Golfdom, February 2018

Continued from page 16 idle resume button that prevents wasted time and gas allowing the blower to idle down and resume power immediately The Torrent 2 s MagnaPoint feature allows superintendents to set the optimal angle on blowers for various types of debris Kinkead explained that the angle being off by 15 degrees or more could add two hours or more to the workday Luckily for Summit attendees Turfco offered two solutions to help crews get that time back Frost Inc Accuracy also was on the minds of Summit attendees and a guided spray control system was one of several products at the event that incorporate GPS technology to help superintendents Frost Inc s Seletron spray control system offers individual nozzle controls and variable speeds and rates and aims to prevent overspraying and conserve chemicals Superintendents are recognizing that accuracy in spray applications is very important especially with their plant growth regulants said Ken Rost president and CEO of Frost Inc If theyre getting overspray with their traditional sprayers theyre burning out collars and the intermediate areas between applications Between demonstrating the sprayer and the Ultimix a powerful chemical premix station the Frost representatives saw plenty of traffic during the Summit In the demo area superintendents had a chance to check out the GPS user interface and see for themselves how GPS can help them apply chemicals more accurately Rost hoped that GPS technology can help with another turf industry concern labor Golf courses now are getting younger more inexperienced help and they dont have a lot of confidence that everythings getting done the way it should be said Rost This really helps superintendents to dummy proof a little bit and offer a way to train those spray operators Pogo Turf Pro For companies such as Pogo Turf Pro the Summit was an opportunity to dispel some misconceptions about their product A lot of people assumed it was just a moisture meter said Carmen Magro of Pogo Turf Pro He explained that once the Pogo Pro sensor is stuck in the turf it provides much more information than a moisture reading it measures salinity and canopy temperature integrates weather information and includes precision GPS to pinpoint problem areas in the soil The sensor and its accompanying cloud based app allow users to map and analyze the soil conditions all over their courses Magro admitted that some superintendents were overwhelmed by the brief boardroom presentation that introduced them to the product but once they received a rundown of Pogos capabilities in their one on one meetings and were able to ask questions about using it on their courses the superintendents realized the systems simplicity Though Pogo has been on the market for a few years the company recently integrated drone imagery as an added supplement to the data The Pogo app allows the user to layer a drone image over an existing data map of soil conditions for a complete picture of the courses turf quality Continued on page 20 18 Golfdom February 2018 Golfdom com PHOTOS BY ABBY HART One of the highlights of the outdoor demo area Turfcos Torrent 2 debris blower includes time and energy saving features such as an idle resume button SUPERINTENDENT PARADISE Frost Inc s Seletron spray control system offers GPS technology to help superintendents spray accurately saving time and chemicals