2001 Leo Feser Award candidate

Like many superintendents, I started working on a golf course during summer vacations from high school and college. Twenty-one years later, I marvel at all the changes our industry has seen and wonder, "What will they think of next?"

I started my career at Alpine Country Club in my hometown of Cranston, R.I. It was there that I began developing skills and realizing the constant challenges that face the superintendent and his or her crew. After years as a member of the grounds crew, I began to notice more and more innovations. Fairway mowers began shrinking, and a few models later we were picking up clippings on fairways with lightweight mowers. Hydraulics not only operated reels and traction units, but also spray pumps and irrigation systems. Small diesel engines began replacing gasoline engines on mowers. Sprinklers went from cast iron and brass to plastic, and now they have built-in check valves. We now have aerifiers that can core or solid tine down to almost 12 inches, and don't forget our water- and air-injection aerifiers. Diazanon and mercury products were banned from use on golf courses, and Heritage and Merit were approved.

Many more examples come to mind, and most superintendents could write books on remembering when. The point is, as with all other businesses, times are changing, and we have to keep up. The demands for perfection on a golf course are becoming greater. As superintendents, we are obligated to keep up with innovations, whether they be mechanical, chemical, biological (as it pertains to turf) or managerial, meaning budgeting, people skills, time management, staff meetings, etc.

After climbing the ladder at Alpine CC, starting as a laborer and moving up to assistant superintendent, I was faced with the greatest challenge of my career. My brother, Paul, was in real estate development along with his partner, the late Bernard Baccari, a jewelry manufacturer and a wonderful person. Paul and Baccari had acquired a piece of property of about 255 acres, which was inadequate for housing development but could be quite a unique golf facility. Paul convinced me that with his construction development expertise and my golf course experience we could build a premier golf facility on this somewhat unkind piece of land. I left Alpine in July 1994, and we opened Boulder Hills Golf and Country Club in August 1995. It was the toughest year of my life. I was intimately involved in every aspect of the entire construction project.

We've all been there
Knowledge is a superintendent's most valuable tool. The innovations I listed previously are all products of superintendents' knowledge. We are all inventors at one point or another in our careers, whether it is for some type of fabrication, a method of simplifying a task or thinking of something to better the industry and watching it become the best new product in golf course maintenance. I've taken a crack at a new idea more than once. I believed my latest idea was worthy, both personally and from a business standpoint, of pursuing further. I didn't want to be another superintendent reading a trade magazine, seeing a new product and saying, "Hey, I already thought of that."

The idea
One of the innovations in our industry I didn't mention earlier is the individual valve-in-head sprinkler. In the past, irrigation systems were typically operated with block-type systems or valve-under systems. What this means is that a valve, whether it was manual, electric or hydraulic, would be used to activate a sprinkler head. Now that sprinklers have built-in valves, they can operate individually with no other means of control. This practice requires all irrigation system feed lines to remain pressurized at all times. Being involved in redesign and grow-in projects, I realized that we could tap into quick coupler valves near areas that needed the attention of hand watering in extreme cases of drought stress. In particular, having a fully pressurized surround system on a green is what helped me develop my new concept. My knowledge of hand syringing greens -- which includes monotony, hose dragging, play interruption and staff stress -- coupled with my experience in construction, irrigation, drainage and other areas led me to an idea.

I was going to make a fully retractable, fully charged, encapsulated hose reel that I could bury beside a green. The hose reel would be strategically located so that any time of day, I could simply reach down, pull it out, use it and have it retract when I was through. I would also design it so that it would be fully concealed, just like a sprinkler head, and would be as maintenance-free as possible.

It sounded simple enough, as do most other ideas, but now I had to make it work. I wasn't going to build one just so my staff could use it on one of my troubled greens. If I was going to do this, I was going to try to patent this product, have it manufactured and profit from it. After all, if you invent something, you automatically get rich, right?

The steps
First, I had to decide if my idea was a worthwhile venture. I knew a product like this didn't exist in my region, but I couldn't be sure that it was not available elsewhere. I assumed someone had already thought of this, and I would probably be stopped in my tracks.

I needed help, so I called a well-known patent attorney in Rhode Island, Elliot Salter. Most patent attorneys are engineers, and explaining the concept to Salter wasn't difficult. He instructed me to prepare some drawings and an explanation of the unit's design and uses. In the meantime if I discussed my idea with anyone, I had to have them sign a nondisclosure document to try to prevent someone from stealing my invention. Salter explained how the patent search process worked and said it should only take a few weeks. I wrote a five-page report, created drawings of my invention and submitted it all.

Now that the search was in motion, I felt I needed approval from my peers and other industry professionals. I bounced the idea off my friends, but I only told business acquaintances after they signed a nondisclosure document. The responses from fellow superintendents and associates alike were overwhelmingly positive. I would hear "What a great idea" or "I've thought of that before; that's great."

I was determined to keep moving forward. I extended my polling to sod growers, management company executives, green committee members, irrigation installation companies and other people or companies in the industry who could intelligently comment on the idea. I believed that there was a place for an underground retractable hose reel in golf and other aspects of the turf industry, such as ball fields and parks, and I was going to do whatever I had to to be the guy who brought it to market.

