Golfclub Soestduinen, a nine-hole parkland golf course in a wooded setting adjacent to Hilton Royal Parc Hotel in Soest, about 60 km southeast of Amsterdam, has taken delivery of the first all-electric Jacobsen Eclipse 322 in Europe. The delivery was facilitated by Ransomes Jacobsen’s Dutch distributor, van der Pols through their local subsidiary dealer, Bonenkamp Turfcare.

Paul Hogeboom, head greenkeeper said,
“Because of our location adjacent to the Royal Parc Hilton Hotel, the Jacobsen Eclipse 322 Electric is the ideal greens mower for us here at Golfclub Soestduinen. Some of the bedrooms and business meeting rooms are close to greens, but guests are completely unaware when we are mowing, because the machine is so quiet.”

The Eclipse 322 triplex greens mower is the only ride-on mower for greens applications that has all its functions electrically powered. Unlike traditional greens mowers there is no hydraulic fluid in the machine and it totally eliminates the risk of any spillage. All of the Eclipse 322 range use electricity to power the systems, the only difference is how this is generated or stored. On the hybrid models, small diesel or petrol engines power a 48 volt continuous generator, where as the all-electric version stores electricity in a battery pack.

The all-electric Eclipse was first shown in Holland during van der Pols’ successful 2010 Golftour roadshow in October 2010. With a fully charged battery pack the machine is able to cut between 10 and 20 greens, depending on the topography of the golf course and the accessories being used. The Eclipse 322 Electric is fitted with a Battery Fill System that simplifies the servicing of the batteries. A bottle of distilled water is connected to the system and it automatically checks the fluid levels and tops up any cell as required; all without removing the battery caps. An intelligent onboard charger is fitted which can be plugged into an appropriate power socket and after 6 to 8 hours the machine is recharged, ready for use.