Wentworth Club, founded in 1926 and best known for its association with professional golf, is headquarters to the PGA European Tour and each year hosts the BMW PGA Championship.
The club has three eighteen-hole courses and a nine-hole par-3 executive course. Following consultation with golf construction specialists MJ Abbott Limited, renovation work has commenced at Wentworth, removing the turf and reseeding eighteen of the greens and the putting green.
Over the years since the company was established in 1965, the MJ Abbott service portfolio has expanded to incorporate golf course construction, reconstruction and remodelling to complement their landscaping and civil engineering specialist services.
Adrian Abbott, Technical/Sales Director, specified six new Classen sod cutters for the removal of the turf on the greens at Wentworth in preparation for the reseeding.
The new and simplified Classen machines feature short length and an integrated rear swivel wheel, making them more compact and manoeuvrable, easier to turn and ideal for creating curves.
Classen claim the fastest transport speed in the industry, with the hydrostatic drive pushing the sod cutter along at 4.7mph whilst delivering a finer cut.
“We compared a number of sod cutters to do the greens renovation work at Wentworth Club,” says Adrian, “and the Classen came out on top as being more suitable for the fine turf areas. We found them altogether lighter than their competitors, while delivering a cleaner cut. We’re very pleased with the results we’re achieving in preparing the ground for re-seeding.”
The blade on the Classen sod cutter is placed at the centre of the machine to ensure a more consistent cutting depth, with twenty cutting strokes per second yielding cleaner, smoother cuts.
Built for longevity, the Classen machines have also been the subject of extensive development of the vibration dampening system for greater operator comfort and a marked increase in productivity. Power comes from Honda engines and the sod cutters come with a two-year Classen warranty.
