July 3, 2024 • 58 mins
Welcome to the Reel Turf Techs Podcast, Episode 120! Today, we’re talking to Sam Baldea, Equipment Manager at TPC San Antonio in San Antonio, TX. TPC San Antonio is a private 36-hole facility, hosting the Valero Texas Open on the Oaks course and supporting Champions and Korn Ferry Tour events on the Canyons course.
Sam leads a team of two Equipment Technicians and a Preventative Maintenance Technician, primarily using John Deere equipment. Coming from a mechanical family, Sam initially pursued a career as a brick mason before receiving an offer to work with landscape equipment. What started as a “temporary” job at a golf course in Virginia turned into an outstanding career in turf management.
With a love for golf and the support of his resume coach (his wife!), Sam joined TPC Potomac before moving to TPC San Antonio. He was quickly impressed by the friendly community and excellent food in Texas Hill Country. In this episode, Sam provides an inside look at tournament preparation for the Valero Texas Open, emphasizes the importance of accurate gauges, and highlights the value of tournament volunteering.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Trent Manning (00:05):
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the
technician that wants to getreel follow along.
As we talk to industryprofessionals and address hot
topics that we all face alongthe way we'll learn tips and
tricks.
I'm your host, Trent.
Manning let's have some Welcometo the real turf techs podcast.
(00:27):
Episode 1 22.
Today.
We're talking to Sam baldivia.
Equipment manager.
At TPC, San Antonio and SanAntonio, Texas TPC San Antonio
is a private 36 hole facility.
It has the Oaks course.
Where the Valero, Texas opennesshailed.
And the canyon course hassupported championships and Korn
(00:50):
ferry, tour events.
Sam has two technicians.
With him in the shop and apreventive maintenance
technician.
He has primarily John Deereequipment.
Like most TPC courses.
Let's talk to Sam.
Welcome Sam to the RealTurf TextPodcast.
How are you doing today?
Sam Baldea (01:07):
I'm good.
Doing well, Trent.
Appreciate for you having me dothis.
Trent Manning (01:11):
Oh yeah, for sure.
I'm excited about it.
And yeah, thank you so much forbeing on.
Tell us how you got into theturf industry.
Sam Baldea (01:21):
Well, it's it's a pretty funny story.
I actually was, I grew up in amechanical family, but I kind of
ventured away in a trade school.
I was supposed to be a brickmason.
And I did that for about sixmonths and gave it up, for my
uncle a short time, and I wasactually working on one of his
(01:43):
gravely out front mowers he had.
And he sent me up to the dealerhe deals with.
And went up there and ended uptalking with the two owners for
about an hour.
And.
You know, they surprised me witha job offer as a apprenticeship,
getting into the landscapeequipment turf industry.
(02:05):
And did that for about fouryears.
They ended up closing theirbusiness.
And Did some things, you know,on my own.
Wasn't happy with things I wasdoing and got a part time job.
Well, temporary job, I shouldsay, at a Hilltop Golf Club in
Alexandria, Virginia.
(02:25):
And they found out I could workon things and that's where it
pretty much started back in2004.
And I got my real big break whenI was hired on at a country club
over in Crofton, Maryland.
It's outside of Annapolis,Maryland.
And yeah, so that's, I'm heretoday.
Trent Manning (02:45):
That's awesome.
Yeah.
And I don't, you know, you'renot the first one to say that
yeah, I'm just going to try thisout at this golf course for a
little while.
You know, I'll, I'll findsomething else
Sam Baldea (02:57):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (02:58):
yeah, it's a funny story or similar story, a
guy that works on our crew.
His name's Philip Boswell and hegrew up in construction.
His dad was construction andthey, you know, run side and
roofing.
I mean, Framing, you know,anything construction going on
(03:18):
and he was in between jobs andhe's, I don't, you know, he's in
his probably sixties and he'sseen the ad for the golf course
and he come to the golf courseand he's been there I think 12
years now.
And he, he said, yeah, I'll justwork here, you know, for a month
or two until I can findsomething better.
Sam Baldea (03:39):
man,
Trent Manning (03:40):
he is still there, you know?
Sam Baldea (03:41):
that was my plan.
I mean, I was looking to getback into an equipment dealer
and you know, it just, it justdidn't pan out and it just
opened the doors and you know,it's had its challenges, but you
know, for the most part, it wasa it was a, it was a good run.
I enjoyed it.
It was something differentbecause at a deal or at least,
(04:03):
you know, you were stuck in a abay, you were stuck doing, you
know, the same stuff over andover again.
And when it got introduced to meIt was it opened my eyes.
It was like, you're doing like afleet mechanic type deal and you
get to get outside and see, youknow, the golf course and stuff,
(04:25):
see, you know, what the beautyis of a golf course.
And I, you know, I've alwaysplayed golf.
You know, it's always been, mydad got me into it.
You know, we, we, we played askids growing up and I always
played and it was a good deal,you know, and, and just the job
offers kept coming.
I got to the sister course ofWalden country club.
(04:48):
That was that first country clubI worked at Crofton country
club.
And I worked there for a littleover a year and a half And I
almost gave up, you know, Isaid, let me try something
different.
And I was lucky enough to get ajob interview with the Fairfax
County Park Authority.
And got there, did my interviewand come to find out it was for
(05:11):
a golf course.
And I was like, well, I guessI'm not getting away from this.
And, you know, I spent a goodfour years with the county, did
A little bit of everything did alot of repair and mechanical
work, got my spray license forVirginia because everybody at
the county has to do everything.
(05:31):
It's,
Trent Manning (05:31):
Mm-Hmm?
Sam Baldea (05:32):
it just wasn't one man does a certain thing.
And.
You know, after four years, Ikind of got, kind of got tired,
you know, I wanted somethingmore challenging and looking,
you know, through turf net and,and such and TPC Potomac popped
up equipment tech.
(05:54):
So I me and my wife gottogether.
We tweaked on my resume.
She did a really good jobtweaking on my resume and went
and had an interview at TPCPotomac.
And man, I was there for likethree, four hours for this
interview.
And I was like, There's no waythey're not hiring me.
Trent Manning (06:12):
Mm-Hmm.
Sam Baldea (06:12):
they showed me everything and that's how I got
started in the TPC PGA network.
They hired me and you know, Ispent almost two years at TPC
Potomac and was took a transferdown here to TPC San Antonio for
possible promotion.
And you know, it, it Thing, goodthings came about,
Trent Manning (06:36):
That's awesome.
Sam Baldea (06:37):
yeah, yeah.
Trent Manning (06:38):
Yeah.
How do you lock it in SanAntonio?
Mm-Hmm?
Sam Baldea (06:41):
You know, I'm a native Washingtonian from the
Virginia Maryland, D.
C.
area, and it opened my eyes.
It was almost like a cultureshock, because I have family
that grew up in the mountains ofVirginia and, and West Virginia
and stuff like that, and, youknow, we get down here and it's
(07:02):
like, you know, Man, I've neverseen anything like this.
The environment, you know, thepeople are super friendly.
The food it's been good.
I, the only thing I don't likeis the heat.
It kills me.
I mean, you know, a hundreddegree temperatures, it, it can
be tough sometimes, but SanAntonio has been good to us.
Trent Manning (07:23):
Do you have AC in the shop?
Sam Baldea (07:25):
No,
Trent Manning (07:26):
No.
Oh, that would be so nice,wouldn't it?
Sam Baldea (07:29):
oh man, I tell you what, it would.
It we got fans that blow hot airaround and you know, in the
mornings it's real enjoyablecause you know, we're in the
foot of the hill country andeven in the summertime, you
still get that, you know, earlymorning, like chill in the air
and it feels so good.
And then when that heat hits,you know, it it wakes you up.
(07:52):
It's like, Oh, it's going to bea tough day.
Trent Manning (07:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I'm pretty sure TPCsawgrass has AC in their shop.
So yeah, you might need to
Sam Baldea (08:03):
Oh, I've
Trent Manning (08:04):
to talk to somebody.
Yeah.
Sam Baldea (08:07):
you know, it we're, we're trying to get some things
in place I got some estimatesfor automated doors and other
things to kind of hopefully oneday meet Sawgrass Robbie, who is
our director, was wanting me to,get estimates on that stuff, but
you know, it would be cool tohave that.
It really would.
Trent Manning (08:28):
That automatic door they got sawgrass is
something else too.
I've never seen a door move thatfast.
Sam Baldea (08:35):
Oh, really?
Yeah, I haven't been there yet.
Trent Manning (08:37):
okay.
Yeah.
It's kind of in between the shopand I guess it's a little bit of
equipment storage on the otherside.
And they got this door it'slightning fast up and down.
It's so fast.
And it's I don't, it's, I don'tknow, some kind of like fabric
material, I guess,
Sam Baldea (08:57):
Oh, okay.
Trent Manning (08:58):
you know, plastic of some sort, but yeah, really,
really cool.
Sam Baldea (09:03):
Yeah, I heard the the techs and the equipment
manager have, like, I guess akey fob or something on their
belts that they can open it upreal quick.
I would think, that would becool to have.
Trent Manning (09:14):
Oh yeah, yeah, they do.
They got, you know, a littlepush button that zips up and
they walk through and push itagain, zips down.
And then, yeah, same thing, likegetting into the shop, they have
some kind of, you know, key fobwith that to even get into the
building.
So, you know, and I mean, youknow, they got the big
tournament every year and allthat stuff too.
(09:36):
So I understand that you don'twant just people wandering
around, walking into your shop,you know, safety reasons and all
that.
Don't y'all host sometournaments
Sam Baldea (09:45):
Yeah, the Valero Texas Open actually is going to
be going on here.
Three weeks, I think three weeksor two weeks to advance week.
And I think three weeks totournament week we're we're at
full steam.
Me and my guys in the shop,we're kind of right now just
doing some help on the golfcourse, driving range area
(10:07):
because everybody else istending to other things and why
we're having, it's kind offunny.
You're prepping for atournament.
And, you know, at least for us,you know, we have a little bit
of a downtime before advancedweek gets here.
So we get to get out and help.
Do some things on the golfcourse that you know, or get the
(10:28):
guys out and they see things andwe can do something different,
but once this week's over, we'regoing to be full of steam in the
shop.
Trent Manning (10:37):
Yeah.
So I mean, we got plenty ofother questions, but since we're
talking about it, what is yourprocess leading up to the
tournament?
Sam Baldea (10:48):
Well right now let's see, two weeks ago, about three
weeks ago, we already re weground everything.
So leading up to the tournament,after that grind we're going to
be grinding greens every day.
They top dress greens everyweek.
So we're grinding greens almostevery week, going through the
(11:11):
equipment, making sure all theservices are done, you know,
cause I don't want to doanything like that once advanced
weeks get here, I just want togrind, have everything ready and
good to go.
Prepping all the hand tools,the, the blowers trimmers, stuff
like that, because we have a lotof native work that gets done.
(11:31):
A lot of native mowing.
We have two vent tracks, outfront mower, a 10 foot bush hog
that goes out.
A lot of rough mowing going onright now.
We're going to start brushingfairways here, Wednesday.
We've been brushing greens twicea week.
She should be startingbacktracking brush greens here
(11:52):
soon.
Trent Manning (11:54):
When you say brushing greens, what is it a
brush in front of the mower?
Sam Baldea (11:58):
yeah, it's that turf science brush chip Howard out in
Scottsdale.
He he actually has a niceproduct.
Really heavy duty.
I like it out of all the brushesI've seen he makes a good
product.
You know, we hit it twice.
They hit Robbie a little brushtwice a week.
And you know, then we'll do someregular mowing.
(12:20):
We're right now, height wise,we're pretty close to where
everything should be.
And then when our regionalagronomist comes in.
You know, the greens will startmaybe trickling down a little
bit and they'll get the dailyrolling going on start stamping
more.
And you know, they shoot for acertain number.
(12:41):
I gotta be a little hush aboutit, but they,
Trent Manning (12:43):
I don't know.
I understand
Sam Baldea (12:45):
they shoot for a certain number.
And I think we're getting close.
Trent Manning (12:49):
when I've heard, you know, I've volunteered at
several tournaments and theywon't ever say the number.
But, you know, everybody in theagronomy team, maybe not
everybody, but thesuperintendents assistants, they
all know the number.
So when they stamp a green, theycall over the radio and they
say, plus 1, plus 2, minus 2,you know, whatever.
(13:12):
They have their target and thenthey, you know.
Sam Baldea (13:16):
I've heard of that.
They, they we actually, youknow, we, we I guess we're
limited on radios, so onlycertain people have them.
Me, two of my guys and the restof the assistants and the two
volunteer TPC people that comedown.
So they, they say.
Certain things over the radioand then the other things they
(13:37):
hold to the side.
And then when they get togetherright before we're finished or
getting close to finish andthey'll go over notes and stuff.
