A golf course in Zeist that needs to be renovated and where the fun should not come to a standstill: ask De Ridder from Soesterberg and the company will come up with a plan. De Ridder renews a golf course down to the last detail, while the golfers can continue to hit a ball. A beautiful image, with our Doosan DX235LC-5 in the background, which makes this possible for De Ridder. Roel Pelgrum, project manager at de Ridder: “We mainly use this rental machine for rough work, which is really ideal.”
De Ridder, specialized in the construction, management and renovation of green areas, sports fields, golf courses and natural areas, has been around for 95 years. Not nothing! Roel explains: We employ about 80 people. We have also grown considerably in terms of work content. I fall under the Golf & Sport division and I am involved in projects such as the renovation of a golf course here in Zeist. Together with architect Alan Rijks, we are developing this golf course in Zeist and then looking at how we will implement this with our men and machines. That way I also know when to rent a machine. Hence my call to Jeroen .”
Hope to resist 'cubes'
“You can see that we have a lot of 'cubes' to move with the Doosan DX235LC-5. The top layer of the golf course consisted of 'greasy' black soil. We lowered this about three meters deep with the Doosan DX235LC-5 and mixed it with sand. We do this over the entire green , creating the shape of the golf course. With the GPS systems that we also rent from Staad, we measure everything precisely so that there is an equal layer of soil under the course everywhere. This will allow the water to pass through better and that is our starting point. On top of that 'greasy' layer of soil, we place the gray mixture of sand and clay. Then we make a border around it with mixed soil, before backfilling the top layer. And voila! That is actually the work briefly explained.”
De Ridder will be working on this project for about eleven to twelve weeks. Roel: “And after that, grass has to be sown and there is an 'Ingrow' period until the track is playable. Then it's up to the greenkeeper to be on top of it and keep up with the course.”
At the Wouwse Plantage near Bergen op Zoom (also a golf course), Roel has worked with the same size machine. “Moving all those 'cubes' worked great in this way. For large earthmoving you need such a size machine. Our own crawler excavator then goes after it to finish it exactly. Few drivers can do that so finely and neatly.”
The bigger, the easier
Operator Dirk is allowed to work with the Doosan DX235LC-5 . He is now four out of nine at the green. Dirk: “I can't complain. Well, the bigger the machine, the easier to use. The machine is good, the comfort is very nice. I am also pleased with the undercarriage. I can make the work that I have to deliver perfectly with this machine. The machine does what it has to do!”
Roel adds. “That's why the Trimble GPS systems that we rent are also ideal for Dirk and for us. For us, the advantage is that we also work with our designs in Trimble, which means that the systems connect seamlessly. The system is useful for Dirk, because he can really keep that one meter free under the model and then plow the sand on top of it. This is important. This system allows us to guarantee the quality down to the centimeter. Then you really deliver.”
“Just what suits us”
“I think that if the conditions allow it, you have to use just the right machine to do the job. That is why an extensive rental fleet is ideal. This way we are assured of a tailor-made machine. Purchasing is not always interesting, we simply cannot have all the machines running continuously and that will cost us money. Renting is then exactly what suits us.”
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