Most people will recognize the title of this blog as a cornerstone approach to pursuing sustainability. Reduce, reuse, or recycle represents three different approaches for resource management that if instituted wisely diminish resource consumption in an operation or household. In my experience, recycle is the step that seems to get the most attention and is also practiced (considered) more frequently than the other practices. But these “3 Rs” are not just arbitrarily ordered so they roll off the
Let's take another post-GIS question. This provoked some thought.
Who are your Turfgrass Heroes?
I think the person asking me this was thinking that I would list off a bunch of people that everyone knows thru social media and what not. And well, their may be some recognizable names, there are also some that I know you don't know. I can't name them all here and if you didn't make the list and you know me well, it's not a slight. It's being economical. And it's recognizing people in my w
We are all part of communities. I am a family member, a citizen of my small town, I am an Islander, a Maritimer and a Canadian. You can say similar yet different things about yourself. Whether it’s at the family level, within our surrounding neighborhoods or even based on our geographic locations; we are all part of a something bigger than just ourselves. At the macro level we are also part of the larger human community and even the community of all beings that makes up this planet. We all are i
I called a friend/summer neighbor yesterday to reconnect as the long Vermont winter has turned the corner and is inching toward spring. Brian and I email occasionally but hearing the voice (and in his case, the laughter) is good tonic and well worth the effort. The words of my late friend Gordon Witteveen loom large with me: "If you don't work at relationships they soon go away." So I try to pick up the phone when the odds are good that the recipient will be relatively available. Sunday afternoo
My inbox has been blessed with some really good questions in the weeks since #GIS19. I like this one:
At first pass, I scoffed. Please. Me? Never. And then I considered the source of the question and the context of the conversation. Let's start with context. Because that word, in its wide range, can mean so many things. The author of the question was speaking to me about agronomy. Then to the point of source, we are talking about a Superintendent who has always been a deep thinking thoug
In the Olden Times, (or “The Good Old Days" for those immune to PC brainwashing) Dad was the GCS at a wonderful muni* outside Atlanta.
*Note: Although Brad Klein has called for a Social Justice Moratorium on the word “muni”, it is not a derogatory term; it simply means a municipal golf facility. Those of us who actually worked on a muni are proud of it, much more so than, say, a CCFAD.
The muni in our story was a Dick Wilson layout called “Mystery Valley” and it became very popular a
It has been ten or maybe even twelve years since I have been a GCSAA member. Yesterday, that changed.
As a student, assistant and superintendent, membership to the national association made sense to me. And for 15 years of independent consultant status, I paid the dues with not a lot of joy. And one day, after a very disappointing conversation with a GCSAA board member, I decided that there wasn't a benefit to me by belonging. It was, in effect, a silent protest. And a financial decision to
Nicholas Carr, a technology and modern culture genius, wrote the book, "What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains". Although I don't usually quote folks who went to Harvard and got nominated for that Pulitzer thing, I am doing it now. Why? Because no matter how hard I work at warning the golf world about tech and AI and microwave signals cooking our brains, nobody listens.
So I thought maybe golf might listen to this little gem from Nicholas Carr:
For those unwilling to heed the w
TurfTrainer is a patent-pending turf brushing system designed to improve turf playability, performance and health in a simple, easy to install and operate, low-maintenance package.
Designed by Rodney Hine, noted Boston-area superintendent and TurfNet member, the TurfTrainer attaches to the bucket of a greensmower and is pulled beneath the bucket rather than pushed as conventional brushes are. Once installed, the TurfTrainer can be used on-demand without further removal or installation. A st
Configured very much like the old tow-behind Ranger-type fairway gang mowers of yesteryear, the ProRoll from Progressive Turf brings individual unit flotation and contour following to wide area rolling. No longer is the rolling effect lost on dips and magnified on humps in the fairway.
Available in two models -- the Pro-Roll 10 and Pro-Roll 15 - with 10’8” or 15’ rolling widths, each roller unit is able to independently track changing contours. Solid ballast (30# suitcase weights) can be ad
If Carlos Arraya’s nomination for the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award had been judged solely on what he endured while preparing for last year’s PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club, that alone might well have been enough to win the award.
But providing stellar playing conditions for the world’s best golfers was only part of the story at the historic club in St. Louis. How Arraya and his team accomplished that was the bigger story.
In his fourth year at Bellerive, Arraya
No, it's not that cute white whale. Beloukha® is a new sunflower, bio-based, biodegradable contact herbicide from Belchim Crop Protection (formerly Engage Agro). It recently received EPA approval and is ready for state registration across the United States. Stop by Booth 2411.