Trent Manning (13:45):
Well, I remember I was at the players last year
and they were entering all of itin on their phone and it was,
you know, tracked in theirspreadsheet or whatever, you
know, so updated live.
That's pretty cool.
Sam Baldea (13:59):
yeah, we do that too.
You know, it's I, I, I like, youknow, I go out in the morning,
go check all the equipment andyou know, I get nosy when they
stimp because I like fastgreens.
And I, you know, sometimes Ijoke.
You know, like give me a 15 orsomething like that.
You know, I just, I like seeingthe process because working on
equipment all the time, youknow, you're getting ready,
(14:20):
you're here at tournament.
You want to have some fun.
You want to see some differentthings.
And you know what?
You learn some things watchingpeople, you know, I can't say I
can stimp, but I sure know theprocess,
Trent Manning (14:31):
right, right.
Yeah,
Sam Baldea (14:32):
I think it's pretty cool.
Trent Manning (14:34):
Yeah, no, it is cool.
Well, and that interestingenough, I guess, hopefully you
find it interesting or thelisteners do.
When I was at the players, thatwas my task.
Is I went out with the stintteam and I was just there.
Yeah.
I was just picking balls up.
I didn't do any step in, but Iwas just overseeing the process,
(14:55):
but I mean, it was fun.
You know, we had the, we weredropping the ball to, to, for
farmers and all that stuff.
So that was cool.
It was a good experience.
All right, let's go to thesecond question.
Sam Baldea (15:07):
all right,
Trent Manning (15:09):
What's your least favorite part of the job?
Sam Baldea (15:11):
oh, you're gonna love this one.
Everything to do with sand.
Trent Manning (15:15):
Okay.
Sam Baldea (15:17):
you know, I didn't mind aeration too much back on
the east coast, mid Atlantic,because it was twice a year, but
when we got here to south Texas,I mean, we do it four times a
year in the summer, and youknow, we got a lot of equipment
going out, a lot of differentthings, aerators, verticutters.
We're mowing down in heights.
(15:39):
It's, it's hot.
It's dusty.
It can be very challenging.
It's, it's nothing.
When I first got here, it'snothing like I've ever seen
anywhere else.
You know, it's the, the weathercan really be your enemy at
times here in the summer and it,it wears you down, you know, it
even plays heck with theequipment, you know, with the,
(16:02):
especially with the mowers goingout like for instance, we'll go
out and mow down fairways.
You know, if the grass is dry,radiators are getting clogged,
air filters are getting clogged.
There's a lot of blowing stuffoff.
And you know, back East, wedidn't have any of that.
And, you know, if I was backEast, I'd probably tell you
something different.
But right now here in the, youknow, South Texas and doing it
(16:25):
four times in the, in thesummer, it's like, eh, it's not
my biggest, biggest thing.
I like,
Trent Manning (16:31):
No, yeah, no, I definitely can understand that.
And I mean, even here inGeorgia, we get hot, but you
know, it's pretty humid too.
So we don't, you know, have allthe dust in our, the dust is not
as bad.
Sam Baldea (16:47):
Yeah.
I mean, luckily, luckily enough,we get A good week to take care
of everything.
So we don't go out and try andkill everything in one day.
We'll get probably half thegreens done one day, half the
greens done the other day.
Fairways will just keep rollingthrough the week, T's and
approaches.
You know, we got time.
(17:08):
That's, that's the nice thingwhere we're at.
Course gets closed for a week,each close, each course.
gets closed for a week.
Right now we're going to bedoing aerations one week.
I believe it's one week off aweek and then back a week on the
other course.
So, you know, it, it it getsreal intense because, you know,
(17:29):
like I said, the weather,wearing tines out, you know,
readjusting verticutters youknow, just a lot, just so much
going on, just so much.
You know, and I got three guysin the shop and we all, you
know, hit it hard together and,you know, we all have, you know,
(17:49):
the things that we do and we allchip in with things and, you
know, it makes it easy, but youknow, it does play tough on you.
Trent Manning (17:58):
Yeah, it definitely wears on you
physically and mentally.
You know, just the stress of,you know, whatever it is, air
fire going down or VertiCuttergoing down and you know, they
need it right then or 30 minutesbefore it broke and
Sam Baldea (18:13):
I believe we had one, one, one year that.
We got some wetness duringaeration and it was nice to have
a little cool coolness in theair, a little dampness, but man,
that dragged it on.
It was like, I don't want thisagain.
Just let's stick with the heatand dry and get it done with.
Trent Manning (18:33):
Why don't, so we usually airify, well, my one
course, July 5th every year andairify greens.
And.
That's our thunderstorm seasonand we always have a
thunderstorm every July 5th.
There's a thunderstorm.
It seems like I don't remember aJuly 5th without a thunderstorm.
(18:54):
You know, sometimes it'searlier.
Sometimes it's later.
Sometimes it don't last as long,but there's always a
thunderstorm on July 5th.
Sam Baldea (19:02):
yeah, we this past year with the heat wave that we
had, I mean, we oh gosh, I thinkwe were cutting, shutting down
for the day around two, threeo'clock just because it was so
hot and guys on the crew, youknow, we, we were able to get it
done.
And was just tough altogetherwith the heat.
It just really was.
(19:23):
Cause we have the aquifer wherewe get our water from and we get
restrictions on how much waterwe can put out.
And it was, it was getting kindof scary there for a minute.
Trent Manning (19:35):
Mm hmm.
Sam Baldea (19:36):
know, cause you could only do so many things and
we had to cut back on, you know,a VertiCut here or, or you know,
VertiCut there, or, you know,even doing something particular
to the green, just because wejust didn't have the water, you
know, you, you, the, the Aquiferpeople, they, they really watch
(19:56):
us close because we're rightover the recharge zone.
Trent Manning (20:00):
Hmm.
I've got you.
Well, what's your favorite tool?
Sam Baldea (20:04):
I like the Parbar
Trent Manning (20:06):
okay.
Shout out to miles.
Sam Baldea (20:08):
Yeah, yeah, I like what Miles makes.
You know, it's a really goodtool, really good gauge.
I think it's probably the best,in my opinion what's out there
right now.
The guys in the shop really loveit.
We went from analog to digital acouple years ago.
The guys really like it.
(20:29):
During tournament week, we usethe Advance week, tournament
week, we use the the half inchbar.
The one that only goes up to ahalf inch, with the better
quality gauge on it.
They really love it.
I love it.
You know, it's, it's, it's.
If you don't have a good gaugeor accurate gauge, you're,
you're just, you're, you couldbe running into some trouble.
Trent Manning (20:50):
Oh yeah, for sure.
And I mean, I've talked about itseveral times, but I don't think
a lot of people are trackingtheir gauge and you know, is it
consistent?
Is it accurate or not?
Sam Baldea (21:04):
Yeah.
No, we do.
I have some milled steel stockthat we, you know, test it with.
The ones that we use foradvanced week and tournament
week and knock on wood, they'vebeen good.
You know, like I said, he putsout a good gauge and you got to
take care of it.
You got, you got to make sureit's in a good safe case, you
(21:25):
know, clean a debris and don'tdrop it.
You know, I've seen working myway through this industry.
I've seen a lot of guys just nottake care of it, you know, and
it's very important, you
Trent Manning (21:37):
Mm.
Yeah.
I mean, that's one of, one ofthose tools that we can't really
do without.
Sam Baldea (21:43):
no, no.
Cause when I first started thesuper I work with was, you know,
old school guy, and it was a barwith a screw.
You know, and I thought, okay,well, that's, that is, that's
what it is.
And then I get over to a countryclub and they're like okay, this
isn't what I remembered, but allright, I'll roll with it.
Ooh,
Trent Manning (22:09):
they broke their, not that they broke it, but
their how to cut gauge got brokebefore the tournament.
So we were using a bar and screwto set green tie.
And that's really hard.
You know, if you're trying tomeasure a 10th of an inch, you
(22:30):
know, on a screw that makes ittough.
Sam Baldea (22:33):
Yeah, especially with, you know, that's, that,
that bar with a screw, that's alot of feel.
You have to have the right feel.
The guy behind you, you know,might have to have that same
feel.
I mean, it's just, it is, it'svery tough, you know.
We have one, two, three, I thinkwe have six gauges, two of them
(22:55):
just for greens for advancedweek and tournament week.
And then the rest of them arefor everything else.
We keep them safe.
We make sure they're workinggreat.
During tournament, you know,each of us split up like me and
my assistant, we only do thegreens.
The other two guys will dofairways, approaches, and T's.
(23:16):
That way we just, you know,we're keeping it equal and that
bar, that gauge stays withwhatever we're doing.
Like those two are just greens.
One's a backup, one's we use,the one is what we use all the
time.
Fairway guys, they got twogauges.
One they use the whole time andone's a backup same with the T
guy.
So, you know, it's veryimportant to have that stuff.
Trent Manning (23:38):
Oh, for sure.
Do you have any volunteers inthe shop during the tournament?
Sam Baldea (23:42):
Danny McConnell comes down for advanced week,
helps us grind cause we're aBernhardt facility.
But during tournament week I'veonly had a couple through my
time here at San Antonio.
We get a lot of other, you know,assistants, supers and stuff
like that.
It's sometimes it's been greathaving help in there.
And then sometimes, you know,it's, it's been a little
challenging, but right now Ithink we have a individual who
(24:07):
used to be a equipment managerthat, And I think he's wanting
to come into the shop and do alittle bit.
We'll see how, we'll see howthat goes.
We have a you know, the guys inthe shop, they They can, they
can be a little funny at times.
They're like, don't mess up myMy system, don't mess up my
mojo, you know, I like it likethis, don't mess up nothing,
(24:28):
Sam, and I'm like, alright, but,you know, let's just, let's just
see what we can do, you know,
Trent Manning (24:34):
Well, I know a lot of times when I've helped
out in the shop at tournaments,I'll just push mowers around,
you know, I mean, that's alwayshelpful.
Sam Baldea (24:44):
yeah, no, we, we, the, the, one time I had a guy
from I get these two coursesmixed up, it was either TPC,
River Bend or TPC, RiverHighland or whatever.
I, I always get them mixed up,but he came down, he was an
equipment tech.
He was going to be possiblymoving up to equipment manager.
(25:04):
And he had the idea that he wasjust going to be doing that,
pushing things around, whatever.
But I kind of surprised them bysaying, all right, you're going
to take care of the T's.
And you know, the other guystake care of the fairways and
approaches and we'll do thegreens ourselves, but, you know,
it he was kind of shockedbecause he thought he was just
coming there to push somethingaround,
Trent Manning (25:26):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's cool.
Was it Bob Smith?
No, not Bob
Sam Baldea (25:30):
No, it was,
Trent Manning (25:31):
Bob Martizek.
Sam Baldea (25:33):
no, it was gosh, I can't remember his name.
Trent Manning (25:36):
Cause Bob Martizek is River Highlands.
Sam Baldea (25:39):
no, then it was River Benz.
The one that what is it in, ohOhio, I believe.
Trent Manning (25:43):
Okay.
Yeah.
Highlands is in Connecticut.
Sam Baldea (25:47):
Yeah, that's yeah.
I just met him actually.
We had a a video meeting withJohn Deere.
And that was the first time Iever met him and he seemed like
a really good guy.
We had some same concerns, sameideas.
You know, we touch bases and Hiteach other up.
I guess he hit me up on LinkedInand you know, he said feel free
(26:09):
to throw some ideas his way.
Stuff like that.
He seemed like a good guy.
I
Trent Manning (26:13):
No, he is.
Sam Baldea (26:14):
doing some things.
Trent Manning (26:15):
yeah, no, he's, he's awesome.
I volunteered up there lastyear, too, for the travelers.
And just push mowers aroundpretty much.
No, I did, I did a few otherthings, but I mean, it was a
lot, I love volunteering.
It's a lot of fun.
You get back way more than youput in,
Sam Baldea (26:31):
I tell you what, I hear that from everybody.
We get A lot of people fromoverseas, England, New Zealand
here in the States.
And a lot of them, that's whatthey do.
They just do tournament supportand they pick a couple
throughout the year and do it.
And it's amazing that, you know,that they may be stuck in
(26:52):
bunkers.
They may be doing divots.
They may be doing something likethat, but they always seem to go
back with some sort of knowledgethat what we did and take it to
their facility.
Trent Manning (27:04):
it doesn't necessarily matter what their
task is during the tournament.
They're talking to everybodyelse, their network.
And, you know, they're talkingto your supers, your assistants
and getting ideas about this,that, and whatever else.
So it's, it's a greatexperience.
Sam Baldea (27:20):
I love the guys from overseas because they come in
and it's like their mind isblown.
At the size of our facility andthe stuff we got, they're like,
Oh no, we don't have that, youknow, we, we, we got, you know,
half the equipment or a quarterof the equipment you got, or
man, your shop is huge, youknow, it just, I love it, you
(27:42):
know, cause
Trent Manning (27:42):
it's cool.
Sam Baldea (27:43):
I see it.
