Three companies within the Textron group have worked together to provide Jacobsen turf maintenance equipment and a fleet of E-Z-GO golf cars to Julius Erving, better known as Dr. J, the renowned basketball player and owner of Celebrity Golf Club International in Atlanta (CGCI). Jacobsen and E-Z-GO are Textron companies.
The package of turf equipment was purchased through local dealer Kilpatrick Turf Equipment and the golf cars through E-Z-GO and delivered to Celebrity Golf Club International-Atlanta, which opened in 1996 as The Heritage Golf Club. Financing has been provided from Textron Financial Corp. for the turf equipment and golf cars. The club has an 18-hole championship course with a 146 slope rating from the back tees, an additional 9-hole course, and a 20-acre practice facility that includes five acres of grass tees. It is the first acquisition by the CGCI brand.
“We wanted to partner with first-class companies and that is the reason we decided to go with Kilpatrick Turf Equipment, Inc. and the Textron companies as our equipment providers,” Erving said. “Garry Callahan and his team at Kilpatrick’s have the same philosophy as we do, and that is to provide exemplary service. We are in the process of interviewing the top five architects in the world to renovate our existing 27 holes and have hired Burdette Hawkins as our head golf professional/operations manager, who was previously with The Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas.
“After attending and playing in the Quail Hollow Championship, I met with Dan Wilkinson, Ralph Nicotera and John Garrison and toured Jacobsen’s Charlotte headquarters and manufacturing facility,” he continued. “This confirmed that I needed to have the best equipment on my golf course. Jacobsen, together with E-Z-GO, proved to be the ideal partners for me and my staff and Kilpatrick Turf has done nothing but service our account to the fullest extent.”
CGCI-Atlanta’s turf equipment purchase consisted of LF-3800 fairway mowers, Greens King IV riding greens mowers, an AR-3 trim mower, an AR-522 rotary mower, TurfCat 600 rough mowers, Cushman utility vehicles and GK 522 walking mowers. The golf car fleet comprises 80 E-Z-GO TXT cars with another 10 E-Z-GO ST 400 utility cars for course maintenance duties.
Kilpatrick’s Sr. Vice President, Garry Callahan stated, “Mr. Erving will be hosting the Legends of the NBA at CGCI in September with over 240 retired basketball players attending. He has also hosted two segments of the Charles Barkley’s Haney Project on the Golf Channel, which featured Jacobsen’s LF-3800 fairway mower. The Kilpatrick Jacobsen equipment was delivered just in time at Celebrity Golf Club International to be featured within the taping of the final episode of the show. ”
