CART CONTROL
Golf cart traffic control has been made a lot more functional with these decorative, customized 4” x 4” posts that were manufactured in-house. This idea replaced the traditional ropes and stakes, which are spread-out much wider and they provide the same cart control affect with impressive aesthetic appeal. Greg Goecker, 1st assistant; Chris Hedberg, 2nd assistant; and David J. Soltvedt, CGCS, of The Ridge at Castle Pines North in Castle Rock, Colo., managed by Troon Golf, teamed up to design the 4” x 4” x 12” posts, which have a 30-degree angle cut on each side's top portion, with a 3/8”-diameter rebar for holding it vertically into the turf. The posts are then stained and sealed with a wood preservative, which ensures they will hold-up extremely well to irrigation cycles and last for several years. The Brand-First Branding Iron (www.brand-first.com), which puts the club’s customized logo onto the top portion of the posts, is a Model BF200-L that costs $300. The wood costs about $80 and the stain and wood preservatives cost another $80. The initial process involved an efficient assembly line process that took about 40 hours from start to finish.

The Mix Master
This homemade pre-mix tank used for mixing water soluble fertilizers, to speedup the mixing and loading process, was conceived by David L. Smith, superintendent; built by James Lee, irrigation technician; and assisted by Alan Brissette, foreman, at the Fawn Lake C.C. in Spotsylvania, Va. The used 500-gallon tank costs $300 and the valves, fittings, trash pump and lumber were already in stock and it took about one day to build. The tank is filled from the irrigation system through a 2”-diameter PVC irrigation swing joint that swivels over the top of the 500-gallon tank fill-up opening. The 2”-diameter, 4-HP Honda trash pump agitates the mix through 1”-diameter PVC “ports” inside and on top of the tank. Then a series of valves are opened and closed as it transfers the chemical to the sprayer fill-opening through the same swing arm. Another unique feature is that quick-connect couplers are hooked-up to the hoses and pipes so the trash pump can be easily removed to be used on the course. GCI