Bob Smith, Equipment Manager at PGA Frisco Golf Course in Frisco, TX, worked in construction most of his life before getting into club fitting. He heard about the amazing property that would be PGA Frisco and had to be a part of it. He started working in the shop during construction of the course and shortly became equipment manager. It’s a great story of setting your mind to something and achieving it.
Transcript
Trent Manning: 0:05
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the technician that wants to get reel follow along. As we talk to industry professionals and address hot topics that we all face along the way we’ll learn tips and tricks. I’m your host, Trent. Manning let’s have some Welcome to the real turf techs podcast, episode 83. Today, we’re talking to Bob Smith equipment manager at PGA Frisco golf course and Frisco, Texas. PGA fresco golf course consists of the east course, which is 18 holes. Designed by Gil Hanse. And the west, which is 18 holes desired by Bo welling. There’s a 10 whole lot at par three short course. And a whopping 75,000 square foot lotted putting course. That they call the dance floor. Bob has two texts in the shop. They’re primarily Toro equipment. Let’s talk to Bob. Bob to the Real Turf Text podcast.
Bob Smith: 1:09
Thank you for having me. I’m doing great. How you doing?
Trent Manning: 1:12
I’m doing good. I’m
Bob Smith: 1:13
Awesome. Awesome. Thank you. Me too. It’ll be fun,
Trent Manning: 1:17
Well, we were just talking a little bit before we got started here, and I guess, me and Howard had some info off, so Bob’s gonna set us straight and that’s good. We need that. Somebody, somebody’s gotta keep us straight,
Bob Smith: 1:27
keep you in life, so Yeah. No zo your fairways at all. So it was all, it’s all Northbridge.
Trent Manning: 1:34
right? Bermuda?
Bob Smith: 1:35
yeah, and he had said, Zoia fairways, and I was like, okay. And then the zoia we do have is laser. and he picked some other random ones. So
Trent Manning: 1:43
Oh, okay. And that’s the one on
Bob Smith: 1:45
the big dance floor. Yeah. We do have a stadium laser, what they use for the surrounds on the, uh, target screens, out in the driving range. So they’ve been, doing that with Texas a and m, just kind of seeing how it holds up. So,
Trent Manning: 1:58
Mm-hmm. Well, yeah. And y’all had a huge test plot too,
Bob Smith: 2:01
Yeah, we got the test plot. They, I think they’ve got 22 or 23 plots at the all zoia different, different, uh, breeds or species of ’em. So, yeah. So it’s interesting. Yeah, a lot of fun.
Trent Manning: 2:13
Well, thank you for setting us
Bob Smith: 2:14
That’s all right.
Trent Manning: 2:16
Tell us how you got into the turf industry.
Bob Smith: 2:18
so was in the golf industry for a while. I was working at, uh, PTA, tour Superstore as a fitter and a club repair guy, and also doing some fittings for title. heard about the property, heard about this fantastic thing going in, and I said, I don’t wanna be a part of it. So, kind of took the first job that was here, was the mechanic, and, uh, just fit right in. Worked out great. Uh, fast moving. You got three golf courses. Uh, and at that time we had all borrowed equipment from Toro. They had loaned us a bunch of opening stuff and it was just not in good shape. So working, working hard, and, uh, really dove in and enjoyed. and then, yeah, and then just, uh, you know, just getting used to the different aspect of the equipment. and then once that got dialed in, it was a lot of fun and just kept moving. And, fortunately for me, they moved me up, uh, last summer in July. And, uh, worked out. I’ve been, uh, here ever since. And just loving it.
Trent Manning: 3:11
That’s, that’s incredible. And after meeting you and hanging out and spending, you know, a few hours with you there at your facility, I would’ve never guessed that you were this new to the turf industry.
Bob Smith: 3:23
right? Yeah.
Trent Manning: 3:25
mean, you, you seem like you got it. You’re pretty squared
Bob Smith: 3:27
I go, yeah, I learned quick. So, and uh, so the first week I was left all alone. So that was fun. cuz my boss had gone out sick. So I’m here by myself with all this equipment and so he just, you know, it’s either, uh, Survive or die. So I just, I just dialed it right in. Just get it done, you know? So I like, yeah, I kind of, I gotta get it fixed, right? That’s my whole thing. Like all of us, right? Whatever it is, we’re gonna fix it. Whatever it is, it’s gonna be fixed. It might take a little while, but, uh, but it works out.
Trent Manning: 3:56
you relief, grind ground?
Bob Smith: 3:57
we don’t, uh, we don’t, we, we got the burnhard grinders. Uh, technically they say there’s a small relief, but they do offer a relief grinder, and I think we’re gonna look into that in a few months. So, yeah, it’s,
Trent Manning: 4:10
we were lucky enough that Danny was up there when we were up there. He’s an awesome
Bob Smith: 4:15
Yeah, he is full of fire. He’s fun. Yeah. And he’s been around. He’s, he’s done ’em all. So it’s, it is great to get his input on stuff, so,
Trent Manning: 4:22
yeah, for sure. Yeah. No, he is ton of knowledge in that
Bob Smith: 4:26
Yeah, it was great.
Trent Manning: 4:27
and he is really
Bob Smith: 4:28
Yeah. Yeah. It’s funny. Yeah, absolutely.
