Major, course-wide investment and redevelopment plans at Essex’s Crondon Park Golf Club have taken a big step forward due to the recent installation of a brand-new machinery fleet package from George Browns Limited.
Everything from tractors, mowers, implements and accessories have been replaced with solutions from brands including Kubota and Baroness, to further raise course standards and achieve ambitions of a top-ranking status in the county.
Set within the 220-acre Crondon Park Estate, managing director Marlon Fox is the second generation of the Fox family now taking charge of the 18-hole championship course, originally built by his father 35 years ago. “Since COVID, good machinery appears hard to come by with a lot of manufacturers not holding much in the way of stock” he explains. “In our search, we spoke to Luke Farrow at George Browns Great Dunmow branch who, right from the start, understood our requirements and what we’re looking to achieve here, building us a package of machinery to reach that.”
Within that package were two RTV X1110 utility vehicles, a L2622 and L1552 compact tractor from Kubota, together with two Baroness LM315 greens mowers and a LM551 fairway mower.
“We had the demonstration units arrive and the greens team were very happy with everything, the quality of cut and finish we were seeing, we were very impressed with. Coming away from our previous brand naturally brought with it an element of trepidation but George Browns, Luke and Tim Mason in particular, have looked after us very well at every stage of the process.”
Promised in May 2023, and delivered on time, the Crondon Park greens department then underwent full and comprehensive training on the new equipment.
Marlon concludes, “We have a massive five-year plan, so having new machinery that is going to give us quality results, reliability and no age-related issues is setting us off on the right path to achieve our goals and deliver an unforgettable golfing experience.”