Wentworth Club and John Deere Limited have announced a new, exclusive partnership for the supply of golf course maintenance equipment to the world famous West, East and Edinburgh Championship Courses at Virginia Water in Surrey, from spring 2019.

Wentworth Club has been the host venue since 1984 for the PGA Championship tournament, which is regarded as the flagship event on the European Tour. The 2019 BMW PGA Championship is being held on the West Course from September 19 to 22, with John Deere and its supplying dealer Farol Ltd providing additional technical and equipment support.

The new course maintenance fleet consists of over 140 machines including mowers for tees, surrounds and approaches, fairways, greens and rough, as well as compact and utility tractors, Gator utility vehicles and the latest state of the art GPS PrecisionSprayers.

“We are delighted to welcome the John Deere company to Wentworth as our exclusive partner in the supply of greenkeeping and grounds machinery through its regional dealer Farol,” said Wentworth Director of Golf & Greenkeeping Kenny Mackay. “This agreement represents a significant investment to ensure our fleet is always at the leading edge of technology and innovation.”

John Deere has been a leader in GPS technology in the agricultural industry for many years and is now developing systems specifically for golf course maintenance use, with Wentworth Club being an early adopter. The new advanced technology sprayer delivers great environmental benefits by applying inputs far more accurately and only to predetermined target areas. This significantly reduces overall chemical usage and can potentially cut spray costs by up to 15 per cent.

Using AutoTrac, the sprayer steers itself automatically to an accuracy of 2.5cm using RTK (real-time kinetic) satellite guidance. It also features individual nozzle control and Wireless Data Transfer, which enables spray records and application maps to be sent from the machine to the John Deere Operations Centre website or mobile app, where they can be remotely accessed at any time.

The new machinery fleet has been purchased on a planned replacement cycle in line with Wentworth Club policy, using a John Deere Financial operating lease specifically tailored to reduce the lifelong cost of ownership.

“The world of course management and greenkeeping is changing fast and John Deere is at the forefront of these developments,” said Carlos Aragones, John Deere’s Turf & Golf Sales & Marketing Manager for Europe, CIS, North Africa and the Near & Middle East.

“John Deere equipment helps to maintain many of the world’s greatest golf courses, and we are honoured to now include Wentworth Club in that prestigious company. We look forward to building a long and productive partnership with the Wentworth team, and to the Club becoming one of our leading strategic partners in the golf industry across Europe and beyond.”

About Wentworth Club
For more than nine decades Wentworth Club has been regarded as one of the world’s finest and most prestigious golf and country clubs, famous as the home of the BMW PGA Championship since 1984, host venue to the World Match Play for 43 years and the birthplace of the Ryder Cup. The golf club first opened in 1924 under the ownership of Walter George Tarrant. The Edinburgh Course was opened in 1990 and played host to the Senior Masters Championship for 11 years.

Over the Club’s 51 year history of hosting the Match Play and PGA Championships, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Severiano Ballesteros, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo and Rory McIlroy feature among a distinguished roll call of winners.

Wentworth Club was acquired by Reignwood Investments in September 2014, whose Chairman, Dr Chanchai Ruayrungruang, founded Reignwood Group in 1984. The West Course was redeveloped by Ernie Els and European Golf Design in 2016 with the addition of SubAir technology. The castellated 19th century Clubhouse recently enjoyed a significant renovation, unveiled in time for last summer’s BMW PGA Championship. For more information, visit www.wentworthclub.com.

About Reignwood Group
Founded in Thailand in 1984, Reignwood Group is a global Chinese enterprise with headquarters in Hong Kong and offices in Singapore, Thailand, Canada, the USA and UK. Under the Chairmanship of Dr Chanchai Ruayrungruang, the Group’s extensive financial resources and global network have created a strategic international platform that not only invests in a wide spectrum of industries, but gives back to society, improves the lives of local Chinese communities and assists in the protection of the environment. For more information, visit www.reignwooduk.com.

About John Deere
Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) is a world leader in providing advanced products and services and is committed to the success of customers whose work is linked to the land – those who cultivate, harvest, transform, enrich and build upon the land to meet the world’s dramatically increasing need for food, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. Since 1837, John Deere has delivered innovative products of superior quality built on a tradition of integrity. For more information, visit John Deere at its worldwide website www.JohnDeere.com.

John Deere has been the Official Golf Course Equipment Supplier to the PGA TOUR since 1997, providing equipment to its network of Tournament Players Clubs and Courses (TPCs). Since 1998 the company has been title sponsor of the John Deere Classic tournament, which has raised many millions of dollars for community and charitable organisations. John Deere has also been the official supplier of golf course machinery to the Ladies European Tour (LET) since 2007, a Patron of and supplier to The Solheim Cup, and at the beginning of 2017 was named Official Golf Course Turf Equipment Provider to the PGA of America.