The Crown Golf Club is a typical 18-hole course with a practice green and driving range. It’s located in a town with substantial tourist traffic, and is open to members and the public. As equipment manager, I run a small motor pool necessary for a course this size and, being typical, two of each kind of machine. Some of these machines have cutting edges that need to be sharpened regularly to maintain their efficiency.
The Crown Golf Club is a typical 18-hole course with a practice green and driving range. It’s located in a town with substantial tourist traffic, and is open to members and the public. As equipment manager, I run a small motor pool necessary for a course this size and, being typical, two of each kind of machine. Some of these machines have cutting edges that need to be sharpened regularly to maintain their efficiency.
Eleven of the 34 reels I take care of sharpen themselves. The technology has been available for about nine years, but I didn’t get them until about four years ago. The key to their success is the EdgeMax bedknife. The bedknife is set with a light pressure on the reel to continuously sharpen the reel. The bedknife takes off no more metal than I would backlapping and has the advantage of keeping the reel sharp continuously rather than going through the cycle of gradually getting dull until sharpened again. Minor dings in the reel are often cleared up by the bedknife before the machine in the shop. I plan to switch all the reels to the self-sharpening version. Next, I would like someone invent self-adjusting reels that automatically maintain the proper pressure between reel and bedknife.
A truly sharp blade has one flat face meeting another flat face at some angle with no rounded edge to reflect light between them; any reflection of light you see on the cutting edge is dullness that needs to be ground away.
The older, not self-sharpening reels require frequent backlapping and the bedknives require frequent face grinding to reveal a fresh edge. The backlapping, because of reels’ spiral design, causes the reels to become cone shaped over the course of the season. Spin grinding in the winter returns them to cylinder shape. Relief grinding thins the blades so less material needs to be removed when backlapping to find the new edge.
For greens mowers, I test the cut with a single thickness of copier paper. You should hear a clean, crisp cut all along the reel. For other mowers, I use two thicknesses of copier paper. Ideally, it would cut the first and fold the second, but adjusting a reel to do this takes about three times the amount of time as adjusting it for light contact. To save time, most people adjust the bedknives for light contact with the reel.
For the seven-deck Toro GroundsMaster 4700-D with high-lift, aggressive mulching rotary blades, if I wait until the blades are dull, it takes about 15 minutes of grinding per cutting edge to get a properly shaped edge. That is 3½ hours devoted to sharpening one mowers’ blades.
The more frequently the blades are sharpened, the less metal you need to take off each time, and the quicker you’re done. The total amount of metal removed in a season is the same; you are just doing it in smaller amounts more frequently. The blade sharpening machine sales people recommend rotary blades be sharpened every eight hours of operation. This mower mows eight hours a day, five days a week, which means I should sharpen it every day. To prevent the mower from being out of service for any long period of time, I keep a second set of blades sharp that can be swapped out in about 15 minutes. Sharpening the dull set of blades can be done while the mower is out.
There are pencil sharpener-like automatic machines on the market to sharpen rotary blades; you put in a dull blade and take it out sharpened and balanced. The machines seem to be priced for large contract sharpening companies, not for small maintenance shops like mine. The compromise I have made is to use a 4½-inch DeWalt disk grinder to find the new edge with the blade clamped in a bench vise. Disk grinders are easier to control and faster cutting than the grinding wheel on the shops pedestal grinder.
Other edged tools need sharpening, too. Sod cutters of various sizes are used for cutting sod. Cup cutters of regulation and novelty sizes need an especially sharp edge. The test is to drop them on the green, and they should stick like yard darts. There are loppers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws, scissors and chisels. In each case, the general goal of making the bright dullness line disappear is the trick.
Paul F. Grayson is the Equipment Manager for the Crown Golf Club in Traverse City, Mich., a position he’s held for the past decade. Previously, he spent 8½ years as the equipment manager at Grand Traverse Resort & Spa. Prior to that, he worked as a licensed ships engine officer sailing the Great Lakes and the oceans of the world.
