Nick Roth

How long have you been collecting data, even before the GS3 ball?

Truthfully, zero. I was the total opposite of collecting data. More like a feel guy I would say. I think a lot of superintendents are like that. You take your putter out and roll a ball. I guess that’s like collecting data in a kind of a caveman-esque way. Not really any numerical data collection before the GS3. Once we got the GS3, which was last winter, we slowly dove into it. Not as consistent as we would have liked. But we got to a point where we made it a routine. Now it’s data collection every single day. I kinda do it as my morning stroll as I check mowers and we have a specific green where we take ball roll data from. We also do some clipping collection in places.

Are you using the GS3 drop fixture as well as rolling the ball?

Yes, we use the drop fixture every single day, after we do our ball roll.

So, you’ve been doing it for most of the year?

Yeah, so the only thing that’s different about our club is that, since we’re a destination off-season club, we close in the summertime. We’re closed from about the middle of June to about the middle of September. So we don’t collect data in the summertime: we’re not trying to produce golf conditions; just doing agronomic practices. We really start to reimplement it at the beginning of September.

After using the GS3 and DEACON, what have you learned?

I think we’ve learned a lot. Going from a person that’s collected no data to going full opposite end of the spectrum, just the way we can make educated decisions off of what we’re seeing from the GS3 and the DEACON app. I now make my own spreadsheets off the data, with every single month of the data logged in there. It’s a great tool for me, but it’s also a great tool if your board is ever curious about green speeds. And it’s a good justification for achieving maintenance standards. That’s a big thing for us and they can make sure we are staying within our thresholds of green speeds. It helps us make educated decisions going into the wintertime, as we pick up green speed with growth slowing down and clipping yield getting less and less. It’s been a big help for us in terms of do we need to mow, do we need to roll? Do we need to slow them down and brush? That’s a big thing this time of year for us. And coming out of August and September gave us some good metrics on when is it time to press the gas, when do the temperatures start to change, and when do you see less clipping yield. It’s really been a game changer in that aspect.

Has there been one metric that’s been more important than the others to you?

We use them all, obviously. The things that are easy to produce is green speed. We can cut and roll forever. But to me, what I think is an important metric that is overlooked is the smoothness and trueness. That’s really what we try to achieve. Because it’s easy to achieve the green speed numbers, and then dialing in your other practices to get those other metrics as low as possible. The same for the firmness: you can just see getting into these dry spells, you’re hand watering and it really firms up. You can see the data behind that and show your hand water guys “hey, if we can maintain these at a 12% instead of a 14%” It really comes full circle with the data.

What cultural practice have you done that improves smoothness and trueness?

I think the mowing has improved smoothness and trueness. And if you can mow and roll, it gets even better. But that’s when you weigh the pros and cons this time of year, because I can’t mow and roll since it’s going to be 13.5 and off the charts. And no one can keep a ball on the greens. So trying to balance on how we can achieve smoothness and trueness. And kinda match our mowing with clipping yield and mean temperature. Even something like the mean temperature on the DEACON: we log that stuff too. And you can see a direct correlation with all those graph numbers. As the mean temperature goes up, you’re gonna see those smoothness and trueness numbers go up. Because you’re getting more growth, more friction, more bounce. So all those numbers go up.

Have the numbers you’ve seen affected your daily cultural practices?

Absolutely. I couldn’t tell you how many times this fall, and the beginning of winter, that we’ll take data and I can tell you, as soon as I take the data, what we’re gonna do the next day. And it’s completely based off the numbers we’re gonna get. Yesterday, we were rolling at a 12.5. And today we’re pulling greens covers. We’re not mowing or rolling tomorrow. We’re just gonna blow ‘em off and brush them….try and slow them down an extra five inches. Most of the time, you know immediately what you’re going to do the next day based off the numbers you’re getting from the GS3.

So, are you seeing a return on investment since using the GS3?

If you added up the times, previous to the GS3, where we mowed or rolled and really didn’t need to, to achieve what we’re trying to achieve from a maintenance standard….if you added all that up, it’s easily covering the cost of the GS3 and DEACON. And when you factor in the cost of gas and diesel and manpower, not to mention what else you could be doing when you send six walk-mowers and two greens rollers out there. Just having that immediate data to know to make a real decision and not based off looking at the grass. The actual empirical data is a big thing for us.

Beyond the GS3, are you using DEACON for any other data?

We have put topdressing in there. We have not made the switch to doing any chemical applications yet, although I think that is something we definitely would like to explore this winter, now that the grass has slowed down.

What would you say to someone who might be considering the GS3?

It depends on your facility and what you’re trying to achieve. There are some many ways you can use it: if you’re trying to save money by making an educated decision. Or if you’re trying to get better operationally to produce better conditions. I just think there a multitude of ways that this thing is beneficial. Even if you take the cost savings completely out of it, just being able to make an educated decision is the most important thing about being a superintendent. However we can adapt and do it better, that’s a good thing for us.

From a guy who went from no data collection to now being deep into it, what would you tell someone how to get started?

I’ve talked to a bunch of guys I used to work with. Some of them have bought the ball and were just starting to use it. Some of them were considering buying the ball for their facility. It’s just the ease of use. And it’s all in one place. It’s the simplicity of it. You don’t have to open four different apps on your phone to do these things. And it goes directly to your phone. It’s so easy and literally takes me less than five minutes to do a single green. It’s just simple.