Golf Course Superintendents face lots of different challenges in the course of our profession. Not all of them have anything to do with turf. When challenged to adhere to strict city noise ordinances, Golf Course Superintendent Tom Dale, CGCS turned to the all electric Jacobsen Eclipse 322. After taking delivery of the unit at The Links at Brigantine Beach back in January, Tom and his staff have put the mower through its paces. They found that not only did the unit solve their noise issue but also improved turf quality with the unit’s impressive quality of cut and ability to alter clean-up patterns. It also provides peace of mind knowing that the potential for hydraulic spills had been removed.
“Besides all the features that everybody already knows about the machine, one of the things I like most about it is that the units have two positions for the height off of the ground. One is for mowing and the other is for transport. There is less likelihood of hitting the units as you are traveling”. Tom added “It also has an automatic brake. If you take your foot off of the pedal the brake gently engages. You can stop on a hill, get off and not worry about the mower going anywhere. It makes it easier to cut greens that have a slope around them. You can make a half turn, back up and move forward, without the fear of the unit going backwards any more then you want it to. With other mowers they would easily roll backwards after you made the turn, and you had to quickly move your foot over to get it to go forward.” Tom summarized by saying “I would call this mower the best one I have ever used in my 35 years in the business”.
“Besides all the features that everybody already knows about the machine, one of the things I like most about it is that the units have two positions for the height off of the ground. One is for mowing and the other is for transport. There is less likelihood of hitting the units as you are traveling”. Tom added “It also has an automatic brake. If you take your foot off of the pedal the brake gently engages. You can stop on a hill, get off and not worry about the mower going anywhere. It makes it easier to cut greens that have a slope around them. You can make a half turn, back up and move forward, without the fear of the unit going backwards any more then you want it to. With other mowers they would easily roll backwards after you made the turn, and you had to quickly move your foot over to get it to go forward.” Tom summarized by saying “I would call this mower the best one I have ever used in my 35 years in the business”.