Tough steps
Salter reported that, although my idea was not already patented or trademarked, I needed to create a prototype to make sure my invention would work before moving forward with a patent. I knew this would be tough because I'd have to try to find the right people in big companies and hope they would like my idea and work with me.

First, I called the two largest golf irrigation manufacturers in the world -- and called and called. One company was remotely interested, and the other said it didn't have the resources. After signing the nondisclosure document and hearing about the invention, both companies thought it was a great idea, but neither had my enthusiasm, which told me I still had work to do.

Getting interested
Because the main component of my invention was a hose reel, this was the next avenue I decided to explore. I turned to the Internet, went to a search engine and typed in "hose reels." You can't believe how many companies make hose reels. I chose Reelcraft Industries from among the four largest hose reel manufacturers because it has offices worldwide. Salesman Rick Fetters answered my call, and he steered me to the vice president in charge of marketing, Richard Bible. My foot was in the door.

After Bible had faxed a signed nondisclosure agreement back to me, we talked about turf and the need for hand syringing in great detail. I explained to him the painstaking years of hose dragging and how beneficial this product would be for golf and other turf industries. I then sent him the explanation and drawings so that he could discuss them with his team. Within a week Bible called and said my idea had merit and that Reelcraft might be interested. Over the next few months I called Bible repeatedly, and he sent me hose reels to help me develop my prototype.

I spent many afternoons after work and long nights at machine shops and on the phone working on my creation. I was trying to make an underground reel with features that would allow it to remain charged at all times so that it would always retract without snagging and could support the weight of backfill and withstand residual water if necessary. In addition, I knew that in the winter months it would be blown out with compressed air and could possibly be used as a leaf blower.

There were many variables to consider, but with the help of family and friends I was able to create a working model. It was encased in high-density polyethelene and had a means for backup retraction in case the main spring retraction failed. It was equipped with a 250-psi hose for maximum pressure requirements and a spring-loaded riser/roller mechanism to help the user in pulling and retracting the hose.

Sales pitch
Once I was finished, I knew I'd created something that all superintendents who had ever had to hand syringe would want on their golf courses. Reelcraft had seen photos of the prototype, and the company decided to send representatives from its headquarters in Columbia City, Ind., to inspect it and judge its worthiness. Bill Martin, marketing manager, and Ed Walter, chief engineer on the project, came for a one-day visit. They seemed receptive. We discussed the prototype and how they could economically manufacture it. There was still work to do, but because of the financial and time investment I had already made, I knew there was no turning back.

I installed the reel on one of my greens and, with the help of family and friends, produced a 30-minute videotape about my product and its uses. After viewing the video, Bible called to say Reelcraft's owner, S.R. Penn Jr., wanted to meet me and discuss my invention. I've been in many big meetings before, taught seminars, given classes and even taught junior golf, but I was a little nervous about meeting Penn. It was the bottom of the ninth, the bases were loaded, and I was up to bat. This was my chance to make my product go.

I had to develop a comprehensive presentation to convince Penn that my underground retractable hose reel would be a worthwhile venture for Reelcraft. For help, I called on Vincent A. Iacono, a former boss and my mentor; Paul Jamrog; and Peter Lund, CGCS. All three had been GCSAA superintendents for more than 15 years, and they had my admiration and respect. I also looked to my brother Paul, the CEO of Bernard Golf and my employer; his chief of operations; his chief financial officer; and one of his attorneys. With their help, I compiled enough information in a two-hour meeting to feel more than prepared to make the final sales pitch for my invention.

I finally met Bible face to face when I flew to Indiana for the big meeting. I was given a tour of Reelcraft and shown a room full of videos sent in by inventors -- which didn't sit well, but it didn't keep me from losing focus on the big meeting.

It seemed so strange that after 20 years in the golf industry, here I was trying to sell a product that someday could be on golf courses that I've never even heard of. I met with Penn, Bible, engineers and marketing people for two days in Indiana. Finally, after two long years, I could see light at the end of the tunnel. I entered into a written agreement with Reelcraft for the marketing of my invention.

Superintendent inventor
Since that day in February 2000, Reelcraft and I have been to the GCSAA conference and show, the New England regional turfgrass conference and sold more than 60 units, which are now patent pending. The product has been named the Direct Underground Maintenance Syringing System (DGM System, which are also my initials). I am very fortunate and proud to have been given the opportunity to come this far. If it hadn't been for my years of training in the golf industry, I may not have developed the determination and enthusiasm not only to bring this idea to market, but also to continue doing the demanding job of being a golf course superintendent.

It has been a long, hard road, and it isn't over, but I've had a lot of fun. However, if the product becomes a success, my biggest accomplishment will have been giving back something to the industry that has been so great to me.

David Mihailides is the inventor of the Direct Underground Maintenance Syringing (DGM) System. He is also regional superintendent for Bernard Golf Cos. in Rhode Island and a six-year member of GCSAA.