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W
hen Toro introduced the
Greensmaster
®
Flex
TM
21 a
year ago, the industry had
never seen a greens mower like it.
The Flex 21 had been conceived and
designed based on specific requests and
input from real-world equipment users.
Toro engineers had gone out and
talked to superintendents, oper-
ators and technicians, all with
the golfer in mind, about
what they needed in a bet-
ter walk mower.
That kind of guid-
ance and recommen-
dations led to the
many special fea-
tures of the
Flex 21,
most notably its unique flexible cutting
unit, which is essential for undulating
greens and the new Ultra Dwarf grasses.
The cutting unit not only flexes from side
to side around the bedknife centerline,
but also forward and backward around
the reel centerline.
The flexible cutting unit is separate
from the traction unit so it ensures a
superior cut and less scalping than any
other mower. This innovative develop-
ment allows for crisp, tight mowing at the
height you want, even on the most chal-
lenging greens.
“We developed this product based on
customers’ needs and concerns,” says Jerry
Goman, lead engineer for the Flex 21.
“We were hearing more and more about
new grass cultivars and lower height of
cut, combined with undulations and
movements in the green. There was a
need for this machine.”
Tremendously Positive
Response
“It surpassed what I thought it would
do,” says superintendent Mitchell
Wilkerson. “What they promised it would
be able to do, it has.”
Wilkerson is a Certified Golf Course
Superintendent at the 36-hole Moss Creek
Country Club of Hilton Head, South
Carolina. Last year, he was in the market
for new equipment, and had some specific
needs in mind.
“One of our problems was that we have
Super Dwarf Champion on our north
course, and we have a lot of undulations
on our greens,” he says. “At the height we
were mowing, with any little movement
we would just scalp it.”
Wilkerson had been told about the Flex
21 and arranged for a test with Toro. He
was immediately convinced. “That made
me a believer. It was just everything they
said it was.” Wilkerson reports.
His new mowers went right into action
and immediately made a difference. “On
the Super Dwarfs, it was like night and
day,” Wilkerson says. “On the undula-
tions, we didn’t see any bruising or scalp-
ing. It was pretty dramatic.”
“It was a no-brainer for me when I saw
the difference it made,” agrees Steve
Nelson, Superintendent at Mississippi
Dunes Golf Links in Cottage Grove,
Minnesota.
“There are severe undulations on the
greens here,” Nelson explains. “My slopes
are so severe, for walk mowing there are
some greens I could only mow in certain
directions.”
Nelson had tried several different types
of greens mowers, but nothing was satis-
factory. “I was still getting the scalping,”
he adds. Then he heard about the new
Flex 21 and was able to borrow one from
a friend to try it.
“When I took it out there, I could see
what it can do,” he says. “It was nice
because I had every other brand out there,
and it was easy to see the difference. I did-
n’t get the scalping the other mowers did.”
Cutting Shorter
With the Flex 21, Nelson was then able
to improve the putting surface of his
greens. “We wanted to start stepping
them down,” he says. “Once I saw that
the scalping wasn’t there, I knew I could
start taking them lower, and start getting
the quality and speed we needed.”
Mitch Fossey is another superintendent
Toro
®
Greensmaster
®
Flex
TM
21
Exceeding Expectations
10
Toro’s Greensmaster
®
Flex
TM
21 greens mower
offers several substantial benefits to superin-
tendents, operators and technicians.