Woodhall Spa safeguards home of English Golf with Toro

It’s a relationship over two decades strong, therefore it’s no surprise that when it came to renewing its machinery fleet as it concluded what is widely recognised as the biggest in-house golf renovation project in the UK, that Woodhall Spa Golf Club chose Toro again.

As the club’s three-year, three-stage restoration project designed to give the Lincolnshire course back its rightful heathland landscape and original character concludes, the focus is now on the quality of the playing surfaces. Hence the latest, significant investment in Toro and Reesink Turfcare.

Course manager Sam Rhodes says: “We have so much confidence in Toro. Having Toro on board during the renovations meant there was one less big thing to worry about. There was too much to do as it was, so knowing the maintenance, and irrigation, of the courses was in safe hands was invaluable. And now as the main restoration work is finished, we’re going to town on the quality of the playing surfaces.”

Richard Latham, general manager, explains the reason for the renovation: “It’s accepted that the course found itself in this position because of over 50 years of woodland mismanagement and neglect. Woodhall Spa was fast falling down in the world rankings and it was getting harder to maintain the courses with every year that went by. Too many trees were affecting the playing quality of the course and the shade was affecting growth, plus we had collapsing bunker banks. Our members were loyal and the course was still popular, but it was time to act and safeguard the future of the course.”

A phone call from Richard was all it took to secure the services of Tom Doak, one of the true greats of modern golf course architecture, for the redesign of the home of the governing body of England Golf. Richard says: “Sam and I had a wish list of everything we wanted to achieve and we were in agreement that Tom would be the ultimate choice for redesigning the course. I’m a huge fan of Tom’s work, he goes to great lengths to understand why some courses play better than others and is a skilled and sensitive course architect. This is his first restoration project of such a scale in the British Isles, a fact which appealed to Tom and we were lucky too that he highly rated the course.”

It’s been a collaborative project. Six holes a year were tackled and once Tom had created the vision and design and his skilled landscaping team had sculpted and honed the land, then Sam and the greenkeeping team took over.

As Sam confirms: “It was important we made Tom’s vision come to life. We know and understand the course and the requirements placed on it as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, so it was far better we do the work in-house than bring contractors in. It was a stressful time incorporating this work on top of the maintenance and smooth running of the course, but the time spent with Tom, just 30 days over the three-year project, were some of the best in my career. I learnt so much and was inspired. This work was so much more than just a job and now we have a course to be hugely proud of.”

One of the biggest changes was the introduction of bigger greens, now 4,000 square metres larger, which takes the greenkeeping team an extra two hours to mow every morning, ably assisted by Toro.

Sam says: “We’ve long been a Toro Total Solutions customer and we wanted a full fleet refresh to make sure we were benefitting from the latest technological advancements and to ensure we are ready for the next all-important phase in the course’s future. We’re already seeing the impact of the new design of the cylinder cutting unit of the Reelmaster 5010-H, it’s freeing a man up.”

Sam Rhodes course manager of Woodhall Spa Golf Club in Lincolnshire with the fleet of Toro machines – 4th December 2019

The new fleet is comprehensive including greens, tees and fairways mowers, aerators, top dressers and bunker rakes. Sam has included hybrid technology in the form of three Reelmaster 5010-H fairway mowers and two all-electric Workman GTXe utility vehicles, and during the renovations the Toro Lynx central control irrigation system and 170 Infinity sprinklers on the greens, tees and surrounds was extended to the fairways covering the Hotchkin and Bracken courses.

Richard says: “We don’t have much water where we are, so we have to be frugal in how much we apply. The installation of the system has allowed us to be entirely accurate and conserve our usage. It also allowed us to avoid damage in the drought of 2018 – we lost the colour but kept the coverage. To have extended the irrigation system to the fairways now means we have complete Toro protection.”

Both Richard and Sam agree this project has been game-changing, Richard says: “To say we have successfully completed the biggest in-house project the country has seen is quite the achievement. Our members are playing a far more strategic game, reminiscent of how it used to be when golf was first played here in 1905. We’ve successfully put all the holes back together again ourselves and we’re moving up in the rankings. We’ve achieved what we set out to do.”

And now as the team embarks on the next phase in the club’s life, Richard considers what happens next. “Now we have the rightful landscape back, playing fantastically, our focus is on ensuring that lasts, and with the combination of Sam, the team and Toro on board we know that’s a realistic ambition.”

Reesink UK LTD is the exclusive distributor in the UK and Ireland for Toro professional turfcare machinery and irrigation products for the golf, sport and amenity sectors. Tel: 01480 226800, email info@reesinkturfcare.co.uk or visit reesinkturfcare.co.uk