ROYAL CINQUE PORTS GOLF CLUB CLIMBS THE RANKINGS
WITH THE HELP OF TORO IRRIGATION
"The new Toro irrigation system has been a huge
success,” explains James. "We’ve reached the top100golfcourses.com world
rankings for the first time ever, which we can in part attribute to the
remarkable improvement the course has seen thanks to Toro irrigation.
"Not only did Toro help us get through one of the
driest summers in history last year, but the water savings were incredible,”
says James. "We kept within our water allowance and didn’t lose any turf
coverage, which is definitely something our old system wouldn’t have managed.
In fact, the turf quality has come on leaps and bounds despite the tough
conditions.”
Part of James’ drive to continuously improve the
course, March 2019 saw Royal Cinque Ports install a Toro Lynx Central Control
System and Infinity sprinklers on the greens, surrounds, approaches and fairways
with B Series sprinklers on the tees and T5 and PRN combinations on the
walkways. The installation came shortly after another Toro machinery fleet
agreement, so had the added bonus of securing the club’s position as a Toro
Total Solutions customer.
Despite its success, it wasn’t a given that Toro
would be awarded the irrigation contract. In fact, initially James considered
staying with the same brand as the previous system for the irrigation update,
but changed his mind after being "thoroughly impressed” by Toro in a
demonstration by Reesink Turfcare.
"The whole team really liked the way the Toro
Lynx Central Control System and the sprinkler heads worked,” says James. "In
particular, being able to change the trajectory and ease of set up of the sprinkler
heads is incredibly useful when it comes to dealing with the strong winds we
get here as a links course.
"The course itself has changed quite a bit in the
last twenty years and as a result lots of areas weren’t benefitting from the
irrigation, such as the walkways. So, we wanted something which would water
more of the course and target areas more efficiently. The Toro system has given
us the opportunity to tackle the issues we were having and make further
improvements.”
Plus, James tells us, he was keen for a more
sophisticated control system: "Having previously had a 20-year-old irrigation
system, faults with the electrics meant it was time for a change. The system
had stopped coming on during the night which was a huge issue. A complete
replacement was needed which included the pumps and wiring alongside a new
control system, sprinklers, additional pipework and the creation of a new
abstraction point from the water source to the reservoir.
"The new control system is much more modern and
it’s great to be able to make adjustments from my mobile phone and provide the
same accuracy as hand watering. It’s a real game changer.”
With the installation completed by one of the
leading golf construction companies MJ Abbott, both the installation process,
and the support from Reesink Turfcare since has impressed James. "It’s been
really great from the first demonstration through to now. In particular, Robert
Jackson and Peter Newton at Reesink have gone above and beyond. The
communication has been a different class, whether we needed parts, back up or
training, Reesink was always available to help.”
He concludes: "With our Total Solutions package,
we are continuously improving and well on the way to making the club a ‘bucket
list’ destination.”