Silcock, La Manga Club’s director of golf. “We saw the roller in action when Toro visited the resort in January and it has been a very good investment.”

The next event at the club will be the Ecco Tour’s Nordic League Winter Series, which starts on 12 March. Other events scheduled for this spring include the Swedish PGA and the Addison Lee Footballers’ Classic.

But for now, Silcock is pleased with the feedback from the club’s latest event, and particularly the opinions of the course itself. “Everyone who took part was full of praise for the condition of the course and the greens, and the new equipment played its full part in delivering a hugely successful event,” he said.