Rudding Park Golf Club near Harrogate has invested in a new fleet of Toro mowers to tend to its 18-hole Hawtree Championship course and recently opened six-hole Repton short course.

The north Yorkshire club is new to Toro, having used a mix of machinery – most of which was supplied by another major manufacturer. Seeking improved reliability in his latest purchases, however, course manager Richard Hollingworth turned to his local dealer at Cheshire Turf Machinery.

“We buy on quality, not colour,” Richard comments. “And quality counts more than price. We were primarily looking for reliability in our new purchases – Tony Dodson [the Yorkshire sales manager for CTM] is very, very helpful and recommended Toro, which we hadn’t used in the past.”

One Toro Reelmaster 5610-D fairway mower along with a Groundsmaster 3500-D and two Reelmaster 3100-Ds with Sidewinder trim mowers are now hard at work across Rudding Park’s extensive grounds, including the recently developed £750,000 Repton short course.

The first of its kind in the north of England, the course has been designed by Martin Hawtree and comprises six par three holes set to USGA standard. With one parkland hole, two woodland and two water holes to now maintain, as well as the ‘signature’ island hole inspired by Florida’s notorious 17th at Sawgrass, Richard is delighted that the mowers deliver the reliability and performance he was looking for.

“We’ve found that the Toro machines are built better and are more reliable than other machinery ranges,” says Richard. “They also offer value for money and a brilliant quality of cut. The mowers are doing a fantastic job – our greens are better than they’ve ever been before. We’re achieving green speeds of nine-and-a-half on the stimpmetre, which is up to competition standard. We were only reaching speeds of around eight before, so it’s great we’re getting that kind of ball speed.”

So pleased is Richard and his greenkeeping team with the new mowers, they’re now busy planning their next Toro purchases. “Toro and Tony at CTM have come up trumps with our 2009 machinery purchase plans,” says Richard. “We’re delighted with Toro.”