Save the Greens
I like to golf occasionally at a small country course. It’s run by volunteers, and only 9 holes but the design of the course is terrific. A tough one to par, for anyone; and I like the challenge and the people who run It. Cathy runs the clubhouse, and greets almost everyone by name.
The county courses are rain dependent; with moisture they can be top notch, without, it’s a dry grass, hard fairways and dying greens affair.
Cathy was always pouring water on her greens, but this year, her portable pump wouldn’t build suction. She showed me the set up; a small gas motor, powering a rotary pump, handles for transporting. ‘The motor runs fine, it just won’t prime.’
That didn’t sound so bad, the problem had to be in the pump. The greens were already suffering and hot weather was on the way. Cathy was worried. Her guys had tried but they weren’t mechanics. I knew our shop guys would know if it could be fixed. I offered to let our shop take a shot at it. Cathy was relieved but wanted to know how fast we could figure it out. She was ‘really’ worried.
Big Chris had his boys tear it apart first thing Monday morning. He mentioned that his young son Wyatt golfed at that local course all the time.
Interesting.
The impeller was torn up as if rocks or debris had been sucked inside. The boys filed and shaved the edges down; smoothed out the interior blades. A couple of the seals were leaking; hence, no vacuum. They replaced those. It worked.
I could sense the McGiver, Davey’s hand in this mix.
Chris took the pump back to Cathy the next day. It worked like a charm and the golfers should be on healthy green grass soon. Cathy wanted to pay us, so we worked out a deal.
Wyatt golfs free all summer.
So with a little favor, a fix from a skilled heavy duty shop, we helped a volunteer run community golf course, made our mechanics feal like small town heroes, and gave a young man a free golf ride for the summer.
Amazing how doing so little can help in so many ways.
The crew, Encore Trucking.