Winter Machine Maintenance

It's still my first month as Superintendent, and my focus is on learning how to grind the reels and getting them all done. After bringing in the Jacobsen Eclipse 322 triplex, I took the reel motors off to get the reels off the machine. When I removed the motors, I noticed there was a chipped drive motor, on not only 1 motor, but all 3!

Chipped drive shaft on left, key on right

This is not what I wanted. This is the first time I have ever had a machine have something broken and I have to deal with it. There is no mechanic at The Nursery, so I am not only a Superintendent, but a mechanic as well. Coming into this, I am not mechanically inclined at all. This is going to be a great learning opportunity. I am lucky to have an owner who is very mechanically inclined. 

After seeing this part that was broken, I contacted the Jacobsen dealer to see what they could do as the machine only has 804 hours. They were able to send new motors as part of the warranty. Thank goodness, because each motor costs around $800. 

First Month as Superintendent

Well...I never thought this would happen. At the age of 21, I have my first Superintendent job.

I took a job as Superintendent of The Nursery Golf and Country Club over the summer, to begin in January. It's all who you know. My Superintendent at Shadow Mountain, Brad Pasula, used to work at The Nursery, and the owners asked if he knew of anyone that would be interested. When Brad came and asked me if I wanted to be a Superintendent, I was shocked. I replied, "I think you're crazy". I then thought about it more and thought I should consider the job. We went to Lacombe for a course tour and to meet the owners of the course. It was a great trip and after looking at everything (not that I knew what I was looking for at the time), and having an interview with the owners, I took the job.

It has been a learning curve already. There are no documents left from the year before, so I am unsure how the course was put to bed, besides the information that the GM has. From what I can see on the greens, they look to be alright with no ice. I have been commuting from Olds College on the weekends to start getting the reels ground.

Sunset view from the shop