Flourescent to LED Lighting

With cold weather and a blanket of snow outside, we have been working inside for the better part of January.  This is a great time for us to make improvements to our maintenance facility.  One such improvement has been replacing the old fluorescent lighting with new LED lights.

The LED tube.

The new LED tube fits into a standard single pin fluorescent fixture.

Lighting in a shop is essential for safety and efficiency.  Currently we have over 80 fluorescent light fixtures that have at least two fluorescent tubes accounting for over 160 lights.  Add to that each light fixture has a ballast and the cost to maintain the lighting at the shop can get expensive.  As a result, we have started to replace the old fluorescent lighting with new LED tubes.  The new tubes are designed to fit into the existing fixture eliminating the need to replace 80 light fixtures.  As an added bonus the LED's do not need a ballast.

The old fluorescent ballast is removed.

Replacing the old fluorescent tubes with the new LED's is not as simple as exchanging one for the other.  The fixture needs to be rewired before the new LED tube can be installed.  The biggest part of the rewiring is the removal of the ballast from the fixture.  After the ballast is removed, the light sockets must be rewired so that there is a hot end and a neutral end.  In other words, a simple circuit.  When the wiring is done, the fixture is ready for the LED tube.

The change to LED does require some basic wiring.

As of today, we have completely replaced all of the lighting in the office area of our shop with LED's.  While the old fixtures needed two tubes per fixture, the new LED's are bright enough that we only need one tube per fixture.  This was an added bonus that we did not expect and will cut replacement costs by half.  Additionally, the LED's are over 40% more efficient than the old fluorescent lights, thus saving on electricity. 

The new LED is bright enough that only one is needed per fixture.

Proper lighting is very important to the safety and efficiency of any maintenance department and ours is no different.  Our reasoning for replacing the lighting was to reduce down time and repair costs for fluorescent tubes and ballasts in addition to improving the light quality throughout the shop.  The new LED lights are expected to last over 50,000 hours, far longer than fluorescent at around 12,000 hours. 

WInter Update 1-18-16

So far this year the weather has been anything but normal.  The year started off warm as we mowed fairways in January for the first time in 18 years.  Then the rains came back and now it is all of 16 degrees outside.  Needless to say that our drainage project on hole #12 is on hold. 

While the weather has stopped us from working on #12, it has not stopped us from working on other projects.  As with years past, we are continuing to enhance areas on the course with rock walls.  We are currently installing a rock wall around the small pond on #1.  Over the years erosion has deteriorated the bank making this highly visible area unsightly.  The new rock wall along with landscape improvements to the area across the street on #18, will greatly improve aesthetics making the start and finish to the course one to remember.

Installing stone wall on the #1 pond.

#1 pond

In addition to the rock wall on #1, we have completed the removal of all the cross ties at the tennis/swim facility.  All of the cross ties have been replaced with stone to match other areas throughout the course.  In addition to the stone work, we will also be adding irrigation and new plant material.

Stone walls at the tennis/swim facility

Stone walls at the tennis/swim facility

Though not as glamorous as course improvements, we are making improvements to our equipment and the maintenance facility.  We have a large list of equipment that we are refurbishing which includes, new paint, bearings, hydraulic hoses, seats, etc.  This refurbishment process extends the life of our equipment at a fraction of the cost of replacement.

John Deere heavy duty utility vehicle undergoing refurbishment.

Painting a trailer in the paint booth.

Not only are we refurbishing equipment, but we are also making improvements to our maintenance facility.  We have added new light fixtures to the back equipment bay to improve efficiency and safety.  Also in this same area, we are in the process of painting the ceiling which along with the new lights will improve light quality.

Adding light fixtures to the shop.

Getting ready to paint the ceiling.

Syngenta Business Institute 2015

I had the pleasure last week of being 1 of 26 superintendents selected from across the country to attend the Syngenta Business Institute on the campus of Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC.  The Syngenta Business Institute is a 4 day intensive business development program designed to meet the ever changing requirements of golf course superintendents.  The program supplements and complements a superintendents existing knowledge base, allowing more productive and efficient golf course management.

Graylyn Conference Center at Wake

Through a partnership with the Wake Forest University School of Business, the program provides graduate school-level instruction in areas such as financial management, human resource management, negotiating, impact hiring and other leadership- and professional-development skills, and managing across generations and cultural divides.  To be considered for the program, superintendents had to submit a 250-word essay on why they believe they should be selected to attend. Approximately 25 superintendents were selected to attend and I was fortunate to be selected.