What we do, but I would love togo overseas and do something and
see that just
Trent Manning (27:49):
Oh, yeah.
Sam Baldea (27:50):
you know, it's, it's, it's a whole different
world.
Trent Manning (27:53):
Mm hmm.
Yeah, for sure.
That'd be awesome.
Well, what do you do to relax orfind your balance?
Sam Baldea (27:59):
I really like the outdoors.
I love fishing.
I love being with my son.
He likes getting out and fishingand stuff.
He he's funny.
The first time I took him, evertook him, he I had more fun than
I guess he did to see him hookhis first fish and he got a
couple fish and he was like,okay, I'm done.
I'm ready to go home.
I'm like, what?
I mean, everything's gettinggood, but that's one thing I
(28:23):
love to do.
I love the outdoors.
I used to hunt a lot back when Ilived in Virginia and Maryland.
I really haven't done that inyears.
Also got a, my wife really getson me because she says I'm
really good at it.
I love take, I love.
Taking pictures and photography.
Trent Manning (28:42):
Oh, yeah.
Sam Baldea (28:43):
some of the stuff you see on my X or Twitter page,
you know, or the sunrises andstuff of the course, the fog and
everything, and you know, I, Iknow some people that really do
professional photography andthey, they keep telling me, you
know, it might be something youwant to do.
I look at it as you can capturethe moment you're seeing and
(29:05):
constantly go back to it and resee in it and re You know, feel
that moment that you felt whenyou saw it in person but I just,
I love the outdoors.
I just love it.
Trent Manning (29:17):
No, that's awesome.
And yeah, I think I guess when Iwas out in Phoenix, I don't
remember if it was I'll think ofhis name in a minute.
I don't know why I just wentblank, but the great equipment
manager at Desert Mountain.
And anyway, I'm talking to him.
(29:39):
I'm like, every equipmentmanager I think I've met is a
redneck.
We're all rednecks.
It's just funny, you know, andnot that that's a bad thing or
anything like that But yeah, Imean most of us do enjoy the
outdoors a lot of us like tofish some of us like to hunt
yes, this is awesome
Sam Baldea (30:01):
you know, I did like I said in the beginning, you
know, I used, I used to playgolf a lot.
I would play it once, twice aweek My dad, he used to be able
to hit the ball real far and Iwas pretty equal to him.
So he took me to my first longdrive competition.
And he just wanted to see what Icould do.
(30:21):
And sure enough, you know, I gothooked on it because.
I didn't really know that thatcould be something you could do.
I competed in local events andmade it twice to regional
championships and you know,pounding the ball.
Like my longest drive I ever hitwas 364 yards.
Trent Manning (30:43):
Wow
Sam Baldea (30:44):
You get to regionals where all these other guys are
vying for the You know, gettingto worlds and you're seeing guys
hit balls over 400 yards, youknow, up in the top 300 and it
blows your mind.
I did that for a while and I wasreally hooked on it.
I spent a lot of money on golfclubs.
(31:04):
you know, it's just not.
Drivers you could buy off theshelf.
There were a lot of componentsyou put together and, you know,
I had four and a half degreedrivers, five degree drivers,
double X diff shafts, and I waslike blowing money every year
and, I did that for a while andI was like, you know, okay.
(31:27):
I think it's time to settleback.
But you know, no, I, I love theoutdoors and you're right.
Everybody, the one year we hadthe golf show here in San
Antonio, we had a shop tour guysfrom buses came in and you know,
I gave a shop tour and it's justso many, we, we loved outdoors.
(31:49):
It's just, it's not a bad thing.
Like you said,
Trent Manning (31:51):
Oh, yeah,
Sam Baldea (31:52):
It is what it is.
I mean, we're, we're in a way, Iguess you could say we're, we're
I don't know, we're just goodold boys, I guess.
Trent Manning (31:59):
there you go.
Oh, yeah, I like that maybe thenmaybe I should change that
because I think Redneck couldhave a negative connotation to
it So good old boy, maybe that'sbetter.
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Let's get back to the episode.
Well, tell us something strangeyou've seen at the golf course.
Sam Baldea (32:51):
All right.
This is the strangest thing I'veever seen is when I got here
from the East coast to here,South Texas are the hogs.
These,
Trent Manning (33:01):
yeah.
Sam Baldea (33:02):
these things are relentless.
They are destructive.
The weirdest thing, cause wetrap them at our golf course and
they get disposed of.
And one time I was up on thedriving range early in the
morning and I started to chasethis one off in my cart.
I got a 835 XUV.
(33:22):
So, you know, it goes in itsforties I was chasing him a good
ways.
And, you know, I bumped him inhis butt and he stopped and
turned and looked at me and I'mlike, why are you not running?
You know, because I'm comingfrom an area where, you know, we
don't have hogs.
It just how they will turn andstand toe to toe with you is
(33:46):
amazing
Trent Manning (33:47):
Yeah, that's scary.
Sam Baldea (33:48):
The Worst I've seen it was It was in winter it was
Well before the Valero and theydid so much damage.
I think we brought in like an 18wheeler of sod
Trent Manning (34:02):
Wow.
Sam Baldea (34:03):
I mean it's I It's just crazy.
And the things that they do andhow they, you know, They, they,
they know the course, they knowthe cutthroes to get from the
North course down to the Southcourse, they know, you know,
When we're water in the most,you know, it's just, it's crazy
Trent Manning (34:24):
That is crazy.
Sam Baldea (34:25):
I've never seen an animal like that before.
The biggest one we've taken offthe property when we had this
trapper that would take them outalive.
And when, if he caught big ones,he would take them right to the
process in place because hecharges for trapping.
And then he made money offselling them to the meat market.
The biggest one he's ever takenoff was 368.
Trent Manning (34:48):
Wow.
That's
Sam Baldea (34:49):
That was a, that was a huge hog.
We had one, we, it was funnycause it was, we caught him in a
storm.
I went out and checked and thetrapper called us and said, I
can see him on my camera, butcan you go make sure the traps
are, cause he looks like he'sbig.
So I drove out there and thisbig gray, white, I don't know,
(35:12):
just, you know, light coloredhog was in it and it was like
the biggest one I've ever saw.
So we get back to the shop.
The senior assistant calls him.
Yeah, it's still there.
He gets here, we drive outthere, and it's gone.
It busted out the cage.
And it's funny because you knowhow like the story of Moby Dick,
the big white whale, we got thisstory of the big white gray hog
(35:36):
that's been running around andno one's been able to trap.
Trent Manning (35:39):
Yeah, that's good.
That's awesome.
Do you have a mentor in theindustry?
Sam Baldea (35:44):
You know, I do.
When I first started Naples Lawnand Garden Buddy Harris and Dave
Goodwin, they they did me, didme well, they, they took care of
me helped me learn stuff taughtme a lot.
about small engines and, youknow, turf equipment and small
farm equipment to where, youknow, it's not a, don't look
(36:06):
down on yourself because you'renot a car mechanic or a truck
mechanic or something like that.
This is something that's, youknow, just as important as a
vehicle.
And you know, they taught me theright way of doing things and,
you know, keeping to yourstandards and going above and
beyond what you would normally.
(36:27):
And then just try and, and putout a good product when you
repair something.
You know, I was only with themfor about four years and then
they closed the business.
Buddy has, I believe gone andhe, you know, he's passed away
since then.
But, you know, on my Facebookpage David, I'm, I'm still in
(36:47):
contact with him.
He's a service manager up atLEPCO in Pennsylvania of of
Landscape equipment and youknow, they started everything
for me.
If it wasn't for them, Iprobably wouldn't be where I'm
at.
You
Trent Manning (37:01):
Right.
Sam Baldea (37:01):
When I one employee of the year back in 2017.
You know, I thank David foreverything he did for me,
because if, if he wouldn't havetaught me, he saw something in
me, if they wouldn't have spentthe time with me, you know, I
wouldn't be where I'm at rightnow.
Trent Manning (37:19):
Oh yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
No, that's awesome.
And it's great to have reallygood mentors, you know, no
matter what industry you're in.
Sam Baldea (37:29):
No, it's, it's, it's, it's important.
You know, my you know, I don'treally have an assistant, but I
call him my assistant, Alonzo.
He jokes with me a lot.
You know, I, I show him.
Tricks and things like thatthat, you know, you may not see
in a book or whatever and Healways jokes with me.
He goes.
Thank you sensei.
I'm like
Trent Manning (37:49):
Yeah, yeah, that's funny.
Sam Baldea (37:50):
Yeah, so, you know it feels good to you know have a
mentor but then it feels goodalso to pass that on and
Trent Manning (37:59):
No, a hundred percent.
Sam Baldea (38:00):
You know, I appreciate those two guys.
They they did a lot for me,
Trent Manning (38:04):
No, that's awesome.
What would be your dream job?
Sam Baldea (38:08):
man 50 course
Trent Manning (38:12):
Okay.
Yep.
Sam Baldea (38:13):
I would, I would love to be a part of an
operation like that.
You know, I, I'm not pickyabout, you know, I don't know a
lot of the top 50 courses butworking at TPC Potomac being
next to congressional andgetting to go over there and see
things when they were gettingready for the U.
S.
Open.
(38:34):
That was awesome.
You know, the, they, the localdealer that supplied them the
equipment they brought in loanerstuff and they were unpacking
brand new stuff for them to use.
And I've never seen that before.
And I was like, that is awesome.
Trent Manning (38:52):
Yeah, that's cool.
Sam Baldea (38:53):
at the time his the, the equipment manager there was
Shahid and you know, it was itwas awesome, but you know,
opportunity for me, you know, itwould be.
I would definitely love one dayto be able to go back to TPC
Potomac and finish everythingout with the PGA Tour just
(39:14):
because that's where I started.
You know, I'm from that area,but I have like in Myrtle Beach,
I love the, the Dunes Beach andGolf Club.
You know, I got a chance to playthat one year with my dad and
that was awesome.
He lives in Myrtle Beach.
He retired there.
Caldonia, you know, that's anice club, but just to be a part
(39:37):
of a top 50 club, you know, Iwould even love, I would even
love being a part of Sawgrass tobe honest with you.
Trent Manning (39:44):
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
That'd be cool.
Sam Baldea (39:46):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (39:47):
They got it going on down there for sure.
It's,
Sam Baldea (39:50):
know they it is, it's it's a monster.
Trent Manning (39:54):
What technician would you like to work with for
a day?
You got anybody in mind?
Sam Baldea (39:58):
I do.
When I first got into TPCPotomac, Jerry Ashby was the
equipment manager at the time.
And you know, I worked with himalmost two years and I got
promoted to, or got transferredhere.
During my time here, a couple ofyears ago, he passed away.
I had cancer really bad.
(40:19):
I would really love just to haveone more day with him, just to
work with him.
He was a good guy.
We had fun.
We butt heads sometimes, but youknow, he, he was fresh into the
industry.
Came from Ford dealer reallygood sound mechanical ability.
Really new into grinding.
(40:39):
So, you know, I was able to do alot of grinding.
You know, he was learning thestuff for himself, but I'd
really love to have just onemore day with him just to joke
with them, show pictures, like,Hey man, look, look what They
did to this equipment because,you know, when I got here and
got promoted, he would send meat least once a week.
(41:01):
He's like, look what this guydid.
You know, this cart, you know,all mangled, whatever.
And we would get to joking andstuff.
And I just, I miss that.
I would love to have one moreday with them.
Trent Manning (41:11):
Yeah.
Yep.
For sure.
Get ready for tips and tricks.
Let's do some tips and tricks.
What do you got for us?
Sam Baldea (41:21):
You know, I love the leveling table, the granite
table.
Trent Manning (41:27):
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Sam Baldea (41:28):
that was something new in our facility two, three
years ago, I guess.
And you know, watching thevideos that was put out on it on
YouTube, how to use it, Youknow, I think we always tweak on
things that we see and we get alot of fairway reels that come
back that are really knocked outof alignment.
(41:50):
And, you know, with that table,it helps us put it back to
square, but, you know, we foundways to speed it up, I guess.
What we normally, what we'll dois once we get everything
clamped down and it is rockingreally bad we'll just get the
reel.
We'll start loosening up frame,you know, getting it, you know,
(42:13):
to let it square up with the bedknife and reel.
And I found these machined barsthat we use as like a feeler
gauge and we're feeling it offthe the ends of the reel And
once we get it right where it'sTouching nice and smooth on each
side.
Not a lot of drag.
(42:33):
We'll tighten things down backoff the reel, get it adjusted,
set the height and we'll put itback on the the, the, the stone.
And you know, it, it comes outmost of the time, like 98.
9, 98 percent of the time trueagain.
You know, where I've seen guyson the video and other guys,
they use that dial cage, but Idon't know.
(42:56):
It could be a South Texas thingwith the ground hard, you know,
the reels get, you know, knockedout of whack a lot down here.
