Mike Coker and son Troy work on golf courses ... - Backed By Bayer

GREENS RACER
Getting started
Back in the 1960s, <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Coker</strong> got involved in the racing field.
“I was a little guy <strong>and</strong> grew up around it,” says his <strong>son</strong>.
The younger <strong>Coker</strong> attended Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing
School in Gainesville, Fla. He also attended Hawley’s Indy
school, which consisted of two days of classroom instruction
<strong>and</strong> driving a rear-engine dragster that ran 8-second ETs
(elapsed times) at 145 mph.
Over time, <strong>Mike</strong> <strong>Coker</strong> drifted out of racing. But he earned
his living as a service manager at a GM dealership.
“About 33 years later, we decided to build another car,”
<strong>Troy</strong> <strong>Coker</strong> says. <strong>Mike</strong> found a job at Wolf Run, moving him
closer to his <strong>son</strong>, <strong>and</strong> the father-<strong>son</strong> team set out to burn up
the track.
Their first race was in September 2004. It was <strong>Coker</strong>’s first
time in the driver’s seat <strong>and</strong> they did pretty darn well for a rookie
team. <strong>Coker</strong> Racing qualified in the No. 5 spot in a field of 12.
This past September, they ran the same race again, qualifying
at No. 2 but getting eliminated in the semi-finals. That’s
not bad for a couple of guys who spend more time with mowers
than in their car.
“I’m definitely not thinking about
dollar spot on Number 12 green.”
– <strong>Troy</strong> <strong>Coker</strong>, on what goes through
his mind while in the driver’s seat
With all the costs involved from fuel <strong>and</strong> oil to hotel rooms
<strong>Coker</strong> Racing spends $500 to $1,000 per race, depending on
how far they travel.“I would say we spend somewhere around
$7,500 annually,” <strong>Coker</strong> says. They have a crew of two to four
people at each race,depending on their schedules.The team includes
Donny Canevit, a civil engineer from Fiatt, Ill.; Steve
Petty, a welding inspector from Canton, Ill.; Curt Gover, a
FedEx <strong>work</strong>er from Brownsburg, Ind.; <strong>and</strong> <strong>Coker</strong>’s girlfriend,
Sarah Selvy,a student who also <strong>work</strong>s at Plum Creek part-time.
“Dad <strong>and</strong> the crew do most of the maintenance on the car
at the races, <strong>and</strong> I take care of the logistics <strong>and</strong> the driving,”
<strong>Coker</strong> says.
The course
Naturally, golf is <strong>Coker</strong>’s life off the racetrack. Plum Creek is
an 18-hole, semi-private, upscale daily fee course. Designed
by Pete Dye, it was built in 1997.
The course has 35 acres of PennLinks bentgrass fairways,
4 acres of Penncross bentgrass tees, <strong>and</strong> 4 acres of A-4 greens.
It is a links-style course. “We have 55 acres of bluegrass primary
rough <strong>and</strong> 30 acres of native grass areas,” <strong>Coker</strong> says.
There are four sets of tees playing from 7,000 yards at the
“tips” to 5,300 yards at the “forward” set of tees. <strong>Coker</strong> has one
assistant superintendent <strong>and</strong> one equipment technician, plus
PHOTO BY JOHN BRAGG
two full-time employees for a total of five. During peak sea<strong>son</strong>,
he has a crew of 14 or 15 full-time sea<strong>son</strong>al people, two-part
time rough mowers <strong>and</strong> three part-time “weekend warriors.”
“I consider myself lucky that our ownership <strong>and</strong> management
allow me to turn our maintenance facility into a race shop
on nights <strong>and</strong> weekends,” <strong>Coker</strong> says. “They also allow me to
store my trailer <strong>and</strong> car at our shop in the parking lot, as well as
use my company truck to haul the trailer <strong>and</strong> car to the races.”
His father’s course, Wolf Run, opened in 1989. It is an extremely
difficult private club in Zionsville. In fact, Golf Digest
ranks it No. 3 in the state of Indiana <strong>and</strong> Golf Week pegged it
at No. 18 in America’s Best Modern Golf Courses.
Steve Smyers is the course architect, <strong>and</strong> he still is active at
the club. Wolf Run is a links type club a true golf club with 18
holes <strong>and</strong> a good practice area, but no country club amenities.
12 Golf Advantage Winter 2006