(L-R) are Elliott Hueber, dumper operator; Carlos Perez, project manager; and Tommy Frungillo, project supervisor, all of CR Lutzke Golf.
All successful large-scale building or renovation projects are the result of a hand-in-glove pairing of the contractor and a reliable equipment dealer. That includes relatively smaller efforts such as a golf course refurbishment, where the company making the upgrades needs very specific machines to perform the often-heavy work without damaging the course itself.
A prime example of such a contractor-dealer partnership can be found in the coastal city of Wilmington, N.C., where CR Lutzke Golf, a small course design and renovation company well known throughout the golf industry, has teamed up with Sound Heavy Machinery, a local full-service dealership, to obtain the equipment it needs to upgrade courses in the region.
The two local companies have developed enough of a simpatico where CR Lutzke trusts Sound Heavy Machinery implicitly to provide it with the best equipment to perform the light touch needed when repairing or renovating a golf course, said C.T. Shaw, vice president of golf course operations of CR Lutzke.
Course construction has long been part of CR Lutzke Golf, Shaw said, although he added "we have diversified over the years to include golf-course design, project planning and renovation," as well as dabble in providing contract labor for course maintenance.
The firm has been working for the past three years on a phased project to renovate the course at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, which features 45 holes. There, Shaw's crews have used many of their own excavators, dozers and haul trailers to refurbish the bunkers and greens, nine holes at a time, to keep its promise to the membership to ensure 36 holes are always open for play.
Also, among the contractor's equipment at Landfall are AUSA-made compact dumpers, featuring load capacities between 2,000 to 22,000 lbs. Additionally, CR Lutzke uses skid steer loaders manufactured by ASV. Both brands are sourced and serviced by Sound Heavy Machinery.
With that equipment, CR Lutzke's crews have been able to haul a lot of dirt, sand, concrete and sod in and out of the golf course, all while managing to, as he said, "tiptoe in and out of the work areas across the golf course."
"As far as cubic yardage and volumes, I would say when we are doing a greens' project over nine holes it is usually about 1,000 tons of material that we have to remove and then replace, for a total of 2,000 tons from start to finish, translating to about 2,500 cu. yds of material," Shaw said. "On the bunker work, we probably have to take out 2,500 tons of material, replace it with 1,000 cu. yds. of concrete liner and put another 2,000 cu. yds of bunker sand on top of that.
"And, of course, for the grass part of the effort, we use the ASV skid steer loaders to haul in pallets of sod. It all adds up to probably 6,000-7,000 cu. yds of material per project."
CR Lutzke Golf also rents its AUSA dumpers and ASV compact loaders from Sound Heavy Machinery, according to Shaw, because he believes it makes more economic sense for his company than purchasing.
"We can call on Sound Heavy Machinery to give us what we need this week, this month or for the next three or four months, and then turn it back in because our mindset is diversification, and we don't always need a large excavator," he said. "The idea of renting a piece of equipment when we need it is certainly more attractive."
Shaw added that the versatility of the smaller AUSA and ASV products was another tempting reason to team up with Sound Heavy Machinery.
For instance, the ability of the AUSA dumpers to maneuver into and out of corners without their operators having to do a lot of twisting and turning of the equipment endeared them to the CR Lutzke team.
The size of the machines also helps prevent them from damaging a golf course, Shaw said, so that "we can get in and out of an area and when the course superintendent shows up an hour later, they're not upset with a haul road we have created across a golf hole."
The same holds true with the ASV-manufactured compact track loaders, also built to be easy on the delicate turfgrass on a golf course.
Golf Course Designer in Sync With Dealer Sales Rep
Besides the equipment that Sound Heavy Machinery provides, Shaw said that much of his firm's satisfaction with the dealership is due to CR Lutzke's interaction with Scott Harkness, a sales and rental professional at the distributor with a deep knowledge of golf course maintenance and design.
In fact, Shaw added that Harkness' very presence at SHM is among the chief reasons he chose to partner with the dealership.
"I would say Scotty certainly has a lot to do with it," he said. "He has a golf background, meaning he can visualize what I am telling him almost immediately without my having to explain it for 30 minutes. When I talk about bunker drainage, for instance, he understands it is narrow and shallow or if I mention the outfall for a lake, he knows that it is deep and wide. That's a huge benefit to us as we are trying to order the right piece of equipment for a certain task."