Financial Management

While I found ALL the education useful and impactful, one topic stood out for me, Managing Across Generations and Cultural Divides.  One of the great joys of my job is managing people and I have been relatively successful throughout the years.  However, I have found it difficult to manage "generation y" or more specifically what motivates them.  Through Managing Across Generations and Cultural Divides, I did learn some ideas that should no doubt make me more successful with this age group. 

Negotiating

On top of the graduate level coursework, getting to learn and gain perspective from some of the industry's best golf course superintendents was invaluable.  Throughout the week we all shared ideas and thoughts about the many things that challenge our facilities. 

Graduating Class of SBI 2015

I want to thank everyone at Syngenta for organizing what has become the premier and most sought after education event in our industry.  It was certainly a pleasure and honor to be a part of SBI 2015 and I will be a better superintendent because of it.

Reunion of fellow TurfNet Superintendents' of the Year
Chad Mark, Paul Carter, Anthony Williams, Fred Gehrisch

Pulling Santa for the 2015 Highlands Christmas Parade

Community service comes in many ways and for the second year in a row we have been asked to pull Santa in Highlands annual Christmas Parade.  Santa's "reindeer" comes as a 2014 Club Car 1550 4x4 decked out in red with Christmas lights and snowflakes.  If you have time, please come see us pulling Santa through the streets of Highlands on Saturday Dec 5th from 11am -12pm on Main Street.

Getting my cart ready for Santa.

On the trailer and ready to take to the staging area.

The reindeer is ready.

New Equipment

Exciting day this week as we received our two new Jacobsen trucksters.  These are the first new heavy duty vehicles we have bought in over ten years which is also a testament to the maintenance program of our old vehicles.

 

The new trucksters will help us with everything from hauling rock and sand to pulling trailers to shuttling crew and equipment throughout the course.  The new trucksters will replace our two oldest vehicles which are 16 years old.

Culvert Replacement #12

Finally, with one week of dry weather, we have been able to complete the replacement of the large culvert under #12 fairway.  While the replacement went relatively smooth, it was not without some issues.

Digging across #12 fairway.

Digging to bedrock.

 

Some irrigation will need to be rerouted.

The first issue was a previously unknown sewer junction and manhole that was found in the middle of the fairway.  After much research and discussion with the HOA, it was determined that this junction box was put in when the development was built and was never used.  As a result, we filled it in and covered it up.

Manhole and sewer junction in #12 fairway.

Installing a 30 inch drain culvert.

The other issue that came up was that the new pipe had an outside diameter about 8 inches larger than the old pipe.  With the pipe sitting on bedrock in a few locations, the new pipe sat at or near the surface.  To alleviate this problem, we will be adding addition fill dirt to those locations so that we get at least 10 inches of cover over the new pipe.

The new pipe was installed next to the old pipe so that water could continue flowing.

Covering the new pipe.



With this pipe now replaced, we will start replacing a second pipe on this hole as soon as the weather cooperates.  If you guessed, its raining right now.


Course Update 11-23-15

The start of the off-season has been a wet one since the Club closed, as it has rained every week since.  However, we have been able to accomplish a lot what we expected to do during this time.

The landscape improvements at the Tennis/Swim facility is going as planned.  The old crossties have been removed and the new stone wall is well under way.  With good weather, the stone wall should be done in about 3 weeks.  After the wall is done, we will be adding irrigation followed by plant material.


Crosstie wall at the tennis facility.



New stone wall the tennis facility.

The installation of new irrigation heads around the greens has been completed.  A total of 177 sprinklers were replaced in 8 days.

Wiring new sprinkler heads.

Proper installation requires a large hole.

Completed install.

In addition to aerifying greens, we also injected sand into the root zone by way of a DryJect machine.  This process helps to reduce organic matter and also firm up the greens.

DryJect machine.

DryJect machine requires a continuous amount of dry sand.

Perfect sand injection.

Due to the rain, we have been unable to proceed with drainage work.  As a result, we have focused on a project that we can do at this time and that is leveling several tees.  As I am writing, our staff is busy finishing leveling the white tee on #3 and will then go to the brown tee on #12.

Leveling #3 white tee.