I love early morning meetings. 7:30 AM and we get hit with words like Systemic Acquired Resistance and Activator Triggers. It’s a warm yummy feeling, like maple syrup over bacon and waffles and I couldn’t be more happy to be in the front row. Yum Yum Yum. Pass the Pathology, please!! Especially when we are talking about natural plant defenses.

To be smart and fair, I should digress a moment as to last night’s activities.  Every year our annual meeting includes a dinner. We turn the 130 or so folks loose on a buffet, open several cases of Naumann Merlot and the Orc Feast begins. And when the Merlot and the Turfhead Orcs are melded into one, we take some poor industry notable, give them a microphone and ask them to talk. Some call this a Keynote Speech. I call it Speaker Survival.

Last year, the Orc Feast was Keynoted by none other then our own Maestro McCormick. He did a pretty good job at first by showing pictures of what he thought I looked like in the early online days. Something akin to Santa Claus meets Guy at Bus Stop. Funny. He had the crowd. Then he said something about job loss and the Orcs, had they not eaten the food, would have thrown it. However, they proclaimed The Maestro Turfhead worthy.

This year, our Keynote Victim was supposed to be Jon Scott, Chief of Agronomy for Nicklaus. But some crazy crap about some big contract to build some golf course for something called The Olympics meant that Mr. Scott was required to be on Air Bear and not with us. So…I did what I could and after my Crazy Train Collecting Neighbor declined the invitation I did what any good turfhead would do and reached out to Pat Jones.

Mr. Jones showed up. And he just rocked. The Orcs, lubed by MerlotGrog didn’t take it easy on him and he did fine. No food thrown. Plenty of good opinions. No Blood. No crashed Cruise Ships. Good deal.

But I digress….

Right now, Dr. Clarke is talking about natural disease suppression and that’s a good thing. A really good thing. And I’m thinking…Finally….the chemical companies may actually get pathologists (and TurfOrcs) to think about biology as real and useful.

Imagine such a world. It’s easy if you try

I can’t find a decent picture anywhere of Joel Simmons and it’s too dark to take a good picture, so this will have to do. 

Joel is on a mission. He’s good at it and he’s taken way to much crap for understanding and going all in for a great thing. He’s saying things like “Give Me Humus or Give Me Death” and if you’ve followed anything that I’ve done or said over the years, you know that I believe in this and I live it as well. Joel and I have put our work into play at some pretty cool places and what we talk about and do works. It’s not pipe dreams or entertainment or just a way to sell stuff (oh by the way, neither of us has a Cushy University Deal, so RESULTS have had to count).

So once again, Joel is here, working and talking about Carbon Based Fertility. The Gloves are a little off. Here is something good to read from Joel as to why he is speaking up. And I don’t blame him because those of us in the field have kind of had it with being told that the things we are doing that are working aren’t working. Absurd. Really absurd. And it is such an affront to so many Supers who have worked miracles by looking at things a different way.

I’m stoked to hear Joel speak. I’ve heard it before and I’ll hear it again. I live it. So do my “A” players. That oughta be enough. But because a buch of the AOG thinks they know better because they just wanna be different…it’s not going to be.

I can’t hold it against him. Dr. Wong wanted to be with his wife in the DC area and well let’s face it, The University of California system is pretty much on life support. So now, Dr. Wong takes up residence in the DC area and he finds himself working with Bayer Environmental Sciences. Guess what? Good fit. Good for us all. I love Dr. Wong. He’s an amazing guy and whatever he is doing he is going to

be great at it. Really great.

So today Dr. Wong is doing his job and talking about Bayer products and Stress-Gard formulations and how the plant physiology works in the role of radiation management. I think we are going to hear a lot about pigments and radiation management. We are definitely seeing a lot of folks bring this “green” technology to the marketplace. Bayer is ahead of the game right now and it’s going to pay for a lot of us to look at this technology and listen carefully to the words of wisdom of Wong and those that are looking at this work. It’s a good thing.

I‘m in. I’ve seen it working in the field and in a lot of cases, the 10% or so better makes a huge difference in overall job health…er….Turf Health.

It’s clear that Dr. Fred isn’t from around here. The accent is like smooth Carolina sweet tea. But the only Tea he’s talking about today has to do with Plant Growth Regulators.

(sorry Dr. Fred. No picture here….we’ve got the room to dark and I don’t wanna be beaten down by using my flash…plus the iphone flash is like…well…a phone flash)

Dr. Fred is working with a lot of PGR timing. And it’s clear that one of the things I’ve been saying about timing is key. Check out this past Zealot Post. Dr. Yelverton is also clearly pointing out the variances in rate having to do with turf type and height of cut. He also has some very good data that says that when you go off the product long enough the “Rebound Effect” is clear and happens and is very real. Point? Go off the material and expect a rebound. So the whole “I can’t sleep because it is summer and I got all superstitious so I quit spraying my PGR” can be a very bad thing.

