Pollok GC puts aeration firmly in its own hands with Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8 HD

Tuesday, 15 September 2026

When Chris McGhee arrived as Course Manager at Pollok Golf Club in January, bringing aeration back in-house was high on his list.

Previously Course Manager at Ballochmyle GC, with earlier spells at Prestwick and Loch Lomond, Chris inherited a well-established Glasgow parkland course where naturally heavy ground puts added emphasis on managing the soil profile.

“Historically we subcontracted our aeration, and it was both costly and restrictive,” he said. “I decided to bring it in-house and manage it ourselves. It puts us in better stead going forward. We can react to the weather, take opportunities to do additional or remedial work and bring those skills back into our own team.”

His machine of choice was a Wiedenmann Terra Spike GXi8, supplied by Fairways GM at Inchinnan.

Only around eight weeks into ownership, Chris hasn’t yet had anything approaching a full season with the machine. Nor, despite what colleagues promised, did a summer lull provide much opportunity for experimentation.

“I’d been assured Pollok quietened down during the Glasgow Fair. That was a lie – it was mobbed!”

Indeed, his first summer has included the ProDreamUSA Junior Masters, Scottish Girls’ Amateur Championship and Glasgow Open Championship, alongside a packed members’ and visitor calendar.

Even so, two very different highlights within the GXi8’s first couple of months have given Chris an early indication of just what an asset he has at his disposal.

The first came courtesy of an unplanned weather event late July

“We’d just had an SGU Ladies outing with about 70 starters when, completely out of the blue that evening, there was a rainstorm.

“Our second and third greens can lie wet at the best of times and, because the storm wasn’t forecast, our irrigation went on as normal, compounding the situation. We had lying water the next morning, so we took the GXi8 over with 8 mm tines.

“Within 20 minutes of putting the holes in, the greens were dry. There was virtually no disturbance and the surfaces stayed absolutely flat.”

The second followed a three-day spell which brought around 10 cm of rain. The team completed nine greens in a morning with 12 mm tines at 150 mm deep, unaware that a last-minute party of visiting golfers would be following almost immediately behind.

“We didn’t even need to roll afterwards. Greens were spotless, so we just left them. The visitors literally played greens we’d just tined and didn’t notice; they subsequently left us a superb review. That shows you how negligible the impact was for the golfers.

“These are just happy realisations of how good this machine is going to be for us. In such a short time, it’s shown what it can do on a problem green and the speed and quality of finish it can deliver with golfers following straight behind.”

Just as importantly, it is giving Chris exactly the flexibility he wanted from bringing aeration in-house.

“The benefit of owning your own spiker is that you can take it out when the conditions are right. Even with the championships so close, we could go out and target the areas that needed it.”

That freedom to aerate little and often will now shape his programme.

“We have a decent profile and would normally sarrel roll weekly or fortnightly through the season. With the GXi8, I’m probably looking at six operations across the year at varying depths.”

Next up, immediately after the Club Championship finals, the 12 mm tines will go down to 200 mm, while larger 20 mm tines offer another option for wetter areas. Chris also plans to experiment with the heave settings.

“It’s such an easy machine to set up. We’ve made a point of showing everyone in the team how to do it. Now we can start fine-tuning the heave and seeing what works best in different areas.”

Deputy Course Manager Craig Littlejohn, who joined Pollok in October 2025, is equally enthusiastic.

“Craig loves it. I have trouble getting him out of the cab – he’d be in it all the time!

“There’s no shock transfer to the operator. I’ve used other aerators where, after a full day, you know you’ve been on one. You feel bounced about. With the Wiedenmann, you simply don’t get that.

“I knew about the famous cup-of-water test on the hood of the aerator and how smooth these machines are supposed to be. It really is that good.”

Paired with Pollok’s ISEKI TG6507 tractor, purchased at the same time through Fairways GM Area Sales Manager Stuart Cameron, the GXi8 is already working across greens and tees, with aprons next.

“We continue to have a great experience with Fairways and, for me, Wiedenmann is best in class at what they do. There’s very little that competes with it.

“The GXi8 is a class act.”