Travels with Terry

Unique dye marking system

The multi-talented team of Bill Larson, CGCS, Ryan Browning and Erik Tolzmann, assistant superintendents, and Mike Romundstad, golf course mechanic, at the Town & Country Club in Saint Paul, Minn., have devised a very efficient and unique dye marking system for their 1992 SmithCo 100-gallon green and tee sprayer booms. A 5-gallon soda fountain dispensing tank – obtained free from the clubhouse – has 3 ounces of Becker Underwood Turf Mark Dye added that is mixed together during transport. A CO2 tank, filled at Praxaire for less than $10, is filled with 160 pounds providing 3-5 psi pressure to the two small ball valves located on either side of the steering wheel that control the dye to each respective spray boom. A ¼-inch diameter flexible plastic hose runs from the ball valves to the end of each boom and then ¼-inch flexible rubber fuel line hoses are used for the Tee-Jet flat spray nozzles hanging on the boom ends. The nozzles are turned sideways so a very narrow spray line can be turned on and off creating a dashed line or a solid spray line. Material cost was about $75 and it took about three hours to install.

Water wagon

The Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Middlefield, Conn., is a 45-hole facility covering 850 acres with elevation changes of 350 feet. This great idea is used to fill a dozen 10-gallon water coolers distributed throughout all of the courses. A 120-gallon potable drinking water tank, with tie-down straps to hold the tank onto the trailer, was purchased from a local golf course supply house. It was mounted to an old utility trailer that was modified with 2-inch square metal tubing “beefed-up” with metal rebar for the hitch and support under the tank, metal unpainted fenders acquired from Great Plains, an electric Flojet “on-demand” 5-gpm RV water pump, on/off switch, alligator clips to hook up the pump to the tow vehicle's battery, sanitized potable water hose with gate valve and metal nozzle. The rangers clean the water coolers each night and fill them with ice each morning. The course set-up crew member tows the water wagon and fills the water coolers as they go staying ahead of play. This idea saves three labor hours per day compared with bringing the coolers into the shop, cleaning them and taking them back out. The water wagon tank is cleaned daily with a mild bleach solution and stored in a dedicated clean area. The pump and water tank cost about $125 and it took two hours to build. Mark Pelkey, superintendent, Senad Begovic, equipment tech, designed and built it. Matt Fauerbach is the director of agronomy, northeast region, for Billy Casper Golf.