Bruce Mathieson is the Head Greenkeeper at Whitekirk Golf Course. The course has 18 holes with returning nines to make 27 holes for those who find 36 a bit of a struggle. Summer maintenance is a challenge as he operates with only 3 other full time personnel during this time. "The greens are where the game is won or lost." Said Bruce "So its vital that we keep them in top condition during the playing season and on-going maintenance is a necessary part to achieve this."

We have finally been able to purchase a Dakota 410 Top Dresser through our local dealer Double A after seeing one in action over a year ago and talking to other clubs in the area such as Muirfield and Renaissance who already use one. The Dakota has a much wider spread pattern compared with our old drop model and allows us to dress the greens in only 2 passes instead of 12-14. This is a tremendous advantage when you are limited in man power."

The Dakota spread pattern can be altered from heavy to light applications with a simple manual adjustment. It can also handle quite dense materials with ease. "We like to apply a divot mix and compost which has not proved a problem for this machine and we intend to topdress the greens monthly on the basis of 'little and often'."