Blackpool, England: The course managers at Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham & St Annes have praised the monumental effort from volunteers and staff in executing The Open Championship and the AIG Women’s Open over an intense fortnight. 

John Deere and local dealer Turner Groundscare provided additional machines, technicians, and training for the two courses to ensure preparations were perfect, while dozens of volunteer greenkeepers descended on the venues to support.

Both clubs are established John Deere customers, but for the strict timescales required for televised tournament golf, they benefitted from additional resources to prepare for the events.

Sean McLean, Birkdale’s Course Manager, has worked Opens before, but this was his first in charge.

“It’s been years in the planning with John Deere, talking about what machinery would be needed, how we were going to work it, and how many volunteers we needed,” he said.

For tournament week, Birkdale’s regular team of 16 swelled to around 45, with volunteers drawn from other Open venues, among others.

Tee-times started at 6.30 am on Thursday and Friday, so the crew was on course from 4 am with seven John Deere 8000AE fairway mowers and seven 2775 E-cut greens mowers deployed simultaneously to get everything ready before the first drive.

The standout addition for McLean was the John Deere 2775 E-Cut. Birkdale took delivery of two of the new electric triple riding mowers just months before The Open, specifically to have them ready for championship week. They were cutting greens, tees and surrounds.

McLean said: “The staff really enjoyed using the electric mowers. It’s less noise, and the finish they provided was ideal for what we needed for The Open Championship.”

Turner Groundscare arrived on site around five weeks before the tournament to begin machine preparation alongside Birkdale’s own workshop team. They supported with key tasks such as servicing, sharpening, setting bottom blades, and dialling in roller settings. During championship week a dealer technician was present full-time.

“For the week before and the week of the tournament we had a Turner Groundscare technician here pretty much all day, every day. Even outside of tournaments, the dealer provides very good support for us,” he said. 

John Deere’s own staff from its Langar headquarters in Nottinghamshire also arrived on site to work with the greenkeeping team and dozens of volunteers. They provided on-site training for anyone who was not familiar with John Deere machinery, ensuring everyone was up to speed before championship week began.

McLean said: “It was invaluable to have help with training for all the volunteers that might not have seen these machines before. That support made a real difference.”

Fresh from seeing New Zealander Ryan Fox close out his first Major championship, the team moved up to Royal Lytham & St Annes for the AIG Women’s Open. 

Royal Lytham’s Course Manager Paul Smith began preparations for hosting the Women’s Open years in advance, making sure the course was ready to host the world’s best players.

“It takes a lot of planning, hard work, dedication, and professionalism to maintain and manage a well prepared and conditioned course all year round, which is never that far away from being the best it can be,” he said.

John Deere has been instrumental in supporting Royal Lytham & St Annes in hosting every Major championship since 2001, over time proving to be a very beneficial relationship in helping the greenkeeping team plan, learn and develop from each competition.

Smith said: “Having John Deere and Turner Groundscare present and supporting on site provided us with an added level of assurance, knowing that any problems would be addressed promptly, ensuring the continued smooth running of the operation throughout. John Deere worked closely with the club’s mechanic and lead ensuring that we delivered the very best.”

An extensive fleet of John Deere machinery was deployed on all areas of the championship course, made up of 11 2775 greens mowers, six 8000AE fairway mowers, and eight TE Gators, with over 30 greenkeepers operating the machines – double the amount of Royal Lytham’s regular team.

Smith said: “The feedback on the performance and quality of the John Deere machines was recognised widely from not just the professionals who operated the machinery, but also by the elite players testing their game on the surfaces that the machines helped refine.”

The extra machinery and dealer back up made the difference when combined with additional greenkeepers volunteering for the event.

Smith added: “Delivering a modern-day championship is reliant on the support of an adequately sized, professional and skilled team. The level of planning, organising, and directing is maintained at a high level throughout, with data collection and course preparation critique positively influencing informed decision making, helping to deliver the marginal gains in all areas for the course to be at its very best.

“A Major championship is only ever achievable by having this high level of support, back-up, and knowledge in all areas, but particularly the machinery element that John Deere and Turner Groundscare provided.”

While hot and dry conditions made it an especially difficult year for greenkeeping in the build-up to the tournament – which was won by Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki – Smith praised his team and the support team for delivering a successful championship.

He said: “The challenges were exacerbated by the difficult conditions but ensuring that the course and the competition was a success was the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and professionalism by an outstanding team. Our support team were also fantastic and made the championship that bit more special.”

*John Deere is an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.