It often is said that it takes a village to raise a child. There are times when it also requires a large group to raise a golf course superintendent, especially in times of disaster.
When an overnight fire on April 2-3 destroyed an auxiliary maintenance building and most everything inside it at Framingham Country Club in Massachusetts, director of golf course and grounds Pat Daly, CGCS, wondered how he and his team at the club near Boston would be able to complete all of the spring spraying applications.
After a couple of quick phone calls, a host of people, including fellow superintendents and suppliers came forward with equipment from sprayers and utility vehicles to blowers to help Daly get through his spring spraying applications.
"This is already a tough business, but the beauty of it is the camaraderie," said Daly, who is in his 22nd year at the club near Boston. "I can't tell you how many people have called to offer equipment - equipment distributors, chemical distributors. I've been overwhelmed by my friends in the industry who have stepped forward to help out."
Everything I walk through, I find something else under the ashes. It was a gut punch.
On April 3, Daly and wife Judy were supposed to take their son, Nathan, to Williamsburg, Virginia, to visit William & Mary, where he will be a freshman in the fall. Those plans changed when Daly awoke that morning and saw missed calls and messages on his phone from a club bartender, general manager and Framingham's president. Rather than head for the airport, Daly went to the golf course.
The night before, an assistant clubhouse manager noticed flames coming from a satellite maintenance building about 9:45 p.m. A former cart barn, the building houses much of the specialized equipment that Daly does not use on a daily basis, such as sprayers, aerifiers, blowers and a tractor. The fire department was on the scene by 10 p.m. The fire finally was out by 2 a.m. Structurally, the building was a total loss as was everything in it.
The cumulative loss is estimated at $1.2 million.
Among the victims were, four sprayers, four aerifiers, two tractors and blowers, a verticutting unit, seeder and two tow-behind leaf vacs. An adjacent storage unit used to house chemicals and fertilizers was not damaged by the fire, but remained shuddered by fire officials until they were able to safely clear it. Their concern was that firefighting efforts might cause runoff into an adjacent stream if the doors to the unit are opened. Daly also was concerned how the intense heat from the flames might affect product efficacy.
"Everything I walk through, I find something else under the ashes," Daly said. "It was a gut punch."
Daly immediately started calling equipment and chemical suppliers looking for help.
Soon, he had assistance from many. Among those who rushed to help were Tony Girardi, superintendent at Rockrimmon Country Club in Stamford, Connecticut; Herbert Meredith of Meredith Chem-Farm Sales in Maryland; Shane Cornicelli of A-OK Turf Equipment of Coventry, Rhode Island; and Nat Binns of Turf Products Corp., an Enfield, Connecticut Toro dealer, among others, who stepped up to loan Daly blowers and sprayers and utility vehicles to help him get through his spring applications.
"We had a new blower that was used once. And now it is under a pile of debris," Daly said. "I contacted A-OK Turf, and the first word out of Shane's mouth was 'what do you need?' I told him I needed a blower, and it was shipped. That's the industry we're in."
Girardi and Daly have been friends since the early 1990s when they were classmates at the University of Rhode Island. When he heard about the fire, Girardi pledged anything he could do to help his friend, including sending a 200-gallon sprayer.
"Fire is my biggest fear. If something like that happens to the maintenance building, I never want to know that feeling," Girardi said. "I am a big believer in paying it forward. I would want someone to help me if I was in that same situation."
Chemical suppliers were on the phone with Daly by Sunday. New product is now being stored in a smaller unit, which will necessitate reorganizing the space and installing shelves so Daly can fit everything he needs into a confined area.
"I feel like I could teach a class," Daly said. "I feel like Matt Damon in 'The Martian': I'm working the problem. I have a legal pad with me all the time. When I see something I write it down."
I am a big believer in paying it forward. I would want someone to help me if I was in that same situation.
Meredith's father, Howard Sr., started Chem-Ag in the 1970s to service the agriculture industry. Eventually, business expanded to include golf. Daly and Howard Sr. first met in the 1980s, so when news of the fire spread, Howard Jr. began working the phones on Daly's behalf.
Supply chain issues that have plagued the golf industry have made it a challenge to get everything to Daly that he needs. Meredith quickly refurbished a sprayer with a new pump and new hoses to make sure Daly would get a reliable piece of equipment that is built to last.
"He called me Sunday after the fire. I've known Pat for 25 years. I immediately searched to see if we had anything that would work for him," Meredith said. "He was dead in the water, we had to find him something.
"The pump I put on was the last one on my shelf, and I don't know when I'll get another one. No one can tell you how long it will be."
Binns has known Daly since the former began working at Turf Products in 2006. He too, was quick to respond to the needs of a longtime customer and friend, sending him a Workman.
"He's welcome to use anything he needs," Binns said. "There is a brotherhood in this industry, and when something like this happens, it's everyone to the forefront. We just happened to get lucky. The biggest need was sprayers. Howard found some of those, but Pat needed vehicles to mount them on."
The fraternal bond that has been on display since the fire is not the only silver lining to come from the disaster at Framingham. The lost building also was used for staff meetings, leaving Daly with the feeling that as bad as things are, they could have been worse.
"I've always had a great relationship with the fire department, police and the town. I'm thankful no firefighters or police were hurt," Daly said. "Thank God it didn't happen at 2 in the afternoon. I would have gone in and tried to grab a sprayer, or something stupid like that. I have a great crew, and they are very dedicated, and one of them probably would have done the same. They're a great crew, with young families. It always could have been worse. Thank God no one got hurt.
"This can be a difficult job, but the people are outstanding, and sometimes, we need to focus more on that. That might be better for all of us."
