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.

Fertilizer Spreader Easy Transport

This Scotts Accu Pro 2000 Rotary Spreader is transported easily without tipping over on this 2006 Yamaha G22 Golf Cart. A 12-inch by 16-inch by 1/8-inch thick solid steel plate with rounded corners for employee safety (recycled from a Ping golf club display) is welded to a 3-inch door hinge that is bolted (1/4 inch) to the floor so that it can lay flat when not in use. It took about 11/2 hours and $10 for materials. Jeff C. Murdock, superintendent, and Dennis Jablonski, retired mechanic, at the Purple Sage Golf Course in Evanston, Wyo., conceived this great idea that has been in use for eight years. I first learned about this idea from David Phipps’ blog.




Grass Catcher Alternative Brush

Instead of using a brush assembly mounted in front of the grass catcher, a standard door mat ($15 each) obtained from Bed Bath & Beyond was pop-riveted without glue to the bottom of the grass catchers on six John Deere 220E Walk Behind Greens Mowers. The door mat is cut to 21 inches and mounted on some used grass catchers acquired from the local distributor. It follows the greens contours and brushes the green, standing up the turf without any damage whatsoever and does a very nice job of reducing grain. The only caveat in using them is to blow the brush off between each green to keep it clean. They are used randomly whenever the greens are getting a little grainy. They last about one season and have been in use the past two years. It takes about 20 minutes each to install. Scott E. Niven, CGCS, at The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn., is the inventor.




Terry Buchen, 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.

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