Determining Greens Sq. Ft. Cancel The title field is required!

1. Wydra David A

   
   8/22/2012 1:08 PM

   What have you guys found to be the best way to figure the total area of your greens? The last time we did it here was with a measuring wheel and the pie-shape method for irrigular shaped areas. Is it worth the money to have them measured with a GPS service? I have also heard of people using the purchased version of Google Earth? What about using my own GPS unit? I think the one we have is accurate to within +/- 1-2 yards, which to me wouldn't be accurate enough. We almost always have a considerable amount of spray solution left over after an application, and I'm confident with our sprayer calibration. That leads me to believe that our greens square footage is a little off?
   Thanks
   Dave Wydra
   Asst.Supt.
   Awbrey Glen GC
   Bend, OR

   
   
   
   
2. Keith Lamb

   

   3 posts
   
   8/22/2012 1:08 PM

   Not perfect, but a good start.
   
   http://www.acme.com/planimeter/

   
   
   
   
3. Timothy Walker

   

   0 posts
   
   8/22/2012 1:08 PM

   google planimeter very good

   
   
   
   
4. Keith Pegg

   

   0 posts
   
   8/22/2012 3:08 PM

   David Wydra said: What have you guys found to be the best way to figure the total area of your greens? The last time we did it here was with a measuring wheel and the pie-shape method for irrigular shaped areas. Is it worth the money to have them measured with a GPS service? I have also heard of people using the purchased version of Google Earth? What about using my own GPS unit? I think the one we have is accurate to within +/- 1-2 yards, which to me wouldn't be accurate enough. We almost always have a considerable amount of spray solution left over after an application, and I'm confident with our sprayer calibration. That leads me to believe that our greens square footage is a little off?
   Thanks
   Dave Wydra
   Asst.Supt.
   Awbrey Glen GC
   Bend, OR

   
   Dave,
   If you are doing spray, then use a stong dye and then measure each sprayer stripe and add them up, It will give you what you spary and not the green and or collar. I have used a 24 point wheel from center of green and now use planimeter and find that is is the best ever. 1 or 2 % is close enough for me because even every spray nozzle is going to make it a little off. The speed you walk or drive and so much more in the end if you can get with-in even 5% that is great.
   Keith Pegg
   Zama Japan

   
   
   
   
5. Rosenthal Gregg

   
   8/22/2012 6:08 PM

   Do you not also spray your collar and approach when spraying the green? Would you not include that square footage in the tank mix, yet not include that as the green square footage also? We do spray these areas together but keep track of them as different areas as the height of the turf is obviously different. We have many large collar and approach areas that are bentgrass/poa included in the green spray program as they are better sprayed when doing greens as opposed to when doing fairways...Not trying to be difficult but many ways to look at the area one may call the green, collar, approach, ect. We also spray our practice greens, and a green we grow for repair use. If we have extra left over sometimes there may be a tee or area in need of extra help, it never goes to waste this tough year!
   
   Gregg

   
   
   
   
6. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   8/22/2012 6:08 PM

   If you have 20 gallons leftover, why don't you just not mix up that the next time you spray and go by what your calibration says is the square footage?
   
   If you are mixing for 2.5 acres @40GPA and have 20 gallons leftover, then next time mix up for 2 acres.

   
   
   
   
7. Robinson Craig

   
   8/24/2012 8:08 PM

   If you have the money, hire someone to gps your course! It is well worth your money. I use a gps to map courses on the side of being an assistant superintendent and I was just messing around with my gps unit at my course trying to get familiar with it, once I got the correct square footages I plugged them into our chemical and fertilizer budgets. We would save over $11,000 a year just by using the correct square footage to buy chemicals and fertilizer! $11,000 a year is a HUGE number saved in just 10 years, $100,000 could go a long way in buying some new equipment or any upgrades needed!! I change between $5,000-10,000, so no matter what our course would be saving money. Then you can add in the time you save with getting your irrigation system mapped, cut down on time searching for heads and valves. So if you can afford it have someone come in to map your course. The materials that you would get are priceless to the course!

   
   
   
   
8. Jeffrey Gaylor

   

   0 posts
   
   8/24/2012 8:08 PM

   There is a app called Geomeasure

   
   
   
   
9. Timothy Walker

   

   0 posts
   
   8/26/2012 1:08 PM

   agreed with andy, last course i was at i was told we had 2.5 acres of greens, when we sprayed there was always 50 gallons left over so we sprayed for 2 acres...checked calibration was correct...confirmed the acreage through planimeter

   
   
   
   
10. Holt Michael

    
    8/28/2012 9:08 AM

    I have 130,000 sq ft of greens. When I spray I have to mix up 140,000 sq ft of slurry. It's not that scientific, you spray in straight lines and the greens are not squares or rectangles which means you will either spray over in the collar or miss on the green to avoid spraying over in the collar. Either way you will never equal exactly 130,000 sq ft. I would rather have 10 gals too much than 10 gals not enough and I'm sure your boss would also.