Five-star hotel and golf resorts Dromoland Castle
and Castlemartyr have joined forces in a bid to promote a top class
golf experience in their respective counties, Clare and Cork.
Both golf courses were
created by renowned designer Ron
Kirby, and have a lot of history in common. They also both run
extensive John Deere machinery fleets supplied and supported by
Killarney dealer Seamus Weldon Groundcare Machinery, with Dromoland
recently agreeing a second five-year lease deal with permanent
tsb Finance.
“With the arrival of these new
machines, we are looking to raise the bar in terms of course
presentation and quality,” says Dromoland Castle’s course
superintendent Paul Coleman. “We’ve introduced a new cutting regime to
improve the tee boxes, approaches and collars, and for the first time
on this golf course we are using ride-on John Deere 2500B triplex
mowers, which I’m confident will provide us with even better playing
surfaces.”
Castlemartyr Hotel has recently
re-opened under the management of Dromoland Castle Holdings. The
golf course first opened for play in early 2008, and is based on a
unique ‘inland links’ design.
The greens were sown with a new A-4/G-6 bentgrass
mix and constructed with Perma Pore peat substitute, the first time
this technique was used in the UK and Ireland. This provided firmer
greens to enhance the playability and appeal of a links type course.
“We hand mow all the tees and greens, so the
narrower John Deere 180B mowers with their 18-inch cut have worked out
superbly for us because of their manoeuvrability on our undulating
greens,” says golf course superintendent Trevor Norris. “The dealer
service from Weldons is crucial too – they’ve helped us a lot with
operator training and setting up the machines, and it’s good to know
the back-up’s always there when we need it.”
The photographs show Michael Weldon of John
Deere dealer Seamus Weldon Groundcare Machinery (left) and Paul
Coleman of Dromoland Castle with a selection of his newest John Deere
machines; and part of the extensive Castlemartyr fleet.
