John Jeffreys

What do you like most about the GS3 Ball?

The GS3 allows us to measure things that were previously unmeasurable. It’s very valuable to how we quantify the roll of a ball. So we never before could measure smoothness and trueness. Now we can put a number on it. And we can see how cultural practices like topdressing, verticutting, and double-mowing impact the quality of a ball rolling.

You’ve been collecting data since last summer: what have you learned?

Number one, that by venting (using solid tines), the greens are smoother, truer, and faster afterwards. That was the biggest thing that we learned. We’ve learned how topdressing impacts ball roll the morning after, when the sand is a little damp versus when it’s dry. They can be a little bumpy when the sand is sticking to the GS3. But, by the next afternoon, they are much smoother. Lastly, how easy it is to use the GS3. It’s so simple. All of our assistants on #2 have the DEACON app on their phones. And use it.

Have you found that, by using the GS3 Ball and DEACON, your maintenance practices have changed?

Yes. We can see where we have saved labor by not doing a double-mow. Or better communicate the need for closing to get a cultural practice done, like verticutting or topdressing. Because that practice makes the greens smoother and faster. And it shows how we hold ourselves accountable to having a higher quality putting green, by measuring all these things.

Was the smoothness or trueness of a green something you thought about before you acquired the GS3 Ball?

We speculated about how, whether it was topdressing, mowing, venting or rolling a green, a golf ball rolling would be better after doing those things. You watch how watch balls roll. But you didn’t have a number or a value to show how we can change it by this much by doing this. So you really couldn’t evaluate if it was worth it to do this. You couldn’t tell people “this is what it does.” Now you have evidence.

Outside of your staff, have you been communicating the benefits of the GS3 Ball and DEACON to others at the resort?

We’ve been communicating with our professional golf staff, the folks who are face-to-face with the customer. That is who we have to go through to get closings, block the tee-sheet, etc. Oftentimes, a guest will come in and say “I can’t believe they top-dressed right before we played.” So they can explain how, by doing this, the greens will be faster, smoother, and truer for you. We can give them numbers and data to use. They already analyze a lot of data, through surveys and guest satisfaction. We’re essentially doing the same thing. All to meet the common goal that someone will recommend coming to Pinehurst.

Leading up to the Championship this June, what affect do you think the GS3 Ball will have on your greens?

We are trying to define that date, ahead of the Championship, when we do our last our last topdressing, our last vertical mowing, anything that we do, we will know that we are peaking at the right time. We’ll know that, six days after vertical mowing, we will have peaked. So we’ll know how to back off that June 13^th date. When the players play their first round, we’ll know that the quality will be at its best for the Championship.

Speaking of DEACON, how do you like using it as a platform to graph surface management practices against ball roll quality?

That’s all a part of making these decisions. And justifying the decisions. By showing when we do it, we can show people, graphically, the speeds and variations. And what causes the peaks of our practices. I’m a visual person. And I can see it, whether it be clipping yield versus speed, or anything else.

What metric is most important to you?

I think the golfer dictates what is most important. And they probably lean towards speed. For us, being able to match up speed, firmness, smoothness and trueness, is where we challenge ourselves.

What are the next 60 days going to be like for you and your staff?

Reacting to a lot of demands, whether it be that this is our best opportunity to vent, or if it’s topdressing, we might have to put it off for another week, due to weather. We’re sodding 30,000 square feet on the Cradle because it’s going to be the driving range and they need to be able to run a ball picker. Removing wire grass to put in sod is not something you would normally do. Repairing where fork lifts and trucks come through, so that when they are finished with the heavy equipment, we’re dressing it up so it looks like they were never there. We’re also adding staff, which means we are training at a higher level.

Lastly, given the great run NC State just had in the NCAA tournament, what are your thoughts there?

Well, the GS3 did not predict the outcome we wanted to see.