For Stewart Duff, Course Manager at Gullane Golf Club, the Vredo Super Compact has helped to introduce more Fescue into the greens over the past six years.
The course hosted the 2015 Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, the first European Tour event to be played at the club, using 16 holes from Gullanes famous No.1 Course and two holes from the No.2 Course.
Stewart explains that the machine was purchased from our Scottish machinery dealer The Double A Trading Company Ltd, with the primary focus of increasing the fescue count on the greens but through doing this he has improved the greens plus other parts of the course for the showpiece event.
“The Vredo is for regular use but using it consistently over the last six years has obviously helped the greens to improve,” he said.
“A lot of small things contribute to how the course played over the event and improving the turf sward is a significant part of it.
“The Scottish Open itself was fantastic, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Stewart believes the high germination rate that the Vredo delivers has contributed most to the improvements.
Unlike previous methods the seed is placed into a V-shaped slit at a pre-set depth of between 5mm and 25mm deep, directly in contact with the soil for maximum germination rate and then closed by a turf iron. This prevents the seed being removed by any wildlife or the vagaries of the Scottish weather.
“You get the highest strike rate possible with minimal surface disruption with the Vredo Super Compact seeder and the least amount of seed wastage,” Stewart explained.
“We also use the Vredo on any worn parts of the fairways that have been affected by the dry patch; it’s great for getting grass seed back into these areas and restoring a good coverage.
“We have a long term plan to introduce more Fescue into the greens on all of the 3 courses here and with the Vredo we are well on the way to achieving that.”
