COURSE + GROUNDS
MAKING THE MOST OF
MAINTENANCE F Regardless of the size or age of their maintenance buildings, golf course superintendents find that cleanliness, ample space, and accessibility help them maximize the work spaces where they start and end their days. By Betsy Gilliland, Contributing Editor
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Club + Resort Business
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September 2020
GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE BUILDINGS ARE often the last facilities to be considered for improvements in a club or resort property’s master plan. As a result, superintendents can sometimes be saddled with limited space, poor locations, aging infrastructure, insufficient shelter for equipment or bulk commodities, challenging work and office conditions, and inadequate personal facilities for their crews. But whether they operate out of a 19th-century barn or a state-of-the-art 21stcentury complex with all the bells and whistles, superintendents can make the most of the real estate they have, to conduct their maintenance duties productively and efficiently. PUTTING PRIORITIES IN ORDER Jared Weight, Grounds Superintendent at the 18-hole Meridian Hills Country Club in Indianapolis, has found that, in general, some properties will accept “what’s good enough” for their maintenance facilities for “how long they can get by with it.” “It’s overlooked a lot. It’s not really thought about, but it affects a lot every day,” Weight says. “It’s not a glamorous thing that clubs want to spend money on. But if you do it, you do it right.” Weight, who has been in the golf course maintenance business for 16 years, since he started working on a golf course in a summer job at age 16, has been at Meridian Hills for about 18 months. This is his first full-time superintendent’s job, and his first order of business was to acquire a new fleet of equipment. His next priority is to upgrade the aging maintenance department buildings that include a structure that is over 40 years old. “Meridian Hills is a needs-based facility that is committed to investing money into reinvigorating the property,” says Weight, “and a new maintenance facility www.clubandresortbusiness.com