Of all the challenging tasks asked of Robert Smith at Merion Golf Club, and there have been many, the most difficult has been achieving nearly impossible heights of cut for the 2013 U.S. Open.
Before the start of the third round in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, Matt Shaffer, the club's director of golf course operations, asked Smith if it was possible to cut any lower for the tournament's final two rounds. Smith, Merion's equipment manager for the past seven years, answered in the affirmative. But even Shaffer didn't know, until after the tournament, what Smith was able to coax out of those mowers.
"We were cutting at 0.075 (inches) on the weekend. If you read in any book, that height of cut is nearly impossible," said Smith. "It took me two years to figure out the correct angles, how thick the bedknife should be, what attitude I should run the bedknife. I've never been that deep into a mower before. I had notes, upon notes, upon notes. Even Matt didn't know for sure our height of cut by the weekend.
"Achieving those heights of cut is the hardest thing I've done at Merion, but I'd do it all again tomorrow. The science behind it, that is what is so rewarding."
It's also one more reason why, at Merion, Smith is known as "Maestro of the Mowers." It also is just one reason why Smith was named the recipient of the 2015 TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by The Toro Co.
A graduate of Penn State's now defunct turfgrass equipment maintenance program, Smith started as an equipment operator at Merion for four years before taking over
as equipment manager. Since then, he has gained a reputation for teaching and training upcoming mechanics and as an expert fabricator.
As the winner, Smith receives the Golden Wrench Award and a spot in one of Toro's Service Training University.
He was chosen by a panel of judges from a field of three finalists, including Rex Schad of Jimmie Austin Golf Club at the University of Oklahoma and James Sanders of Mirror Lake Golf Club in Villa Rica, Georgia.
Candidates are judged on the following criteria: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic.
One of Smith's more infamous fabrications involved modifying a brand new 22-inch walk mowing unit by outfitting it with an 18-inch deck to achieve a lower height of cut.
"When I told him I wanted him to do it, he said ?I think I can do that,' " Shaffer said. "I told him that I didn't think he understood me. I wasn't asking if he could do; I wanted it done."
Smith is intent on giving back to an industry that has provided him with so much. He has started a training program that teaches those with mechanical aptitude to be golf course equipment managers.
At any given time, Smith has one entry level mechanic just entering his program, and one nearing completion of training. Trainees begin by mowing greens and raking bunkers for part of the day and stay in the program for two to three years before graduating. One of his trainees will "graduate" this fall and already has three job offers.
Current or past trainees include former golf course superintendents and even college students majoring in engineering. Graduates have gone on to work as equipment managers at such places as Saucon Valley Country Club.
Curriculum includes a lot of on-the-job training, formal on-site classes and enrolling them in training academies sponsored by Toro, John Deere and Jacobsen.
"I love teaching. There's not a day that goes by that I don't learn something from them," Smith said. "Plus it keeps my mind sharp as well.
"I don't do it to benefit myself. I do it to benefit others. Anyone who knows me, I'm a big giver. In fact, my wife gets mad at me for it sometimes. I'm in a position to give, and Matt and Merion are in a position to let me do that."