Verti-Drain & Verti-Seed in tandem at Enville
Enville Golf Club is a private members club in Staffordshire, founded in 1935, and to help with the latest project of returning fairways, greens and tees back to natural grass species, Course Manager Jonathan Wood enlisted the help of the Charterhouse Verti-Drain and Verti-Seed machines.
Course Manager Jonathan Wood with the club’s new Verti-Drain 7521.
The club started out as a 9 hole course with conversion to two 18 hole courses taking place in 1983, but more recently extensive practice facilities were added to make them some of the finest in the Midlands.
Jonathan has a support team of 10 and has been at Enville for 10 years. He has always used Verti-Drains during that time. In October 2015 he took delivery of the large Verti-Drain 7521 – a like-for-like swap. “They’re quality pieces of kit” says Jonathan, “so when our previous model came to the end of its lifespan it was a no-brainer to replace it with the same machine.
“We use it to make 2 passes on all fairways throughout the winter to relieve compaction and create a better growing environment. We then use a smaller Verti-Drain 7316 on the greens once a year in October/November and on the tees during spring and autumn.”
The course is set on a heathland site which means the fairways are very traditional in species. Over the last 9 years, thanks to the work of Jonathan and his team, they are now dominated by finer grasses. Jonathan again: “It’s noticeable that the aeration work with the Verti-Drain, and overseeding with the Verti-Seed, has played a massive role in getting the fairways back to natural grasses to provide a much better playing surface.
“Similar work has also been carried out on the greens to change the dominant species over to bent and fescue. The Verti-Seed was used to do three passes on all 36 greens in the late summer/autumn period – again achieving great results.”
For Jonathan, the two bits of kit have been invaluable. “They work great in conjunction with one another and the results you can achieve are just great. As a long standing user of Charterhouse kit you just know what you’re going to get – a superior build quality to last a good number of years. To me that’s excellent investment value.”