NEWS RELEASE November 18, 2024
John Deere Has the Tools for Fertool
Michael Vozzo knows the value of perseverance. After finishing Year 12 and deciding he wanted a job outdoors, he sent handwritten letters to 45 golf courses over six months before finally receiving a call back.
That led to his first work experience at a course – the renowned Commonwealth Golf Club in South Oakleigh, part of Melbourne's iconic Sandbelt region.
After enjoying the perfect springboard to his turf maintenance career, Michael went on to superintendent and sports field maintenance roles at clubs around Victoria, leading to his current position as Managing Director of Fertool, based in Knoxfield in Melbourne's northeast.
Fertool is a major wholesale distributor of key horticultural products that is successfully branching into maintenance services for golf courses, turf wickets and bowling greens, sports fields and gardens.
"My brother and I bought the business around three years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a view to expanding it, and turf maintenance was something I always had in the back of my mind," Michael said.
"Fertool had been in the industry for over 30 years and had a really loyal band of clients which we've kept, but I started looking at diversifying into maintenance.
"We were lucky enough to meet with Anthony Lawrence, the CEO of Clublinks, a leading manager of golf, leisure and aquatic clubs. Fertool and Clublinks have forged a partnership to provide course maintenance and Pro Shop management, and our first contract in January 2023 was with the Northcote Golf Club, a very popular nine-hole public course on the edge of the Melbourne CBD."
Eight months later, Fertool was awarded the maintenance contract for Gardiners Run Golf Club in Lilydale, a picturesque course 35 minutes north of the CBD which features generous landing areas, well-designed greens and a weatherproof base.
Expanding the fleet
Fertool's first challenge at Gardiners Run was to prepare the greens during a spell of hot, dry weather before the PGA Legends Pro-Am in February this year. Fertool had already secured some John Deere turf equipment for the Northcote contract, so it was a smooth transition to invest in more John Deere machines for a second club.
"My good friend Ash Duncan is Director of Sales - Golf and Commercial at Brandt (John Deere dealerships), so I gave him a call to say we've secured this contract and we're very keen to source John Deere turf equipment," he said
"I was especially keen on a couple of John Deere's rough cutters, which in my mind are undoubtedly the best in the business.
"I also wanted to get a TerrainCut™ for Gardiners Run because we've got a lot of hilly terrain in quite substantial rough areas, so we were able to purchase a 55.1 hp 9009A with 2.74 m cutting width. It's saved us that much time, it's not funny.
"We can usually get through what I call intermediate roughs, rather than tree lined-lined roughs, in about three days now with the big mower. With our old equipment we were doing that in about a week."
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Michael Vozzo, Managing Director of Fertool, a Victorian-based wholesale distributor of horticultural products.
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Gardiners Run Golf Club.
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Michael Vozzo with some of the fleet he and his team use to maintain Gardiners Run Golf Club in Lilydale.
Along with the 9009A TerrainCut™ Rough Mower, Fertool's new John Deere fleet includes two 8900A PrecisionCut™ Large-Area Reel Mowers, 2550 and 2750 E-Cut™ Hybrid Triplex Mowers, a 1570 TerrainCut Front Mower, 1200 Hydro Rake, Aercore™ 800 Aerator and two Gators.
With nine staff using the equipment, including casuals, Michael appreciates the intuitive design and robustness of the machines.
"You know, they do get a lot of usage, but really stand up to the challenge," he said.
"The 1570 TerrainCut deck is so strong and it handles the wear and tear really well. We can also clean and grease it quite easily, just by taking off the cover above the belts. It's been a really good machine and all the staff love it."
Michael is also a "massive fan" of the 8900A PrecisionCut Large-Area Reel Mowers.
"The reason I went to them was not only the extra size, because we've got 14 hectares of fairways, but I was really intrigued by the extra weight in the heads," he said.
"So what we get there is that ability to get a nice, close, clean cut with the weight and it helps remove any grain. They've been good going straight up and down, but their circle cut is fantastic, the cross-cut, which I put down to the extra weight."
Juggling maintenance and AFL
Michael values high performance in Fertool's John Deere equipment just as he valued it during his other career as an AFL umpire, officiating 281 games across 13 years, including the 2006 and 2008 grand finals.
"I was able to combine the two jobs because the uptime in footy is downtime in turf maintenance workload," he said.
"Through winter the turf requirements aren't there and then in summer, footy stops, so it worked in pretty well. And I always had really, really supportive employers. Eastwood and Croydon golf clubs couldn't have been more helpful in allowing me to miss a day if I needed to be interstate. I was really lucky."
For Michael, work is all about relationships, and he's looking forward to expanding and growing the maintenance side of Fertool.
"My brother manages the distribution business and I manage the maintenance contracts and our aim is to nurture those golf club contracts to be ongoing relationships into the future," he said.
"It's all about trying to expand and grow, and we'll go anywhere — including interstate."
About John Deere:
Deere & Company is a global leader in the delivery of agricultural, golf & turf, construction, and forestry equipment. We help our customers push the boundaries of what's possible in ways that are more productive and sustainable to help life leap forward. Our technology-enabled products including the John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor and See & Spray™ are just two of the ways we help meet the world's increasing need for food, shelter, and infrastructure. Deere & Company also provides financial services through John Deere Financial. For more information, visit John Deere at its worldwide website at JohnDeere.com or in Australia at JohnDeere.com.au.
Media Contacts:
Tim Vetter
tim.vetter@bluehillpr.com.au
0439 681 793