Last month, I escaped Cleveland’s dreary “spring” for Vero Beach, Fla., to attend a cool event hosted by Syngenta. By now, you’re probably aware of what took place at their Innovation Day but here’s a recap.
Last month, I escaped Cleveland’s dreary “spring” for Vero Beach, Fla., to attend a cool event hosted by Syngenta. By now, you’re probably aware of what took place at their Innovation Day but here’s a recap.
First, they wasted no time in introducing Heritage Action, a new formulation with the same extra plant health characteristics as Daconil Action. Not only a promising product with additional stress management benefits for supers, but clearly a smart way to continue the success of the Heritage product in its post-patent life. Also a sign the company is not going to roll over in the face of competition from new stroby products.
Second, they made Appear reappear. The pigmented phosphate fungicide had been introduced a couple of years ago and then sales were suspended because of a legal dispute. Apparently the lawyers made the Appear injunction disappear (Har!) and it’s back as a rotation product to help turf handle summer heat.
Third, they’re close to getting full registration for Avid to control nematodes. Syngenta’s Lane Tredway said that, when mixed with Heritage Action, the results are excellent due to a combination of knocking out nematodes and sealing off the root damage caused by stings and preventing further infection of the plant.
Finally, they reviewed two big earlier launches: Velista and Ference. Velista is, of course, a broad-spectrum SDHI primarily for dollar spot but also effective on a range of diseases in tank combos. Ference, quite simply, kills the crap out of annual bluegrass weevils when the timing and application are done right.
It was an impressive product briefing featuring many of their best science minds. It was also a statement to the industry that they’re going to continue the R&D investments they’ve always made and take full advantage of the active ingredient portfolio they gained from DuPont a few years ago.
My friend Dave Ravel, the head of sales for Syngenta’s professional group, asked me to stick around Florida for an extra day and do a state of the industry briefing for his team. As you know, I jump at any chance to flap my gums.
Some of you have heard me pontificate at length about the state of the golf market, the trends hurting/helping us and what our future may look at. Frankly, it’s nothing revolutionary. Here’s the very short version: “The market is shrinking incrementally and will continue to shrink until supply meets demand. Nothing suggests that demand is going to either skyrocket or plummet. However, there are big opportunities for clubs and facilities to succeed in the leaner, meaner business of the next decade.”
I knew my old boss Steve Mona would also be there to speak to the Syngenta group about We Are Golf and other initiatives under his direction at World Golf Foundation, so I added something to one of my slides almost as an afterthought:
Steve’s Role: Help Grow the Game
Our Role: Help Grow the Business
When I wrote that “our role” is to help grow the business, I meant not just GCI but also committed suppliers who are focused on helping superintendents and golf facilities succeed on an individual level. That’s a critically important distinction. Why?
As supportive as I am of big grow-the-game efforts, any course operator sitting around waiting for those national programs to drive rounds and revenues may be in for a long wait. Yes, golf’s associations should aggressively promote golf as a fun, healthy, outdoor activity for everyone. But, the most important thing we (the industry) can do is help facilities develop new customers, manage themselves more professionally and make the cash registers ring more often.
Growing the game means spreading the word globally. Growing the business means finding smart, effective ways to get customers in the door locally (at your place) and keep them coming back because they’re satisfied with what you sold them. Honestly, overbuilding was only half the problem we created for ourselves in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The other half was lousy business management, poor marketing and abysmal customer service.
The Recession was a wake-up call. Those who were passionate about surviving and succeeding got their financial house in order and looked at new ways to make the total product more attractive ranging from course renovations to adding pools or changing membership structures. They created vanity outings, leagues, women’s group lessons, family nights…even footgolf and giant cups. In short, they got innovative. That’s why the number of profitable facilities has grown by 25 percent in the past three years.
Think about it: Innovation Day shouldn’t be the exclusive territory of a company like Syngenta. Innovation Day should be every day at your golf course.
Pat Jones is editorial director and publisher of Golf Course Industry. He can be reached at pjones@gie.net or 216-236-5854.
