While more than 150 golf courses in the United States have implemented ezLocator, a unique green and pin management technology designed to help golf courses manage the placement of pins more efficiently, superintendents in Canada are seeing the benefits too.
James Beebe, superintendent at the Raven and Hawk courses at Priddis Green Golf & Country Club in Priddis, Alberta, Canada noted that the ezLocator software program has certainly taken the guesswork out of deciding where to place the pins along with enhancing the enjoyment of the game for our members and guests, improved the turf quality and reduced the time spent planning and supervising that aspect of the job.
Adding ezLocator enabled Beebe to convince his board of directors about a remodeling project. “I lobbied for 15 years to remodel a poorly designed green, but with the ezLocator data I was able to add scientific data to my anecdotal evidence to get the green remodeling project approved,” he said.
“Our undulating greens had made the job of making hole locations fair and consistent very difficult before we started using the ezLocator. We would have complaints that the pins were in the same locations or too difficult. Now any complaints are easily remedied as we can print off the hole locations for the past month and verify that wasn’t the case.
“ezLocator has removed the human element and streamlined the pin selection process. Since we are not dealing with pin placement issues, it has tremendously reduced the amount of training time and follow up, allowing us to spend time on other projects.”
Beebe also noted that ezLocator has helped him create healthier turf because it spreads the wear and tear more evenly. “Now we can isolate that area so the hole location and traffic doesn’t enter it,” he said. “This gives the green a better chance to heal.”
Beebe indicated another advantage of using ezLocator is that preapproved hole locations can be used for major events. “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel as we simply save the information so it is available the following year,” he said.
The Country Hills Golf Club in Alberta and the St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto are other Canadian golf courses using ezLocator.
