Getting it just right

August 8th to the 11th, the eyes of the golf world descended upon Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., for the 95th PGA Championship.  For Jeff Corcoran,  Oak Hill’s director of golf and grounds and his team, this was their opportunity to showcase not only the course, but the team's professional talents, as well.

Prior to beginning evening course maintenance on the eve of the Championship, Jeff addressed the group of more than 100 volunteers about the support Oak Hill received from the industry, specifically John Deere Golf. 

I caught up with Jeff earlier that day to talk about Oak Hill’s fairway mower of choice -- the John Deere 8000 E-Cut Hybrid. During our discussion Jeff told me about his relationship and the support he receives from the team at John Deere, which went far beyond Championship week.

For exampel, prior to the public release of the JD 8000 e-cut hybrid, Jeff worked closely with Tracy Lanier, John Deere Golf’s product manager, to put the unit through it’s paces at Oak Hill. 

“We had a retired engineer on our staff who worked with the demo unit," Jeff says. "He did four pages of notes on the unit.”

Jeff said he chuckled as he ripped the pages from the notebook and passed them on to the folks at John Deere. Myself working with iOS developers, I can tell you providing such feedback in that manner would be the last time I tested any software. However, Jeff told me John Deere is different.

“This is the best part about John Deere," he says. "Their products are tested by superintendents. They (John Deere) listen to the operators in the field and then implement things that they ask.”

So what were some of the changes Jeff wanted to see from the initially prototype?

As Jeff and I looked over the JD 8000 e-cut hybrid, he pointed out the smooth tires with beveled edges along the outside.

“The initial tire that came with the prototype were more aggressive,” Jeff says. With Oak Hill’s height of cut between .325 to .350 they started seeing more wear than they were comfortable with.  Jeff worked closely with Tracy Lanier and the team at Deere to get it just right. As a result, the tire you see today is a product of that close working relationship.

What does Jeff like most about the John Deere 8000 e-cut hybrid?  Compared to a traditional four-tire, five-unit fairway mower, Oak Hill is seeing the same quality of cut that type of mower produces, but with less of a foot print.  For example, the smooth, three-tire configuration of the JD 8000 e-cut hybrid provides a lighter pounds-per-square-inch footprint, while still maintaining enough down pressure on the cutting units to get a great cut. 

With the typical topography of a Ross design, the JD 8000 e-cut hybrid’s antiscalp wheels on the individual cutting units allows the units to “land” softer on the undulated turf.  This essentially eliminates any scalping as a mower pass is initiated. 

Oak Hill has been using the John Deere 8000 e-cut hybrid now for 3 years and I asked Jeff what is overall opinion of the mower and the quality of cut was. 

“We experienced the worst summer in Rochester, N.Y., this year and we have continued to maintain our fairway height of cut at .325 inches all summer," he says. "We have seen no adverse affects from these mowers."