2000 Leo Feser Award Candidate

Over the years, I've thought a lot about courses with limited budgets. Before I became a superintendent, I sat on the board of directors at two different nine-hole courses, and I realized then that we could not do all the things that courses with bigger budgets could do.

At the time I didn't know of any way to fix this problem, but maybe there is one!

An informal co-op
I understand that the idea of golf courses joining together in a cooperative, or co-op, has been around for a long time, but rarely has the idea been put to use, for one reason or another. Maybe it won't work for all courses, but the courses involved in our co-op have definitely saved a lot of money.

First, our co-op is very informal. No rules are set in stone. No one person runs our co-op. If one of us comes across a good deal, he or she calls the others and runs it past them. If they like what they hear and can use it, we go from there. Not everyone can afford or even needs certain services, so those superintendents pass.

We currently have six courses involved in our co-op: Beaver Meadows Golf & Country Club, with superintendent Jason Koester, a one-year GCSAA member; C.A.R.D. Inc. (Clarksville), with superintendent Rudy Evertsen, a three-year GCSAA member; Maple Hills Country Club, with superintendent Monte Graff; Nashua Town and Country Club, with superintendent Joy Evertsen, a one-year GCSAA member; Fox Run, with superintendent John Kolfoot; and my course, Traer Golf and Country Club.

I believe one of the reasons the co-op works for us is that we all get along well, and we don't let our egos get in the way. What's best for our courses is our first concern. Because we have six superintendents all trying to save money, we sat down several times to discuss different ideas on how we could do this. Here is what we came up with:

	Order chemicals and fertilizers
	Make arrangements for grinding reels (big savings)
	Contact equipment companies (to rent or buy)
	Order topdressing
	Contact irrigation companies
	Get prices on grass seed and recommendations
	Rent aeration equipment

Chemicals and fertilizers
I contacted several suppliers and told them we would like to meet with them as a group. I set up a meeting in my shop with all six superintendents, and one supplier showed up: Jerry Dezial from United Horticultural Supply.

For superintendents at limited-budget facilities, cooperative purchasing can boost their buying power.

Dezial set up times to visit each course and do soil tests. He met with us as a group several times, and he was able to help each of us set up programs that cost our courses less than previous years. Over the course of that year, he was very good about staying in contact with all of us.

Reel grinding
We talked to several companies about grinding our reels as a group, and we received several quotes. We chose the best quote (TJ Sorensen of Cutters in Superior, Neb.), and the company brought its mobile unit to my course.

We had 72 units waiting in the shop when the mobile unit arrived. We worked as a group for four days, with everyone helping each other. The company charged $50 a unit regardless of the size. Cutters also carries a complete lines of bearings, so all the reels were ready to go when we finished.

Equipment
One of the problems at limited-budget courses is buying new equipment. By the time you pay for a new piece of equipment, three others need replacing, or you end up concentrating on mowing equipment and nothing else.

We talked over this problem and discussed what we would like to have if we could afford it. The first thing we came up with was a good multi-use sprayer -- one that could spray greens and tees, but that would also be big enough to do fairways. Four of our courses did not have working sprayers.

Mike Evertsen has joined forces with five other superintendents to form a cooperative of equipment, supplies and ideas.

I contacted several companies with the idea of leasing a sprayer and sharing it and the expense. Most of the companies did not want to do this. They were more interested in selling each course its own sprayer, but that was not an option any of us could afford.

Our co-op found help with Kevin Pargman at Irrigation & Turf in Iola, Kan. I contacted this company and explained what we wanted to do as a group. Pargman and his sales manager, Russell Cole, went out of their way to meet our needs. We ended up with a 1995 Spray Star with 160-gallon-tank power booms and a foamer, as well as a trailer for hauling. The cost to each course was $500 for the year.

Because we all get along, whenever one superintendent had a problem, we'd try to work it out as a group. In some cases, one of the courses would already have equipment that another course did not. For example, Graff at Maple Hills and Koester at Beaver Meadows do not own topdressers, so they rented one from Rudy Evertsen (at a very low fee) for light applications during the summer. During fall aerifications, Rudy Evertsen and I both used topdressers to get the jobs done faster. Our courses both own large spreaders for doing fairway work, so we helped the other courses by letting them use this equipment.

We also work together on equipment problems. I have a mechanical background, and over the last couple of years I have worked with my fellow co-opers to teach them a few things. This arrangement has worked out great because each course has different equipment, and I have learned about equipment that I otherwise may not have had the chance to use. The others have become good mechanics in their own right, and the chance to work together has made us better friends.

Topdressing
In past years each course had ordered topdressing individually, and there were big differences in what each course paid. Part of this could be attributed to shipping costs, and part was because of the amount of topdressing needed. Most nine-hole courses can't get a semi load of topdressing, but that is the cheapest way to buy it.

I contacted Mike Eberle at Acme Top Dressing and asked him if there was a way we could make a better deal as a group. He told us if we could split loads, or if one course could take a load and another course could take a pup load, we could save money.

Irrigation
Irrigation problems are among superintendents' biggest and most expensive headaches. These problems are difficult to budget because you really don't know what may pop up.

Among the equipment Evertsen's co-op shares is this chemical sprayer.

Most of the courses involved in our co-op wanted to do some type of upgrade. As a group we had talked to different companies at the Iowa turf show. The one company that really wanted to get involved with us was Reams. We talked to Mark Creighton, and between him and Ryan Zimmerman, we were able to make the most of our upgrades. The company representatives visited each course early in the year, made recommendations, cut us some good deals and then followed up.

Grass seed
Two of the courses in our co-op lie on flood plains, so reseeding is always going on. We contacted Jim Johnson of Williams Lawn Seed, who came to meet with us as a group. He made some recommendations on grass mixes we should use, and he also gave us some quotes and pay plans that helped us get the amount of seed we needed and a way to afford it.

In addition, the company helped several of the courses with landscaping ideas and the use of wildflowers and no-mow grasses. Johnson made recommendations on how to get rid of some unwanted species by upgrading our greens through overseeding with some of the new bentgrasses to help with disease control and to produce better putting surfaces.

Aeration equipment
As other superintendents know, most courses can't afford their own aeration equipment, so they rent. I contacted Terry Halverson of The Cutting Edge and asked him if we could save money by doing our courses as a group. He agreed that if we could aerate several courses in one day, the cost could be reduced. He was able to offer us Verti-Drain equipment or a GA30 with a nice savings.

Persistence and cooperation pay off
The companies mentioned in this article have worked with our courses for more than a year. I mentioned them to show that if you take the time to make contact with companies other than those with whom you usually do business, and show them that you have the buying power of more than one course, you can find some great ways to save money.

I would like to end with this advice: Don't let your ego get in the way of what's best for your golf course. Working with other superintendents will make you a stronger superintendent. It can offer you opportunities to help you do your job better and save your course money.

Mike Evertsen is superintendent at Traer (Iowa) Golf and Country Club and a three-year GCSAA member.