Built up over the last six years, a fleet of eight mowers from Baroness have played a pivotal role in the significant improvements in course condition at Southwick Park Golf Club.
Attaining a consistent and outstanding quality of cut in conditions described as a ‘grass factory’ by Course Manager Jim Fancey isn’t easy, but it’s what he says they’re achieving day-in, day-out with their suite of ride-on and pedestrian mowers.
The course, widely regarded as ‘Hampshire’s Hidden Gem’, is located in the countryside on the outskirts of Portsmouth though for Jim – who has been with the club for the last nine years – things haven’t always been plain sailing.
“When I joined the club, I was faced with a shed full of archaic and underperforming machinery” he explains “which was costing the club in terms of downtime, repair bills and what we could realistically achieve results-wise. When we were able to look at investing in new equipment, a triple greens mower was high on the priority list and that’s where our relationship with Baroness began six years ago. We’ve not looked back since!”
Jim’s first purchase was an LM315 triple greens mower which has since been joined by a second LM315, together with an LM331 for use on surrounds, an LM551B fairway mower, a GM2810A five-deck rotary mower and, most recently, another LM56GC pedestrian cylinder mower to add to the two previously purchased.
“Baroness talk a lot about both the quality of cut and how the units stay on-cut better than the competitors and they’re true to their word” Jim says. “Our site is a bit of a grass factory and our fleet cope with this vigorous growth, staying on-cut and incredibly sharp – saving the club thousands of pounds every year on re-grinding fees. They’re robustly built, reliable and intuitive to operate.” He continues, “The GM2810A in particular has proven incredibly versatile. You can change the cutting height in a matter of minutes meaning that when worm casts appear in the winter months, we can quickly adjust the height and rotary cut fairways to give us the presentation we need without the issue of blunting cylinder blades on the LM551.”
When it comes to winter, Jim is now well placed to weather the challenges posed by softer ground conditions with a trio of LM56GC pedestrian mowers. “These have been an absolute gamechanger for us, delivering a fantastic cut and finish on the greens, tees and approaches.” He adds, “We’ll also use the LM56 machines for tournament preparation to give us that extra finishing touch.”
“The club, the management, the players have all noticed the site-wide improvements and, for us, we’ve demonstrated how quality machinery makes all the difference. We also can’t praise Adam Butler and Luke Collins from Baroness, and the team at Lister Wilders, enough for their fantastic support and back-up which has always been second to none.”