Mark Thomas, Sound Heavy Machinery's director of marketing and communications, added, "Scott is also unlike many salespeople in that he knows this equipment inside and out because he was head of our service and parts department at one time before deciding to move to sales. When he starts talking about machinery it is not from reading out of a textbook."
Just as in any business, the relationships forged between people and companies are the major keys to success, Shaw acknowledged, and the rapport Harkness has with CR Lutzke has been invaluable to both companies.
"He is also able to relate to our sense of urgency because sometimes when we call him at Sound Heavy Machinery, it is not because we need something in three weeks, but immediately," he said. "Scotty can calm us down and get us what we need when we need it.
"I like to think that we possess those same attributes with our clients — that ability to relate and provide people with exactly what they require on a project."
Legendary Golf Course Designer a Mentor to Chris Lutzke
CR Lutzke Golf was started several years ago by Chris Lutzke, a golf industry veteran. Its foundation blossomed from the Pete Dye era, the famous golf course architect who passed in 2020. Lutzke had worked for Dye for 30-plus years and, as Shaw said, reinvented his career by opening his own design firm near Kohler, Wis.
"At the same time, I was in the process of trying to figure out my career because I was working for a large contractor that had me managing a fairly large region," Shaw said. "I needed to settle in one area and grow roots with my family. Chris hired me to help him organize and manage the new business model that CR Lutzke was trying to establish."
Although CR Lutzke Golf builds courses from scratch, he said that there are no such projects under way at the moment, even though that could change tomorrow.
"We stay pretty busy here in the Wilmington area, but we do some work in Charlotte, Raleigh, Pinehurst and Myrtle Beach, so I would say our work can be found within about a two- to three-hour radius of here," he said. "And then Chris Lutzke himself does a lot of projects in the Indiana and Wisconsin markets and is quite active in South Florida as well."
Company Focuses On Renovation, Rejuvenation
Shaw believes that although he and Chris Lutzke "were both born to build golf courses," and are always ready to do so, he said they have grown CR Lutzke Golf to become a bit more than just builder.
Besides performing renovation work, the firm is set up to help golf course owners organize a project from concept to implementation.
"As a result, they will engage with us when they are planning a project two or three years in the future, and we will help them form their thoughts and plans to get them to the point where we are ready to put a shovel into the ground," he said. "In addition, golf course superintendents will call us if they simply need a bit of work done next week or sometime next year. And a lot of golf courses in the Wilmington area have increasingly leaned on us over the years to furnish them with contract labor to accomplish bigger tasks that occur on golf courses at certain times of the year."
Shaw added that his clients often close their courses temporarily for aerification and if so, CR Lutzke will send a small crew to the club to help them improve their bunkers, edge cart paths or put out pine straw — whatever is required to help its clients improve their facility.
The results of CR Lutzke's professionalism, backed by that of Sound Heavy Machinery, is that the company does approximately $8 million in revenue annually, with five to 10 projects per year depending on the scope, he said.
"We are either renovating a golf course or restoring one. Many times, we do go in and restore a course to what Pete Dye meant for it to be when it was built, but there are a lot of owners that want to renovate their course into one that they can sustain," according to Shaw. "For instance, in the '90s it was common to build several acres of bunkers on an 18-hole layout. Now, many owners need to scale that back to include fewer bunkers to maintain, yet enough bunkers to present challenging angles for golfers to navigate."
His business has grown due to its outstanding reputation and craftsmanship, and via word of mouth. Although X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram also play a role in that, Shaw insists that CR Lutzke flourishes due primarily to the relationships he and his associates have built over years in the industry.
"Most times, I don't think CR Lutzke gets hired because of our company name, but because of the names we employ," he said. "Our people are the only reason we succeed. Guys who work for us, like Carlos Perez and Joe Vadino, are invaluable to the longevity of CR Lutzke's existence. I feel like our phone rings mostly because owners have had a positive experience with some of our veteran employees and our key crews in the past, and they have no issue recommending our services to their peers in the golf industry." CEG
(All photographs in this article are Copyright 2023 Construction Equipment Guide. All Rights Reserved.)
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