Trent Manning: 4:31
Tell us something you fabricated lately.
Bob Smith: 4:33
I’m working on something now. kind of, we have a wash padd for the, which recycles all the water and we don’t have any power washes set up there. I ended up buying a few power washes and boss man, one of them triggered so that when you press the trigger it goes on. so what I do is I hooked up a flow switch to a relay and as soon as you pull that trigger, the pump comes on. so yeah, so yeah, building a stand for it to fit in the spray room and then that’ll lead right out to the pump. I gotta boom up overhead. So then kind of walk around the machine. So just welding some brackets and then rewiring doing some electrical work on that one.
Trent Manning: 5:12
Okay. Sweet. Very cool. Yeah, so since you haven’t been doing this long, where, where does this experience come from?
Bob Smith: 5:21
Uh, just lifelong construction, uh, dealing with all sorts of equipment. You know, they’re all the same motors just put on different type of units. so basically just again, always learn how to fix thing. And then, you know, also dabbling in antique cars years and years ago. And so just, you know, a lot of the Grease Monkey stuff. And the, the, the biggest challenge was just getting the different setups, you know, the reels and the, and all the setups. And then especially with the Toro, the double, uh, adjustment on it. Just getting dialed in. And once we got it dialed in, it was, it was, it was good. All that experience helped.
Trent Manning: 5:54
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that’s awesome. What’s your favorite tool?
Bob Smith: 5:57
right now it’s my four inch cordless Milwaukee grinder So yeah, doing all that fabricating, I just that thing dial it in all the time. Cuz I like to grind all my well just to make sure they’re good and everything else. So, so that thing’s, that thing’s on my hip all day pretty much. So.
Trent Manning: 6:16
Well, while we’re talking about Milwaukee, I want, I need some more info on this Milwaukee room.
Bob Smith: 6:21
Okay. Yeah. So one day we had the rep come out and he just kind of was in the area and with another rep and you know, they started getting into the landscape stuff and they really want to get into golf. So now they do it for utility companies. So using their tremors and saw. All that stuff. So, they just wanna be involved with the, you know, the golf now, uh, you know, California’s turning everything over to, you know, cordless battery. And, uh, so the rep came in and we sat down and he goes, well, what do you need? And I said, well, it’s a little different world than you used to, so we need to get some stuff on here and test it out. And then, uh, so he’s gave us a lot of prototype stuff to try out and then get some feedback back to the engineer. and, uh, see how they can adapt what they have already to the golf world.
Trent Manning: 7:09
No, that’s, that’s
Bob Smith: 7:10
yeah, so they give us the cabinet. So each cabinet will be set up for each course. Each superintendent will have their own cabinet. Uh, it’ll have all the tools in it, and then, uh, they’ll be able to charge their own batteries and take ’em out to the field.
Trent Manning: 7:24
Okay. What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen at the golf course?
Bob Smith: 7:28
Strangest thing is probably the, the greenskeeper themselves. They, we just had a couple guys Hotwire on HDX to go faster
Trent Manning: 7:37
Oh
Bob Smith: 7:37
after we turned them all down to, uh, because they just destroyed these things and, we had a broken a-frame on an HDX and not sure how that happened, but, so we slowed ’em down and all of a sudden it’s, yeah, they’re going a little fast. And we look at it and somebody hotwired the switch to go faster. So
Trent Manning: 7:55
Wow.
Bob Smith: 7:56
yeah, that’s a strange one.
Trent Manning: 7:59
Yep. He can only do so much. He trying, trying. Yeah, that’s, uh, don’t, I think it was, uh, our Flex 2100 walking Greens mowers. Uh, one of the operators figured out how to wedge a T in the throttle to make it go faster, like in the governor. And yeah, they, they’re pretty
Bob Smith: 8:19
They are. Yeah. Yeah. And the excuse was, oh, we’ll work faster. And I’m like, well, okay, but I don’t see that happening, so let’s just slow ’em down again. So, so it was, it was funny. Yeah. That was strange.
Trent Manning: 8:31
Mm-hmm. what’s one of your pet peeves around the shop?
Bob Smith: 8:35
Me. It’s, uh, cleaning, right? Cleaning all the parts before you work on. Uh, just keeping everything clean and neat. That way if it’s full of grass and grease and oil, I want it cleaned and so I get on the guys for that one cuz and I don’t want a lot of grass in my brun hot machines too, so I wanna keep ’em clean.
Trent Manning: 8:55
Right. Has it been a struggle to. working with the crew and the managers.
Bob Smith: 9:02
Yeah, a little bit, you know, time, they’re always on a time crunch. You know, it’s the end of the day, they want to go home. They don’t feel like cleaning as much. Uh, a lot of ’em do a good job. But from, you know, I have a different standard because we’re taking ’em apart and then we’ll throw ’em on a table and we need ’em cleaned up so we, we’ll double clean ’em when they come in. So it’s a, it’s a little trying on patients, but, uh, they’ll get there eventually.
