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

Stuck in Neutral

       The unofficial start to the golf season, Good Friday, has passed and we are still stuck in neutral! After hearing a story this past week of a course in New Jersey aerifying in the snow, I know that people have gotten past the point of frustration. Many clubs have pushed back aeration a few weeks. It is really brutal with predictions of highs next week in the mid 40's! Sometimes you just have to work with the circumstances you have been given.....
       After last years extended playing season, each day with this gloomy weather puts some clubs in a tougher situation. The interesting thing to see will be if the               US Open has as much an impact on the local golf economy as some expect. Interestingly enough, I have heard from many superintendents that their clubs are swamped for the week of the US Open. Clubs have multiple outings and events have filled the calendars. Now if you just had a big parking lot and a bunch of vans you could really make a killing. For those of you who have not been to the area, parking will be at a major premium!

Hope you and your family have a healthy & happy Easter!

WJC

CHA CHA CHA Changes

       This past week The Toro Company hosted a training event for their commercial distributors in the USA and Canada know as Toro University. It was held at Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas. The week was split between two groups of a Monday-Wednesday and a Wednesday-Friday group. I was in the second group. I believe I have been an attendant at everyone of these events over the past 21 years....
       Some years there are more new products and changes and other years there may only be a few things that change. One thing you can see over the years is the rotation on the R&D money and which line will be having new products in the near future. So with the new restrictions coming with the Tier 4 emissions standards the biggest changes are in the 25-75 HP diesel traction units (large rotaries & fairway mowers). Now Toro has done a great job communicating with their distribution on how this transformation would take place but maybe it is just the way my mind works and seeing the new products in action helped to make me really grasp the change that is coming to our industry. With lots of cool new abilities like to be able to control speed, find intermittent faults and track real use hours, all electronically. It is going to be really amazing what you will be able to do! What was cool for me to see was Toro took the mandates caused by Tier 4 and used it as an opportunity to make some big improvements to products in other ways in the process and still meeting the new standards.

       Thanks to all the people at Toro for a first class training event!
      

 

Master Salesman Lou Bosco tests out one of the new Toro Reel Masters!


*Just a reminder that we will be hosting Jim Nedin Sprayer Calibration Seminars over the next 2 weeks in PA/NJ/DE/MD & VA! All will have each state's Department of Ag Pesticide License credits & .40 GCSAA continuing eductaion credits available too. Hope to see you at one of the locations!*
http://www.turf-equipment.com/xCourseSchedule2.htm





WJC



  

Goal And An Assist

       Congratulations to the Philadelphia Area Golf Course Association for the new Assistant Superintendent Outreach program! With Jim Lynagh and Rob Nolek leading the committee and Assistants Nick Lubold, Cedric Karp & Derrick Mohler playing a big part in trying to grow the involvement and numbers of Assistant Superintendents in the Association, I think it is going to be very successful.

       I know that time line has really changed in the career path of an Assistant from where it was 10 years ago. With the loss of clubs and the 300+ resumes that are sent in for an open position, it is easy to get frustrated. So what do you do? Keep attending as many educational events as you can, become part of the local associations, continue to network! The biggest thing that came out of our Future Superintendent Academy experts back in December was differentiate yourself.
       So when you feel like you are stuck....change something! Think about what you have done lately to improve your chances of getting where you want to be.


Happy St. Paddy's Day!

       

 WJC