Wade Borthwick's View on the GIS Trip

[StephenTucker]

This is the third in a series of this year’s GIS trip winners, their profiles and reflections on the trip. Here’s Wade Borthwick, sponsored by BASF…
Profile

Age - 29
Years in industry - 11 years
Years working on equipment - 7 years
Grind only or lap - Grind
Miles roundtrip/day for work - 60 km hmm... 37.28 miles
Personal vehicle - ’04 Subaru Impreza Wagon
Music on shop radio - CBC (talk, news), 99.3 The Fox (rock)
Best fabrication project I’ve done - Built a ramp deck for my uncle, for work utility trailer so far.
Tech assistant(s) - Pinot Noir, my dog. Not much help with the wrenching but a great listener. She is also pretty hard on the ducks.

Shop/Equipment

Grinders (type) - Bernhard; Express Dual 1000, Angle Master 1000
Lift (yes/no) - Yes
Tools provided (yes or no) - Some; I have my own, much nicer
Air Conditioning in shop? - open door count?
Computer at work (yes or no) - Bought my own, too important a tool to be without
Greensmowers (type and #) – Flex 21’s x5 for the summer and 3150’s x2 for the rest of it
Collar – 3100 x1
Approach – Same machine as the collars
Tee – 3100 x1
Fairway – 5400 x2
Rough – Kubotas with Lastecs x2
Utility vehicles – E-Gators x2, e-Workmans x2, 3300-D, 6x4 Gator, couple different carts, and an old cushman
Cart fleet – Not my problem but I do seem to spend some time working on them
Maintenance budget/year - $36000 not including me

Course

# of holes - 18
Superintendent (name) – Ian Murray
Assistant(s) – Dennis Luick
Type of grass/height of cut/# of times mowed/week – Short grass is a mix of Poa and Bent predominantly Poa with some rye in the fairways and rough
Greens – 0.125” winter, 0.100” summer, daily
Tees – 0.350” winter, 0.325” summer, three times a week
Fairways – 0.531” winter, 0.484” summer as often as possible, twice a week
Rough – 2”, all the time
Groom greens? verti cut once every two weeks in the growing season.
Double cut greens? If yes, how often? Just after a grooming
Roll greens? If yes, how often? depends on the greens committee that year
Greens topdressing frequency – after verti cutting


So, how did it go?
Great, I saw an alligator and a manatee! Oh, you mean the show? It was also great!

Did you get to meet your sponsor?
Yes, they were exceptionally kind and generous.

Did you have enough time to see everything you wanted to?
Have you been to the show? I would need a cart and a week.

Do you think an extra day or two would have helped?
Yes, see previous answer.

Name one thing that stood out the most…
IGCEMA booth, and my name up on the BASF booth.

Was there anything you came away from the show with that will help you or your course?
Yes, but it will be a while before I can implement it. The Environmental policy by e-par and the Toro My Turf program.

What do you think about having training for techs in conjunction with the show?
It would be great if there was time. I can tell you that I could not see the whole show, but it was also my first time so I imagine that after a few visits you would need something else to draw you back.

Do you think more techs would be willing to come if there was training involved?
Yes, it would be easier to justify to your super.

Would you like to see the seminars done just by Tech. associations, or also by the equipment manufacturers since they’re already there?
I have not been to as many of these shows as some, but I think we need an open forum discussion. Get a conference room, set an agenda a few weeks ahead, and everybody bring their troubles and solutions. Have a few manufacturers reps on hand and just start talking with each other.

If it wasn’t for winning, would you have been able to afford to go?
No.

If a club won’t pick up any expenses involved with the trip, how do you feel about at least getting paid time off to go?
That would have been great.

Reflect back on meeting other techs from all over and sharing experiences amongst yourselves, including the IGCEMA reception on Friday night…
Need more time- so much to talk about.


Was the trip worth it?
Most definitely

Special thanks to Steve Spuhler from Golf Tech's for the interview...