Hitting The Links

UTV — By ATV Mag on April 4, 2006 at 12:00 pm

These are the unsung heroes of golf, the grounds crew. Forever immortalized by Bill Murray in “Caddyshack,” these are the people you should thank for the beautiful greens and lush fairways on which you play. Thankfully there are no Murray-like characters at Rich Valley Golf Club in Rosemount, Minn., because he’d have a little too much fun on the club’s two Kawasaki Mules.
Two Mules, Two Purposes
Ronnie Rahn, club owner, wanted a vehicle that could fill two roles at the course. He needed a vehicle that could handle the early spring snow that lingers on courses in Minnesota, and he needed something with enough power to push the range ball collector up the range’s mild hills. He knew the run-of-the-mill Cushman or golf cart couldn’t handle the snow, and they certainly couldn’t handle a wet hill and full ball collector on the range.
“The 4×4 was definitely a main reason for purchasing the Mules,” Rahn says. “I originally had one at each of my two courses, but I recently decided to sell one course so I have the two Mules at Rich Valley.”
Right now, one Mule is dedicated to the range, while the other does duty as a utility player on the course. Rahn says that the Mule has an electric-lift dump box that is great for hauling. Springtime is busy for golf course owners in the North. Winter’s harshness can wreak havoc on the most meticulously maintained courses, so having a vehicle that can haul out fill material is important. Black dirt is needed to fill in low areas that may develop during the winter, and it gives the grass a good bed on which to grow. And, just for us hackers, it hauls a lot of sand to fill the bunkers back. If you ask us, it seems like course owners enjoy making bunkers larger each spring!
It also doubles as an irrigation mobile for fixing the course-wide irrigation system. And considering Rich Valley covers more than 160 acres, a nice, powerful vehicle can be handy to haul sprinkler repair parts and accessories. The Mule does the job nicely, according to Rahn.
The other Mule is dedicated to the course’s hitting range. Each day the range is open means thousands of practice shots for those trying to perfect their golf game. It is easy to hit the balls into the range, but once on the ground, how do they get back to the range house? Simple, a Mule with a ball picker attached to the front.
“Our range is a little different than some ranges in the area,” Rahn explains. “With the hills, we needed something with a little more power and traction; especially when the ground gets wet.”
With the added security of 4×4, Rahn says a Mule was a logical choice for him. The ball picker Rahn uses is 16 feet wide and has eight baskets for range balls. He says the picker itself isn’t too heavy, but once it is loaded down with 23 dozen balls, it can get heavy. That is when he puts it in 4WD to make sure he isn’t a stationary target for golfers.
Do people use the mule for target practice? “Oh yeah, it’s a big, looming target” he jokes. “Last week I had to have a talk with someone on the range because he was having a little too much fun while I was driving the Mule on the range.”
According to Rahn, the Mule is well protected from maniacal golfers with cages on the back and sides, but on the front there is a plexiglass windshield. “The windshield does a good job of protecting the driver,” he says. “But a direct hit can break it; it’s happened to me and it isn’t fun.”
He was OK, but he still hasn’t found something that is unbreakable for the Mule’s windshield. Rahn also says the Mule has great lights for picking range balls at night. He said that it is both comfortable and quiet, something that he can appreciate when he has to constantly drive it back and forth on the range.
A ‘Good Choice’
“The Mules were a good choice because they are automatic,” Rahn says. “All we have to do is get in them and go. We have Cushmans [a popular golf course vehicle -ed.], and they can be tough to handle for someone who doesn’t know how to drive a stick.”
The user-friendly nature of the Kawasaki Mule has proven important to the course workers. The Mules are safe to use and have a wide platform for negotiating hills that may be out on the course.
There are four people on the main crew at Rich Hills, and most of the work is done during the week. Some days Rahn says the crew stays on the Mule all day, so reliability is important to him.
“These vehicles have been awesome for us,” he explains. “All we’ve had to do is normal maintenance and nothing else; changing oil, the simple stuff and nothing major.”
According to Rahn, his course sees an “average” number of golfers per season. But in Minnesota, a certified golf-crazed state, that could be a large number. Rich Valley comprises 160 acres and has 27 holes. These 27 holes all need individual attention and the Mule on course helps the crew do just that.
“Plus,” according to Rahn, “they are great for dragging the fish house out on the lake in winter when the course is closed.”
So Rahn not only uses the Mule for work, but a little personal comfort, too. Turns out that Rahn has his own ATV he uses for trail riding. His Polaris Sportsman 600 does not see the course, but it does see a lot of use on the weekends, he tells us.
He also is not sure when he’ll upgrade to newer Mules because his current red and green Mules have been so good. But he does admit that the Kawasaki redesign of the Mules had him thinking of getting a new model to replace the one with the most miles. He still isn’t sure about switching, but he is sure that he made the right decision when he invested in the Mules for his golf course.