Grinding is an important aspect of maintenance at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, and to take their in-house operation forward, they have chosen a Foley Company 633 Accu-Pro from ProSport UK Ltd. As England’s second oldest links course Royal Liverpool (known as Hoylake) comes with a lot of history. Hoylake was also the second English course to host the Open Championship in 1897 and had held the competition a further nine times before a 39-year gap from 1967. When it returned in 2006 Tiger Woods won the tournament before eight years later in 2014, Rory McIlroy took the coveted prize.
Course manager, Craig Gilholm, has prepared Hoylake for multiple high-profile events, and grinding during that time played a significant role in course preparation and its condition throughout competitions. Away from the course, Gilholm and his team have always tried to help local clubs with their grinding needs from other sports. Now with the new Foley, they are better placed to achieve the highest standards of speed and accuracy for these activities too.
“When Ian Robson came and introduced us to the Foley, we were already familiar with other grinders.” said Gilholm. “So, discovering how great the Foley is, is a reflection on Ian. It was my confidence in him who I have known since 1998, my trust in his ability and the back-up service for the machines he sells, that really sold it to me. For us, our grinder is the most important tool in the shed and reliability is all. That is why, when we change our bottom blade grinder, we will again be looking to Foley.
“We started to do a lot of maintenance work for other clubs such as bowling and cricket and and it is important to us to deliver. In addition to our own 34 units, we are probably putting at least another 40-50 through the grinder from other sources and this is growing rapidly. One of the problems we have assisting smaller local clubs, is their equipment is old and not easily mounted in any grinder.
“Ian took this on-board and has developed an out of situ jig to accommodate a whole range of sizes, age and make of mower which can now be easily mounted in the Foley and the quality of the grind is always fantastic. Ian has shown an understanding of the issues we face which is brilliant, and his solution has proved invaluable and financially beneficial.”