Trent Manning: 9:26
Yeah, we, uh, we went through, well all our fairway mowers and our T mowers, and we really spit shined them. Waxed ’em, I mean, had ’em looking great, and I think they mowed maybe half a dozen times and they already looked bad again. And it’s just so depressing. I mean, we had ’em looking like brand new units
Bob Smith: 9:47
Because when they first come in, we did detailed them. I put, uh, Uh, you know, stuff on the steel to smooth it out. So, and then it just, they just get so used up so much and then one rain and it’s just nasty. Then they put out, uh, you know, you put out your fertilizer and that just gets collected on it. So, yeah. So yeah, it’s, it’s sad to see, but it’s part of the program, so we just clean ’em when they come in. My guys will clean ’em up real good before they come out of the shop, so that way at least they, they can see what they look like, clean.
Trent Manning: 10:17
Mm-hmm. Well, I do think if it’s clean, they respect it a little bit more, but it’s hard to be the one that has to do the cleaning all the
Bob Smith: 10:26
right? Yeah. You just, yeah. And then everyone has their own definition of clean, which is interesting as well. So,
Trent Manning: 10:34
Right, right, right. Yeah.
Bob Smith: 10:35
yeah.
Trent Manning: 10:35
Yep. No, that’s very true too. Oh yeah. It’s clean. No,
Bob Smith: 10:39
Yeah. Okay.
Trent Manning: 10:40
Do you have a mentor in the industry?
Bob Smith: 10:43
I do I got a couple actually being new. So, uh, my boss Bryce, uh, came from Bahaa. So on the turf side, just a brilliant guy and really very open and loves to teach. On the tech side, I’ve got a gentleman that works for one of our distributors, his name David Shirk. He’s a 22 year vet of the Toro.
Trent Manning: 11:04
Mm-hmm.
Bob Smith: 11:05
yeah, the guy’s just great. And he loves to teach too, so, I’m lucky enough to get him involved with a lot of my training, and then anytime I have a situation, he’s, he’ll just come in and show us. And so he’s on my speed dial, so I call him a lot
Trent Manning: 11:19
Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Phone a friend for sure.
Bob Smith: 11:24
Yep. Because we wanna get it fixed. Right. We don’t, I mean, I don’t have to be the one, I just want somebody to, you know, you gotta get back out to service. So how the best way to do that? Just if you don’t know, ask somebody and it all works out.
Trent Manning: 11:36
Oh yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I call all the time. I think a lot of
Bob Smith: 11:40
Yeah. You need to.
Trent Manning: 11:41
and especially when somebody, like you’re saying, 22 year veteran of Touro. You know, why not use that? And if you got that at your disposal,
Bob Smith: 11:51
Yeah, it’s, it’s, he’s seen it all. So it’s, it’s great. Once in a while I stump him and it’s always interesting. I’ll have to call up and check and and I’m known as the, the guy. It’s at Toro. It’s like I’m the pain in the butt because. And something will come in. I’m like, yeah, I don’t really think that’s a, well, I don’t think I like that. And uh, they’ll be like, well, what do you mean? So like, with wiring and stuff, and I’ll rewire certain things. And so David always, oh, you gotta put the bob touch on it to make it official. I’m like, yes. I, yes I do. So yeah, it is funny.
Trent Manning: 12:24
JR Wilson, he’s a good friend of mine. He’s up at NOAC on Long Island and uh, I was kind of giving him a hard time because everything in his shop, it has the JR modification done to it. It doesn’t matter what it is, but. I was kind of, you know, I was just giving him a hard time. I was like, nothing’s good enough for you. Is it jr? And he is like, oh, come on man. Come on, I was like, no, it’s not. It really isn’t. Nothing’s good enough for
Bob Smith: 12:51
Oh, that’s funny.
Trent Manning: 12:52
But I mean, it, it is a good, uh, trait too, to make things better. And, you know, it’s nothing that he was doing that didn’t need to be
Bob Smith: 13:01
All right?
Trent Manning: 13:01
Like, I wish I would’ve
Bob Smith: 13:02
Sure. Absolutely. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 13:04
Yeah. So it, yeah. That’s good stuff. What would be your dream job or opportunity?
Bob Smith: 13:10
dream job would be to own an N F L franchise,
Trent Manning: 13:14
Okay. Awesome.
Bob Smith: 13:16
be more fun than I’d know what to do with. So.
Trent Manning: 13:18
Any particular
Bob Smith: 13:20
Well, I do like the Patriots, so I like Lou England. Yeah. So Robert Craft, I’ll take over for him one of these days, but since, since I get the first billion, I’ll be good.
Trent Manning: 13:29
Now are you originally from
Bob Smith: 13:31
Yeah. Massachusetts. Yep. Yeah, so right now at, uh, TPC Boston Town called Norton Mass. So yeah.
Trent Manning: 13:39
And what got you to Texas?
Bob Smith: 13:41
My wife got a job, so I kind of moved around a little bit. She got a job. We ended up moving here. We like it, so Yeah.
Trent Manning: 13:49
It’s a little bit
Bob Smith: 13:50
Little bit warmer. Yeah, I don’t miss the snow, so.
Trent Manning: 13:53
Yep. Yep. What technician would you like to work with for a day?