And we find that way of usingthose machine bars as feeler
gauges probably the best thingso far that helps us get them
back square.
We don't so much have problemswith that, with the greens
mowers.
(43:16):
When we do get one that's,knocked out of alignment.
What we'll do, same process.
We'll get the reel touching onthe bed knife.
Undo the bolts on the frame,rollers, stuff like that.
And then we'll just lower it andtouch the bed knife right onto
the stone itself.
And then go through the processof, I got these long feeler
(43:37):
gauges of touching the bedknife.
And you know, once we get itwhere it's, you know, a nice
little drag on each side, we'llstart putting things back
together, tighten things backup, adjusting everything,
cutting paper, height, and thenwe'll throw it back.
I love that thing.
Trent Manning (43:54):
Who, who who implemented that?
He said, you've only had it acouple of years.
Sam Baldea (44:00):
well, our I guess VP of agronomy Kept saying that we
all need to get it, get involvedwith it.
Cause sawgrass had it.
And you know, I think all TPCsnow have it.
It's a I think sawgrass fromwhat I heard, I think Danny told
me that they use it every dayafter when machines come in,
(44:22):
they'll throw it up there andcheck it, but we do it a lot
with, after a grind or if we gotsomething on the lift, it just
doesn't look right.
So we'll throw it on there.
But it was the VP of agronomy, Ibelieve, that implemented it.
Trent Manning (44:36):
Yeah.
I was just curious.
Sam Baldea (44:37):
Yeah,
Trent Manning (44:38):
That's cool though.
And I mean, I'm glad that, yeah,people are doing that now and
Sam Baldea (44:43):
mean, I've seen things on Twitter, X, and you
know, people clamping down barsacross the stone itself and
using it like, you know, the oldwhat was it, AccuGage that they,
that they used to have.
You know, there's so manydifferent ways to doing it, you
know, I, like I teach the guysin the shop, you know, there's a
(45:05):
lot of ways out there.
There's the, by the book.
And then sometimes that we getoff the book a little bit
because.
We're able to find new ways ofdoing it.
And I think a lot of people arestarting to do that.
And as long as we're getting tothe same common goal of having
things square and coming outwith the same product, you know,
(45:28):
I'm, I'm fine with that.
And I think You know, Twitter Xis a good place to get
information and stuff.
And even YouTube, a lot of guyshave YouTube stuff on there.
You know, it's, it's, yeah,it's, it's just a cool tool and
having the internet and beingable to see what other people do
(45:49):
is, is, is helpful as well.
Trent Manning (45:52):
Oh yeah, for sure.
I mean, I think it's awesome.
And yeah, to your point, it'slike the old saying goes,
there's more than, more than oneway to skin a cat.
Right.
I mean, you know, and whateverworks for you and your
operation, You don't have to doit like the guy on YouTube or
down the road or whatever, you
Sam Baldea (46:11):
yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I would love, I wouldlove to one day put out.
A video on X on how we do it.
Cause I showed Danny one timewhen he came with a new guy to
Bernhardt.
And he was like, wow, I've neverseen that done, but we were able
to produce what needed to beproduced at the end.
(46:32):
And You know, it's, it's,there's so many different ways
of doing things.
Trent Manning (46:37):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Any other tips?
That the biggest one?
Sam Baldea (46:42):
I would say that's the biggest one.
My, my other thing is just getinto a good grinding routine.
I mean, we're grinding somethingevery week.
You know, it's, It's soimportant to keep those reels
sharp and cutting paper nice andcrisp because, you know, I've,
(47:04):
I've worked around people thatare like, you know, spin that
reel real fast just to get the,the paper to cut.
And I'm like, you know, hold on,hold on.
Let's, you know, if, if you spinit slow and it cuts and it's
nice and crisp, that's what wewant.
And just.
Just pay attention to your reelsbecause that's what makes us as
technicians for golf course.
(47:26):
You know, it's, it's it's veryimportant.
Trent Manning (47:29):
it's definitely our bread and butter because,
you know, I mean, anybody, notanybody, but there's a lot of
people that can.
You know, be a mechanic and workon a lot of different stuff, but
that's one thing that kind ofsets us apart is we have a good
understanding of cutting unitmaintenance and set up and, and
all those things.
Sam Baldea (47:48):
And you know, one thing that we've been doing Past
two years now is I gotten inwith a Schweppco dealer and I
really love their grease.
I don't replace Barons duringthe season, roller Barons, real
Barons, just get some goodquality grease.
It's, it's, it's huge.
(48:08):
It helps you a lot.
Trent Manning (48:10):
that's awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's another good tip.
Well, what else do you want todive into?
Sam Baldea (48:16):
Oh gosh.
Trent Manning (48:17):
Yeah, we covered a lot, covered a lot of stuff
there.
That was good.
Sam Baldea (48:20):
You know, we as golf course mechanics grow, you know,
going through this industry andgoing through the years, I think
we've got bad names on ourselvesfor being grumpy and You know,
we're going to have times wherewe do get grumpy.
But I think working close andhaving a good relationship with
(48:41):
the agronomy team is key.
Get them to, you know, know thatyou're on your, their side.
We're all the same team.
We're all for the same goal.
Because in the end, if one of usfail, we all fail.
know, don't get, get rid of thatgrumpy mechanic personality.
Not saying that everybody hasit.
(49:02):
So I'm like, I said, I get itevery once in a while we all do,
but just being, you know, a teamplayer is, is huge as key.
I'll give you an example.
It kind of helps us out in theshop a little bit, breaks up the
monotony.
We, the PF gets mowed twice aweek and we do it.
We help them out by doing it inthe morning.
(49:22):
Gets my, one, it gets my guysout of the shop, gets them doing
something different.
And two, it kind of lightens upthe load of the assistance on
sending someone up just to mowthe driving range tee, you know,
just something simple like that,you know, is just it shows that,
you know, Hey man, we're, we'reall part of the same team.
Let's, let's help each otherout.
You know, I, I never thought Iwould be where I'm at without.
(49:47):
You know, support of others andyou know, you never be afraid to
ask questions or try and be theone that you think you know what
you're doing, but in the end youdon't, you're just making
yourself look bad.
Just, just ask the questions,make a call.
I'm I've made friends here inTexas with a lot in the dealer.
(50:10):
I got a great parts guy.
Road service guy even some ofthe directors and stuff.
And, you know, if I get stumpedwith something, I will make a
call.
I have no problem, you know,cause you're going to learn from
it.
You know, especially just a lotof other guys see a lot more
than you.
So don't, don't be afraid.
Trent Manning (50:33):
Yeah, especially those guys on the road.
I mean, they say a lot of stuff,
Sam Baldea (50:38):
they do.
Trent Manning (50:39):
you know, a lot more than I've had that
conversation several times.
I mean, when I was doing it, Imean, I think one year on the
road is equal to five or sixyears at a golf course
Sam Baldea (50:51):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (50:52):
because you just, you know, it's a new problem
every single day that somebodycouldn't figure out or doesn't
have the time to figure out andit's your job.
Solve that.
Yeah,
Sam Baldea (51:08):
I think happened to me in a while, we had a 300
gallon sprayer, centrifugalpump, and it just one day
started to leak, you know, andwe resealed it and it leaked
again.
resealed it, it was a hydraulicmotor.
It leaked again.
So I threw a whole new assemblyon there and seven parts
(51:33):
warranties later, it was stillleaking hydraulic and it was
driving me crazy.
And I was calling everybody.
The parts guy was helping mecalling deer, trying to get.
Some information, DTAC case wasput on it.
The road service guy came out,tested the, the pressures going
back to the motor.
(51:53):
They were all within spec.
I mean, we were coming up,trying to come up with anything
and everything.
I don't know if just a bad batchwas made or whatever, but it
took a lot of us.
You know, to put our headstogether and just try and figure
things out.
And yeah, you're right.
Those road guys, they see morethan what we do.
They see some crazy stuff, youknow, I was, I made friends with
(52:16):
this one road guy, he's nolonger with the dealer, but I
still open up to him for helpand all, because he opened his,
his own business, you know, justtech questions and whatever,
because we earned thatfriendship, you know, and he
doesn't mind.
You know, helping me withsomething that's stumping me.
And just make friends with theroad guy, make friends with the
(52:38):
parts guy.
I got one parts guy that that'salls I use.
If he's out sick, well, it's notgetting ordered today.
You know, I'm waiting until he'sgetting back, you know?
Trent Manning (52:47):
that's cool.
Sam Baldea (52:48):
it's it's, it's just important to make that
friendship and yeah, they, theysee stuff, they do.
Trent Manning (52:54):
Oh yeah, for sure.
You ready to do some rapid fire?
Sam Baldea (53:00):
Yeah,
Trent Manning (53:01):
Let's do it.
What's your favorite movie?
Sam Baldea (53:04):
Jaws,
Trent Manning (53:05):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
what year did that come out?
Sam Baldea (53:09):
I think 76,
Trent Manning (53:10):
Okay.
All right.
What will be your last meal?
Sam Baldea (53:14):
Maryland Steamed Blue Crabs,
Trent Manning (53:17):
Oh yeah.
So good.
Yes.
So good.
What are you most proud ofbesides your family?
Sam Baldea (53:24):
you know, I'm, I'm proud of how, you know, things
turned out for me I'm proud ofhaving, you know, a cheerleader
and my wife to cheer me on and,and people trust me with things.
Because that does make youproud.
It's not a cockiness.
It's, it's, you know, Hey, Iearned that person's trust to
trust me with everything that Iam responsible for at work.
(53:47):
So,
Trent Manning (53:47):
hmm.
No, that's yeah, that's awesome.
And that's a huge, you know, Idon't know the word, but you
definitely should be proud ofthat, right?
Because it's, it's one thing towork with somebody.
It's another thing to trustsomebody you work with.
Sam Baldea (54:04):
yeah,
Trent Manning (54:05):
I mean, I can count on one hand how many
people you know, my shop Itrust,
Sam Baldea (54:10):
yeah,
Trent Manning (54:10):
right?
Sam Baldea (54:11):
yeah, it's, it's, it's, there's a, I saw a meme.
Teamwork is not when you workwell with each other.
Teamwork is when you trust eachother.
Trent Manning (54:21):
Yeah, that's good.
Mm hmm.
Sam Baldea (54:23):
I trust I got a new guy in the shops, you know, he's
still feeling them out, seeingwhat he can do.
Cause he's, you know, he's greento the industry, but I got two
other guys that I truly trust.
If I'm not there, I know thingsare going to be all right.
Trent Manning (54:35):
Yeah.
No, that's awesome.
And that says a lot about theway you mentor them.
And it says a lot about themtoo.
Sam Baldea (54:42):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (54:43):
Yeah.
No, that's awesome.
We'll tell the listeners howthey can get ahold of you.
Sam Baldea (54:49):
I have a Twitter page just hit me up on my name,
Sam Baldia LinkedIn account, andyou know, I, I time to time, put
things up there.
I do surf it.
At least once a day for newthings, you know, see what's
going on.
You know, I've been toying witheven starting up a YouTube
channel.
And doing some things how we dothings with equipment wise.
(55:15):
But yeah, just hit me up onTwitter, X, whatever you want to
call it.
Or LinkedIn.
Trent Manning (55:20):
Awesome.
No, that's so good.
And definitely do the YouTubething and anybody that's
listening, do the YouTube thingor make some videos and put it
on X or I mean, whatever it is.
I think the more information wecan get out there like that, I
mean, the better.
and on I plug my own website,but I've linked all the YouTube
(55:46):
channels that I know of.
Sam Baldea (55:48):
yeah.
Trent Manning (55:48):
So if you know of another really good YouTube
channel for our industry, sendme an email.
Let me know.
I'll be happy to put it onthere.
Cause I think that'd be a greatresource for everyone.
Sam Baldea (56:01):
I'd say I got into X two or three years ago, and it
just blew my mind how muchinformation is out there.
And it blew my mind how you canask a question and how many
people would be responding.
You know, it's a we're a nicheindustry, but you know what?
We're a tight industry.
I see a lot of people helpingeach other.
Trent Manning (56:23):
Oh, for sure.
And I think, you know, I've saidthat plenty to you, but that's
my favorite part about thisindustry is, and especially on
the mechanic side, we'll helpanybody out, I don't care who it
is.
I don't care who you are orwhere you're at, you call me and
I'll do everything I can to helpyou.
And I think everybody else inthe industry is that way too.
Sam Baldea (56:46):
yeah, no, it is.
I,
Trent Manning (56:47):
it so great.
Sam Baldea (56:48):
I remember the, the dealer gave my information out
to this one guy not too far fromMarlborough Falls.
He was having some trouble withsome bed knives and stuff like
that.
And we, we run nothing but JRMstuff, tines and bed knives.
