GOLF CLUB RECOVERS AFTER FIRE

PICTURED ABOVE: L-R; Darren Attwood, general manager at Royal Jersey; Allan Black, course manager at Royal Jersey; John Renouf, general manager at JFTU; and Jon Cole, divisional business manager at Reesink Turfcare

Royal Jersey Golf Club say they have overcome a catastrophic fire, which destroyed much of the club’s greenkeeping buildings and equipment, with support from Reesink Turfcare, Toro, and local supplier JFTU. Now, with a fresh fleet of Toro machinery and new and improved facilities, they believe their future looks brighter than ever.

The fire, which broke out in the early hours of May 20th 2023, wiped out the club’s welfare building, workshop, and 15 Toro machines. As course manager, Allan Black, remembers: “I arrived at four in the morning to a disaster. It looked like a scene from a war film. Equipment wise, we'd lost everything required for cutting greens and approaches, plus six electric trucks and most of our tools.”

Fortunately, some equipment was spared, which allowed Allan and his greenkeeping team to continue hand cutting greens and tees on foot while adjusting the height of the cut as needed, while they worked on a recovery plan. But being the start of the season, they had to act fast.

“I contacted Andy Brown at Toro, who put me in touch with Jon Cole, Reesink’s divisional business manager,” Allan explains. “With the help of John Renouf, general manager at JFTU, they put together a plan for renewing the fleet. 

“Jon reassured me Reesink could quickly source two Workman utility vehicles and a Toro Greensmaster 3400. It was a huge relief because now we could get around the course and maintain our greens.”

By August 2023, the club had received six Toro Workman GTX vehicles. Over the next 12 months, Reesink delivered a Greensmaster 3250, five Greensmaster Flex 1021 walk-behind greens mowers, and three Toro Greensmaster TriFlex 3420 hybrid greensmowers, enabling the club to rebuild its course maintenance capabilities.

“Reesink did all this while supporting Royal Liverpool in the build up to The Open and against a machinery backlog and long lead times,” Allan continues.

“Without their support, the club would have struggled and we might have had to shut the course. We couldn’t be more grateful for Reesink, Toro, and JFTU.”