Three Alternative Ventrac Cutting Decks for Burnham Beeches
Burnham Beeches Golf Club is located in the Thames Valley in south Buckinghamshire, 25 miles west of London, and is one of the latest clubs to take a package of Ventrac equipment.
The package includes a Ventrac 4520 all-terrain compact tractor unit together with three different cutting decks and a trencher attachment.
Now in his 24th year at the club, Lee Bishop is the Course Manager where he leads a team of seven greenkeeping staff. Later this year the team will be expanding with the addition of a further experienced greenkeeper, an apprentice and two summer staff. Lee began his career at the nearby Harry Colt-designed Stoke Park Golf Club in 1992, before moving to Burnham Beeches as an assistant greenkeeper back in 1999. He then made the amazing leap from assistant greenkeeper to his current position of Course Manager in 2006.
LEE BISHOP
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“We are an established parkland course, now over 130 years old, and situated mainly on clay,” he said. “We have a requirement to manage the trees and woodland margins that line the fairways and frame the greens. We can be wet after heavy rainfall.”
In fact, Lee told RT Machinery’s Sales Manager, Tom Bailey, they had never been able to cut their fairways over the winter months because of that clay, with all their existing machinery being too heavy on the wet ground.
Lee was looking to replace a semi-rough mower from their existing machinery package and wanted a demo for something that would do that job as well as cover other tasks around the course … and maybe even enable them to cut in the winter.
LEE BISHOP
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“I first saw the Ventrac on social media and then I was invited by a very good friend of mine, Stuart Langhorn, the Course Director at Beaconsfield Golf Club to see the machine that he had bought. I was extremely impressed and contacted our local dealer, RT Machinery to arrange a demonstration. The management team were so impressed and we purchased the package within a couple of weeks of the demonstration!
The Ventrac is so versatile that we purchased three different cutting attachments in the package; the Tough Cut deck is superb for smartening up and managing our woodland margins; it takes down brambles and young saplings with ease and this helps to keep up the pace of play, making it easier for our golfers to find their balls after a wayward shot.
The Contour deck is articulated at both ends and that makes it ideal for bunker surrounds and tee banks, but it has been a godsend during the winter months of 202/23 as we have been using it on our fairways when it’s too wet to cut with our fairway mowers – the first winter we’ve been able to do that! We can get out when it’s wet and put some definition down between the fairways and the semi-rough; the members have noticed and we’ve had many favourable comments.
The Ventrac’s low ground pressure of only 6psi has been the game-changer for that winter mowing, along with the dual wheels to further spread the weight. The Contour deck also deals easily with the worm casts and tree debris that we see more of at that time of year.
The Triple Cylinder unit will be used for the perimeter fairway cut and this has enabled us to remove a dedicated machine from our fleet.
The Trencher has been outstanding this winter. As I said earlier we can be wet after heavy rain, but the trencher enables us to get out and drain the wetter areas on the approach to some greens when we want. We are not reliant on contractors or hiring machinery as we were before: we can do it in-house and in a timely fashion. I would recommend not severing power cables, though; National Grid are not too happy when that happens!
Overall the Ventrac has enabled us to carry out our normal cutting in the summer and then continue through the winter as necessary, as well as manage our drainage and overgrown areas. We even have one hole with a bank steep enough to warrant the use of a strimmer or Flymo. Ventrac handles that too now. One machine to cover so many tasks! We’d love a second machine!
Finally, a shout-out to Price Turfcare, RT Machinery and Tom Stidder. Price Turfcare, the importer, has been so reactive and professional to work with; RT Machinery are renowned for the way they treat customers and we can certainly support that. Tom Stidder, who did the installation training was extremely thorough and knowledgeable. That’s formidable support, all around.”