Bob Smith: 13:56
You know, I’d, uh, technically I’d like to work with someone like yourself, so probably you guy long time in, uh, but it’d be fun to watch how you troubleshoot, you know, just kind of stand back and kind of you. I troubleshoot pretty well. I, I’ve just got the knack for it, but it’d be fun to sit there for a couple days and watch you do it and, and then with all your tips and tricks, so that would be fun.
Trent Manning: 14:19
I’m, I was trying to think. I don’t remember who I was talking to the other day. But we were talking about what’s the interview that’s gonna come out pretty soon, but most of the time. So if it is electrical, electrical or hydraulic, normally I go to the component that’s having the
Bob Smith: 14:43
All right.
Trent Manning: 14:44
and start there and kind of work my way back to the source. So the pump, if it was a hydraulic issue, and I was having, uh, you know, a slow real motor or something like that, that wasn’t turning up to speed. I’d start at the real motor and then slowly work my way back to the pump. Cuz usually, and, and it’s kind of price wise too, you know, the pump’s or the motor’s cheaper than the
Bob Smith: 15:12
right? Absolutely.
Trent Manning: 15:14
start on that end, hopefully. And then the same thing with electrical issue. So if you got a circuit, not. I would start at the OID valve and work my way back to the
Bob Smith: 15:26
Yeah. Yeah. I was looking at it, what’s, what’s feeding this issue? And then what does this issue feed? So you’re kind of looking at, it’s kind of the same way you talked about it, so amazing how some people just don’t have that ability though, and it’s just. You know, I’ve got a guy here that just, you know, he just, he’d be looking at it, looking at it, looking at it, and then all of a sudden well go back to the source, you know, go back. Oh, okay. And then that’s kind of just what you do. And I, and I like doing it. It’s kind of, it’s kind of a game, you know, kind of fun,
Trent Manning: 15:56
Oh yeah. Yeah, I think, I think, yeah, it’s one of the most entertaining or fun parts of the job to me, is troubleshooting whatever it is, hydraulic or electrical. But yeah, I’ve seen people where they have a lift circuit not working. and they’re testing light bulbs it’s like, you know, how did you get to the light bulbs? But I think they open up electrical schematic and they’re looking at it and they just get so overwhelmed and they just start testing stuff. But, and that was one thing that I’ve worked on over the years and tried to help people with, is just narrow down that little circuit that has the problem. Don’t worry about all the
Bob Smith: 16:39
right?
Trent Manning: 16:40
because it can get really confusing, but when you narrow it down, there’s a usually a only a few wires and a few components that’s gonna be creating
Bob Smith: 16:50
Hmm.
Trent Manning: 16:51
What do you know now you wish you’d known on day one?
Bob Smith: 16:54
The. the amount of, uh, stuff that they tend to break down on, you know, it’s just, uh, just like, man, it’s amazing Right? Coming outta construction field and it’s a little different world and just the guys are moving fast and they got a lot to do and, and, uh, something will break and they just, uh, they don’t, never knows how it happened. Right. So, so that’s kind of, you kind of now, so that goes, troubleshooting goes along with questioning those guys too. It’s. Well, what happened? Okay. I don’t know. Well, where were you? You know, uh, I was over here. Okay. Well, did you hear anything? No. So it’s kind of a third degree to find out, just to try to save you some time on what happened. But yeah, if I know that now, I’d have a little different questioning process for him.
Trent Manning: 17:40
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And I think, I mean, that kind of comes with the territory. I think some operators get kind of defensive when we’re questioning ’em about what happened. But I wish they would understand better. We’re asking all those questions to try to save ourself some time and either making a repair or repairing it so it doesn’t happen again. You know, just like if I get a real ding out on the course, I want to know exactly what it, what sprinkler head was this, or what drain grate was this, and let’s fix this drain grate so I don’t have to grind this
Bob Smith: 18:20
right? Absolutely. Yeah. And I try to not to get so defensive, you know, try to ask ’em in a nice way. They, but you know, they broke something, it could cost a thousand dollars. So they feel a little, you know, a little little tense, you know, so,
Trent Manning: 18:33
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Bob Smith: 19:27
Uh, I think the troubleshooting, you know, kind of, kind of what I like to do. Just, you know, electrical, right? Always a power source somewhere. There’s always a ground. Kind of the first couple things I like to check. Make sure you’ve got, you know, your basics there and then, go through that and. I think another trick again is questioning the people that are bringing the, the stuff that’s broken down. Just kind of, just make ’em feel comfortable. Say, you know, tell ’em a little joke or just, oh yeah, I did that. It was something just to kind of get the answer. Uh, again, saves a lot of, you know, saves a lot of time.
Trent Manning: 19:59
You got a, a go-to joke you
Bob Smith: 20:01
uh, no, probably just, oh yeah, I’ve done that before. You know, so that’s, that’s probably. Yeah, it happens. Oh, I’ve done that before. Yeah. So,
Trent Manning: 20:09
Happens.
Bob Smith: 20:09
it gets ’em a little easier. And that’s the thing, it just saves a lot of time,
Trent Manning: 20:12
Yeah. Yep. For sure. And if we can get the crews and the operators to open up to us, that’s gonna gonna help us out
Bob Smith: 20:20
Yeah. And then just like stepping back, right? Just you get in too close, you kinda step back and you kind of look at the, the setup. And especially when the reels involved or stop turning or something, you step back. Oh. And they ran over a flag, you know, now it’s stuck in there. So, so that’s kind of one thing. I try to get the guy, you just step back for a second, look, walk around and then, and then kind of dive into it.
