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.

Rain Bird iPad Holder

The Rain Bird CirrusPRO Central Control System operates on this 11-inch iPad Pro with 256GB storage that is mounted to an eSamcore Dashboard Tablet Holder for Car Suction Cup ($22.99 list price on Amazon). The iPad can be tilted in portrait or landscape positions on the windshield of the 2024 Toro GTX Workman superintendent’s turf vehicle. The suction cup is quite strong and stable when driving throughout the course. The Rain Bird CirrusPRO can also be operated on a smartphone and desktop computer. This great idea was from Gar McLamb, superintendent at the Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, Maryland, which was founded in 1923 and moved to its present location in 1954. Golf course architects William Gordon and David Gordon designed the course, and George Fazio, Tom Clark and Bob Cupp have remodeled it over the years. Joel Weiman recently designed and built a new short-game practice area.




Goodbye Rap Rap

Charles Schwab founded the Stock Farm Club, in Hamilton, Montana, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in July. The many bridges on the course have the surface boards placed perpendicular to the direction of travel. To eliminate the “rap-rap” sound of the tires passing over the surface, 12 inch by 16 foot by 2 inch “cart runner” boards, produced by a local lumber mill, were installed. The boards were beveled on both ends of the bridge for a smooth egress and ingress. They were mounted using 4-inch decking screws where the boards were intentionally not glued in place so they could be easily replaced in later years. The boards were treated with Copper Green Wood Preservative, and Cabot Decking Stain is applied twice per year. The bridges were re-decked during the course’s renovation in 2018-19, which took about one week; the cart runners were part of the cost. Bridge contractors many times are now placing the surface boards parallel with the line of travel. Director of agronomy Ryan Knapp and architects Tom Fazio and Ron Smith provided a very successful renovation and subsequent excellent playing conditioning standards.

Terry Buchen, 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.

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