Gary Johnstone is the Links Manager at Portmarnock Golf Club, situated 10 miles northeast of Dublin city centre on the Irish Sea coast. He has been reaping the benefits of his latest equipment purchased from local Ransomes Jacobsen dealer, Kevin Broderick Ltd.

Portmarnock Golf Club was established in 1894 on land owned by the renowned distiller John Jameson. The original 9-hole course was laid out by William Pickeman and two years later, in 1896 a further nine holes were added to create the Championship course.

Following the addition of a further nine holes in 1971, today’s facility is a 27-hole championship golf complex managed by Gary Johnstone with a team of 10 full-time staff, supplemented by a further six in the summer months.

“The Jacobsen GP400 is an excellent triple mower,” he said. “We have three of them, all with the three-wheel drive option and they cope really well with the slopes around the course. We use them for greens surrounds and tees and I believe they cut tighter and collect better than any other mower in this class.

“Our lightweight fairway mower, the Jacobsen SLF 1880, has 18” cutting cylinders; quite small by fairway standards but that allows the units to closely follow the undulations on our links. Its smaller footprint makes it very manoeuvrable and less abrasive to the grass.

“We are arguably the best Championship Course in Ireland and have hosted all of Ireland’s major championships from the Irish Ladies Close to the Irish Open. Service excellence across the club is of the highest level and that’s why our relationship with Broderick is long term. Their service support is second to none.”