Trent Manning: 20:43
have you been hands on, on operator training on new equipment and stuff like
Bob Smith: 20:48
Yeah. We used to have training, used to have training every Wednesday. would do equipment, bring all the guys in in the morning, kind of go over all the steps and the different features of the, uh, equipment.
Trent Manning: 20:58
Wow, that’s, yeah, that’s really good. And I think that doesn’t happen at a lot of clubs. They just throw whoever on it and say, you know, don’t come
Bob Smith: 21:07
Go. Yeah. I mean it’s, they’re expensive piece of equipment and they, they need to know what can happen and, and mostly for safety for themselves as well. Cuz like I always tell ’em, these things don’t care what they’re cutting. Uh, you just gotta be careful all around them.
Trent Manning: 21:22
Oh yeah, for sure. What don’t, what else uhs on your mind you wanna
Bob Smith: 21:27
Uh, you know, I think one of the crucial parts of our job is the communication with the superintendents. Just always have an open dialogue, you know, for what they need. Cuz we’re always setting up the machines for them. And, you know, they need it done. And try not to always be last minute. Sometimes they’ll come in and, oh, I need to change the height of this. Well, okay, but it’s gonna take a little bit, you know, and well, we’re going out now. And I said, well, so we’ve got ’em. My guys are really good at communicating ahead of time. They’ll come in and talk about it. And then, uh, so we’ve got five superintendents here, actually four on the course, and then one pga. So, you know, they’re always talking and they’re always trying to do the best they can. I just like to be a part of that conversation. And it’s, it’s not always easy cuz they’re out on the field making decisions and, and then we’ve always got something to do. So we could be in the middle of something or we gotta stop that and, and change it, which is works great. But I think the, the biggest thing is the communication with those guys.
Trent Manning: 22:23
Do y’all have any like weekly meetings or daily
Bob Smith: 22:26
we have weekly staff meeting. And I sit in on those and just kind of, you know, superintendents will all do what they need to do for chemicals and heights and equipment they need to use, and then, you know, I’ll go in and get informed on what they need and, and then inform the shop after that. So, so yeah, it’s a pretty good system.
Trent Manning: 22:46
yeah, that works good because yeah, some places, uh, that level of communication is not there and it just makes for a lot more stressful environment.
Bob Smith: 22:55
because now you gotta guess and then you gotta take time and, you know, it’s not my job to come up with the numbers. It’s my job to produce the numbers. So that’s, uh, it’s, it’s tough. It’s for when I, from what I hear, different places. Yeah. The communications. You know, well you’re the mechanic. And I’m like, well, okay. I don’t like that term, but you know, I like the tech term better cuz we’re doing a lot more than just turning wrenches, so.
Trent Manning: 23:17
Yeah. And each club kind of has its, uh, different philosophies on stuff like that. And, It can be a be a struggle for sure, but it sounds like you got a pretty good operation there and good communication and all. That’s
Bob Smith: 23:34
Yeah. I let ’em know if if they don’t, you know, so I’m not so quiet. Well, these coast people, we’re gonna, we just wanna save time, man. We just wanna get it done and get it done as fast as we can so that information helps. Yeah,
Trent Manning: 23:48
but yeah, you can’t do it if you ain’t got the the right
Bob Smith: 23:50
right. Absolutely.
Trent Manning: 23:52
Tell me how you fit a club
Bob Smith: 23:56
Club to golfer. Okay, so few basic things. The, the length of the wrist to the floor is your club length. Okay? So now Ping has a great little chart depending on the distance. So you put your hands to your side. So, so it’s not necessarily your height, it’s, it’s that wrist to floor measurement. So we’re gonna get the length, and then once we get the length down, we. Uh, take a look at the swing, and then you put a club in their hand and they’ll hit a live board, check the loft and lie. Uh, if they’re pushing, pushing it right the toes down, they’re pu pulling it left, then the heels down. So we get that set up and, and then kind of just watch ’em swing. Not everybody can hit an extra stiff shaft. Not everybody’s gonna hit a regular shaft, so, so, you know, once you get the club set up, then you can kind of watch ’em swing, and then you can get different shafts and different heads and things like that. So, yeah.
Trent Manning: 24:46
Okay. No, I mean, all that is really interesting. And I don’t play golf. I’ve hit a golf ball, but I don’t, I, I couldn’t tell you the last time I tried to play around a golf. It’s been a long time, and I don’t plan on picking it back
Bob Smith: 25:00
no. Not at all, huh?
Trent Manning: 25:01
No, no, I don’t. It was one of those things that I got really frustrated and it was not fun
Bob Smith: 25:09
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 25:10
me. and I don’t see how anybody
Bob Smith: 25:13
Y.