And he was so appreciative of megiving him information on JRM
(57:09):
and what we do and, you know, Ididn't give out, you know,
every, Little tidbit, but youknow, I helped him with
everything that you know, we doand you know from last I heard
he was he Made to move over tothe greens bed knives at least
and you know, he was doing wellHe was getting what he needed
out of him just from me helpinghim giving him my point of view
(57:31):
on stuff
Trent Manning (57:32):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
So, so good.
Well, thank you so much, Sam.
thank you so much for listeningto the Reel turf techs podcast.
I hope you learned somethingtoday.
Don't forget to subscribe.
If you have any topics you'dlike to discuss, or you'd like
to be a guest, find us onTwitter at Reel turf techs.
welcome to the reel turf techs podcast for the
technician that wants to getreel follow along.
As we talk to industryprofessionals and address hot
topics that we all face alongthe way we'll learn tips and
tricks.
I'm your host, Trent.
Manning let's have some Welcometo the real turf techs podcast.
(00:27):
Episode 1 22.
Today.
We're talking to Sam baldivia.
Equipment manager.
At TPC, San Antonio and SanAntonio, Texas TPC San Antonio
is a private 36 hole facility.
It has the Oaks course.
Where the Valero, Texas opennesshailed.
And the canyon course hassupported championships and Korn
(00:50):
ferry, tour events.
Sam has two technicians.
With him in the shop and apreventive maintenance
technician.
He has primarily John Deereequipment.
Like most TPC courses.
Let's talk to Sam.
Welcome Sam to the RealTurf TextPodcast.
How are you doing today?
Sam Baldea (01:07):
I'm good.
Doing well, Trent.
Appreciate for you having me dothis.
Trent Manning (01:11):
Oh yeah, for sure.
I'm excited about it.
And yeah, thank you so much forbeing on.
Tell us how you got into theturf industry.
Sam Baldea (01:21):
Well, it's it's a pretty funny story.
I actually was, I grew up in amechanical family, but I kind of
ventured away in a trade school.
I was supposed to be a brickmason.
And I did that for about sixmonths and gave it up, for my
uncle a short time, and I wasactually working on one of his
(01:43):
gravely out front mowers he had.
And he sent me up to the dealerhe deals with.
And went up there and ended uptalking with the two owners for
about an hour.
And.
You know, they surprised me witha job offer as a apprenticeship,
getting into the landscapeequipment turf industry.
(02:05):
And did that for about fouryears.
They ended up closing theirbusiness.
And Did some things, you know,on my own.
Wasn't happy with things I wasdoing and got a part time job.
Well, temporary job, I shouldsay, at a Hilltop Golf Club in
Alexandria, Virginia.
(02:25):
And they found out I could workon things and that's where it
pretty much started back in2004.
And I got my real big break whenI was hired on at a country club
over in Crofton, Maryland.
It's outside of Annapolis,Maryland.
And yeah, so that's, I'm heretoday.
Trent Manning (02:45):
That's awesome.
Yeah.
And I don't, you know, you'renot the first one to say that
yeah, I'm just going to try thisout at this golf course for a
little while.
You know, I'll, I'll findsomething else
Sam Baldea (02:57):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (02:58):
yeah, it's a funny story or similar story, a
guy that works on our crew.
His name's Philip Boswell and hegrew up in construction.
His dad was construction andthey, you know, run side and
roofing.
I mean, Framing, you know,anything construction going on
(03:18):
and he was in between jobs andhe's, I don't, you know, he's in
his probably sixties and he'sseen the ad for the golf course
and he come to the golf courseand he's been there I think 12
years now.
And he, he said, yeah, I'll justwork here, you know, for a month
or two until I can findsomething better.
Sam Baldea (03:39):
man,
Trent Manning (03:40):
he is still there, you know?
Sam Baldea (03:41):
that was my plan.
I mean, I was looking to getback into an equipment dealer
and you know, it just, it justdidn't pan out and it just
opened the doors and you know,it's had its challenges, but you
know, for the most part, it wasa it was a, it was a good run.
I enjoyed it.
It was something differentbecause at a deal or at least,
(04:03):
you know, you were stuck in a abay, you were stuck doing, you
know, the same stuff over andover again.
And when it got introduced to meIt was it opened my eyes.
It was like, you're doing like afleet mechanic type deal and you
get to get outside and see, youknow, the golf course and stuff,
(04:25):
see, you know, what the beautyis of a golf course.
And I, you know, I've alwaysplayed golf.
You know, it's always been, mydad got me into it.
You know, we, we, we played askids growing up and I always
played and it was a good deal,you know, and, and just the job
offers kept coming.
I got to the sister course ofWalden country club.
(04:48):
That was that first country clubI worked at Crofton country
club.
And I worked there for a littleover a year and a half And I
almost gave up, you know, Isaid, let me try something
different.
And I was lucky enough to get ajob interview with the Fairfax
County Park Authority.
And got there, did my interviewand come to find out it was for
(05:11):
a golf course.
And I was like, well, I guessI'm not getting away from this.
And, you know, I spent a goodfour years with the county, did
A little bit of everything did alot of repair and mechanical
work, got my spray license forVirginia because everybody at
the county has to do everything.
(05:31):
It's,
Trent Manning (05:31):
Mm-Hmm?
Sam Baldea (05:32):
it just wasn't one man does a certain thing.
And.
You know, after four years, Ikind of got, kind of got tired,
you know, I wanted somethingmore challenging and looking,
you know, through turf net and,and such and TPC Potomac popped
up equipment tech.
(05:54):
So I me and my wife gottogether.
We tweaked on my resume.
She did a really good jobtweaking on my resume and went
and had an interview at TPCPotomac.
And man, I was there for likethree, four hours for this
interview.
And I was like, There's no waythey're not hiring me.
Trent Manning (06:12):
Mm-Hmm.
Sam Baldea (06:12):
they showed me everything and that's how I got
started in the TPC PGA network.
They hired me and you know, Ispent almost two years at TPC
Potomac and was took a transferdown here to TPC San Antonio for
possible promotion.
And you know, it, it Thing, goodthings came about,
Trent Manning (06:36):
That's awesome.
Sam Baldea (06:37):
yeah, yeah.
Trent Manning (06:38):
Yeah.
How do you lock it in SanAntonio?
Mm-Hmm?
Sam Baldea (06:41):
You know, I'm a native Washingtonian from the
Virginia Maryland, D.
C.
area, and it opened my eyes.
It was almost like a cultureshock, because I have family
that grew up in the mountains ofVirginia and, and West Virginia
and stuff like that, and, youknow, we get down here and it's
(07:02):
like, you know, Man, I've neverseen anything like this.
The environment, you know, thepeople are super friendly.
The food it's been good.
I, the only thing I don't likeis the heat.
It kills me.
I mean, you know, a hundreddegree temperatures, it, it can
be tough sometimes, but SanAntonio has been good to us.
Trent Manning (07:23):
Do you have AC in the shop?
Sam Baldea (07:25):
No,
Trent Manning (07:26):
No.
Oh, that would be so nice,wouldn't it?
Sam Baldea (07:29):
oh man, I tell you what, it would.
It we got fans that blow hot airaround and you know, in the
mornings it's real enjoyablecause you know, we're in the
foot of the hill country andeven in the summertime, you
still get that, you know, earlymorning, like chill in the air
and it feels so good.
And then when that heat hits,you know, it it wakes you up.
(07:52):
It's like, Oh, it's going to bea tough day.
Trent Manning (07:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I'm pretty sure TPCsawgrass has AC in their shop.
So yeah, you might need to
Sam Baldea (08:03):
Oh, I've
Trent Manning (08:04):
to talk to somebody.
Yeah.
Sam Baldea (08:07):
you know, it we're, we're trying to get some things
in place I got some estimatesfor automated doors and other
things to kind of hopefully oneday meet Sawgrass Robbie, who is
our director, was wanting me to,get estimates on that stuff, but
you know, it would be cool tohave that.
It really would.
Trent Manning (08:28):
That automatic door they got sawgrass is
something else too.
I've never seen a door move thatfast.
Sam Baldea (08:35):
Oh, really?
Yeah, I haven't been there yet.
Trent Manning (08:37):
okay.
Yeah.
It's kind of in between the shopand I guess it's a little bit of
equipment storage on the otherside.
And they got this door it'slightning fast up and down.
It's so fast.
And it's I don't, it's, I don'tknow, some kind of like fabric
material, I guess,
Sam Baldea (08:57):
Oh, okay.
Trent Manning (08:58):
you know, plastic of some sort, but yeah, really,
really cool.
Sam Baldea (09:03):
Yeah, I heard the the techs and the equipment
manager have, like, I guess akey fob or something on their
belts that they can open it upreal quick.
I would think, that would becool to have.
Trent Manning (09:14):
Oh yeah, yeah, they do.
They got, you know, a littlepush button that zips up and
they walk through and push itagain, zips down.
And then, yeah, same thing, likegetting into the shop, they have
some kind of, you know, key fobwith that to even get into the
building.
So, you know, and I mean, youknow, they got the big
tournament every year and allthat stuff too.
(09:36):
So I understand that you don'twant just people wandering
around, walking into your shop,you know, safety reasons and all
that.
Don't y'all host sometournaments
Sam Baldea (09:45):
Yeah, the Valero Texas Open actually is going to
be going on here.
Three weeks, I think three weeksor two weeks to advance week.
And I think three weeks totournament week we're we're at
full steam.
Me and my guys in the shop,we're kind of right now just
doing some help on the golfcourse, driving range area
(10:07):
because everybody else istending to other things and why
we're having, it's kind offunny.
You're prepping for atournament.
And, you know, at least for us,you know, we have a little bit
of a downtime before advancedweek gets here.
So we get to get out and help.
Do some things on the golfcourse that you know, or get the
(10:28):
guys out and they see things andwe can do something different,
but once this week's over, we'regoing to be full of steam in the
shop.
Trent Manning (10:37):
Yeah.
So I mean, we got plenty ofother questions, but since we're
talking about it, what is yourprocess leading up to the
tournament?
Sam Baldea (10:48):
Well right now let's see, two weeks ago, about three
weeks ago, we already re weground everything.
So leading up to the tournament,after that grind we're going to
be grinding greens every day.
They top dress greens everyweek.
So we're grinding greens almostevery week, going through the
(11:11):
equipment, making sure all theservices are done, you know,
cause I don't want to doanything like that once advanced
weeks get here, I just want togrind, have everything ready and
good to go.
Prepping all the hand tools,the, the blowers trimmers, stuff
like that, because we have a lotof native work that gets done.
(11:31):
A lot of native mowing.
We have two vent tracks, outfront mower, a 10 foot bush hog
that goes out.
A lot of rough mowing going onright now.
We're going to start brushingfairways here, Wednesday.
We've been brushing greens twicea week.
She should be startingbacktracking brush greens here
(11:52):
soon.
Trent Manning (11:54):
When you say brushing greens, what is it a
brush in front of the mower?
Sam Baldea (11:58):
yeah, it's that turf science brush chip Howard out in
Scottsdale.
He he actually has a niceproduct.
Really heavy duty.
I like it out of all the brushesI've seen he makes a good
product.
You know, we hit it twice.
They hit Robbie a little brushtwice a week.
And you know, then we'll do someregular mowing.
(12:20):
We're right now, height wise,we're pretty close to where
everything should be.
And then when our regionalagronomist comes in.
You know, the greens will startmaybe trickling down a little
bit and they'll get the dailyrolling going on start stamping
more.
And you know, they shoot for acertain number.
(12:41):
I gotta be a little hush aboutit, but they,
Trent Manning (12:43):
I don't know.
I understand
Sam Baldea (12:45):
they shoot for a certain number.
And I think we're getting close.
Trent Manning (12:49):
when I've heard, you know, I've volunteered at
several tournaments and theywon't ever say the number.
But, you know, everybody in theagronomy team, maybe not
everybody, but thesuperintendents assistants, they
all know the number.
So when they stamp a green, theycall over the radio and they
say, plus 1, plus 2, minus 2,you know, whatever.
(13:12):
They have their target and thenthey, you know.
Sam Baldea (13:16):
I've heard of that.
They, they we actually, youknow, we, we I guess we're
limited on radios, so onlycertain people have them.
Me, two of my guys and the restof the assistants and the two
volunteer TPC people that comedown.
So they, they say.
Certain things over the radioand then the other things they
(13:37):
hold to the side.
And then when they get togetherright before we're finished or
getting close to finish andthey'll go over notes and stuff.
Trent Manning (13:45):
Well, I remember I was at the players last year
and they were entering all of itin on their phone and it was,
you know, tracked in theirspreadsheet or whatever, you
know, so updated live.
That's pretty cool.
Sam Baldea (13:59):
yeah, we do that too.
You know, it's I, I, I like, youknow, I go out in the morning,
go check all the equipment andyou know, I get nosy when they
stimp because I like fastgreens.
And I, you know, sometimes Ijoke.
You know, like give me a 15 orsomething like that.
You know, I just, I like seeingthe process because working on
equipment all the time, youknow, you're getting ready,
(14:20):
you're here at tournament.
