Elgin Golf Club’s, head greenkeeper, Calum Forsyth, is a proud second-generation greenkeeper. Appointed to his role at the Moray club a year ago, he brings a wealth of experience from spells at Penrith GC, Nairn GC and nearby Carrbridge GC, as well as a season working in Australia.
One of Calum’s earliest connections was Mike James, Wiedenmann’s UK’s national sales manager. Calum reckons his first Wiedenmann demonstration was when he was sixteen and has subsequently caught up with Mike at three courses in the last 15 years.
This summer Calum took delivery of his first Terra Spike purchase, a GXi8 HD alongside an ISEKI TG6507 compact tractor.
“We’re a team of five with no capacity to spare. All processes need to focus on time efficiencies, yet still be thorough and neat. Unusually, for somewhere not close to the sea, we are built on a sand belt, apart from two holes which are on clay. Fortunately, we are relatively quick draining but as every greenkeeper will tell you, aeration is that one essential task, you can’t ignore. The brief was for something sufficiently versatile for tees, greens, walkways and fairways, so the GXi8 picked itself. Everyone enjoyed the ISEKI far better than others we evaluated, so ultimately as both machines were access-all-areas, the pairing was an easy decision.”
Already the new Terra Spike and the ISEKI with its spacious cabin and driver comfort have brought the Midas touch.
Using 20 mm tines, the GXi8 was given its maiden run across Elgin’s walkways down to a depth of 150 mm -175 mm.
“We were out and back astonishingly fast, much faster than before. Subsequently we have put on 10°-15° degrees of heave to get the air pickets opened.”
Next, Calum and team took full advantage to change up their coring routine for their greens, choreographing new moves to improve both productivity and results.
“During the previous nine months we had specifically targeted the top 20 mm of the greens’ surface. In total we’d spread between 65-70 tonnes of sand, varying it at 10 mm, 15 mm and 20 mm depths.
“The day prior we lifted the GXi8’s back roller and set up with mini hollow tines and side ejectors to go to 50 mm.
“I came in at 04.00 am to make a start, with the lads not far behind at 05.00 am. Removing entire cores meant losing that effort and material, so we opted to break the cores with our verticutting units. Using blowers, the thatch was blown off to the side, collected and taken away. Then we simply returned the sand to the surface. We managed to crack out all 18 greens by 2.00 pm.
“It was quicker, more efficient and a lot easier on the team as we weren’t lifting cores. We’ve noticed we’ve had a good hit with that; the greens are draining well since, especially when you consider how much water has fallen.
“It’s only going to get better.
“We’ll wait awhile longer to do tees and approaches; best to get recovery coming into the year, and in time, we’ll get to the fairways, and they’ll get 10°-15° degrees of heave, too. For our greens, I’ve chosen 10 mm tines. We’ve got what we wanted.”
John Morton, Fairways GM’s Sales & Business Manager at Inverness, said: “Calum’s was the ideal scenario, ordering his tractor and Terra Spike together. The GXi8 HD pairs naturally to the ISEKI, ensuring perfect compatibility; its 1.8 m width covers the back tyres of the tractor.”