John Deere machinery and volunteer greenkeepers help Secret Harbour shine for WA Open
The cavalry arrived at Secret Harbour Golf Links in the form of a fleet of John Deere machinery and a team of volunteer greenkeepers, ensuring the course presented in perfect condition for last week’s prestigious WA Open.
Set amongst the dunes by the Indian Ocean 60 kilometres south of Perth, and featuring some 130 pot bunkers, the tight coastal links layout is one of Australia’s most alluring golf courses.
Image: John Deere 7700A Precision Cut fairway mowers were used at Secret Harbour Golf Links to prepare the course for the WA Open.
It lived up to its reputation as a tough, fair and beautiful golfing challenge for Australia’s professionals, after a team of eight greenkeepers from across WA volunteered to join the Secret Harbour’s team of seven greens staff to assist with course preparations.
And they had all the equipment they needed with seven John Deere machines loaned to the club by the local dealership to ensure the fairways and greens were in pristine condition.
“It’s all about the little one percenters,” Secret Harbour course superintendent Tom Tristam said. “We keep the course at 85-95% all year round, but before an event like the WA Open, addressing those five or 10 little one percenters makes all the difference.”
The club began its conversion to John Deere in January 2022 with the purchase of two 2750 E-CutTM Hybrid greens mowers, which were later followed by two 7700A PrecisionCutTM fairway mowers, four John Deere GatorTM utility vehicles, and a ProGatorTM 2030A GPS precision sprayer.
To complement the existing fleet ahead of the WA Open, AFGRI Equipment loaned the club another 7700A fairway mower, a 2550 E-Cut tees mower, four 220 E-Cut Hybrid walk-behind greens mowers, and another TX Gator.
Image: To complement its existing John Deere fleet ahead of the WA Open, AFGRI Equipment loaned Secret Harbour another 7700A fairway mower, a 2550 E-Cut tees mower, four 220 E-Cut Hybrid walk-behind greens mowers, and another TX Gator.
The extra equipment and volunteer field staff made all the difference for Tom in putting the finishing touches to the course while remaining open to the public in the lead up to the event.
“It’s a busy public course and normally we only mow our fairways twice a fortnight, but during tournament week every fairway was mown every morning so they were perfect for the pros.
“And having access to the 220 E-Cut mowers meant we could drop the greens down to 2.8mm during the tournament for consistency of the speed and a true roll when putting.”
Image: Additional John Deere machinery, including four 220 E-Cut walk behind mowers, was supplied to the greenkeepers at Secret Harbour Golf Links to prepare the course for the prestigious WA Open.
A new chapter in WA Open history
The prestigious event has a storied history as a gateway to greatness, with previous winners including legends of the game Gary Player, Kel Nagle, Greg Norman and Ian Baker-Finch, as well as current British Open champion Ryan Fox and rising star of the LIV circuit Elvis Smylie.
This year’s event was the first time the WA Open had been held at Secret Harbour, and with a prize pool of $200,000 on offer, it attracted a strong field including former European Tour winner Brett Rumford and former US PGA tour players Curtis Luck and Adam Bland, as well as host of rising stars looking for a big breakthrough to launch an overseas campaign.
Secret Harbour lived up to both the Open’s traditions and the course’s reputation, posing a tough challenge for the nation’s professionals.
In his maiden win on the PGA Tour of Australasia, James Marchesani praised the condition of the course and the work of the greenkeeping team after taking out the title with a finishing score of -17.
Precision decisions make the difference
Hosting the tournament in early spring presented agronomic challenges that required precise timing of fertiliser, fungicides and pesticides.
While winter typically provides critical rainfall for the course, the cooler temperatures slow the growth of the couch grass fairways, and the combination of wet, cold conditions can lead to pest and disease pressure.
Tom said the John Deere ProGator 2030A GPS precision sprayer the club purchased in 2023 had delivered savings of up to 40 per cent on chemical use due to the precision of the GPS technology*.
Normally Tom and his team take advantage of the spring break to renovate the greens through aeration and thatch removal, but this year that was not an option if the greens were to be ready in time for WA Open.
Instead, the greens were mowed daily using the four 220 E-Cut Hybrid walk-behind greens mowers loaned by AFGRI Equipment.
“The 2750 E-Cut Hybrid greens mowers are fantastic week in week out, but for an event of this calibre, the walk-behind mowers provided such a smooth cut that we didn’t need to use a roller,” he said.
“The greens presented beautifully. Just before the opening round we switched off the irrigation to allow them to dry out a bit and quicken up to pose a challenge to the professionals. Ideally, we like the greens to be soft enough to be receptive to spin, but also firm and fast enough that the subtle breaks come into play and that’s exactly what happened.”
*Savings based on the featured customer's experience. Individual results may vary depending on conditions and application practices.