Anticipation is building for renovation season at Leyland Golf Club following the delivery of a V-Strong from GKB Machines. Installed in February 2026 by Balmers GM, the purchase presents the club’s first in-house scarifier giving Head Greenkeeper John Edge and his team the flexibility to remove organic matter more frequently and from more areas around the course, to the benefit of both plant health and the players alike.
John has been at the 18-hole parkland course for the last two years, joining the club in its celebratory centenary year. Looking to deliver the consistent playing conditions expected by the 600 members, John immediately reviewed the maintenance and renovation programme, swiftly bringing in a contractor to give the greens a kick-start in the spring of 2024. “I’ve used various makes and models of scarifier previously, but this contractor came in with the GKB V-Strong and it blew me away” comments John.
“Firstly the speed at which it covered the greens was seriously impressive. But it wasn’t just speed, it was the fact that it simultaneously picked up so well. It got the job done efficiently and effectively and left the greens clean and ready for play almost immediately.”
Featuring GKB’s unique CombiRotor and heavy-duty steel blades, the V-Strong makes light work of scarifying golf greens and other sports surfaces – removing lateral growth and organic matter to depths of up to 40mm. After two further visits from the contractor, John was sold on having a V-Strong in his own machinery armoury. “The results spoke for themselves, and the General Manager and Chairman were both on board with us making the investment.”
John continues, “Having our own machine will give us the flexibility to conduct scarification more frequently, and in the optimum windows for recovery – no longer limited by cost or contractor availability. We can spend a bit of time educating the team on the reasons why we scarify and transfer those benefits to areas such as the approaches and tees which we’ve previously not had the resources to scarify.”