With new course construction, there is usually a clubhouse built at some point. The irrigation is pretty straight forward as it is installed by whoever ends up doing the clubhouse landscaping – in most cases an outside contractor. The big decision is whether it has its own water source and/or control system or does it come from the golf course. It’s usually the same, but this doesn’t always holds true for large projects.
With new course construction, there is usually a clubhouse built at some point. The irrigation is pretty straight forward as it is installed by whoever ends up doing the clubhouse landscaping – in most cases an outside contractor. The big decision is whether it has its own water source and/or control system or does it come from the golf course. It’s usually the same, but this doesn’t always holds true for large projects. The clubhouse often has its own supply, but if it’s your water, it should be under your control, regardless of whether you maintain the clubhouse grounds.
Courses often improve the clubhouse irrigation when the course irrigation system is upgraded. This may include the pool area, entrance, and tennis courts. The key question becomes, do you let the golf course irrigation contractor install the landscape irrigation system? In most cases, I would say no and for the same reasons I would not let the landscape irrigation contractor install the golf course irrigation system – a lack of experience. Just like landscape contractors are not familiar with installing golf systems, the golf course irrigation contractor, in most cases, is not used to installing small landscape irrigation systems. You may have had a great experience with your irrigation contractor, but that was not a landscape, it was a golf course.
Let’s look at the bigger issues. Most landscape contractors have never installed pipe greater than 2 inches and most golf contractors have never installed pipe less than 2 inches. Landscape contractors deal with two wires, both the same type; one wire per zone plus a common. Golf contractors use as many as 72 sprinkler wires, plus at least one common per controller, power wires, communication wires and possibly a shield wire. Other wires for special equipment, such as fountains and aerators, might also be included. Golf course contractors know how to ground and wire splice. Landscape contractors – for the most part – don’t. Then, there is the issue of thrust blocking … need I say more?
Price is the other big issue. Golf contractors figure their labor costs like they’re installing for golf. As a result, the landscape irrigation system is double or more what a landscape contractor charges. Part of this is they never seem to get the materials right. They use swing joints as opposed to swing pipe, they use HDPE pipe in small sizes instead of PE pipe. They overdo it with fitting type and strength and put the pipe in too deep. No wonder the costs are high. It is impossible to get the price on the landscape irrigation from the golf irrigation installer.
Recently, I worked on three different clubhouse projects. One was a private course building a large clubhouse. The second an existing private course getting a pro shop, tennis courts, cart barn, parking, pool house and clubhouse addition with new landscape, but the landscape had been installed before the irrigation. The third was irrigation for existing clubhouse landscape at a public course. The new and existing landscape projects were getting controllers. The third expanded several existing course controllers. All were to communicate with the course’s central control system and were receiving water from the course piping system.
The new clubhouse project irrigation was extensive. The cost from the golf irrigation contractor was almost as much as the cost of the 18-hole system! Basically, the contractor used inappropriate materials, was installing too deep and had too much labor (6,000 hours). Just doing the materials correctly was a $125,000 savings. On the course with the installed landscape, they asked the golf irrigation contractor last October to provide a clubhouse price from an irrigation design plan. They are still waiting.
When doing clubhouse and landscape irrigation on your course, weight your options so you get a well-installed irrigation system from an experienced landscape irrigation contractor at an economical price.
B rian Vinchesi, the 2009 EPA WaterSense Irrigation Partner of the Year, is president of Irrigation Consulting Inc., a golf course irrigation design and consulting firm headquartered in Pepperell, Mass., that designs irrigation systems throughout the world. He can be reached at bvinchesi@irrigationconsulting.com or 978/433-8972.
For years, I have heard that a ticket to the Masters is the toughest ticket in sports. But it is also one of the great bargains in sports. If you can get a badge with access to the four competitive rounds, it will only cost you $325. And if you are a GCSAA Class A or AA member, the club will give you a complimentary pass each day. Wow! Imagine a large group (like GCSAA) getting a free pass to the Super Bowl or the World Series. It would never happen.
