Water World

       This past Thursday the GCSANJ  hosted the PAGCS for the annual "War at the Shore" season kick off meeting. This year it had moved to a new spot, Stone Harbor Golf Club. What is always a well attended event and this year it was too. It is a friendly competition between the two associations and is always run very well. With this years win going to the NJ Superintendents to retain the cup.
       I have had the chance to play Stone Harbor before, so I knew one important thing.....Make sure you have a lot of golf balls! The course has water on I believe 12 of the 18 holes and add in a nice breeze and it can be a long day. The finishing hole Stone Harbor GC is really something to see and the 7th hole (seen below) is too. It was a great way to kick off the season!
      
      

 

 

WJC

Reely Important

       This past week I had the chance to work with Jim Nedin. Jim works as a consultant with our company and has over 40 years experience in  the Turf business! We had a customer who was having a quality of cut issues with a reel mower. One of things I am always amazed at when Jim visits a customer with an issue is his ability to diagnose the problem by taking it step by step and not throwing everything at the wall and waiting to see what sticks. What Jim really focuses on is isolating all the variables that might be impacting the cut.
       As with most times, there was more than one thing that needed to be fixed. The interesting part was how a bunch of small things could all add up and to make the mower not preform correctly. The other thing is that sometimes tighten things down as far as they can go is not always the right answer....Correct reel set up to me is an art form.
       Sometimes one of the hardest things to have is patience but to dial in a reel mower that is what it often takes. With multiple mowings to have the original problem grow out, it is often hard to wait. It normally take abouts 3 mowings for grass to "grow to the cut". It maybe one of the hardest things to have but patience is the key to success!



This was once a spring......Tighter the better is not a good motto for every  part  of a reel mowers! 
       

 

 

 

WJC

 

 

 

 

It's Grass....It'll Grow Back

       This past week I ran into one of the former Assistants at Merion who taught me how to mow greens. I am still not sure why but we had gone out to #13 on the East Course. For those not familiar with the course, this is one of the best par 3's in golf on the driveway into the property! As he turned the mower over to me after a few passes, my first pass went a little long and right into the collar...and expecting a panic attack, I got "it's grass...it'll grow back". So with the spreading of some clippings over the scalped turf we moved on. The old trick of spreading fresh clippings on was a favorite of legendary Superintendent, Mr.Valentine.
       Well we are just about 60 days out from the US Open coming to Merion GC and things are starting to take shape around the perimeter of the club. The cooperate tents are going up across the street at Haverford College even with the local welcoming committee of local union pickets and their inflatable rat.....Matt Shaffer and his staff have the place looking great and now all we need is mother nature to give us some good weather.
The main property is now surrounded with fencing and before you know it the traffic nightmare will begin!

Welcome to Philadelphia!

 

 

 

 

 

WJC

 

 

 

 

Reality Turf

       As I sat Friday night switching between the Phillies game and one of my new reality TV show favorites, Fast & Loud, on the Discovery channel, I could not help but think about used turf equipment. For those of you who have not seen Fast & Loud, it is about the owner of Gas Monkey Garage in Texas and his head mechanic, who buy and resell classic cars. What hit me was how the negotiations go in the purchase of the cars from the owners before they start the rebuild process. It made me think of sometimes what happens when people purchase or sell used equipment. The other correlation was the trip they made to the North West of the US and talked of how with the tough winters these cars were in better shape because they were put away for the season. Which is why I believe I would rather have a used piece from the Mid-Atlantic or the North East than down South where the conditions are tougher and seasons are longer. (IMHO) 
       We all want the most for our trade in but the problem is a 12 year old walk greens mower is not in big demand....I know over the years, more than a few times, my old boss Tom Drayer would say "Tell them we will give them $100 to keep it". The hard decision to make is it better to sell it off on your own or trade it in, where the price maybe lower but the deal gets done quicker. I know with some clubs the sale of old equipment goes into the general fund and does not help the greens department budget.
       I often get told that someone is selling a piece on the internet for $10K. So how are you offering $2K for a trade? When someone asks what a used piece of equipment is worth, the truth is Whatever you can sell it for! Also, just because they are asking $10K doesn't mean they have or will sell it for $10K. The truth is used turf equipment is like buying a used car. If I could buy it from the grandmother down the street who drove it to the store once a week and to Church on Sunday, I am in!
But if it has had multiple owners and there are no service records....Not so much.
Over the years, I have seen some great deals where both buyer and seller were happy. 

In the end-Caveat Emptor!


Classic Mower/One owner/Was only used on days that end in Y!

WJC