Trent Manning: 25:13
but I definitely could
Bob Smith: 25:15
lots of practice. That’s the only way it gets fun. You know, it’s just when I get into it as older, I didn’t stop playing golf till I was 47, so I, you know, it was horrible. And you hate being horrible anything. So, You know, I got some clubs and the pro’s like, well, you should be shooting 72. And I’m like, what the heck’s wrong with you there? He goes, no, look at you got blades. And I’m like, well, I don’t know what those are. So, so I ended up getting some clubs and then took a few lessons and then practice and, and the biggest thrill was be able to walk up to a golf course and be able to just get a tee time and play golf, because there’s a struggle there too. People, it’s very intimidating to walk up to a club and if you’re not sure of the procedure, more than just swinging the golf club. It’s the golf procedures. You know, how do you, you know, how do you go into a pro shop? How do you, who do you talk to? And, and you know, you wanna be able to hit the ball well in the rain so you know if anybody else is around. And so when I used to fit people that just wanna play for fun, it’s like, okay, hit the ball and find it basically is step one, right? We’re gonna find it and then hit again. So, and it can be fun, but it is an. Frustrating game right off the bat and I was frustrated. But you take some lessons, you learn how to hit the ball and then you go from there. yeah, the biggest problem with golf is that ball is just sitting there, right? And your brain cannot calculate that. Unlike a baseball or anything that’s moving, your brain could calculate time and distance, but if, if it’s not moving, your brain can’t calculate it. So we used to get a lot of pro baseball players coming. and they just having a hard time and they always wanna take that step, you know? I said, well,
Trent Manning: 26:51
Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Bob Smith: 26:52
brain can’t calculate, so let’s, let’s get your body to work. So that club comes out at the same point every time. yeah, it’s, it’s fa Yeah, it is fascinating and it seems so simple, but it’s not, you know,
Trent Manning: 27:05
well, yeah, it’s just a little ball laying
Bob Smith: 27:06
just sitting there. Right. Just hit it. funny.
Trent Manning: 27:10
That’s good. How often do you
Bob Smith: 27:11
uh, I get out once a week or so. Yeah, so I’ll play on the weekends. My wife likes to play too, so we’ll go out and play nine holes or sometimes 18. So I get out. I don’t get to practice much, but but just go out there for fun and have some fun. Get to play in some scrambles now and then, and different events. So it’s a lot of fun.
Trent Manning: 27:29
Can you use the facilities
Bob Smith: 27:31
Not yet. Uh, we’re not open yet, so, we will be able to use ’em once or once we’re open, so the practice facility and, and get out and play. So that’d be fun.
Trent Manning: 27:41
That, yeah, that’ll be awesome. And that driving range. How many directions can you hit on it?
Bob Smith: 27:47
like six directions. So it’s almo almost a full circle. Yeah. So it’s actually a, it’s like a half circle. Yeah. So you. A bunch of different tee boxes set up for different entities. And, so it’ll be, it’ll be interesting to see once it’s open.
Trent Manning: 28:01
Yeah. Especially, yeah, if you got multiple people hitting different directions and
Bob Smith: 28:06
And we’ve got that little part three courses is pretty close and we’ve already seen some slices send up out that way. But so this should be fun, but we’re all supposed to be pros and, and we’ll see how it goes. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 28:18
Yeah. And the little par three course, you said you could play
Bob Smith: 28:22
Yeah, it’s designed, there’s 10 holes, so it’s designed so that you can just roll the ball up. So they want anybody to be able to play golf. So you come out, you wanna learn. So, can’t hit a wedge. Okay. Well just take your putter and scoot it along. And and I’ve done it. I did it once and it’s, it takes a little to get used to, but the, the way it’s set up is designed to use a photo. So that’s, that’s gonna be great for people that wanna come out and learn how to play.
Trent Manning: 28:46
And I might could
Bob Smith: 28:47
I, I think we’ll get you out there. Yeah. Let’s see. We get,
Trent Manning: 28:50
Yeah. So next time I’m back, I’m gonna borrow a putter
Bob Smith: 28:53
gonna go around.
Trent Manning: 28:54
go around, go around the far three course. Tell me about the, the two championship courses, if you
Bob Smith: 29:01
Yeah. We’ve got the main championship, which is the east course, which is called Fields Ranches. And they’ll, they’ll host a senior PGA. next spring, with a bunch of other tournaments as well. And then the PGA Championship in 27
Trent Manning: 29:16
Awesome. And isn’t it like 7,800
Bob Smith: 29:19
yeah, from the tip. So it’ll also play closer to 4,000 for those people. Just wanna play forward tees. So the whole designed for both courses that anybody can play. They wanna be able to have anybody come out here and. And you won’t have to play from the tips where you can play from one of five Tee boxees. And on the west side fuels Ranch West will be, some different tournaments some college events, high school events, uh, a lot of, uh, amateur events on that side. So yeah.
Trent Manning: 29:48
Awesome. And it is going, the whole thing’s gonna be
Bob Smith: 29:51
Yes, it’ll be all open to the public. Yeah. So it’ll be, uh, technically gonna open May 1st, it’ll be open right before the tournament and then probably open the west side. And then officially the whole thing will be opened in, in, I think June 17th. They, they’ve slated for the grand opening of everything, so right after the tournament,
Trent Manning: 30:10
The 500 hotel room
Bob Smith: 30:13
Oh, OP opened up, that’ll be open and the, the, uh, ranch houses will be open, the restaurants and, and the top golf lounge and all that. So they want everything to open up so that they can use all the functions when they come to the hotel. So yeah, it’s gonna be fun place. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 30:29
Yeah, no, it was, it was amazing to see and beautiful piece of property too. And it had some rolling hills and the other stuff I saw in
Bob Smith: 30:38
pretty flat. Yeah. So it is nice you got some elevation changes and some rolling hills and it’s, it’s quiet out there. So it’s pretty much set off the, the main highways and the main road. So when you’re out there, it’s, it’s, you’re pretty much by yourself, which is real nice.