For years, I have heard that a ticket to the Masters is the toughest ticket in sports. But it is also one of the great bargains in sports. If you can get a badge with access to the four competitive rounds, it will only cost you $325. And if you are a GCSAA Class A or AA member, the club will give you a complimentary pass each day.
Wow! Imagine a large group (like GCSAA) getting a free pass to the Super Bowl or the World Series. It would never happen.
Now that I am retired, I go each year, and I am never anything less than impressed and overwhelmed by the golf course and the way the tournament operates. Everyone behaves and no one makes a scene or says anything inappropriate. There are no marshals or QUIET signs. There is no yelling or pushing or shoving, and if you park your portable chair at a green to sit in at a later hour, it will be there when you arrive back. It really is hallowed ground. If you ever get the chance to go, you will never regret it. And for all superintendents, a big “thank you” to Mr. Payne and all the club officials for their consideration and respect for golf course superintendents.
Dr. David Cookson received the USGA Joe Dey Award this year. No one could be more deserving than this guy. Over a half-century of passion, commitment and success didn’t go unnoticed by the USGA. He was a rules official at 90 USGA championships, including 25 U.S. Opens, served on three USGA committees, and was a force at the Evans Scholars chapter at Wisconsin. His gift of time and commitment to amateur golf in our state is unparalleled, all at a time when he was practicing medicine. In a video produced by the USGA, PGA Tour players Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly both chimed in to explain how important Dr. C was to their careers. If you get a chance to watch it, it would be worth your time.
I just wish the USGA had asked a superintendent about Dr. Cookson and how he had a role in our professional development. Dr. Cookson lived across the street from our 15th fairway on the shore of Lake Mendota, although he belonged to a golf club across town. I worked at that club one summer and watched closely how he operated as a green committee chair. He was organized, met early every Monday morning and had a pleasant way about him. It’s not that he wasn’t demanding – he was – but he worked to understand our profession and appreciated what was reasonable and what was not. He was a defender when he needed to be, and an advocate when it helped.
I got to know him better and better as the years went by, and asked him to write a column for our chapter publication when I first started as the editor. He agreed, and we called it “A Player’s Perspective.” His pieces were submitted handwritten, were bold, yet reasonable, and were fun to read.
One summer, when I was the WGCSA president, I asked him to speak at the meeting that was held in town. This was back when we had lunch, golf and a sit-down dinner. A coat and tie was required. He joined us for dinner, gave his talk and afterward offered praise for our professionalism. “I didn’t know if I was speaking before an audience of bankers or golf course superintendents,” he said. It was a high compliment.
I mention this only because of that excellent video of Dr. Cookson and his career outside of medicine. There wasn’t one word about golf turf, superintendents, green committees, course management or Dr. Cookson’s contributions in our corner of golf. I thought it was a significant oversight, one that would have enhanced his award.
Speaking of chapter meetings requiring a coat and tie to attend, not too long ago at a chapter meeting held at the same private club, we had a sit-down dinner and a speaker afterwards. I looked around and marveled at how the times have changed. No one was wearing gym shorts or work clothes or a shirt with holes in it, but all variations of jeans and shorts and golf shirts was the norm.
While I cannot argue against that, I finally had to get up from my table and ask a dozen guys,” Is your head cold?” or “Do you wear a hat at dinner at home with your family?” My questions received a few dirty looks, but the hats came off and a number of members were glad I did it. You can only get away with that if you are “an old guy!”
Monroe Miller retired after 36 years as superintendent at Blackhawk CC in Madison, Wis. He is a recipient of the 2004 USGA Green Section Award, the 2009 GCSAA Col. John Morley DSA Award, and is the only superintendent in the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame. Reach him at groots@charter.net.
Various estimates put the number of apps at more than 2.5 million, up from about 800 in 2008, when software designed to run on smartphones and other mobile devices first burst onto the scene. Research giant Nielsen reports that 89 percent of consumers’ media time is now spent on mobile apps.