And going out and making one app is just putting your head in the noose.

Dr. Bruce Clarke of Rutgers talks about Fairy Ring and Pink Snow Mold. Big take away is that Bayleton very effective on Fairy Ring. Products applied before symptoms make for good control as long as soil temps are low (50-60 degrees F). Two apps 21 days apart as long as you are at those soil temps and then water in those apps with .25 inches.

I’m excited. I haven’t slept in a couple days. My biggest event of the year is finally here. Months of organizing coming down to my printing name tags early this morning and driving the hour and a half to our venue, the amazing Cache Creek Casino and Resort and their fantastic golf course, Yocha-De-He. I’m sure this means Monkey Creek in some Native American language. Or not. There’s a pool and a pond. The pond is best for me, I think.

Dr. Bruce Clarke from Rutgers is first up for education. Talking about Fairy Ring and Pink Snow Mold. The games begin and I’ll be posting any highlights if I can do so and finish my talk which is supposed to happen in a few hours. I don’t really have it done yet. I’ve started and stopped a few times.

In most of my travels where water is an issue or drought is ruling or where reclaimed is the coming possibility, we have to deal with management of salts. So that can be the #1 driving force in deciding to flush to rid us of conductivity.

The second thing is that a majority of the modern courses built in the last many years have a form or another of a perched water table-oriented sand-based system. And that is it’s own animal, requiring some technique in water application to infuse air into the rootzone.

Lastly, with topdressing seen as a best practice over (again) the last many years, we see greens that have their own layered version of a drainage free water table perch. And that requires some thinking as well.

Since I’ve been (mostly) a Western US Turfhead, we have tended to talk about this a lot. As a young super in Denver, having just put in one of the first Maxi systems and starting to water with ET, I didn’t know that my deep wells were of pretty poor quality. But I did know that light frequent apps of water oriented toward ET weren’t giving me the playing conditions I wanted. It was right about then that I heard that Ed Miller, who once was in CO and was then in AZ had written an article for the Green Section Record. Here it is: Ed Miller Article. I hope you read it and read it again.

It’s not a new thing. It’s not rocket science. It does fly in the face of how some of the modern software works, but we get around that.

Reading this and adopting this method on my push up Poa greens and even on the rest of my golf course as we began a much more aggressive aerification method turned a lot of things around for me. So I’ve stuck with that, both as a Super at two other positions and over a bunch of years of consulting. It’s not a new thing. It’s not rocket science. It does fly in the face of how some of the modern software works, but we get around that.

The flush is still important and I think over the last 5-7 years, water quality hasn’t gotten better and air always needs to be exchanged in the rootzone. So a real honest to goodness Irrigation Sneeze is really important. When that is coupled with some common sense about how Evaporative Cooling really works and how water moves and how salts accumulate, you have to think that perhaps a change is needed when the usual method isn’t working.

After all, the true definition of agronomic insanity is when you keep doing the same thing and the same bad stuff keeps happening…

After all, the true definition of agronomic insanity is when you keep doing the same thing and the same bad stuff keeps happening. As turfheads, we tend to want to change a lot of things, but foundational comforts like watering tend to be more more holy and less prone to some critical examination.

Over the years, I’ve helped a lot of people out with this technique and have come to believe it has a reasonable place in a majority of situations. I’ve seen it give us some problems when irrigation systems have poor DU, poor control and when weather demands some respect for already humid conditions. We have control over a couple of those areas and the other one is cyclic. Popping off a big cycle in 90/90 weather is the kind of thing we don’t really want to be doing. But for the life of me, I can’t understand why the water goes on every night in 70/30 weather. Can’t.

This is the time of year when people find reasons to list what they are thankful for.

I’ve never been much for doing what everyone does. And I’m not real big on lists either. The creative types and Perez Hiltons of the world are apt to take the opportunity to list what they aren’t thankful for. Some of them don’t seem to be thankful for much of anything.

In further evolution of the species, a lot of people seem to be thankful for is the ability to miss the annual family show down. The option is to stand in line at Wal-mart all day Thursday for the Black Friday deals.

I’ve got something left over in my brain from Mad Magazine or something like that wherein I often think of things as Hot and Not . You know, kind of an ongoing brew of what’s really happening and what is to dislike.

Here it is in list form, because this blog won’t Vulcan Mind Meld as of yet:

Hot:

1. Apple Products. You can’t deny the innovation.
2. Foster The People. Great band, great guys, including my friend Sean Cimino on guitar.
3. Mini Cooper. If there’s ever a car for the future, the Mini has made a statement.
4. Phosphites. Nothing has made more of a difference in more spray programs.
5. Organic Fertilizers. Never a better time for choices and cost-effectiveness.

