Travels with Terry

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.

Inexpensive Golf Cart Control

The concrete cinder blocks and fence rails were recycled for golf cart control adjacent to the starter’s building by No. 1 tee at the Aspen Golf Club in Colorado. General manager Jim Pratt came up with the idea after seeing it being utilized outside a local Home Depot store. Superintendent Dominic Lanese III likes the ease of moving the cinder blocks and rails by his staff when mowing and edging adjacent to the golf cart parking area. Jim Sivess, former superintendent at the Snowmass Club, is the president of the Aspen Golf Club Advisory Board. Frank Hummel was the original architect and Dick Phelps and Rick Phelps have been the remodeling architects over the years.




Thwarted Thievery

In the past, traditional tee markers were stolen on occasion, used as souvenirs by golf enthusiasts at the Aspen Golf Club in Colorado. Heavy metal angle iron tee markers, fabricated by Myer’s Welding Company of Basalt, Colorado, weighing approximately 25 pounds each, stopped the thievery because of their weight since they were introduced in the mid-1990s. The club’s logo was lasered out of steel and welded into place. The angle iron was painted black in-house, and the logos were painted black, blue, white and yellow, for each respective tee marker location, before being welded to the angle iron on both sides. Each pair of tee markers cost approximately $75 initially and up to $100 now. Superintendent Dominic Lanese III and general manager Jim Pratt like the results.

Terry Buchen, CGCS Retired, MG, is president of Golf Agronomy International. He’s a 56-year, life member of the GCSAA. He can be reached at 757-561-7777 or terrybuchen@earthlink.net.

October 2024
Explore the October 2024 Issue

Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.