A UK-based golf course contractor has celebrated a quarter of a century as a Rain Bird partner by hosting a special golf day at Sunningdale Golf Club.
Eighty guests gathered at the historic Berkshire club on a beautiful day in May to take part in a Shotgun start on the Willie Park Junior designed Old Course, followed by lunch and presentations.
MJ Abbott Limited was founded in 1965 by Michael Abbott as an agricultural contractor providing services to local farmers in Salisbury, Wiltshire, where the company is still based. Following a period of rapid expansion, it entered the golf market in the 1990s, quickly building a reputation as a leading golf course constructor. Its project portfolio features the some of the UK’s most iconic golf venues, including the reconstruction of the Brabazon Course at The Belfry for the 2001 Ryder Cup, the Twenty Ten Course at the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales for the 2010 Ryder Cup, Rockliffe Hall, Close House, the reconstruction of the Torrance Course at Fairmont St Andrews and the West Course at Wentworth. Now employing more than 100 people, specialist teams deliver a range of services including construction, renovation, water and civil engineering, drainage, water supply and storage to venues in the UK and Ireland, and across Western Europe.
Jimmy Sandison, Regional Golf Sales Manager Rain Bird for the UK, Ireland, Iceland & Scandinavia commented,
“It’s a proud moment when a partnership between manufacturer and contractor can be relied upon 100% and you can be confident that the customer is going to have a system installed to the highest standards. I recall a project where MJ Abbott redecorated the Course Manager’s office to ensure that every environment matched the quality of MJA installation. That level of detail excites me. A satisfied customer is what we work towards. We know that from the quality of pipe installation to re-instatement on the course, from levelling and positioning of rotors to the finer intricacies of splicing a cable joints that it’s going to be completed to highest levels. 25 years of experience have created a strong relationship between our two companies. Rain Bird works with many installation teams, all are brilliant engineers and very conscientious contractors, many of which aim high but the loyalty towards the Rain Bird brand and wanting to know more about the product than Rain Bird own staff is what perhaps makes MJ Abbott a bit special. The company delivers complete professionalism at all levels from start to finish.”
“The Sunningdale Golf Day in May 2022 was a brilliant event, and celebrated our relationship well. We could not have asked for more, it was executed to the highest standard bringing together golf clubs with Rain Bird systems installed by MJ Abbott over the last 25 years. The friendship, reactions with many guests knowing each other by first names at all levels of the club just showed a firm bond between manufacturer, contractor and industry. Long may it last.”