Golf Business News – GKB’s best delivery comes in threes at SCHLOSS Roxburghe

Three GKB Machines have been installed at the SCHLOSS Roxburghe Championship Golf Course, as part of a major ongoing investment in the club and wider grounds.

After being delivered by dealer Thomas Sherriff & Co in the summer of 2024, the SP100, SPM300 and GKB Combiseeder were directly overseen by Golf Course Manager Ross Ovens, as he and his team of 13 completed autumn maintenance on the greens, cuttings and and methods. .

Roxburghe is set in the heart of the Scottish Borders and is consistently ranked among the Top 10 Inland Courses in Scotland. Designed by world-renowned golf course architect Dave Thomas, the Par-72 parkland course and extensive grounds were sold in 2018 – with the new owners investing heavily in on-site hotels, lodges, lodges and the golf course.

“The landscape has changed a lot, which means we needed to invest in our conservation equipment to produce the required quality,” commented Ross.

“When we spoke to Dougie Archibald at Thomas Sherriff and Tom Shinkins of GKB we really liked the fact that GKB is a family run business, and this is reflected in the level of care and detail put into their robust range of machines.

“Part of the fleet package, to replace the existing top painters, was the SP100 and SPM300 from the GKB Sandspreader range. These two machines work very well together, giving us the flexibility of putting on the green and using a large machine on the fairways. We found the SPM300 with material handler very useful for filling bunkers or loading material into the SP100 quickly and easily.”

He continues, “Our SP100 is mounted on our John Deere Gator, and we’ve retrofitted it with a GPS system that has greatly improved the accuracy and efficiency of high-end grooming operations. It gives us both the coverage and the quality we want.”

Also delivered was the CS160. “With fewer chemicals available, and the desire to improve our sustainability credentials, it is more important than ever that we have a good oversight system. We didn’t have a seedling before, so we showed different models and chose the GKB Combiseeder because – like the dimple seeder – we found that it gave us better germination. This will be important in our plan moving forward as we try to introduce better plants into our environment, making us more resistant to disease and thus reducing our reliance on chemicals.”

“These three have just played a big role in our fall maintenance work. We apply a good application and spread the sand, followed by supervision as we pursue the continuous development of our sward in the most worn areas of the courses. Ross concludes, “We are delighted with the results we have achieved and the support we have received from Tom and Thomas Sherriff before, during and after the purchase process.”