Rising from the ashes with Toro’s help
Boringdon Park Golf Club in Plymouth has struck a £550,000 deal with Toro that sees the resilient club looking forward to the future after an unfortunate fire destroyed the club’s entire fleet of machinery.
Here Justin Austin, course manager, explains what happened: “The fire was devastating. It was, fortunately, brought under control before it could damage the two courses, but it destroyed the entire shed and everything in it. Happening as it did at the beginning of the year, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy replacing the stock as every manufacturer was experiencing delays to the supply and distribution chain due to COVID.”
Boringdon Park Golf Club, in Plymouth, rose from the ashes after being struck by an unfortunate fire that destroyed its entire fleet.
However, a bleak situation was made better by the support that came from Devon Garden Machinery. Immediately after the fire, Justin contacted the Toro dealer and despite there still being restrictions in place and delivery delays, the machinery dealer and Toro distributor Reesink Turfcare were able to not only help Justin work out a fleet replacement list of machinery but supported him with loan machinery to bridge the gap, meaning Justin and his team of five could keep the courses going.
We believe that fast, efficient communication played a major factor in us securing this order. Restrictions in place at the time made it difficult to meet face-to-face, so phone and email was key, with many of these phone calls and emails taking place out of hours due to the urgency of the whole situation. The club was fortunately well insured and this gave them the opportunity to specify what they wanted. As Justin’s preference was Toro, he got his wish.
Steve continues: “Once the orders were placed, we then had to contend with the delays in delivery that every manufacturer has suffered from. Between Reesink and ourselves we were able to loan Justin some equipment to keep him going. Justin has been amazing throughout, he’s coped remarkably with the situation, even though he didn’t even have a shovel left after the fire! And he’s been extremely understanding with regards to the staggered deliveries.”
Justin Austin from Boringdon Park Golf Club (left), Steve Dommett from Devon Garden Machinery (right) and David Timms from Reesink Turfcare, posing with the Groundsmaster 4700-D rotary mower.
DGM is a great company that always goes that extra mile. They pick the phone up whatever the time. We were always updated and kept up to speed during the entire process and that gave us peace of mind knowing we could rely on DGM and Reesink as a distributor. I’m in the process of talking to them about putting in place a five-year rolling replacement plan.
The club had previously owned a mixed bag of kit from different brands; however, Justin had always been a self-proclaimed Toro fan and this was an opportunity to replace the club’s machinery according to his vision. He opted for five Greensmaster 3250-D riding greensmowers, two Greensmaster 1000 walk-behind cylinder mowers, four Reelmaster 3100-D cylinder mowers, a Reelmaster 5610-D fairway mower, a Reelmaster 6700-D fairway groomer, a Groundsmaster 4500-D rotary mower, a Groundsmaster 4700-D rotary mower and a Sand Pro 3040 bunker rake, along with various pieces of aeration equipment, top dressers, golf buggies, trailers and sprayers.
Justin using the club’s new Groundsmaster 4700-D mower on one of the courses, luckily neither of which were damaged by the fire.
Showing some of the club’s new fleet: the club’s Justin Austin (left) sitting on the Reelmaster 3100-D cylinder mower, DGM Steve Dommett (right) riding the Groundsmaster 4700-D rotary mower and Reesink’s David Timms with the Greensmaster 3250-D riding greensmower.