Roland McPhearson, Equipment Manager at Azalea City Golf Course in Mobile, Alabama, is the 2014 winner of the International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association (IGCEMA) Edwin Budding Award, sponsored by Ransomes Jacobsen.
Roland was nominated by a fellow equipment manager for his invention of a device called the Roller Tamer, which helps technicians to grip a roller safely and without damage during the rebuilding process. It acts like a ‘third hand’ and can accommodate rollers from 2” to 5” in diameter and up to 30” in length.
Stephen Tucker, founder of IGCEMA said, “Roland embodies what our profession is all about. He has done what many in our profession do every day and that is to try and improve things with what we are given. I can’t think of a more deserving winner of the 2014 Edwin Budding Award.”
Commenting after receiving his award Roland said, “Virtually all my career, like many of my fellow technicians in this industry, I had become frustrated when asked to rebuild rollers. There was no proper method of securing them safely and a standard vice was simply unacceptable because this would often deform the roller or scar the surface. I was determined to resolve the problem and eventually, in the fall of 2013 after some 16 months of design and testing, the Roller Tamer was born. It has since gone into commercial production.
“I would like to thank IGCEMA and the sponsors, Ransomes Jacobsen, for deeming me worthy of winning this award. It really means a lot to me, my wife and my family.”
The Edwin Budding Award was created to recognise technical professionals in the turf equipment sector whose actions have gone above and beyond the norm to help shape the golf industry. Edwin Budding was one of those individuals who helped define golf, not as a player, but as an engineer. He designed the first cylinder mower, which has shaped golf as we know it today.
Ransomes Jacobsen www.ransomesjacobsen.com
IGCEMA www.igcema.org
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