Fleet expands with new Toro machinery and irrigation upgrades
Royal Cromer Golf Club on the North Norfolk coast has doubled down on its commitment to sustainability with the help of Toro and Reesink Turfcare, expanding its fleet with three new Toro eTriFlex 3370 electric mowers and an upgraded Toro irrigation system.
As a maritime golf course with a clifftop aspect, Royal Cromer, like many golf clubs, now contends with forces even more formidable than its neighbouring North Sea, namely climate change, stricter pesticide regulations, and increased scrutiny of water usage.
Under the leadership of Course Manager Mark Heveran, who joined the club in 2010, the club has made impressive strides in terms of sustainability, working in collaboration with the R&A’s sustainable agronomy team, and reducing herbicide, pesticide, fungicide, and water use.
Royal Cromer has cut nitrogen inputs by over two-thirds and transformed the botanical composition of its turf, favouring bents and fescues for their improved resistance to drought, disease, erosion, and compaction. Combined they produce a root structure and playing surface resistant to drought, disease, erosion, and compaction and the fine texture of these grass varieties makes them tolerant to close cutting.
A truly iconic view featuring the Toro eTriFlex 3370 and the club’s famous working lighthouse.
Work over the last 10 years to enhance the composition of the sward has improved playing surfaces markedly. Swards now show higher proportions of desirable grasses and better soil profiles to support successful seeding, which was achieved through aeration, top dressing programmes, the use of refinement equipment such as tractor drawn rakes and brushes, and overseeding with carefully chosen cultivars, aided by Toro machinery and irrigation.
Being a Top 100 English club, we have more eyes on us than ever, so there’s never been a better time to upgrade our existing fleet with Toro.
Cutting is now under the blades of three new powerful Toro eTriFlex 3370 all-electric mowers, which are set up according to the areas they are responsible for as Mark explains: “Two of the mowers are eight-bladed and set up for tees and surrounds, while the other is eleven-bladed and perfect for greens. The benefit with this setup is that they’re fully interchangeable.
“We can easily swap the different units from one machine to another, giving us real versatility on the course. Each eTriFlex 3370 comes fully loaded with grooming brushes, which allow us to tiller the turf, removing any debris and preparing the grass leaf for the perfect cut,” says Mark.
The Toro e-TriFlex 3370 all-electric greensmower, one of three the club has recently purchased, in action.
Operationally, the greenkeeping team makes good use of cultural techniques rather than chemical pesticides to control disease. These techniques include dew removal, light tonic feeds, and careful application of iron sulphate to strengthen grass and improve resistance.
The R&A Sustainable Agronomy team carried out laboratory testing of soils to evaluate the condition of the course. Organic matter and nutrient composition of soil samples at various depths were compared to optimal ranges and Royal Cromer achieved the rare feat of hitting target ranges at all depths with results indicating the surfaces were well managed, with low inputs of fertiliser and water clearly at the forefront of the minds of those charged with day-to-day management.
The results are that water use is low in a dry part of the country at 4,500 to 6,500 cubic meters per year, which is very much in thanks to a Toro irrigation system.
Royal Cromer Golf Club is a Toro Total Solutions customer with a full fleet of Toro machinery and full course irrigation system.
“Although we’ve added more sprinkler heads, we’re using the most up-to-date Lynx software from Toro to monitor to optimise our water usage. For the last 10 years, it has helped us reduce our water outputs significantly, monitoring and delivering our irrigation, right down to the millimetre.”
“Most recently, we’ve upgraded the existing system as part of our mission to improve biodiversity, replacing the artificial walkways with new natural alternatives, which also require irrigation, so we chose Toro sprinklers knowing we could rely on their efficiency and precision even in our windy location.”
Course Manager Mark Heveran, seated, with Reesink’s Danny Lake.
A sustainable approach to course conditioning to deliver top quality playing surfaces with a minimum of inputs requires an all-encompassing overview of course conditions, agronomic practices, ongoing course development work and support from esteemed partners such as Reesink and Toro.