The Machrie Links, Islay, one of the UK\u2019s most westerly and\nspectacular golfing locations is blessed with outstanding coastline vistas in a\nnatural setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A change of ownership in 2011 and significant investment has hastened\na remarkable transition. European Ryder\nCup Vice Captain, D J Russell was commissioned to modernise major areas while\nnot detracting from the original 1891 design by Willie Campbell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Course Manager, Dean Muir, joined from Muirfield three years\nago and he and his team of seven are seamlessly blending the old with the new. A\nsix hole par three course has been added, along with a 300 m driving range and\n4 500 m\u00b2 practice putting surface. The Championship course re-opened in summer\n2017 and in a few months\u2019 time a new 50 bedroom hotel and club facilities complete\non this Hebridean island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the project evolves three separate Wiedenmann UK purchases\nhave contributed to re-establishment works across the course. First to arrive\nwas a Super 600 to launch their rough management programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d had one at Muirfield so it was my first purchase. For\npurpose, nothing comes close to it. \nReconstruction meant we were going into huge areas of fearsome rough never\npreviously renovated, only by sheep and cattle. In 2016 we started to cut and\ncollect those roughs and they grew rapidly again. Rain held us back at the end\nof last year but we will be principally flail mowing and collecting. In time we\nwill scarify it but for now the priority is to keep cutting it down to a\nmanageable height.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With its 4500 litre tank the Super 600 collects and packs\narisings tightly, increasing productivity, the high dump facility able to tip into tall\nsided trailers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur dunes and situation make it a bit of an issue getting\nfrom A to B. There aren\u2019t that many travel routes round the course so its\ncapacity really helps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next on Dean\u2019s list was a new Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD arriving\nin October 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The GXi8 runs through all fairways annually once during the\nwinter months. Greens are spiked every other year as being built essentially on\nsand dunes gives rise to few compaction issues. With its low centre of gravity\nand close coupling to the tractor, the aerator is fully equipped for the challenge.\nThe Advance Tine Control feature makes sure the tines\u2019 incision into the ground\nis always precise leaving a neat finish. Dean\u2019s team takes advantage of the\nbest weather windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur undulations look spectacular but are straightforward for\nthe GXi8. We don\u2019t do anything special just follow the contours. The shape of the undulations help … they\nare formed in big long rolls so we just follow the line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe do vary depth. In\n2016 we went for 250 mm, this season we\u2019ve opted for 200 mm running 15\u00b0 of\nheave. The course is relatively new in\nparts and because of some changes there are more stones about. Heave helps us glance stones rather than\nhitting them full on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor me the biggest benefit of the Wiedenmann is its\nsmoothness. Just no vibration. With other machines sitting in the cab up to\neight hours in the day, you\u2019d really know about it. But the Wiedenmann is\nsmooth. It\u2019s got several absorption systems that dampen any vibration. You get\nno shock transfer to the driver or the tractor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally Machrie Links purchased a 1.7m Terra Rake in October to\nwork in tandem with the Super 600 and other kit for the course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve yet to get the full benefit of the Terra Rake, the wet\nsummer held us back. It will work hard\nin the season ahead especially as we work to get areas of rough to manageable\nheight and more golfer friendly. The\n1.7m width is the right size to deal with our dunes and undulations. The Super 600 will cut the rough down\ngradually with the Terra Rake going through it. Down the line we\u2019ll use it to\nscarify.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wiedenmann UK\u2019s Scottish dealer, Fairways GM have supplied Machrie\nLinks with their Wiedenmann equipment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Machrie Links, Islay, one of the UK\u2019s most westerly and spectacular golfing locations is blessed with outstanding coastline vistas in a natural setting. A change of ownership in 2011 and significant investment has hastened a remarkable transition. European Ryder Cup Vice Captain, D J Russell was commissioned to modernise major areas while not detracting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions\/193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wiedenmann.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}