AN INSPIRING STORY OF SUCCESS IN PANDEMIC TIMES

 

Prestige Golfshire Club, a Troon International managed Golf Course, despite the unprecedented pandemic, held the Prestige Master of Masters 2020 on 28th November 2020.

The Impeccable organisation behind the Prestige Master Series, the India’s most prestigious amateur golf tournament, made the event Safe and Enjoyable for Golfers and Guests. 

The greens looked stunning and all was set and ready well in time. The Toro Turf Fleet played its role in the expert hands of The Superintendent Javier Ferran.

The Master of Masters, usually contested over six qualifying rounds that culminates with an exciting grand finale each year, this year was held in compliance with the Anti-COVID 19 Measures, in one-day tournament. The top 15 finalists from the last 5 years got together and competed on the enduring Prestige Golfshire Club and had the opportunity to battle it out for the ultimate prize.

Let’s congratulate with the winners:

Winner: Sandeep Malhan

Runner-up: Sanjay Shreedhar

Around the World in 30 Plus Years

Having spent the best part of the last thirty plus years travelling the globe working and playing golf at over 450+ golf courses in 51 countries I think I have had a somewhat privileged life.

For the past twenty years I have been working with Troon Golf all over the world including the USA, Australia, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Russia, UK and now India. 

It has been an experience that has been second to none and even with the battles of the GFC through 2008/09 and more recently the Covid Pandemic life with Troon Golf has been far from tedious.

We have learnt to adapt to adverse scenarios and testing times. To think outside the box and be industry leaders when it comes to innovative thinking and quick to action new business models.

I first played golf in India in the late 80s in Calcutta and also in Bombay. The experience was special and all of the players at the time on the Asian Tour loved coming to India due to the weather and also the warm welcome we always received.

Nothing has changed as far as the Indian Hospitality, but the golf courses have changed dramatically for the better over the past 30 years. Being posted to Prestige Golfshire has been a special experience and one that thirty years ago I could never have visioned.

The Prestige Golfshire is one of India’s best golf courses if not the best and the layout and presentation of this course is due to several components; firstly a dedicated Superintendent in Javier Farran a Troon Golf stalwart, then the great layout and build of the course itself and lastly a quality range of turf maintenance products from Toro.

The one constant that we enjoying having as a Troon team member is the security of knowing we have the backing of Toro Golf Course equipment and the good people at Toro no matter where we are in the world.

Troon is predominantly using Toro Turf Equipment around the world and once a product such as the Toro range becomes the product you rely on day in and day out it is hard to even look at another brand. 

To carry out the agronomic practices that we do and at the level we expect we need reliability and consistency, which we get from each piece of Toro equipment.

 The great thing that I have enjoyed with Toro is the people representing them around the globe are all quality individuals with a passion for their product. 

Since arriving India, Ravi Garyali, Managing Director of IPI, has been very good in touching base and wanting to know how best he could assist us with our Toro equipment and also to ensure that our current product range meets our requirements. Finally, we all are looking forward to achieve the highest-quality playing surfaces to strengthen our club’s position in the marketplace. 

At the end of the day, our core product is the golf course, it is what delivers our biggest revenue streams and provides the backdrop for all other revenue streams at a golf course.

It is easy to think of Toro as a supplier to the Golf Industry but the breadth of the scope of work and projects they cover with their machinery is amazing. 

Declan McCollam General Manager 

Prestige Golf Shire Club

A Troon Golf Managed Facility 

Covid19 – Lockdown Special Maintenance at Prestige Golfshire Club:-

Lockdown was the most remarkable thing in 2020, not only for us but for the entire world. With the strict government rules applied we had to adapt and organized a team of 8-10 greenkeepers who stayed at the property and were replaced every 14 days.

Golf courses may not be deemed essential businesses during these troubled times, failing to perform some level of golf course maintenance can cause serious damage to the course and leave a long and expensive road to recovery. Golfshire management team understood it and supported us.

In Bangalore, grass is actively growing throughout the year. Especially during the lockdown in April, with Paspalum thriving with high temperatures ideal for growth. Here at Golfshire, during the lockdown, we have followed all recommendations from Troon Agronomy and USGA.

Even during lockdown General daily scouting is necessary to identify and address the many problem areas that are constantly emerging on the course. Sprinkler head issues or irrigation breaks, left unheeded, can cause significant long-term damage. In our case we had a leak in the main pipe which we were able to fix within 20 hours. Scouting reduces the potential for turfgrass loss as well as the need for unnecessary applications of pesticides, fertilizers and other products.

Turfgrass must continually be mowed and cared for, especially on putting greens. The general rule of thumb in mowing any turfgrass species is to never remove more than one third of the leaf blade in a single mow.

Aeration, venting and vertical mowing with routine sand topdressing is important to maintain soil porosity for gas exchange and water percolation. We at PGS with active turfgrass growth, we carried out the culture practices every other week on greens, including during the lockdown, as when they are not performed on a scheduled recurring basis, organic matter accumulates in the soil profile negatively impacting rooting, turf density and surface firmness. 

Our greens received regular applications of fertilizer. These nutrients were applied with low doses of growth regulators to produce a subdued but steady growth rate. If these applications are not made on a regular basis, turf quality would have deteriorated and eventually require aggressive maintenance practices for recovery.

 It was key the TORO fleet we have. We were even lucky to have the possibility of hand cut greens as we normally do or use the Toro 3250. Even during the critical time we used on Greens: triplex and hand mowers, Procore 684, rollers and the 1750 multipro.

Javier Farran

Golf Course Superintendent

Prestige Golf Shire Club

A Troon Golf Managed Facility

for more details, visit our website: http://www.ipi-india.com/

Source: IPI Newsletter volume 14 | Issue December 2020