Computerized Job Board

An old Toro irrigation computer using Windows 7 to access the Internet was recycled to operate the job board on a Samsung 55-inch LED TV with multiple HDMI inputs (one for the computer and one for the Apple TV). The computer, keyboard and Apple TV with remote is located next to the TV. Any computer can be used for this application as long as it has HDMI outputs. The job board was created on Google Sheets (similar to Excel) and the categories are limitless because anything produced on Google Drive can be shown on the TV. The job board is used to show the type of tee times (straight tee times, shotgun start, crossover tee times), the first and second job assignments for the day, other projects to be completed, and any other messages supervisors want to communicate to staff – such as safety and quality issues, mowing directions, and perimeter mowing instructions. Google Earth shows the staff specific areas on the golf course they need to be working on. Local radar is displayed in the corner of the screen to alert the staff of potential rain and lightning. Supervisors can also use their iPhones to take photos and videos on the course that can be shown on the job board for employee training. The entire project cost about $1,200 for the TV, mounting bracket and Apple TV, and it took about an hour to mount and hook it up. Michael R. Wallace is the superintendent at the Naples Lakes Country Club in Naples, Fla.

S.O.A.P.

These Standard Operating & Agronomic Procedures (SOAP) pocket guides are provided to each employee to help them do a better job. There are nine different nationalities working at the Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., on their six golf courses. Each nationality works together on a respective golf course with their interpreters and they have their own pocket guides of specific job duties in their native tongue. College interns observe the existing books and rewrite them as the goals and objectives are updated and changed. The pocket guides, modeled after yardage books, are very durable, as they are laminated and waterproof, the text is well written, the photos are very specific and they last approximately eight months during the entire golfing season. They are now printed in-house, they allow the same operating procedures to be done the same way on all six golf courses and they cost about $1.50 each to produce. The pocket guides were conceived by Shawn Emerson, director of agronomy, and Brad Seiler, former golf course coordinator.

, CGCS, MG, is president of Golf Agronomy International. He’s a 41-year, life member of the GCSAA. He can be reached at 757-561-7777 or terrybuchen@earthlink.net.

Globetrotting consulting agronomist Terry Buchen visits many golf courses annually with his digital camera in hand. He shares helpful ideas relating to maintenance equipment from the golf course superintendents he visits – as well as a few ideas of his own – with timely photos and captions that explore the changing world of golf course management.