Trent Manning: 30:51
Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, it was, it was a beautiful landscape and I really liked the color of the North
Bob Smith: 31:00
Yes. Bridge
Trent Manning: 31:02
Bridge or Bridge?
Bob Smith: 31:04
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 31:04
Bridge. Yeah. No, it had a really
Bob Smith: 31:06
Yeah, it did. Yeah. It’s really,
Trent Manning: 31:08
A little deeper green than most Bermudas. And then that bunker y’all had that didn’t have sand in it where they cut the lines in it. I don’t,
Bob Smith: 31:19
that was cool. Yeah. Number six East. Yeah. Yeah. It’s an interesting spot.
Trent Manning: 31:23
it was pretty. who was the
Bob Smith: 31:25
Gil, Hans.
Trent Manning: 31:26
one?
Bob Smith: 31:27
Yeah.
Trent Manning: 31:27
Okay. And then
Bob Smith: 31:29
it is bow wheeling.
Trent Manning: 31:31
course? Wheeling. Oh, wheeling, okay.
Bob Smith: 31:34
and I think they, they both worked on the short course as well, so they each took one side and then they kind of worked together on the short course a little bit. I think mostly Bo on that, but
Trent Manning: 31:44
Okay. You gonna get down and, uh, play at
Bob Smith: 31:48
Oh yeah. I’m gonna call ’em up. Get down there. Yeah, that’s a fun.
Trent Manning: 31:51
I’m sure he would
Bob Smith: 31:52
Yeah, he was great. It was great to see those guys down there, but yeah, that’s a great course.
Trent Manning: 31:57
No, Tony, Tony’s awesome.
Bob Smith: 31:59
He’s a little wired up, but I like that, you know, so,
Trent Manning: 32:02
Well, he, he loves, he
Bob Smith: 32:04
yeah. It’s what he,
Trent Manning: 32:05
So Y’all,
Bob Smith: 32:05
he’s a good player. He’s almost scratch, he said.
Trent Manning: 32:09
Uhhuh. yeah. Yeah, he’s, no, he’s no joke. He, he says, I’m calling him out right here cuz he says he’s gonna be the first technician to win the G C S A golf tournament,
Bob Smith: 32:21
Okay.
Trent Manning: 32:22
but he’s not coming to show this year. So it’s kind of gonna be hard for him to win a golf tournament that he’s not
Bob Smith: 32:29
Yeah, we’ll have to get ’em to go. So, yeah, that’s, that’s so funny.
Trent Manning: 32:32
I was, uh, giving him a hard time when I saw him about that. Like, how you gonna win this golf tournament, though? You’re saying you’re gonna win if, uh, you’re not going to. He’s like, oh, yeah. So I, I thought, I mean, I was giving him a hard time. I think he’s got some
Bob Smith: 32:46
Oh, okay. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 32:47
that. Not a problem at all. are you ready for some rapid fire questions?
Bob Smith: 32:56
Yes, sir.
Trent Manning: 32:57
right. What’s your favorite. Oh, love it. That’s, yes, that’s what you want to, you wanna do a line from tombstone? A little, a little doc.
Bob Smith: 33:07
let’s see. There’s a few of them.
Trent Manning: 33:08
Oh, I know. There’s so many good lines.
Bob Smith: 33:11
Oh yeah. I was just thinking of the, what was the one He says when
Trent Manning: 33:14
Yeah. I’m, I’m, your huckleberry.
Bob Smith: 33:15
I’m your huckleberry’s one, and then, uh, God, what’s the other
Trent Manning: 33:19
you do.
Bob Smith: 33:20
Yep, that’s it. You know? Yeah. It’s a fun line. He was good. Yeah. A lot of good actors on that one. fun. One. Just say, oh, say when. That’s
Trent Manning: 33:28
That’s, that’s it. Yep. Say when?
Bob Smith: 33:30
Say
Trent Manning: 33:31
Yep. That’s a good one. I love it. What would be your last meal?
Bob Smith: 33:36
last meal would be, uh, my lobster bisque with a two pound lobster
Trent Manning: 33:41
Two pound sandwich.
Bob Smith: 33:42
Oh, it’s delicious. Yeah,
Trent Manning: 33:44
I bet.
Bob Smith: 33:45
there’s some rest restaurants on the Cape Cod that do that, it’s awesome.
Trent Manning: 33:49
Oh, I bet. Yeah. No, that sounds so good.
Bob Smith: 33:52
yeah, I make a meat and bis, good.
Trent Manning: 33:54
All right,
Bob Smith: 33:55
Takes about four hours to make, but it’s
Trent Manning: 33:57
well, the next time I’m out there, I’m gonna find a lobster and drop by your house. what are you most proud of?
