{"id":6037,"date":"2019-04-23T17:05:40","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T17:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toroadvantage.wpengine.com\/?p=6037"},"modified":"2023-05-08T14:57:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T14:57:38","slug":"100-years-of-innovation-in-golf-part-2-greens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toroadvantage.com\/it\/greens-mowers\/100-years-of-innovation-in-golf-part-2-greens\/","title":{"rendered":"100 Years of Innovation in Golf \u2014 Part 2: Greens"},"content":{"rendered":"

100 Years of Innovation in Golf \u2014\u00a0Part 2: Greens<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This series of articles will attempt to capture just a few innovations, old and new, that Toro has developed over the past 100 years to help our customers meet the ongoing challenges of maintaining their golf courses. In each article, our intent is to quietly honor the customers, channel partners and Toro employees that have all contributed to our longevity and success.<\/em><\/p>\n

Innovations often start with a challenge that needs to be solved. In the second article of our series, we\u2019re turning the spotlight on some of the ways Toro has solved the ever-present challenge of maintaining top-notch, picture-perfect greens over the past 100 years.<\/p>\n

Handling Tough Grasses
\n<\/strong>Our first product for greens care was the manually powered Toro Standard Putting Green Mower, developed in 1923. It was the industry\u2019s first roller-type greensmower, built specifically to handle creeping bent \u2014 the premier grass for golf putting greens at the time. The mower also easily cut the heavily matted Bermuda grasses used in southern markets.<\/p>\n

The design featured machine-cut gears that were fully enclosed in an oil-tight, dirt-proof housing, as well as Hyatt roller bearings, reflecting the highest class of construction of the day. It proved to be a great success, considered by golf course superintendents to be America\u2019s finest greensmower. In fact, by 1940, more than 80 percent of all 18-hole golf courses in the country and practically every National Championship Golf Course used the Toro Putting Green Mower, a record unmatched by any other mower.<\/p>\n

The Toro Putting Green Mower was the industry standard for more than two decades until powered mowers began to dominate. Although a motorized version was available for a time, production ended on this model in 1950.<\/p>\n

An Idea Before Its Time
\n<\/strong>Not every historic Toro innovation achieved the level of commercial success of the Toro Putting Green Mower. A case in point is the first all-electric-powered greensmower, introduced by Toro in 1928. Although the Detroit News called it \u201cone of the most advanced ideas in mowers,\u201d the concept was several decades before its time \u2014 as customers were not seeking out alternatively powered equipment in the 1920s.<\/p>\n

There was also a practical reason more golf courses didn\u2019t adopt the mower. It was corded, and since most courses did not have electrical outlets on \u2014 or near \u2014 their greens, they either had to use a portable generator to power the mower or run it off of a nearby tractor.<\/p>\n

There is a silver lining to the story, as Toro president John Samuel Clapper\u2019s patent on the unit also covered a design for electric-powered cutting reels that ran off the tractor to which they were mounted \u2014 an idea that still resonates with customers today. It\u2019s just one example of Clapper\u2019s and Toro\u2019s forward-looking focus on providing innovative solutions to solve customers\u2019 challenges.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Clapper\u2019s many other innovations proved more practical and helped transform the business. He holds 16 U.S. patents and was responsible for countless other innovations for which he did not seek patent protection.<\/p>\n


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