Where Do Ideas Come From? Developing a Better Method to Blend Soil mixes pages 32

Oakmarsh in Oakdale 1995, Eagle Valley in Woodbury 1996 & 97, Whispering Pines at Annandale 1998, Pioneer Creek at Independence 1999, The Fairways at St Cloud 2000. Now the Territory Golf Club. Highland golf at So. St Paul, 2002, Balaton Par 3 2004, Pomme de Terre at Morris 2005, Gwinner Golf Club in Gainner, North Dakota 2006, Miltona Golf Club at Miltona 2007.

Upon retirement from the construction industry, Ron sold his big rig on a new technology, the Internet!

Throughout his years as a golf course co-designer (with Joel Goldstrand) and builder, Ron was always interested in soils, how blends worked and the importance of creating soils mix to meet design specifications. Fairways Inc even built their own soils lab that included a small oven that could be heated to 1700 degrees. High enough temperatures to burn the organic matter out of the mix which, by using weights, allowed them to determine the percentage of peat to sand. Ron was not a proponent of soil in any mix and stopped adding it in 1973 when they built the greens at Owatonna Country Club. According to Ron, Fairways eventually tested all their products with a set of brass screens, purchased from the USGA, to determine the sizes that they recommended for testing sand.

Soil blending technology has come a long way since Ron developed his own Portable Blending Plant as most soil is manufactured off property and then delivered to the construction site. However, for almost twenty years and across the upper Midwest, Ron’s idea was put into practice.

How many times have you worked on a project and thought, “there must be a better way”? Unfortunately, too many simple concepts dissipate in the winds of life. Fortunately for many golf course superintendents, however, Ron and Fairways Inc. stuck with that sniggle of a thought, that aha moment, that design enhancement and created a precision tool for blending soils mix specific for golf course construction.

2021 The Scramble for Research and Scholarship

Thanks Host Superintendent Kyle Stirn and Baker National Golf Club