RMRTA

This week, the golf course maintenance staff and I will be attending the Rocky Mountain Turfgrass Association's annual conference and trade show. Beyond getting the chance to catch up with other Superintendents and check out all the new equipment for the upcoming season, this week we will be attending the education seminars and gaining valuable credits from the Colorado Department of Agriculture towards our Qualified Supervisor Licenses. The trade show was busy as normal with all of the major vendors again in attendance. Some of the topics being discussed in this weeks seminars included managing organic matter in greens, bentgrass and fine fescue research updates, turfgrass fungicides, water management techniques, aquatic toxicology, and the USGA year in review. I was also lucky enough to get a seat to the Irrigation Design, Irrigation Auditing and Efficient Power Usage in Pump Stations workshop put on by Brian Keighin of Irrigation Technologies. Brian is a truly a master of his domain when it comes to irrigation system design and has been a pleasure to work with here at Kissing Camels Club. I would strongly encourage anyone interested in a new irrigation system design, irrigation audit, or GPS services to give him a call. He has been a vital part of the irrigation renovations on the golf course and we look foreword to his continued services and support.

Building Alterations

Despite our efforts to keep our pipes from freezing here at the shop, Mother Nature got one over on us today. Pictured above is a photograph taken of the men's bathroom at the Golf Maintenance building. Because of the recent cold weather, we have been maintaining a constant drip in our bathrooms to keep the water in the pipes moving. We had also installed electrical coils that wrap over the pipes to keep them warm and free from ice. After hearing the crash, we soon realized that these methods shouldn't be expected to work 100percent of the time with temperatures being this low. Seeing this destruction makes me glad we blew the irrigation system out two weeks ago. While some irrigation failures are inevitable in the spring, I would hate to have miles of irrigation pipe to go through and repair when the ground thaws out.

High of 13

With the weather out outside being so frightful, I thought is was about time to warm up in the shop and check in with our equipment managers. I'm having a hard time remembering the last time it was this cold for such an extended amount of time and with the windchill being 15degrees below 0, it's just not safe for the guys to be outdoors. The latest project in the equipment shop is modifying the rear rollers on the Toro 5410 to accommodate a 'roller scraper' or 'roller blade'. With the addition of this piece we are looking to reduce the amount of clippings the rollers collect while mowing the dew covered fairways. By having these scrapers in place, we are expecting a smoother cut, improved clipping dispersion, and better looking/playing fairways. We're also looking to save time mowing fairways by not having to manually clean the rollers during these important early morning hours. The more time these reels stay on the ground, the quicker we get out of play and move on to the next task. For 20 dollars in material, and few hours of labor, I feel the exercise will be well worth the expense. Now, on to the process........

As you can see, a hole in the frame will need to be drilled out to accommodate the bolt that will be holding the scraper in place. This is where a few measurements will be needed to make sure everything lines up correctly, you'll only get one shot at this one!!

This next picture shows the pre-made scraper in place just off the roller itself. This is just simply a strip of pre-cut steel that has been cut and welded to shape. Again, get those rulers out, men. Bada Bing.....

Bada Bang!!

Coat the scraper with a few applications of Toro red paint, give it a power-washing, and its done.

In the world of Golf Course Maintenance, like anything else, Superintendents tend to lean towards certain manufactures to provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs. For some, it might be the the equipment they were trained on as young golf course employees. For others, it's the confidence they have in the manufacturers rep that provides them with the most technical support. For me, it's knowing that Toro has some of the best golf course equipment on the planet and the fact that that the guys at LL Johnson do a phenomenal job standing behind their products. I'd like to give a big thanks to Equipment Manager, Ron O'Neil and Golf Course Mechanic, Brian Hoffman for all the quality work they do keeping the equipment fleet running at its highest levels.