Beloukha is a non-selective, broad-spectrum, foliar-applied herbicide that acts exclusively by contact, attacking and destroying the cell membranes of the plant epidermis causing rapid tissue dehydration. Made up of
John Deere is displaying the "future of golf course spraying" at GIS2019 with their new ProGator 2020A/2030A GPS Precision Sprayers. Either the 2020A (34 hp lc gas engine) or 2030A (21 hp lc diesel) can be outfitted with the HD200 or HD300 spray systems.
The GPS Precision Sprayers have Deere's AutoTrac hands-free Guidance System, automatic individual nozzle control, the StarFire 6000 receiver and an easy-to-learn 4640 Universal Display.
Skeptics are welcome to stop by the Nualgi booth #3818 (right by Club Car) to chat about the benefits of Nualgi Foliar Spray... of which they are offering a free 4-bottle trial along with a chance to win a golf trip for two to Whistling Straits ($5,000 value). 100 bottles of Nualgi can also be found in the Silent Auction.
Nualgi is a nano-scale liquid fertilizer that contains all 12-essential macro and micro nutrients + Silica. It is sold in 500ml (16oz) bottles. Each bottle treats 2.5 acre
Lesco has added a granular formulation of it's "microbial and carbon plant health nutrient optimizer": CarbonPro-G. A liquid formulation - CarbonPro-L - has been previously available.
Benefits of CarbonPro-G with regard to plant health include:
Deeper, Stronger Roots - By stimulating root development, it protects turf and plants against environmental stress and maximizes water and nutrient uptake.
Stress Recovery and Prevention - Containing microbial metabolites extracted fro
Wiedenmann is showing the all-new Super 1300S high performance sweeper. Double sweeping rotors rotate at 860 rpm to create suction and dethatch the turf if desired. The PTO-drive SUPER 1300 S is super-maneuverable and can be driven off a 15-hp tractor. A large exhaust screen allows complete filling of the 56 cu. ft. hopper, which can be dumped at ground level or raised hydraulically to dump into a vehicle or container.
Check it out in Booth 3442.
GT Airinject (Booth 3817) is giving away a year-long lease on an Air2Go Value Pack. The Value Pack includes an Air2G2 324 machine, an Air2HP hand-held single-prong unit and an Air2GO shuttle trailer for moving the Air2G2 around the golf course and back and forth to the maintenance facility. The drawing of the winner is at 4:30 on Thursday.
Interested in purchasing? Save $2,000 on the Value Pack with special show pricing.
Swing by Booth 3537 for a demo of the "completely reimagined" Turf Nutrition Tool (TNT), now mobile-friendly and accessible from any device. While you're there, register for a chance to win an iPad Pro.
Stop by the STEC Equipment booth (4936) to check out the new airter light 14160 PTO-drive pneumatic turf aerator. Towed by a lightweight tractor, the airter light utilizes 14 airlances each with three nozzles to direct high pressure air into the surrounding soil, loosening it while introducing oxygen and promoting gas exchange. It has a working width of 62" and aerates to a depth adjustable from 3 to 10".
John Deere is showing four new triplex greensmowers at GIS2019: the 2700 and 2750 PrecisionCut and the 2700 and 2750 E-Cut Hybrid triplex mowers. All are slated for availability in 2020.
"Consistent cut quality across all operators, contour following and grass catcher accessibility are critical needs for our customers," Brad Aldridge, product manager, John Deere Golf, said in a release. "The 2700 and 2750 Triplex Mowers were designed to tackle these challenges and take the stress out of mow
The all-new Toro Greensmaster 1000 Series of fixed-head walk greens mowers was designed to eliminate variability in the walk mowing process due to operator size and skill level.
A telescoping loop handle can be adjusted to accommodate operators of varying heights, helping to deliver a more consistent cut while reducing operator fatigue. Handle isolation mounts give the cutting units consistent contact with the ground throughout the mowing process, eliminating any variability in the height-o
Tru-Turf is introducing the RE50 electric turf roller at GIS2019. The 48v electric motor is powered by either traditional lead acid or lithium ion batteries. Quick release accessories include slitting, spiking and brush attachments, all changeable in seconds with no tools.
The RE50 incorporates Tru Turf's patented tri-roller smoothing heads that are fitted with hassle free, self cleaning nodules to eliminate dumping and debris impact. Heavy duty sealed bearings, rubber cushion mou
