Straight and true

Golf course superintendents demand a level of quality from the companies they do business with to purchase everything from plant protectants to topdressing sand to the cup cutter used to locate the morning’s new cups.

They’re looking for companies that don’t stand still with the same old products year in and year out. Superintendents are looking to raise the bar. Thus, innovation and technology are two words closely associated with cutting edge golf course maintenance. Companies that are constantly raising their game to provide superintendents with newer and better solutions are the ones that tend to stand out. Stand out and succeed.

One company that lives by those two words — innovation and technology — is JRM Inc., a manufacturer of turfgrass maintenance products since 1992. JRM, founded by Jim Merritt, a former superintendent, is one of the true leaders in the industry for bedknives, tines and many other products. JRM’s revolutionary Dillennium® tip, made available in 1997, set a new standard for the industry.

Angelo Nutter is the maintenance tech at Pine Forest Country Club, a 27-hole track in Houston. Having spent nearly three decades at Pine Forest, Angelo knows what works and what doesn’t. After giving JRM bedknives a shot, he knew right away that they needed to be part of his operation.

“Guess I can’t say it any better than to say they are great,” he says. “Both the bedknives and tines. It was an easy decision to switch.”

Nutter is particularly impressed with the JRM bedknife he uses on his Toro^® walkmowers.

“I find we never get that drag on the bottom that you get with some others,” he says. “And they allow us to go as low (cutting height) as we need to. The bedknives always come so straight and true.”

Leon DuBose, a rep for Turfgrass Solutions in Houston, has been using and selling JRM products for many years. Leon first introduced Angelo to the JRM bedknives, and he can attest to the legendary trueness of the JRM bedknife.

“You won’t find a straighter bedknife on the market,” DuBose says. “A lot of my customers don’t have grinders. The JRM knives simply last longer for them, which is a huge deal. Jim, the owner, is very meticulous about what comes out of the JRM factory. What separates JRM is the coining process. This tightens up the steel at the leading edge.”

JRM uses a machine press to stamp the groove into their bedknives, which is the coining process DuBose is referring to. This strengthens the bedknife at the ‘strike point’, making it last longer than traditional knives. Combine this with the fact that JRM uses only high-quality steel and it makes for an amazingly reliable product.

JRM’s tines impress Nutter, and he uses an assortment of Dillennium^® tines on his Toro® ProCore 648, anywhere from 3/8” to 1/2”.

“They hold up extremely well,” he said. “Never had a single issue with them. As reliable as can be.”