MULTI-FACETED APPROACH REQUIRED

PICTURED ABOVE: Newmachar course manager, Christopher Lamb, and his greenkeeping team with their new machinery fleet

Newmachar Golf Club golf in North East Scotland, features two historic - but very different - courses. 

Course manager, Christopher Lamb, says this variety requires a strategic and dynamic greenkeeping approach: “What’s interesting about our Hawkshill and Swailend courses is that, although they’re right next to each other, they’re completely different - both in terms of their topography and what they’re like to play on.

“For us as greenkeepers, this represents a unique challenge,” he adds. “We have to work as efficiently as possible, which is why we’ve brought in a huge new fleet of 24 Toro machines to ensure we’re covering each course’s unique maintenance needs.”

Recently ranked as one of the Top 100 Scottish golf clubs by Today’s Golfer, Newmachar’s Hawkshill Championship Course and Swailend Course were designed by renowned architect Dave Thomas and built during the 1990s. 

Hawkshill is a heathland course with USGA specification greens; while Swailend is a birch- and pine-heavy parkland course built through farming land.

Newmachar’s new fleet includes the Greensmaster Triflex Hybrid 3420 and Groundsmaster 4000-D, as well as lightweight fairway mowers, utility vehicles, renovation equipment, and a Toro Sand Pro 3040 bunker rake. 

Christopher, who joined Newmachar as an apprentice in 2014 and has since worked his way up to course manager, described his new fleet as " . . dynamic in their useability, making them just as effective on a parkland course as on a heathland one."

He concluded, “We’ve all noticed significant improvements in the quality of cut, especially tee-side. Without a shadow of a doubt, the new machines will be instrumental in not just maintaining the standard of play our members have come to expect, but also in making improvements to both courses year-on-year, as we look to raise our profile even further.”