You want to have some fun.
You want to see some differentthings.
And you know what?
You learn some things watchingpeople, you know, I can't say I
can stimp, but I sure know theprocess,
Trent Manning (14:31):
right, right.
Yeah,
Sam Baldea (14:32):
I think it's pretty cool.
Trent Manning (14:34):
Yeah, no, it is cool.
Well, and that interestingenough, I guess, hopefully you
find it interesting or thelisteners do.
When I was at the players, thatwas my task.
Is I went out with the stintteam and I was just there.
Yeah.
I was just picking balls up.
I didn't do any step in, but Iwas just overseeing the process,
(14:55):
but I mean, it was fun.
You know, we had the, we weredropping the ball to, to, for
farmers and all that stuff.
So that was cool.
It was a good experience.
All right, let's go to thesecond question.
Sam Baldea (15:07):
all right,
Trent Manning (15:09):
What's your least favorite part of the job?
Sam Baldea (15:11):
oh, you're gonna love this one.
Everything to do with sand.
Trent Manning (15:15):
Okay.
Sam Baldea (15:17):
you know, I didn't mind aeration too much back on
the east coast, mid Atlantic,because it was twice a year, but
when we got here to south Texas,I mean, we do it four times a
year in the summer, and youknow, we got a lot of equipment
going out, a lot of differentthings, aerators, verticutters.
We're mowing down in heights.
(15:39):
It's, it's hot.
It's dusty.
It can be very challenging.
It's, it's nothing.
When I first got here, it'snothing like I've ever seen
anywhere else.
You know, it's the, the weathercan really be your enemy at
times here in the summer and it,it wears you down, you know, it
even plays heck with theequipment, you know, with the,
(16:02):
especially with the mowers goingout like for instance, we'll go
out and mow down fairways.
You know, if the grass is dry,radiators are getting clogged,
air filters are getting clogged.
There's a lot of blowing stuffoff.
And you know, back East, wedidn't have any of that.
And, you know, if I was backEast, I'd probably tell you
something different.
But right now here in the, youknow, South Texas and doing it
(16:25):
four times in the, in thesummer, it's like, eh, it's not
my biggest, biggest thing.
I like,
Trent Manning (16:31):
No, yeah, no, I definitely can understand that.
And I mean, even here inGeorgia, we get hot, but you
know, it's pretty humid too.
So we don't, you know, have allthe dust in our, the dust is not
as bad.
Sam Baldea (16:47):
Yeah.
I mean, luckily, luckily enough,we get A good week to take care
of everything.
So we don't go out and try andkill everything in one day.
We'll get probably half thegreens done one day, half the
greens done the other day.
Fairways will just keep rollingthrough the week, T's and
approaches.
You know, we got time.
(17:08):
That's, that's the nice thingwhere we're at.
Course gets closed for a week,each close, each course.
gets closed for a week.
Right now we're going to bedoing aerations one week.
I believe it's one week off aweek and then back a week on the
other course.
So, you know, it, it it getsreal intense because, you know,
(17:29):
like I said, the weather,wearing tines out, you know,
readjusting verticutters youknow, just a lot, just so much
going on, just so much.
You know, and I got three guysin the shop and we all, you
know, hit it hard together and,you know, we all have, you know,
(17:49):
the things that we do and we allchip in with things and, you
know, it makes it easy, but youknow, it does play tough on you.
Trent Manning (17:58):
Yeah, it definitely wears on you
physically and mentally.
You know, just the stress of,you know, whatever it is, air
fire going down or VertiCuttergoing down and you know, they
need it right then or 30 minutesbefore it broke and
Sam Baldea (18:13):
I believe we had one, one, one year that.
We got some wetness duringaeration and it was nice to have
a little cool coolness in theair, a little dampness, but man,
that dragged it on.
It was like, I don't want thisagain.
Just let's stick with the heatand dry and get it done with.
Trent Manning (18:33):
Why don't, so we usually airify, well, my one
course, July 5th every year andairify greens.
And.
That's our thunderstorm seasonand we always have a
thunderstorm every July 5th.
There's a thunderstorm.
It seems like I don't remember aJuly 5th without a thunderstorm.
(18:54):
You know, sometimes it'searlier.
Sometimes it's later.
Sometimes it don't last as long,but there's always a
thunderstorm on July 5th.
Sam Baldea (19:02):
yeah, we this past year with the heat wave that we
had, I mean, we oh gosh, I thinkwe were cutting, shutting down
for the day around two, threeo'clock just because it was so
hot and guys on the crew, youknow, we, we were able to get it
done.
And was just tough altogetherwith the heat.
It just really was.
(19:23):
Cause we have the aquifer wherewe get our water from and we get
restrictions on how much waterwe can put out.
And it was, it was getting kindof scary there for a minute.
Trent Manning (19:35):
Mm hmm.
Sam Baldea (19:36):
know, cause you could only do so many things and
we had to cut back on, you know,a VertiCut here or, or you know,
VertiCut there, or, you know,even doing something particular
to the green, just because wejust didn't have the water, you
know, you, you, the, the Aquiferpeople, they, they really watch
(19:56):
us close because we're rightover the recharge zone.
Trent Manning (20:00):
Hmm.
I've got you.
Well, what's your favorite tool?
Sam Baldea (20:04):
I like the Parbar
Trent Manning (20:06):
okay.
Shout out to miles.
Sam Baldea (20:08):
Yeah, yeah, I like what Miles makes.
You know, it's a really goodtool, really good gauge.
I think it's probably the best,in my opinion what's out there
right now.
The guys in the shop really loveit.
We went from analog to digital acouple years ago.
The guys really like it.
(20:29):
During tournament week, we usethe Advance week, tournament
week, we use the the half inchbar.
The one that only goes up to ahalf inch, with the better
quality gauge on it.
They really love it.
I love it.
You know, it's, it's, it's.
If you don't have a good gaugeor accurate gauge, you're,
you're just, you're, you couldbe running into some trouble.
Trent Manning (20:50):
Oh yeah, for sure.
And I mean, I've talked about itseveral times, but I don't think
a lot of people are trackingtheir gauge and you know, is it
consistent?
Is it accurate or not?
Sam Baldea (21:04):
Yeah.
No, we do.
I have some milled steel stockthat we, you know, test it with.
The ones that we use foradvanced week and tournament
week and knock on wood, they'vebeen good.
You know, like I said, he putsout a good gauge and you got to
take care of it.
You got, you got to make sureit's in a good safe case, you
(21:25):
know, clean a debris and don'tdrop it.
You know, I've seen working myway through this industry.
I've seen a lot of guys just nottake care of it, you know, and
it's very important, you
Trent Manning (21:37):
Mm.
Yeah.
I mean, that's one of, one ofthose tools that we can't really
do without.
Sam Baldea (21:43):
no, no.
Cause when I first started thesuper I work with was, you know,
old school guy, and it was a barwith a screw.
You know, and I thought, okay,well, that's, that is, that's
what it is.
And then I get over to a countryclub and they're like okay, this
isn't what I remembered, but allright, I'll roll with it.
Ooh,
Trent Manning (22:09):
they broke their, not that they broke it, but
their how to cut gauge got brokebefore the tournament.
So we were using a bar and screwto set green tie.
And that's really hard.
You know, if you're trying tomeasure a 10th of an inch, you
(22:30):
know, on a screw that makes ittough.
Sam Baldea (22:33):
Yeah, especially with, you know, that's, that,
that bar with a screw, that's alot of feel.
You have to have the right feel.
The guy behind you, you know,might have to have that same
feel.
I mean, it's just, it is, it'svery tough, you know.
We have one, two, three, I thinkwe have six gauges, two of them
(22:55):
just for greens for advancedweek and tournament week.
And then the rest of them arefor everything else.
We keep them safe.
We make sure they're workinggreat.
During tournament, you know,each of us split up like me and
my assistant, we only do thegreens.
The other two guys will dofairways, approaches, and T's.
(23:16):
That way we just, you know,we're keeping it equal and that
bar, that gauge stays withwhatever we're doing.
Like those two are just greens.
One's a backup, one's we use,the one is what we use all the
time.
Fairway guys, they got twogauges.
One they use the whole time andone's a backup same with the T
guy.
So, you know, it's veryimportant to have that stuff.
Trent Manning (23:38):
Oh, for sure.
Do you have any volunteers inthe shop during the tournament?
Sam Baldea (23:42):
Danny McConnell comes down for advanced week,
helps us grind cause we're aBernhardt facility.
But during tournament week I'veonly had a couple through my
time here at San Antonio.
We get a lot of other, you know,assistants, supers and stuff
like that.
It's sometimes it's been greathaving help in there.
And then sometimes, you know,it's, it's been a little
challenging, but right now Ithink we have a individual who
(24:07):
used to be a equipment managerthat, And I think he's wanting
to come into the shop and do alittle bit.
We'll see how, we'll see howthat goes.
We have a you know, the guys inthe shop, they They can, they
can be a little funny at times.
They're like, don't mess up myMy system, don't mess up my
mojo, you know, I like it likethis, don't mess up nothing,
(24:28):
Sam, and I'm like, alright, but,you know, let's just, let's just
see what we can do, you know,
Trent Manning (24:34):
Well, I know a lot of times when I've helped
out in the shop at tournaments,I'll just push mowers around,
you know, I mean, that's alwayshelpful.
Sam Baldea (24:44):
yeah, no, we, we, the, the, one time I had a guy
from I get these two coursesmixed up, it was either TPC,
River Bend or TPC, RiverHighland or whatever.
I, I always get them mixed up,but he came down, he was an
equipment tech.
He was going to be possiblymoving up to equipment manager.
(25:04):
And he had the idea that he wasjust going to be doing that,
pushing things around, whatever.
But I kind of surprised them bysaying, all right, you're going
to take care of the T's.
And you know, the other guystake care of the fairways and
approaches and we'll do thegreens ourselves, but, you know,
it he was kind of shockedbecause he thought he was just
coming there to push somethingaround,
Trent Manning (25:26):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's cool.
Was it Bob Smith?
No, not Bob
Sam Baldea (25:30):
No, it was,
Trent Manning (25:31):
Bob Martizek.
Sam Baldea (25:33):
no, it was gosh, I can't remember his name.
Trent Manning (25:36):
Cause Bob Martizek is River Highlands.
Sam Baldea (25:39):
no, then it was River Benz.
The one that what is it in, ohOhio, I believe.
Trent Manning (25:43):
Okay.
Yeah.
Highlands is in Connecticut.
Sam Baldea (25:47):
Yeah, that's yeah.
I just met him actually.
We had a a video meeting withJohn Deere.
And that was the first time Iever met him and he seemed like
a really good guy.
We had some same concerns, sameideas.
You know, we touch bases and Hiteach other up.
I guess he hit me up on LinkedInand you know, he said feel free
(26:09):
to throw some ideas his way.
Stuff like that.
He seemed like a good guy.
I
Trent Manning (26:13):
No, he is.
Sam Baldea (26:14):
doing some things.
Trent Manning (26:15):
yeah, no, he's, he's awesome.
I volunteered up there lastyear, too, for the travelers.
And just push mowers aroundpretty much.
No, I did, I did a few otherthings, but I mean, it was a
lot, I love volunteering.
It's a lot of fun.
You get back way more than youput in,
Sam Baldea (26:31):
I tell you what, I hear that from everybody.
We get A lot of people fromoverseas, England, New Zealand
here in the States.
And a lot of them, that's whatthey do.
They just do tournament supportand they pick a couple
throughout the year and do it.
And it's amazing that, you know,that they may be stuck in
(26:52):
bunkers.
They may be doing divots.
They may be doing something likethat, but they always seem to go
back with some sort of knowledgethat what we did and take it to
their facility.
Trent Manning (27:04):
it doesn't necessarily matter what their
task is during the tournament.
They're talking to everybodyelse, their network.
And, you know, they're talkingto your supers, your assistants
and getting ideas about this,that, and whatever else.
So it's, it's a greatexperience.
Sam Baldea (27:20):
I love the guys from overseas because they come in
and it's like their mind isblown.
At the size of our facility andthe stuff we got, they're like,
Oh no, we don't have that, youknow, we, we, we got, you know,
half the equipment or a quarterof the equipment you got, or
man, your shop is huge, youknow, it just, I love it, you
(27:42):
know, cause
Trent Manning (27:42):
it's cool.
Sam Baldea (27:43):
I see it.
What we do, but I would love togo overseas and do something and
see that just
Trent Manning (27:49):
Oh, yeah.
Sam Baldea (27:50):
you know, it's, it's, it's a whole different
world.
Trent Manning (27:53):
Mm hmm.
Yeah, for sure.
That'd be awesome.
Well, what do you do to relax orfind your balance?
Sam Baldea (27:59):
I really like the outdoors.
I love fishing.
I love being with my son.
He likes getting out and fishingand stuff.
He he's funny.
