The desire for continual improvement is high at Leamington &
County Golf Club, with the ambitious team of head greenkeeper and general
manager turning to the Foley ACCU-Sharp 605 for cost saving, plant health and
ease of use.
The duo of head greenkeeper, Jason Cooper, and general manager,
Bryan Frazer, make a formidable team through their understanding of each
other’s role in maintaining and elevating one of Warwickshire’s finest parkland
courses.
The most recent display of their common objective was bringing
grinding in-house with their first ever on-site grinder. Criteria were drawn
up, the options examined, and the result now sitting proudly in the workshop
sporting a familiar green and black, is the ACCU-Sharp 605 spin and relief
grinder.
Bryan is the driving force behind what is a progressive and
forward-thinking club that is always trying to improve for its members, but
also the outside golfing world. His aim, by providing Jason and his team with
equipment they need, is to improve on the already high standards and create new
competitions by building a reputation for excellence.
Women’s golf is an area Bryan is particularly focused on and it is
his hope that Leamington & County Golf Club will be able to attract some of
Britain’s top female golfers in years to come – but the improvements begin by
improving the course.
“The core thing for us was that buying the grinder through a
finance deal was a no cost option because we already had a cost for
contracting. This on-going expense is now gone, and the fixed term means we
will be cost free within five years,” Bryan said.
“Our point of view on is
that by learning new skills and having our own machine it would be cheaper than
the winter service work and provide us with the flexibility we need to offer
more events.”
“Ian invited us to Farol’s (John Deere dealership at Hinckley) for
a demonstration of their Foley grinders, and it didn’t take me very long to say
to Jason ‘We could definitely use this grinder to raise the quality of the golf
course.’ and along with the new drainage schemes underway, we will be able to
sustain a better course for the same money and then look at how we offer that
to our members and the wider golfing world.”
Of the numerous considerations in the decision-making process, the
most crucial for Jason was the time it would take to learn and operate the
grinder for first time users. After going through training with ProSport UK’s
Ian Robson, himself and two of his staff quickly realised the simplicity of
operation.
Jason explains: “Learning to use the machine has been fine.. Two
of us are more mechanically minded than the other that’s using it, but I wanted
him on board so someone who knows the process is always on site. He found it
incredibly easy and intuitive to use, with the direct training provided by Ian
to explain the basics. We’ve got it on a rotation system where one strips the
unit down, one does the grinding and then the other person rebuilds, and we
swap it around so we all get used to it.
“The really interesting aspect we have discovered, is the concept
of relief grinding, but once you understand the principle, it makes perfect
sense to take grinding from basic sharpness to a whole new level of excellence.
It gives us that ongoing improvement in the quality of the cut, we reduce
disease, we reduce fungicides, we reduce pesticides and gain a lot of
flexibility.”
All these positive benefits will allow Jason to pursue his goal of
having the course at the same high standard for the entire season, whilst also
allowing Bryan’s vision for the club and what they can offer to expand.
Jason continues: “We can plan when we’re going to grind now, for
example before our main club event. We can give the cylinders a quick sharpen
and we’ll have a nice crisp clean cut. We can work with this flexibility and
see what we can achieve. If a mower goes off cut or the reel is damaged we
aren’t waiting for a day and half for it to be fixed, we can turn it around
ourselves and get back up and running within a few hours.”
Looking for ways to improve is a very strong part of the clubs
continued success and by working together Bryan and Jason hope to elevate the
course and fulfil its potential, and both view the acquisition of the
ACCU-Sharp Sharp 605 as a vital part of that progression.
