Versatile Wiedenmann Terra Float Air brings long term boost for Glen GC

Wednesday, 15 May 2024

The Glen Golf Club, East Links, North Berwick has secured a Terra Float Air pneumatic overseeder from Wiedenmann UK’s dealer in Scotland, Fairways GM.

Course Manager, Des Kerr, said the new purchase was part of a co-ordinated approach to the changing needs of the golf course.

“As course custodians, future proofing is increasingly important. Round-the-year golf and higher footfall mean we need the right tools to recover from these increased demands and become more sustainable.

“We have a consultant on board and plans are in place for the next few years include rough management and bunker replacement programmes.

“However, this purchase prioritises our greens and approaches. Having a dedicated seeder is essential for task and our agronomist, Chris Haspell, helped us make the case for it,” said Des.

With rates as low as 1g /m², Wiedenmann’s Air offers class-leading features. The operator inserts the chosen seed into size-appropriate dosing sleeves. Next, the seed bed is determined by selecting from a range of hole-making tools, including stars and cone-shaped ones, from just 5 mm in diameter. The tools are inserted into a heavy-duty floating 3-part spike roller which follows contours. It loosens and aerates the soil down to 30 mm, creating uniform ‘seed pots.

Electric-drive technology is used for all aspects of seed delivery; the seed-dosing sleeves and fan are both electric powered. Seeds are delivered pneumatically down a series of eight pipes onto deflector plates, which direct the seed into the ‘pots.’

After the seeds are in the ground, a double layer sweeping brush follows on and it, too, has floating properties. A further three-part roller gives an optimal brush and roller combination to incorporate top dressing materials to the ground, before smoothing the surface.

An in-cab computer stores data from previous runs and allows changes to the application rate at any point.

“We’ve a mix of sandy soils and some much heavier clay soils, here,” explained Des. “We’re certainly not a one-size fits all kind of place, so a seeder had to be versatile. One of the beauties of the Air is that it is equally effective for both fescue and bent seed. It’s easy to do the deeper seeding with the fescue and shallower seeding with the bent. Barenbrug Fescue – a blend of five cultivars – and Barenbrug’s ‘All Bent’ mix are our seeds of choice.

“There’s quite a lot to the first set up but fortunately, Wiedenmann’s Andy Kerr did most of that at installation. He programmed it and showed us how to fine tune if we need to make amendments. It’s not a complicated machine once you’ve had the initial instruction. It’s straight forward, second time around you look at the computer and pick up where we left off. It’s pretty much plug in and play.”

Like many of Wiedenmann’s Air customers, Des Kerr favours the ‘little and often’ approach to overseeding.

“If the conditions are fine and there’s an opportunity to ‘go’ we can be out there fast. We’ve got to time everything right to fit around play. If you are sowing bent at a shallower depth you get very quick recovery at the top, so there’s negligible disturbance to golfers following on even considering all our contours. That was another aspect that led us to the Air, that we can sow bent, do a light sanding and no one can see we have been there.

“To begin with, the Air is predominantly for the greens and surrounds –other areas like tees and some fairways will follow.  The idea is to start pushing out through the course. On occasions we will use it as an effective sarrel roller to open the top surface,” concluded Des.

Des leads a full-time greenkeeping team of six plus course mechanic at the busy East Lothian club which can trace its roots back to the 17^th century.

Fairways GM’s sales & business development manager, Rob Hogarth, and Wiedenmann UK’s lead demonstrator, Andy Kerr provided the sales support throughout the process.