The first time I took him, evertook him, he I had more fun than
I guess he did to see him hookhis first fish and he got a
couple fish and he was like,okay, I'm done.
I'm ready to go home.
I'm like, what?
I mean, everything's gettinggood, but that's one thing I
(28:23):
love to do.
I love the outdoors.
I used to hunt a lot back when Ilived in Virginia and Maryland.
I really haven't done that inyears.
Also got a, my wife really getson me because she says I'm
really good at it.
I love take, I love.
Taking pictures and photography.
Trent Manning (28:42):
Oh, yeah.
Sam Baldea (28:43):
some of the stuff you see on my X or Twitter page,
you know, or the sunrises andstuff of the course, the fog and
everything, and you know, I, Iknow some people that really do
professional photography andthey, they keep telling me, you
know, it might be something youwant to do.
I look at it as you can capturethe moment you're seeing and
(29:05):
constantly go back to it and resee in it and re You know, feel
that moment that you felt whenyou saw it in person but I just,
I love the outdoors.
I just love it.
Trent Manning (29:17):
No, that's awesome.
And yeah, I think I guess when Iwas out in Phoenix, I don't
remember if it was I'll think ofhis name in a minute.
I don't know why I just wentblank, but the great equipment
manager at Desert Mountain.
And anyway, I'm talking to him.
(29:39):
I'm like, every equipmentmanager I think I've met is a
redneck.
We're all rednecks.
It's just funny, you know, andnot that that's a bad thing or
anything like that But yeah, Imean most of us do enjoy the
outdoors a lot of us like tofish some of us like to hunt
yes, this is awesome
Sam Baldea (30:01):
you know, I did like I said in the beginning, you
know, I used, I used to playgolf a lot.
I would play it once, twice aweek My dad, he used to be able
to hit the ball real far and Iwas pretty equal to him.
So he took me to my first longdrive competition.
And he just wanted to see what Icould do.
(30:21):
And sure enough, you know, I gothooked on it because.
I didn't really know that thatcould be something you could do.
I competed in local events andmade it twice to regional
championships and you know,pounding the ball.
Like my longest drive I ever hitwas 364 yards.
Trent Manning (30:43):
Wow
Sam Baldea (30:44):
You get to regionals where all these other guys are
vying for the You know, gettingto worlds and you're seeing guys
hit balls over 400 yards, youknow, up in the top 300 and it
blows your mind.
I did that for a while and I wasreally hooked on it.
I spent a lot of money on golfclubs.
(31:04):
you know, it's just not.
Drivers you could buy off theshelf.
There were a lot of componentsyou put together and, you know,
I had four and a half degreedrivers, five degree drivers,
double X diff shafts, and I waslike blowing money every year
and, I did that for a while andI was like, you know, okay.
(31:27):
I think it's time to settleback.
But you know, no, I, I love theoutdoors and you're right.
Everybody, the one year we hadthe golf show here in San
Antonio, we had a shop tour guysfrom buses came in and you know,
I gave a shop tour and it's justso many, we, we loved outdoors.
(31:49):
It's just, it's not a bad thing.
Like you said,
Trent Manning (31:51):
Oh, yeah,
Sam Baldea (31:52):
It is what it is.
I mean, we're, we're in a way, Iguess you could say we're, we're
I don't know, we're just goodold boys, I guess.
Trent Manning (31:59):
there you go.
Oh, yeah, I like that maybe thenmaybe I should change that
because I think Redneck couldhave a negative connotation to
it So good old boy, maybe that'sbetter.
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Let's get back to the episode.
Well, tell us something strangeyou've seen at the golf course.
Sam Baldea (32:51):
All right.
This is the strangest thing I'veever seen is when I got here
from the East coast to here,South Texas are the hogs.
These,
Trent Manning (33:01):
yeah.
Sam Baldea (33:02):
these things are relentless.
They are destructive.
The weirdest thing, cause wetrap them at our golf course and
they get disposed of.
And one time I was up on thedriving range early in the
morning and I started to chasethis one off in my cart.
I got a 835 XUV.
(33:22):
So, you know, it goes in itsforties I was chasing him a good
ways.
And, you know, I bumped him inhis butt and he stopped and
turned and looked at me and I'mlike, why are you not running?
You know, because I'm comingfrom an area where, you know, we
don't have hogs.
It just how they will turn andstand toe to toe with you is
(33:46):
amazing
Trent Manning (33:47):
Yeah, that's scary.
Sam Baldea (33:48):
The Worst I've seen it was It was in winter it was
Well before the Valero and theydid so much damage.
I think we brought in like an 18wheeler of sod
Trent Manning (34:02):
Wow.
Sam Baldea (34:03):
I mean it's I It's just crazy.
And the things that they do andhow they, you know, They, they,
they know the course, they knowthe cutthroes to get from the
North course down to the Southcourse, they know, you know,
When we're water in the most,you know, it's just, it's crazy
Trent Manning (34:24):
That is crazy.
Sam Baldea (34:25):
I've never seen an animal like that before.
The biggest one we've taken offthe property when we had this
trapper that would take them outalive.
And when, if he caught big ones,he would take them right to the
process in place because hecharges for trapping.
And then he made money offselling them to the meat market.
The biggest one he's ever takenoff was 368.
Trent Manning (34:48):
Wow.
That's
Sam Baldea (34:49):
That was a, that was a huge hog.
We had one, we, it was funnycause it was, we caught him in a
storm.
I went out and checked and thetrapper called us and said, I
can see him on my camera, butcan you go make sure the traps
are, cause he looks like he'sbig.
So I drove out there and thisbig gray, white, I don't know,
(35:12):
just, you know, light coloredhog was in it and it was like
the biggest one I've ever saw.
So we get back to the shop.
The senior assistant calls him.
Yeah, it's still there.
He gets here, we drive outthere, and it's gone.
It busted out the cage.
And it's funny because you knowhow like the story of Moby Dick,
the big white whale, we got thisstory of the big white gray hog
(35:36):
that's been running around andno one's been able to trap.
Trent Manning (35:39):
Yeah, that's good.
That's awesome.
Do you have a mentor in theindustry?
Sam Baldea (35:44):
You know, I do.
When I first started Naples Lawnand Garden Buddy Harris and Dave
Goodwin, they they did me, didme well, they, they took care of
me helped me learn stuff taughtme a lot.
about small engines and, youknow, turf equipment and small
farm equipment to where, youknow, it's not a, don't look
(36:06):
down on yourself because you'renot a car mechanic or a truck
mechanic or something like that.
This is something that's, youknow, just as important as a
vehicle.
And you know, they taught me theright way of doing things and,
you know, keeping to yourstandards and going above and
beyond what you would normally.
(36:27):
And then just try and, and putout a good product when you
repair something.
You know, I was only with themfor about four years and then
they closed the business.
Buddy has, I believe gone andhe, you know, he's passed away
since then.
But, you know, on my Facebookpage David, I'm, I'm still in
(36:47):
contact with him.
He's a service manager up atLEPCO in Pennsylvania of of
Landscape equipment and youknow, they started everything
for me.
If it wasn't for them, Iprobably wouldn't be where I'm
at.
You
Trent Manning (37:01):
Right.
Sam Baldea (37:01):
When I one employee of the year back in 2017.
You know, I thank David foreverything he did for me,
because if, if he wouldn't havetaught me, he saw something in
me, if they wouldn't have spentthe time with me, you know, I
wouldn't be where I'm at rightnow.
Trent Manning (37:19):
Oh yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
No, that's awesome.
And it's great to have reallygood mentors, you know, no
matter what industry you're in.
Sam Baldea (37:29):
No, it's, it's, it's, it's important.
You know, my you know, I don'treally have an assistant, but I
call him my assistant, Alonzo.
He jokes with me a lot.
You know, I, I show him.
Tricks and things like thatthat, you know, you may not see
in a book or whatever and Healways jokes with me.
He goes.
Thank you sensei.
I'm like
Trent Manning (37:49):
Yeah, yeah, that's funny.
Sam Baldea (37:50):
Yeah, so, you know it feels good to you know have a
mentor but then it feels goodalso to pass that on and
Trent Manning (37:59):
No, a hundred percent.
Sam Baldea (38:00):
You know, I appreciate those two guys.
They they did a lot for me,
Trent Manning (38:04):
No, that's awesome.
What would be your dream job?
Sam Baldea (38:08):
man 50 course
Trent Manning (38:12):
Okay.
Yep.
Sam Baldea (38:13):
I would, I would love to be a part of an
operation like that.
You know, I, I'm not pickyabout, you know, I don't know a
lot of the top 50 courses butworking at TPC Potomac being
next to congressional andgetting to go over there and see
things when they were gettingready for the U.
S.
Open.
(38:34):
That was awesome.
You know, the, they, the localdealer that supplied them the
equipment they brought in loanerstuff and they were unpacking
brand new stuff for them to use.
And I've never seen that before.
And I was like, that is awesome.
Trent Manning (38:52):
Yeah, that's cool.
Sam Baldea (38:53):
at the time his the, the equipment manager there was
Shahid and you know, it was itwas awesome, but you know,
opportunity for me, you know, itwould be.
I would definitely love one dayto be able to go back to TPC
Potomac and finish everythingout with the PGA Tour just
(39:14):
because that's where I started.
You know, I'm from that area,but I have like in Myrtle Beach,
I love the, the Dunes Beach andGolf Club.
You know, I got a chance to playthat one year with my dad and
that was awesome.
He lives in Myrtle Beach.
He retired there.
Caldonia, you know, that's anice club, but just to be a part
(39:37):
of a top 50 club, you know, Iwould even love, I would even
love being a part of Sawgrass tobe honest with you.
Trent Manning (39:44):
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
That'd be cool.
Sam Baldea (39:46):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (39:47):
They got it going on down there for sure.
It's,
Sam Baldea (39:50):
know they it is, it's it's a monster.
Trent Manning (39:54):
What technician would you like to work with for
a day?
You got anybody in mind?
Sam Baldea (39:58):
I do.
When I first got into TPCPotomac, Jerry Ashby was the
equipment manager at the time.
And you know, I worked with himalmost two years and I got
promoted to, or got transferredhere.
During my time here, a couple ofyears ago, he passed away.
I had cancer really bad.
(40:19):
I would really love just to haveone more day with him, just to
work with him.
He was a good guy.
We had fun.
We butt heads sometimes, but youknow, he, he was fresh into the
industry.
Came from Ford dealer reallygood sound mechanical ability.
Really new into grinding.
(40:39):
So, you know, I was able to do alot of grinding.
You know, he was learning thestuff for himself, but I'd
really love to have just onemore day with him just to joke
with them, show pictures, like,Hey man, look, look what They
did to this equipment because,you know, when I got here and
got promoted, he would send meat least once a week.
(41:01):
He's like, look what this guydid.
You know, this cart, you know,all mangled, whatever.
And we would get to joking andstuff.
And I just, I miss that.
I would love to have one moreday with them.
Trent Manning (41:11):
Yeah.
Yep.
For sure.
Get ready for tips and tricks.
Let's do some tips and tricks.
What do you got for us?
Sam Baldea (41:21):
You know, I love the leveling table, the granite
table.
Trent Manning (41:27):
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Sam Baldea (41:28):
that was something new in our facility two, three
years ago, I guess.
And you know, watching thevideos that was put out on it on
YouTube, how to use it, Youknow, I think we always tweak on
things that we see and we get alot of fairway reels that come
back that are really knocked outof alignment.
(41:50):
And, you know, with that table,it helps us put it back to
square, but, you know, we foundways to speed it up, I guess.
What we normally, what we'll dois once we get everything
clamped down and it is rockingreally bad we'll just get the
reel.
We'll start loosening up frame,you know, getting it, you know,
(42:13):
to let it square up with the bedknife and reel.
And I found these machined barsthat we use as like a feeler
gauge and we're feeling it offthe the ends of the reel And
once we get it right where it'sTouching nice and smooth on each
side.
Not a lot of drag.
(42:33):
We'll tighten things down backoff the reel, get it adjusted,
set the height and we'll put itback on the the, the, the stone.
And you know, it, it comes outmost of the time, like 98.
9, 98 percent of the time trueagain.
You know, where I've seen guyson the video and other guys,
they use that dial cage, but Idon't know.
(42:56):
It could be a South Texas thingwith the ground hard, you know,
the reels get, you know, knockedout of whack a lot down here.
And we find that way of usingthose machine bars as feeler
gauges probably the best thingso far that helps us get them
back square.
We don't so much have problemswith that, with the greens
mowers.
(43:16):
When we do get one that's,knocked out of alignment.
What we'll do, same process.
We'll get the reel touching onthe bed knife.
Undo the bolts on the frame,rollers, stuff like that.
And then we'll just lower it andtouch the bed knife right onto
the stone itself.
And then go through the processof, I got these long feeler
(43:37):
gauges of touching the bedknife.
