August 1, 2005
The outmoded stereotype of a golf course mechanic -- a guy of perhaps limited abilities, covered in grease and turning a wrench on a golf cart -- is something the Turf Equipment Technicians Association of the Carolinas (TETAC) are striving to update.
"There's a lot more to being a turf equipment technician than that," says Dale Rogers, president of the three-and-half-year old organization. Today's golf course mechanic (or turf equipment technician) generally has far more responsibilities than he had in past and is maintaining equipment that is far more technologically advanced than it once was, says Rogers.
"I'd like to see a little more credit going to the profession. Computerized diagnosis takes a higher level of thinking than your ‘shade tree mechanic’ has to have," he says. "The service technician is responsible for parts inventory and for shop organization. Techs at some larger golf courses have their own budgets and sometimes help manage the crew, particularly when the superintendent is not around. There is a little more to it than just changing spark plugs."
Although service technicians had occasionally talked about forming an association for years, Rogers traces TETAC's roots to a seminar that took place at the CGCSA conference in Myrtle Beach 2000. The seminar, entitled "The 100 Most Frequently Asked Questions By Service Technicians," was added to conference's seminar line-up when a previously scheduled seminar had to be scratched.
