Keeping Things Rolling at Links!

Snow in June brought everything to a halt on Friday. Hopefully the good weather returns tomorrow, and things will be rolling again. By now members should used to seeing grounds crew motoring by on various pieces of equipment. Much of our mechanized equipment sports the green and gold of the John Deere tractor company but other companies with much longer golf histories are also represented. Toro, Cushman, Jacobsen, Kubota and even Massey Ferguson are part of our fleet.

Most folks are familiar with the the green and gold of John Deere. Our greens mower, the tee, apron and collar mower, the deck rough mower and the gators - those small jeep-like vehicles we use to move things around the course- are all John Deere products. It seems like this company has always been around. They do a good job marketing themselves as the official supplier of turf management equipment to the PGA, but to tell the truth, John Deere is a relative newcomer in the golf market. The company's origins go back to the middle of the 19th century. They originally manufactured plows and cultivators. It was the 1960's before they turned their attention to mowers. Their golf division was not founded until 1987. Today John Deere is a world wide conglomerate building diverse lines of tractors and equipment. This is ably demonstrated at Links as both the largest piece of equipment - the front end loader - and the most precise - the greens mower, are both John Deere products.

Toro - recognized by its trademark red, has a much longer golf pedigree. Their first greens mower was a human powered push reel device, patented in 1931. Locally big red machines are in use at both Taylor and Lakepoint. At Links our main Toro mower cuts the fairways - a large enclosed lumbering diesel powered unit with mowers decks flaring out both sides.

All but retired now,  an older greens mower - affectionately known as "the Jake" spends most of its time in the back of the equipment shed. Jacobsen lawn mowers trace their origins to 1921. Sporting orange/ red colors Jacobsens used to be more common like their red and green and yellow cousins, but at Links our aging unit rarely appears. Lacking in such amenities as power steering, deck lifting levers or ergonomically designed seats, the Jake can be a bone rattling handful to operate and is now only used in emergencies or to assist in the top dressing process when excess sand needs to be cleared off the greens.

Also used in top dressing is the Cushman utility vehicle. Now largely displaced by the gators the Cushman unit is used mainly for spreading operations and moving sand around the course. Most folks may be more familiar with Cushman as a golf cart company as both its white and green units are in common use through out the area.

Last but not least are the tractors. Kubota is a Japanese company whose pedigree runs back to 1890. Initially built for small and wet Japanese agricultural operations Kubotas seem tiny next to the club's old Massey tractor. With its familiar farm yard profile, the Massey is used to pull the gang mowers to cut the deep rough. Like many of the grounds crew, the Massey is starting to get on in years, but it can still be coaxed out on the course for another year of service, and once out there, still gets the job done!

Mechanical maintenance is mostly left in the hands of the Hollands. I'm certain Len and Mike spend way more time on and under the machines than they like. Routine and daily care is up to the operators. Last summer I learned way more about greens and tee mowers than I ever imagined. The mower reel units and verti-cutter units are interchangeable between the smaller John Deere mowers . After a little training and lots of practice I had removal of the reels down to a science and could effect the change with pit crew like efficiency!

Equipment maintenance is extremely important. Keeping the equipment running efficiently is key to keeping the course looking its best. Whether  green, red or some other color the courses machines truly play a key role in keeping operations at Links rolling along!

Please note: If it is unseasonably cold and there is frost or ice on the grounds DO NOT PLAY the course. Walking on frozen turf will kill the grass and leave greens and fairways damaged! Please be patient and wait for warmer weather so everyone can enjoy the course for the rest of the season!