Speedcut's New Laser Grader creates perfect golf tees

Speedcut Contractors have been carrying out extensive work relevelling and regrading tees at Foxhills Golf Club and Resort in Surrey with their new BLEC Laser Grader.

The "baby" grader is fitted with a 'Bullseye' Control System from Trimble that collects a signal from a Dual Grade Laser to give a perfect finish with no margin for error.

Tees lose their level over time with soil settlement and as edges begin to slope off this reduces the actual area that a golfer can 'tee off' from.

Speedcut contracts manager Barry Pace explains: "We strip the turf off the tees and then rough grade with an excavator, if they are particularly bad, before we power harrow the surface.

"With the new laser grader, towed behind a Toro SandPro, we can create perfect tee platforms to any fall, increase the useable area and help greenkeepers spread wear without the need for large machinery or major reconstruction. It is the ideal machine for working on smaller areas that need a precision finish.

"Added to our arsenal of specialist equipment we can carry out every sports construction job, even in areas difficult to get access to.

"Golf courses will benefit from the precision and level of the surfaces we can create as well as making any future cricket wicket or bowling green projects far more efficient."

Barry said: "We have received a number of requests from golf customers who want to improve their existing tees, rather than build new ones. This is an economical way to improve courses in the current financial climate."

At Foxhills, Speedcut have relevelled and regraded three existing tees on the Longcross course while the greenkeeping team, under course manager David Wyborn, are constructing a new tee which Speedcut will finish off.

Speedcut are currently draining a further two greens as well as working on 30 bunkers on the Bernard Hunt Course - creating some new, removing some and reshaping others, working alongside David and his team.

Last year they worked on the front nine holes and the current project is on the back nine of the Bernard Hunt Course.

They have also drained three fairways on the Longcross course and three on the Bernard Hunt course. Speedcut also sandslit three greens on the Longcross course.

David Wyborn said: "Speedcut are excellent at what they do for us and are always incredibly good at getting a superb finished result."