A Superintendent's Playground

I had the opportunity at the beginning of this week to attend a John Deere Golf and Turf Feedback event in North Carolina.  What I like to call a "Superintendent's Playground", John Deere brings out all of their current and prototype equipment for viewing, tire kicking, and test drives.  This event hasn't taken place since 2008, and I was one of only a few hundred GC Superintendents from around the world to get invited to such a great event.

John Deere put us up at the Washington Duke Hotel just off from the Duke University campus, and we were actually able to test drive all of the equipment on the course just out from the back door of our hotel.  Everything from rough, green, and fairway mowers, tractors, sprayers, and aerators were on display for us to test drive and ask questions about.  In return, the John Deere design engineers were all listening to our feedback about what we liked, or didn't like, about some of their newest equipment. 

This event was exceptionally valuable for me as we begin the process of looking at replacing some of our horribly old and dying equipment.  Being able to see and operate all of the different pieces of equipment available, compare their features, and see some of their potential advantages or disadvantages, will certainly make the decision making process a little easier when the time comes. 

Oh yeah, the golf there is pretty good too....

One of the first things I looked at, this unit makes our 1997 "homemade"
sprayer look like something from a totally different millenium.
Oh wait, it is!

A group of Superintendents checking out some cores from
an aeration machine.

Trying out a new greens walk mower

mid-september is a mighty fine time of year for golf in North Carolina.