One of the major deciders for one of Herefordshire’s premier golf clubs in changing to John Deere professional green-keeping equipment was the quality of back-up service from the dealer. There are many good machines on the market, but if the back-up is weak when you need an urgent response, then what value does that place on your investment? But Leominster Golf Club got more than just excellent after-sales service from TAG, it’s local John Deere dealer, when it found that quality of cut was greatly improved and, fuel consumption was remarkably reduced on its John Deere hybrid greens mower, in fact far lower than they had ever experienced.
Steve Grealy, Deputy Head Green-keeper and Course Manager for Leominster Golf Club said, “The quality of cut has been far better than anything we’ve used before and what’s more a tank of fuel in our John Deere 2500B Hybrid Greens Mower can last four or five days, mowing nineteen holes a day. Nothing we’ve ever had in the past has even come close to that level of efficiency and quality of finish. It’s almost unbelievable!”
Historically, the club was a nine hole before the second world war, was reopened in 1966 and expanded to an 18 hole facility on 92 acres. It has a a 450 strong membership, plus many visitors and groups playing year-round. It sits just west of the town of Leominster and overlooks the Black Mountains, Brecon Beacons and Clee Hill.
“One of the measures that tests the quality of our greens is the membership. said Steve. “Over the past two or three years we have seen a much cleaner cut with no misses and that means a much happier membership. That has been down to my team of professional green-keepers and the quality of machinery we use.”
Leominster Golf Club’s fleet of green-keeping equipment includes a John Deere HPX Gator, used mainly as a run-around in the winter carting stone and top-dressings; a John Deere 2025E and 2653B Tees and Surrounds mower - “I’m very pleased and so impressed with these mowers, added Steve “they’re stable, strong, go anywhere and produce an unbelievable quality of cut.”
Compact tractors in the fleet include a John Deere 2025R with a 60” mid-mounted mower and a John Deere 4049R used for rough mowing and spraying. They always get three quotes for different machines and suppliers just to be sure that they are getting the best deal, but one could imagine the difficulty of putting a price on quality.
“We are so pleased with our John Deere equipment, enthused Steve Grealy, ‘it makes the difference between an ok green and an excellent green and we have a first class course throughout, here at Leominster. The back-up we get from TAG at Evesham is without comparison. They are always on the case and seem to want to do everything they can to help. I’m very happy with the entire set-up.”
