System refills divot mix bottles with ease

At many clubs it is common practice to have divot mix bottles on golf cars and located on par-3 teeing areas. One of the biggest problems is efficiently filling these bottles. Some methods, such as the ice scoop, are more of a means of frustration than efficiency.

One way to ease the pain of filling divot bottles is to construct your own divot sand tube filler. There are many ways to make a filling device. The unit I made holds slightly more than three 150-pound bags of mix and can be mounted in many ways. In the photo, the tube sits in a welded square of two-inch angle iron that is mounted to a shelving unit and secured at the top for stability.

The following parts are needed to construct the tube filler:

- 1 piece of eight inch PVC Pipe, four to five feet long

- 1 eight inch by two inch PVC reducer

- 1 two inch by one inch FPT bushing

- 1 one inch threaded nipple

- 1 one inch brass ball valve

- 1 eight inch glue end cap (optional)

To assemble the unit, thread the nipple into the ball valve, then thread the nipple into the bushing. Then glue the bushing into the reducer, and attach it to the eight-inch pipe. The opposite end of the pipe is used to pour the divot mix into the device. You can, however, grind the outside diameter of the pipe so an eight-inch cap will fit over the pipe if needed.

- Kevin J. Ross, CGCS, superintendent Country Club of the Rockies, Edwards, Colo.