Tackling a giant job

Get the course back in shape . . . and quickly

Laurel Island Links, Kingsland, Georgia, was the second course designed by PGA Tour golfer Davis Love III. The municipal facility, owned by the city of Kingsland, opened in 1996 and was sold May 23, 2006 to Sawyer and Associates. A number of years ago the group purchased the surrounding property for residential development.

Superintendent Jared Cook arrived at the property in February facing a stiff challenge. The course had been without a superintendent for more than six months and was in poor condition.

“I was told to do whatever was necessary to get the course in shape to sell,” Cook says. “It was a giant job.”

	"It's always about service, and our local Jacobsen dealer really stepped up." - Jared Cook

The first move was to get rid of the weeds. None of the surfaces had been overseeded, and Poa annua was everywhere, including on the greens. An aggressive spray program got the situation under control, and an effective pre-emergent program was brought back. Cook knew the 419 Bermuda grass in fairways and roughs would come back once temperatures warmed.

As a result of lack of manpower, the roughs had grown to 2 1/2 inches. Fairways were U.S. Open width, 30 to 35 yards.

“A municipal course needs to be player-friendly,” Cook says, “so we backed out the roughs. My mind-set is to keep the course as close to tournament conditions as possible. If I could cut every day of the week I would.”

Greens were another challenge. Cook found 8 to 10 greens with bare spots from 5 to 10 feet wide. They were allowed to dry out before winter, and with no overseeding the bare spots hadn’t covered.

“We fertilized every four days from April until June to get them back,” Cook says. “Today we have one bare spot the size of a steering wheel on one of the greens. Otherwise they’ve all recovered. We treat the greens like they are ultradwarfs, with weekly verticutting and topdressing and regular rolling during the growing season. The greens still have mutations, but they putt unbelievably well. We had a tournament this fall and had them rolling at 11 feet on the Stimpmeter. Our program removed a lot of the grain, but we still need another season to get them where we want.”

	The Tri-King 1900 provides excellent conditions thanks to its reel-quality cut on taller grasses.

The new owners were impressed with what Cook had accomplished and gave him a vote of confidence by telling him to continue his program.

“This situation was essentially a grow-in,” Cook says. “I had no doubt we could do it. I’ve been a superintendent for more than 12 years and have worked with some good people. I’ve done grow-ins before. As long as I have access to fertilizer, good water and sprayable nutrients I can make it work.”

All-Jacobsen fleet
While the city gave Cook a green light to get whatever fertilizers and chemicals he needed to restore the course, he had no budget for capital expenditures. Fortunately, when he arrived, the equipment was in good shape, thanks to skilled mechanic Jimmy Kahn.

The next step was a little tougher. Because equipment was leased from two manufacturers, taking over the lease would have been very costly. Working closely with the local Jacobsen dealer, Kilpatrick Turf Equipment, the decision was made to make the fleet all-Jacobsen.

“It was primarily a service issue,” Cook says. “We weren’t getting it from the other manufacturer. We started over with a brand-new package from Kilpatrick. It’s always about service, and they really stepped up. I’ve always been partial to Jacobsen because their quality-of-cut is the best.”

Cook was invited to visit Jacobsen’s Charlotte manufacturing facility.

The Cushman Spraytek has the most consistent governing speed of any sprayer and provides unmatched coverage consistency every time.

“I was impressed with president Dan Wilkinson,” he says. “There are always issues with equipment, and during our discussion he walked down the hall and brought in a design engineer to listen to me explain a problem. That kind of effort goes a long way with me.”

The new package includes four Greens King IVs™ and two SLF-1880s™ (all with 11-blade reels), a Tri-King™ trim mower, Groom Master II™ bunker rake, Cushman® Spraytek™ sprayer and two Cushman® utility vehicles with attachments.

SLF-1880s for fairways
Fairways at Laurel Island used to be cut with large mowers. Cook opted for the super-light SLF-1880.

“I understand the pressure to be more productive,” he explains, “but I saw the property in winter and knew how wet it can get. I didn’t need anything large, and the SLF-1880 was around at the right time. I wanted a machine that was right for us and

The SLF-1880 allows the maintenance staff to stay on a mowing schedule because they can get out when heavier machines can’t.

could accept 11-blade reels. With two mowers we can start at 7 a.m. and be finished in three and a half hours. Also, the SLF-1880 lets us stay on a mowing schedule because we can cut when heavier machines couldn’t go out.”

The superintendent says there is no comparison with quality-of-cut.

“It’s night and day from the previous units,” Cook says. “The SLF-1880 is like putting a greens mower on a fairway. We have some undulations and it doesn’t scalp or streak. We got comments from golfers as soon as we put them on the fairways. They were very impressed with the quality of the surface. To me, 18-inch reels just cut better.”

A spiker attachment for the Groom Master II gets a heavy workout in winter on greens. “With bluegrass on top of dormant Bermuda grass, we have to water to keep it growing,” Cook says. “It has been ingrained in me to keep spiking to keep the algae out.”

GreensCare biodegradable oil is used in all machines.

“We had a small leak,” Cook says, “and thankfully we were using biodegradable fluids. We would surely have lost turf. It’s more expensive, but well worth it.”