Various estimates put the number of apps at more than 2.5 million, up from about 800 in 2008, when software designed to run on smartphones and other mobile devices first burst onto the scene. Research giant Nielsen reports that 89 percent of consumers’ media time is now spent on mobile apps.
As Matt Galligan, the entrepreneurial creator of several tech solutions, says, “The future of mobile is the future of everything.”
Among the apps available for download is one that allows you to summon up an instant dose of good luck (Lucky Spell), useful when dark clouds move over the course the morning of the member-guest; one that encourages you to get off the couch and to the gym (Gym Shamer); and one that teaches the finer points of sword swallowing (iSword). Hint: It’s not for everyone.
Superintendents are among apps’ biggest fans. Wherever I go, I see you peering into your smartphones. Since I doubt you’re all watching cat videos, I began to wonder what are the most popular and useful apps among turfheads.
Bryan Stromme, Chicago-based regional director of agronomy for Billy Casper Golf, says he uses Evernote and Dropbox to store notes and large files. He relies on airline and hotel apps, including those from Avis and Southwest Airlines, in his travels and uses Beat the Traffic when he’s traveling by car.
Like many, John Cunningham, superintendent at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, looks to his mobile device routinely for weather and climatological information, favoring Weather Channel and SunSeeker. Having hosted the 2013 Senior PGA Championship and preparing for the 100th PGA Championship in 2018, Cunningham calls on Duolingo to improve his second-language skills for communicating with his crew.
Whether tracking seasonal sunlight impacts via SunSurveyor or double-checking quantity conversions through UnitConverter, Jim Wyffels, the director of golf operations at Spirit Hollow Golf Club in Burlington, Iowa, swears by the information he pulls from mobile apps.
Michael Dermott, golf course superintendent at Oakdale Golf & Country Club near Toronto, uses supplier connections like Toro NSN Irrigation for remote access and Syngenta Greencast for problem-solving and field research.
Seeking work/life balance is a grail-like quest. In addition to the standard-issue resources available for completing work, Stromme lets CamCard and CamScanner process business cards and documents to allow more time for Netflix. He and his wife use AnyList to share and keep up with family and household chores.
For collecting and sorting the news of the day, two resources – Skimm and Flipboard – pop up on many handheld devices in the field. Each enables personalized news aggregation selected by the user.
In addition to apps, supers are heavy users of other technology.
Camera features imbedded within mobile devices get a heavy workout by superintendents. The ability to photograph field conditions, coloration irregularities, distribution of turf and soil conditions and to direct a visual record to trusted academicians is routinely cited by superintendents as one of their most valuable tools.
They also recognize the knowledge stored at top turf and agronomic schools and among respected scientists. Jared Nemitz, director of golf course and grounds at The Peninsula Club in Cornelius, N.C., taps into the Turf Pathology team at NC State when he needs immediate information.
The USGA Green Section is a treasure-trove of knowledge. Dr. Kimberly Erusha, managing director, and her team of regional agronomists have seen thousands of golf courses and challenging circumstances. USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online is a ready-resource for golf course operators needing deeper background and understanding.
What’s next? “Drones are already in use and I’m sure we are only scratching the surface of their uses,” says Stromme. “The possibilities for operations and agronomy are limitless.”
At The Oaks Club in Osprey, Fla., superintendent Nick Kearns has tracked the progress of his Heron Course renovation using his own store-bought drone. In addition to following field progress and monitoring work, Kearns has provided regular town-hall updates and walking tours for members unable to walk the course while it is under construction.
Whether you’re a superintendent who began your career in pre-Internet days or part of the current generation that wouldn’t leave home without your smartphone, apps and other forms of technology make your job easier and you more effective.
Henry DeLozier is a principal in the Global Golf Advisors consultancy. DeLozier joined Global Golf Advisors in 2008 after nine years as the vice president of golf for Pulte Homes. He is a past president of the National Golf Course Owners Association’s board of directors and serves on the PGA of America’s Employers Advisory Council.