Golfdom, April 2015

The 2015 GIS in San Antonio wasnt limited to one Lone Star product Here are several stars of the show By the Golfdom staff here are so many products to see at a show like the GIS it almost drives us mad Thankfully there are almost as many chapter parties to ease our stress levels And thanks to the many chapters that hosted us during our time in Texas Here we present some of the information we gathered during those two quick days of the trade show True were stashing some news for future issues And theres some information we just couldnt cram into this issue but you can find it online right now at Golfdom com But this is a good beginning guide to some of the stars we saw deep in the heart of Texas Toro adds GPs more To iTs arsenal Itll come as no surprise to anyone that Toro one of the mainstays of the golf maintenance industry was busy during the GIS Massive booth space housed new equipment but there was more going on than just equipment During a press conference in the Toro skybox at the booth a large contingent of Big Reds bigwigs let the assembled maintenance industry scribes in on the new metal as well as some of the softer but no less important news Heres a look at the highlights GeoLink A GPS equipped sprayer thats expected to be available this summer Geo Link is initially for the Toro Multi Pro 5800 but with plans to expand it to other Toro sprayers The system will be available in both Wide Area Augmentation System or Real Time Kinematic correction system configurations Using the RTK system Toro says the sprayer is accurate and repeatable to within 1 centimeter of set parameters The company says fleet managers using the system could see substantial savings in chemical costs Reelmaster 5010 H hybrid Toro calls this the first fairway mower with a true hybrid drive system It says the mower delivers more than 40 horsepower on demand for climbing steep hills verticutting scalping or to support other peak load situations The mower couples a 248 horsepower Tier 4 compliant Kubota diesel engine with an inline motor generator and a self charging 48 volt battery pack Toro says the mowers benefits include more precise control of both reel speed and clip rates which translate into a more consistent cut quality and improved playability and reduced maintenance downtime due to the elimination of the hydraulic components commonly associated with traditional cutting units Universal Groomer Among the things keeping Toro folks busy at GIS was the introduction of its new universal bi directional groomer product line which offers three drive modes forward rotation counter rotation and neutral The groomer will be available this fall Ed Hiscock Editor at Large 26 Golfdom April 2015 Golfdom com pHoTo CourTeSy THe Toro Co