Not So Hot:

1. Professional Sports. Yes, you all don’t make enough money—so stop playing and go work in the chosen profession of your college major.
2. The Irrigation Industry. Control Systems=FAIL. (see #1 above for an option). Cost=FAIL (if we are ever gonna build golf again it has to be different).
3. Hybrid Cars. Sorry Prius and Voltheads, but #3 above and the TDI and small turbo engines from VW, BMW and Ford are winners without 900 pounds of battery cells to worry about.
4. General Managers. That’s right, ask for your Super to save the club another hundred grand.
5. Trade Shows. I’ve never really understood them, but even the big ones are on life suppport. Ever meet a vendor that likes a good trade show?

I’m pretty sure that neither one of those lists covers it. But it is a fun exercise to put your mind around. For most people the cold list is much easier than the hot list.

Personally, I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot that needs to change. Isn’t that always the case? Most of all, I’m thankful for the friends and clients that I’m close with. Those people who have embraced Turfheadism, not as a disease to be hidden from our “non Green” friends and unturfheadlike families are unique and wonderful. Who couldn’t be thankful for them and those like them (us)?

I’m convinced that one of the main reasons that Turfheads dont embrace the concept of application of Organic Fertilizers is pretty simple—It Stinks.

Seriously. Who really wants to offend the olfactory senses of the Tuesday 9-Hole Ladies Group after a wonderful application of decomposition on Monday? It’s a pretty easy answer, that one. We’ll get to the should you or should you not use and how to use organics later. For now, a few tips on dealing with the assault on the nose that stops people from doing something great.

Tip #1: Pick Right. What a product’s parent material is composted of is going to affect the nose. And if it’s not handled very well in the assembly, it’s not going to handle itself well in the nostrils. And an odor of any kind of Ammonia is a dead giveaway that something isn’t right. If it snaps your head back like smelling salts, its all wrong… Stay away.

Tip #2: Date Right. You’ve found what you think is the perfect product. Instead of bringing in a truckload, how about taking a couple bags, preferably not next to the house where they hate your 5am start time and spread a little and see what sort of kiss you get. You need to calibrate the spreader anyway, right? Turn on a sprinkler after you spread it and see what getting it wet does. Go out the next morning and use your nose. Half of getting it right is knowing what it does.

Tip #3: Marry Right. Courtship has gone well, you know the one that brung you to the dance and the smells you are gonna get and you can afford the dowry, so now buying, storing and applying should all be pretty easy. If this one smells a bit at time of application, but water fixes that, then you have your answer. If the dry smell is benign, but water brings up a bit of a flare, you know what to do and when to do it. Organic products require a little thinking and even though they may not be the most beautiful at the dance, the performance later is worth using the veil.

His product of choice would go down and right after, he would apply some Gypsum and then a fertility spray with some Molasses. Ding. A whole new way to keep the bedroom interesting and the smell was gone.

Tip #4: Talk Right. It’s time to be creative when you have to do what you have to do. This is why the dating phase is so critical, you know what’s coming. Inside of this communication. It’s not a bad idea to let everyone know what you know what you are doing. If the application just has to go out when it has to go out, make sure you’ve communicated well and talked about the great benefits and complete safety some new odors might give. 

Tip #5: Create Right. I’ll never forget a Turfhead who had some troubles with what the golfers were saying about his organic fertility program coming up with a great idea. His product of choice would go down and right after, he would apply some Gypsum and then a fertility spray with some Molasses. Ding. A whole new way to keep the bedroom interesting and the smell was gone. Creative and fun and worth the effort, no one complained again. Often adding some other carbons and some minerals of your own acts as a wonderful filter for the nose. Beyond simple.

There’s 5 quick tips to help you help yourself and make a difference in dealing with an Organic Fertilizer, when you know it’s the right thing to do. Now go hug that pretty new bride of yours, even though she smells!

There are times when it is just too much fun to get some credit and by goodness we don’t get enough.

When everything and everyone does what they should in event golf, then a lot of people nod their heads and say, “Yup, that’s what was supposed to happen”. That’s not true. If you’ve ever seen what goes on at a huge golf event, then you understand that really just about every decision is about keeping something from going wrong or keeping someone from jacking something up. What is supposed to happen is a course-wide total implosion where each and every golfer and corporate event tent gets sucked into the pump station inlet live on the Golf Channel. That’s what supposed to happen. Keeping it from happening at a Major is doing the job and doing it right.

David Feherty is a nutball, but he’s my kind of nutball and so seeing this video makes me happy. For Ken and Kasey and every last TurfHead involved, congratulations for an outstanding event.

Take a look at what Feherty has to say: