When I first heard about the Sweep-N-Fill unit from a Superintendent friend, I was a bit skeptical of how it would perform. I have seen several versions of “sand filling” units over the last 15 years, but none of them have ever performed as promised. Since 1994, I have worked at four different properties and at every property, we adopted the old school method of hand-brooming all of the greens to fill all of the holes with sand. Although very labor intensive, this was the surefire way to get sand into all of the open holes on all of our greens. Once we were ready for sand, we would literally line up 25-30 men, all with 24” push-brooms and work across each green, one green at a time. Expensive, but effective.

This past March (2010), I was invited to look at a demo Sweep-N-Fill unit in action. I immediately noticed that the unit filled all of the holes completely after only a few passes. The brush was not damaging to the green and the unit was very simple to operate. Needless to say, the Sweep-N-Fill unit certainly surpassed my expectations. I did a simple labor analysis that showed for us, this unit would pay for itself in only two aerifications, a great return on our investment.

We have used the Sweep-N-Fill unit here this year at Pelican Hill for both the Spring and Fall aerifications and it performed beautifully. There was no damage or bruising during or after the process, the heal time was exactly the same and we made a more efficient use of our sand as there was very little left over after the brushing process. With the Sweep-N-Fill machine, you need one operator and a few helpers cleaning up around the edges and that is it. It will free-up all of your other labor to take on other course projects.

I would recommend this unit to anyone who is looking for excellent results and a savings in labor. With the addition of a Sweep-N-Fill unit, you will never go back to your old method of brooming greens.