MEMBER MOMENTS
Equipment Managers, The Unsung Heroes of Turf
Quality checks after morning mowing.
By Steven Rabski, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent, Idylwylde Golf & Country Club in collaboration with Matthew Smit, Assistant Golf Course Manager and David Currie, Equipment Manager, Bayview Golf & Country Club. Photos provided by David Currie.
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rior to working at a private club with a large team, and a full time equipment manager with a forever growing fleet of new equipment, I worked at a smaller semi-private country club. There, the superintendent was the Jack of all trades. He was responsible for maintaining the course, managing the staff, and maintaining the irrigation system, but he spent most of his time in the shop fixing equipment, and sharpening all the reels; a task that many of us probably reading this article are still familiar with. The equipment manager is the driving force that keeps the welloiled machine running, pun intended. The superintendent is able
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to focus on agronomics and team management and doesn’t have to think twice about any of the equipment. Well maintained equipment, or lack thereof, can either make or break a superintendent’s day. If a mower is not cutting properly, the turf is more at risk of disease and agronomic inputs will likely increase as a result. When a mower is cutting properly, it is not uncommon for superintendents to see a reduction in agronomic inputs. The work that equipment managers do is worth their weight in gold! Superintendents and assistants have had to adapt to many changes over the last several years as technology has helped to evolve the way we care for golf course turfgrass. Yet we rarely talk about the impact that these developments have had on the way equipment managers work and navigate their day. Whether we are talking about GPS sprayers, robotic greens mowers or soon to be self-driving fairway mowers, we often forget about the “maintenance” portion that is involved embracing these tools. Equipment managers are driven to
