Clipboards in the chemical store
Every time the team applies a fertiliser, wetting agent or plant protection product, somebody fills in a sheet: product, rate, area, date, time, weather, operator, machine. The sheets live on a clipboard in the store, or in a folder in the office. Some get filled in at the end of the day from memory. Some get wet.
When the course manager wants to know what went on the greens this season, or needs to show records to someone who asks, it is a job of leafing through folders and deciphering handwriting. The store's stock sheet, updated separately, rarely matches what the application sheets say was used.
Why records drift
The record is written after the job, when the sprayer is being washed down and the next job is waiting. It becomes a chore rather than part of the work, so details are filled in later and less accurately.
Stock and applications are recorded separately, so there is no check between what left the store and what was recorded as applied.
Several people apply products across a season, including seasonal staff and apprentices, and each fills in the sheet slightly differently. One writes the hole number, another writes 'front nine greens', a third writes nothing about area at all. Rates are written in different units. Put together, the sheets tell a patchy story.
And the paper format makes the records hard to use. They are kept for the sake of keeping them, not because they help the course manager plan.
What paper records cost
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Sheets filled in later | Gaps and guesses in the record |
| Records in folders | Slow to answer questions about past applications |
| Stock tracked separately | Store and records disagree |
| Handwriting and wet paper | Details that cannot be read |
| History not used for planning | Lessons from past seasons lost |
What records your club must keep, and how products are chosen and used, are matters for the course manager, the club's own advisers and the rules that apply. We give no advice on either. We make the recording part quicker and more complete.
How we move application records onto a phone
- A short form on the operator's phone, started from the job on the day's plan or by scanning the product in the store. Fields are the ones your course manager chooses to record.
- Area is picked from a course map or a list of holes, greens, tees and approaches, so records can be searched by area later.
- Weather details can be filled from a local weather service at the time of the job, with the operator able to correct them.
- The quantity used is taken off the store's stock record, so the store and the applications stay in step, and low stock is flagged.
- Records are stored with the date, time and operator, and cannot be edited later without a logged change.
- The course manager can search by area, product or date, and export records in the layout the club needs.
Turf management software with application records exists. If you already use one, we look at connecting it to your stock and daily plan rather than replacing it.
After a season
Operators complete the record at the sprayer, in a minute, before washing down. The store count matches the applications. When the course manager plans next year's programme, the history for each green is a search away rather than an afternoon with folders.
- Records made at the time of the job
- Stock and applications that agree
- A searchable history by area and product
- Changes to records logged
Is this your chemical store?
- Application records are kept on paper sheets.
- Sheets are often filled in at the end of the day.
- Store stock and application records disagree.
- Finding past applications means going through folders.
- Records are kept but rarely used for planning.