Bob Smith: 34:04
M I’m most proud of my learn still. Um, Being an older guy, I just love to learn and it’s amazing how I can pick things up. it just, uh, needs to be done. Uh, I’ll just do a little research if I don’t know, and I can learn from videos or watching and I just really enjoy learning and, and then applying to my job. Uh, cuz there’s just so many different avenues that different equipment, different things In fact, know, Bryce and I, my boss, we built a bridge not too long ago. So I was a, you know, I love carpentry, but it’s just, just that ability to solve a problem, you know, and, and, uh, the ability to keep learning and new stuff. And so it’s, it makes me proud to be able to learn something and be able to fix it and, and
Trent Manning: 34:49
Oh yeah, no. Something definitely worth being proud of and it made me think of another question. So as you were new to this side of the turf industry, was there any good resources that you found to learn about, like reels or hydraulics, electrical, any of that stuff? You were saying videos and that kind of.
Bob Smith: 35:09
Yeah, I got Toro site, whole, um, the, the after series. Um, So I watched a lot of that watch, you know, see what it was and kind of watch that relationship between the reel and the bed knife And um, so a lot of that and then the YouTube stuff, the guys, uh, like yourself and just different places they just, um, have a scenario and these kind of look at and Oh yeah, okay, I understand that. And, uh, yeah, so I always like to have a benchmark, you know, how it comes out of the factory. What happened so um, so a lot of videos and like I said, the Toro stuff was
Trent Manning: 35:44
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Toro does a really good job, and no, we’re not sponsored by Toro. The, but we might, we might be one. I keep talking, talking it up, but Toro, seriously, Toro does a, a good job with releasing information to the end user that helps us do our job, and I’m very thankful that they do that.
Bob Smith: 36:07
We had, uh, Toro University out here last fall, and to be able engineers, um, that build this stuff and design it and, and the most, the biggest thing I took away that they care about the turf. Alls they talked about was the turf. this is the turf, the interaction with the turf. And, uh, it was impressive because all, you know, it could have been about how they designed something or their equipment or the steel they used, but it was all about the turf and their main concern was getting that turf right. And that was, that was impressive to talk
Trent Manning: 36:37
Yeah. No, they, they spend a ton of time and effort at trying to make the product the best they can for the turf. Yeah. Not, not for you or me or the golfer, but for the turf.
Bob Smith: 36:49
Right, because they’re not simple to work on, but the end result, that turf is, it does what it says. So it’s, it’s, it was great seeing those guys
Trent Manning: 36:56
Very good. Well, thank you so much, Bob. I appreciate you being on here. Blast. As always, tell the listeners how they could get ahold of you. What’s your email address?
Bob Smith: 37:07
Uh, you get a hold of me through my work email. It’s bob dot smith omni hotels dot. Uh, if you have any questions, you guys need any info, just please feel free to email me. I’m glad to help
Trent Manning: 37:19
Thank you for that. And I was about to forget we gave you a hard time about being in witness protection with a name like Bob Smith Do you get that a lot or is that just something that happened when you come to Texas
Bob Smith: 37:33
all the time. Yeah, so, so they’ll be calling me Boston Bob or something like that, because I talk a little funny. But yeah, it’s the witness protection program. That’s the thing I used to tell anybody. If someone comes here and ask for Gino VA, then don’t answer the phone. We’re gonna leave out the back door.
Trent Manning: 37:51
Right, right.
Bob Smith: 37:52
but yeah, so I, I get to have fun with it.
Trent Manning: 37:55
That’s fun. No, you got a great personality and I appreciate you, uh, playing along with the fun.
Bob Smith: 38:01
Oh, it’s fun. Yeah.
Trent Manning: 38:02
All right, man. Well, I will, uh, see you soon.
Bob Smith: 38:05
appreciate it.
Trent Manning: 38:06
Hope you enjoyed hearing from Bob. I can’t believe how quick he’s. That right into the golf world. Is truly amazing. He’s a really, really quick learner, but an awesome guy. I’m so thankful that he led us a tour of his facility and showed us all around. Took us out on the core, showed us all of that. Really amazing property. And it’s exciting to see what they’re doing there. Another thing I wanted to speak to was don’t be afraid. To pick up the phone and phone a friend. Her phone, somebody down the road. you can check your pride at the door. And just call somebody. And it will probably make your life a whole lot easier. I hope to see you at the show and Orlando. So excited to. Go to the show and to see everybody. We will, uh, keep you posted of any extracurricular activities. We got going on. We got a WhatsApp group. Started just for the conference. So we can kind of keep track of who’s where, and what’s going on next. So that should be a lot of fun. And just to get back and, uh, Fellowship. With everybody. It’s going to be a really, really good. And the other thing, if you’re thinking about teaching next year, Proposals will be open until the end of February. So make sure you get those in to GCSE. We need, uh, all the content we can get at the show. And the task group. Would love to see your proposal. So, get it out there. If you’ve got any questions on that, you can get me a call or call somebody at a GCs, a. And they’ll be happy to help you get that in. Until next time. See you. Bye. thank you so much for listening to the Reel turf techs podcast. I hope you learned something today. Don’t forget to subscribe. If you have any topics you’d like to discuss, or you’d like to be a guest, find us on Twitter at Reel turf techs.