Liverpool, England: As the Open Championship is in full swing at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Toro equipment is working seamlessly behind the scenes to help the grounds crew create the best course conditions – with support from Toro distributor, Lely UK.
The 18-hole Hoylake course has been an exclusive Toro customer for the past 10 years, while prior to that its fleet included a mix of machinery that was 50 per cent Toro equipment.
Course manager Craig Gilholm says the fact that Toro equipment never let him down in the eight years he’s been with the club convinced him, with the support of his greens chairman, to sign with Toro for another five years.
With Royal Liverpool’s purchase last year of new Toro equipment, many of the new arrivals reflect the club’s commitment to more sustainable course management, including Toro’s advanced hybrid and electric greensmower models to help cut fuel costs and become greener.
Gilholm said: “It’s really important to us to be greener, but we also want to keep moving forward by investing in the latest machinery and technology. Fortunately, models like Toro’s new TriFlex and eFlex greensmowers allow us to do both because they’re the newest, greenest and best machines available on the market today.”
Royal Liverpool was one of the first clubs in the United Kingdom to demo Toro’s TriFlex Hybrid 3420 riding greensmower when it first launched in 2011. Gilholm was so impressed that he now counts four among his new arrivals.
“The TriFlex mowers are very impressive. I prefer the new riding position, the on-board diagnostics are very useful for our mechanics, and I like the whole concept of removing the hydraulics from the cutting units, which virtually eliminates hydraulic leaks. We’ve got two for our greens, plus another two for cutting our tees and surrounds.”
Another key purchase was Toro’s eFlex, the industry’s first lithium ion battery-powered walk greensmower. “We’ve got six eFlex mowers with grooming brush attachments,” Gilholm said. “These are a new concept to us, being all-electric. We had three machines out cutting the other day and can do seven greens on a single charge per machine. According to Toro, we should be able to do up to nine greens without the attachment, so that’s impressive for a battery-powered machine.”
Toro is an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.