And you know, once we get itwhere it's, you know, a nice
little drag on each side, we'llstart putting things back
together, tighten things backup, adjusting everything,
cutting paper, height, and thenwe'll throw it back.
I love that thing.
Trent Manning (43:54):
Who, who who implemented that?
He said, you've only had it acouple of years.
Sam Baldea (44:00):
well, our I guess VP of agronomy Kept saying that we
all need to get it, get involvedwith it.
Cause sawgrass had it.
And you know, I think all TPCsnow have it.
It's a I think sawgrass fromwhat I heard, I think Danny told
me that they use it every dayafter when machines come in,
(44:22):
they'll throw it up there andcheck it, but we do it a lot
with, after a grind or if we gotsomething on the lift, it just
doesn't look right.
So we'll throw it on there.
But it was the VP of agronomy, Ibelieve, that implemented it.
Trent Manning (44:36):
Yeah.
I was just curious.
Sam Baldea (44:37):
Yeah,
Trent Manning (44:38):
That's cool though.
And I mean, I'm glad that, yeah,people are doing that now and
Sam Baldea (44:43):
mean, I've seen things on Twitter, X, and you
know, people clamping down barsacross the stone itself and
using it like, you know, the oldwhat was it, AccuGage that they,
that they used to have.
You know, there's so manydifferent ways to doing it, you
know, I, like I teach the guysin the shop, you know, there's a
(45:05):
lot of ways out there.
There's the, by the book.
And then sometimes that we getoff the book a little bit
because.
We're able to find new ways ofdoing it.
And I think a lot of people arestarting to do that.
And as long as we're getting tothe same common goal of having
things square and coming outwith the same product, you know,
(45:28):
I'm, I'm fine with that.
And I think You know, Twitter Xis a good place to get
information and stuff.
And even YouTube, a lot of guyshave YouTube stuff on there.
You know, it's, it's, yeah,it's, it's just a cool tool and
having the internet and beingable to see what other people do
(45:49):
is, is, is helpful as well.
Trent Manning (45:52):
Oh yeah, for sure.
I mean, I think it's awesome.
And yeah, to your point, it'slike the old saying goes,
there's more than, more than oneway to skin a cat.
Right.
I mean, you know, and whateverworks for you and your
operation, You don't have to doit like the guy on YouTube or
down the road or whatever, you
Sam Baldea (46:11):
yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I would love, I wouldlove to one day put out.
A video on X on how we do it.
Cause I showed Danny one timewhen he came with a new guy to
Bernhardt.
And he was like, wow, I've neverseen that done, but we were able
to produce what needed to beproduced at the end.
(46:32):
And You know, it's, it's,there's so many different ways
of doing things.
Trent Manning (46:37):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Any other tips?
That the biggest one?
Sam Baldea (46:42):
I would say that's the biggest one.
My, my other thing is just getinto a good grinding routine.
I mean, we're grinding somethingevery week.
You know, it's, It's soimportant to keep those reels
sharp and cutting paper nice andcrisp because, you know, I've,
(47:04):
I've worked around people thatare like, you know, spin that
reel real fast just to get the,the paper to cut.
And I'm like, you know, hold on,hold on.
Let's, you know, if, if you spinit slow and it cuts and it's
nice and crisp, that's what wewant.
And just.
Just pay attention to your reelsbecause that's what makes us as
technicians for golf course.
(47:26):
You know, it's, it's it's veryimportant.
Trent Manning (47:29):
it's definitely our bread and butter because,
you know, I mean, anybody, notanybody, but there's a lot of
people that can.
You know, be a mechanic and workon a lot of different stuff, but
that's one thing that kind ofsets us apart is we have a good
understanding of cutting unitmaintenance and set up and, and
all those things.
Sam Baldea (47:48):
And you know, one thing that we've been doing Past
two years now is I gotten inwith a Schweppco dealer and I
really love their grease.
I don't replace Barons duringthe season, roller Barons, real
Barons, just get some goodquality grease.
It's, it's, it's huge.
(48:08):
It helps you a lot.
Trent Manning (48:10):
that's awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's another good tip.
Well, what else do you want todive into?
Sam Baldea (48:16):
Oh gosh.
Trent Manning (48:17):
Yeah, we covered a lot, covered a lot of stuff
there.
That was good.
Sam Baldea (48:20):
You know, we as golf course mechanics grow, you know,
going through this industry andgoing through the years, I think
we've got bad names on ourselvesfor being grumpy and You know,
we're going to have times wherewe do get grumpy.
But I think working close andhaving a good relationship with
(48:41):
the agronomy team is key.
Get them to, you know, know thatyou're on your, their side.
We're all the same team.
We're all for the same goal.
Because in the end, if one of usfail, we all fail.
know, don't get, get rid of thatgrumpy mechanic personality.
Not saying that everybody hasit.
(49:02):
So I'm like, I said, I get itevery once in a while we all do,
but just being, you know, a teamplayer is, is huge as key.
I'll give you an example.
It kind of helps us out in theshop a little bit, breaks up the
monotony.
We, the PF gets mowed twice aweek and we do it.
We help them out by doing it inthe morning.
(49:22):
Gets my, one, it gets my guysout of the shop, gets them doing
something different.
And two, it kind of lightens upthe load of the assistance on
sending someone up just to mowthe driving range tee, you know,
just something simple like that,you know, is just it shows that,
you know, Hey man, we're, we'reall part of the same team.
Let's, let's help each otherout.
You know, I, I never thought Iwould be where I'm at without.
(49:47):
You know, support of others andyou know, you never be afraid to
ask questions or try and be theone that you think you know what
you're doing, but in the end youdon't, you're just making
yourself look bad.
Just, just ask the questions,make a call.
I'm I've made friends here inTexas with a lot in the dealer.
(50:10):
I got a great parts guy.
Road service guy even some ofthe directors and stuff.
And, you know, if I get stumpedwith something, I will make a
call.
I have no problem, you know,cause you're going to learn from
it.
You know, especially just a lotof other guys see a lot more
than you.
So don't, don't be afraid.
Trent Manning (50:33):
Yeah, especially those guys on the road.
I mean, they say a lot of stuff,
Sam Baldea (50:38):
they do.
Trent Manning (50:39):
you know, a lot more than I've had that
conversation several times.
I mean, when I was doing it, Imean, I think one year on the
road is equal to five or sixyears at a golf course
Sam Baldea (50:51):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (50:52):
because you just, you know, it's a new problem
every single day that somebodycouldn't figure out or doesn't
have the time to figure out andit's your job.
Solve that.
Yeah,
Sam Baldea (51:08):
I think happened to me in a while, we had a 300
gallon sprayer, centrifugalpump, and it just one day
started to leak, you know, andwe resealed it and it leaked
again.
resealed it, it was a hydraulicmotor.
It leaked again.
So I threw a whole new assemblyon there and seven parts
(51:33):
warranties later, it was stillleaking hydraulic and it was
driving me crazy.
And I was calling everybody.
The parts guy was helping mecalling deer, trying to get.
Some information, DTAC case wasput on it.
The road service guy came out,tested the, the pressures going
back to the motor.
(51:53):
They were all within spec.
I mean, we were coming up,trying to come up with anything
and everything.
I don't know if just a bad batchwas made or whatever, but it
took a lot of us.
You know, to put our headstogether and just try and figure
things out.
And yeah, you're right.
Those road guys, they see morethan what we do.
They see some crazy stuff, youknow, I was, I made friends with
(52:16):
this one road guy, he's nolonger with the dealer, but I
still open up to him for helpand all, because he opened his,
his own business, you know, justtech questions and whatever,
because we earned thatfriendship, you know, and he
doesn't mind.
You know, helping me withsomething that's stumping me.
And just make friends with theroad guy, make friends with the
(52:38):
parts guy.
I got one parts guy that that'salls I use.
If he's out sick, well, it's notgetting ordered today.
You know, I'm waiting until he'sgetting back, you know?
Trent Manning (52:47):
that's cool.
Sam Baldea (52:48):
it's it's, it's just important to make that
friendship and yeah, they, theysee stuff, they do.
Trent Manning (52:54):
Oh yeah, for sure.
You ready to do some rapid fire?
Sam Baldea (53:00):
Yeah,
Trent Manning (53:01):
Let's do it.
What's your favorite movie?
Sam Baldea (53:04):
Jaws,
Trent Manning (53:05):
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
what year did that come out?
Sam Baldea (53:09):
I think 76,
Trent Manning (53:10):
Okay.
All right.
What will be your last meal?
Sam Baldea (53:14):
Maryland Steamed Blue Crabs,
Trent Manning (53:17):
Oh yeah.
So good.
Yes.
So good.
What are you most proud ofbesides your family?
Sam Baldea (53:24):
you know, I'm, I'm proud of how, you know, things
turned out for me I'm proud ofhaving, you know, a cheerleader
and my wife to cheer me on and,and people trust me with things.
Because that does make youproud.
It's not a cockiness.
It's, it's, you know, Hey, Iearned that person's trust to
trust me with everything that Iam responsible for at work.
(53:47):
So,
Trent Manning (53:47):
hmm.
No, that's yeah, that's awesome.
And that's a huge, you know, Idon't know the word, but you
definitely should be proud ofthat, right?
Because it's, it's one thing towork with somebody.
It's another thing to trustsomebody you work with.
Sam Baldea (54:04):
yeah,
Trent Manning (54:05):
I mean, I can count on one hand how many
people you know, my shop Itrust,
Sam Baldea (54:10):
yeah,
Trent Manning (54:10):
right?
Sam Baldea (54:11):
yeah, it's, it's, it's, there's a, I saw a meme.
Teamwork is not when you workwell with each other.
Teamwork is when you trust eachother.
Trent Manning (54:21):
Yeah, that's good.
Mm hmm.
Sam Baldea (54:23):
I trust I got a new guy in the shops, you know, he's
still feeling them out, seeingwhat he can do.
Cause he's, you know, he's greento the industry, but I got two
other guys that I truly trust.
If I'm not there, I know thingsare going to be all right.
Trent Manning (54:35):
Yeah.
No, that's awesome.
And that says a lot about theway you mentor them.
And it says a lot about themtoo.
Sam Baldea (54:42):
Yeah.
Trent Manning (54:43):
Yeah.
No, that's awesome.
We'll tell the listeners howthey can get ahold of you.
Sam Baldea (54:49):
I have a Twitter page just hit me up on my name,
Sam Baldia LinkedIn account, andyou know, I, I time to time, put
things up there.
I do surf it.
At least once a day for newthings, you know, see what's
going on.
You know, I've been toying witheven starting up a YouTube
channel.
And doing some things how we dothings with equipment wise.
(55:15):
But yeah, just hit me up onTwitter, X, whatever you want to
call it.
Or LinkedIn.
Trent Manning (55:20):
Awesome.
No, that's so good.
And definitely do the YouTubething and anybody that's
listening, do the YouTube thingor make some videos and put it
on X or I mean, whatever it is.
I think the more information wecan get out there like that, I
mean, the better.
and on I plug my own website,but I've linked all the YouTube
(55:46):
channels that I know of.
Sam Baldea (55:48):
yeah.
Trent Manning (55:48):
So if you know of another really good YouTube
channel for our industry, sendme an email.
Let me know.
I'll be happy to put it onthere.
Cause I think that'd be a greatresource for everyone.
Sam Baldea (56:01):
I'd say I got into X two or three years ago, and it
just blew my mind how muchinformation is out there.
And it blew my mind how you canask a question and how many
people would be responding.
You know, it's a we're a nicheindustry, but you know what?
We're a tight industry.
I see a lot of people helpingeach other.
Trent Manning (56:23):
Oh, for sure.
And I think, you know, I've saidthat plenty to you, but that's
my favorite part about thisindustry is, and especially on
the mechanic side, we'll helpanybody out, I don't care who it
is.
I don't care who you are orwhere you're at, you call me and
I'll do everything I can to helpyou.
And I think everybody else inthe industry is that way too.
Sam Baldea (56:46):
yeah, no, it is.
I,
Trent Manning (56:47):
it so great.
Sam Baldea (56:48):
I remember the, the dealer gave my information out
to this one guy not too far fromMarlborough Falls.
He was having some trouble withsome bed knives and stuff like
that.
And we, we run nothing but JRMstuff, tines and bed knives.
And he was so appreciative of megiving him information on JRM
(57:09):
and what we do and, you know, Ididn't give out, you know,
every, Little tidbit, but youknow, I helped him with
everything that you know, we doand you know from last I heard
he was he Made to move over tothe greens bed knives at least
and you know, he was doing wellHe was getting what he needed
out of him just from me helpinghim giving him my point of view
(57:31):
on stuff
Trent Manning (57:32):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
So, so good.
Well, thank you so much, Sam.
thank you so much for listeningto the Reel turf techs podcast.
I hope you learned somethingtoday.
Don't forget to subscribe.
If you have any topics you'dlike to discuss, or you'd like
to be a guest, find us onTwitter at Reel turf techs.
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