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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    When attempting to describe corruption and favoritism in the world of college basketball, UNLV hall of fame coach Jerry Tarkanian (below right) once famously quipped “The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky they're going to give Cleveland State another year of probation” proving it is possible to ensnare non-target organisms with weapons other than insecticides.
    Back in 2013, when a landscape company sprayed a clump of linden trees at an Oregon shopping center with an insecticide to control aphids and instead eliminated some 50,000 bumble bees, you knew it was only a matter of time before the PR nightmare associated with this non-target kill eventually trickled down to golf.
    It has taken six years, but that day finally is here.
    Neonicotinoid pesticides have been suspected as a cause in the decline of bee populations for more than a decade and have been in the crosshairs of environmental groups ever since 2013 when the unnamed landscape company ignored label directions and sprayed dozens of linden trees, which are a favorite of pollen-seeking bees. On May 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency canceled the registrations of a dozen neonicotinoid pesticides, and environmental groups say they will not rest until all insecticides in that class are off the market.
    All 12 of the products canceled by the EPA include the active ingredients clothianidin or thiamethoxam either alone or in combination with other active ingredients. The list includes three granular formulations, one product used to manage pests in flowers and shrubs and several found in seed coatings in the agriculture industry. 
    So, what does this registration cancellation mean to manufacturers, distributors and end users?
    First, dozens of neonicotinoids available for use, including imidacloprid and the formulation of clothianidin used in the Oregon incident. According to the EPA, manufacturers may sell and distribute existing stock for one year after the registration cancellation, which is May 20, 2020. “Persons other than the registrants (i.e., distributors and end users) may sell, distribute or use existing stocks of products until existing stocks are exhausted, provided that such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms of the previously approved labeling on, or that accompanied, the canceled products”, according to the EPA. In other words, use it if you have it.
    The original letter to cancel the registrations of these products was announced March 25, and was followed by a 30-day public comment period.
    The decision to phase out these chemistries is the result of a long, drawn out legal battle that began in 2013 when a lawsuit was brought against the EPA for approving registrations of dozens of neonicotinoid pesticides from 2007-2012. A California judge in 2017 ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, saying the approval violated the Endangered Species Act. 
    It also is only the beginning. The review process for all neonicotinoids has begun and environmental groups are determined to get all of these chemistries off the market as they come up for reregistration and progress through the public participation process. The only feedback received by the EPA during the public comment period for the 12 products recently affected included one that hinted that the agency’s process of registering synthetic chemicals is broken and another that simply read “good”. Those interested in retaining access to other products in this class that are still available might want to consider exercising their right to do so and speaking out on the benefits of following label instructions.
  • The phrase "money talks" first appeared in the U.S. in 1903 in the pages of the Saturday Evening Post. Since then, it has become part of the American vernacular. 
    Never before has that saying been more true than in the current war waged against one of the country's most popular weed killers. 
    Harrell's dropped it because of insurance liability reasons, Costco reportedly plans to remove it from its shelves and there is a growing list of cities across the country that have banned its use on public property. 
    You have to admit, a $2 billion jury award is quite a wake-up call.
    That is the latest settlement figure in the most recent case involving Roundup and its manufacturer and the California couple who claim the weedkiller caused their non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The award, the third against Monsanto and parent company Bayer since last summer, has gotten the attention of the manufacturer and more than 13,000 others waiting in line to sue the company. It also has gotten the attention of a U.S. District Court judge in California who has nearly 1,000 Roundup-related cases awaiting him.
    On May 22, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria of the Northern District of California appointed attorney Kenneth Feinberg as a mediator in the settlement talks between Bayer and the plaintiffs. 
    If his name sounds familiar, it should. Feinberg was involved in administering compensation for victims of Sept. 11, the BP oil spill and plaintiffs in the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
    Lawyers from both sides have been instructed to meet with Feinberg within the next two weeks.
    That same day, Chhabria, who is overseeing litigation against Monsanto nationwide, said the company can choose where upcoming cases will be tried. 
    The World Health Organization in 2015 labeled glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. The EPA says there is no scientific evidence that glyphosate, when used according to label instructions, causes cancer. Juries and public opinion clearly have sided against science and big business, and getting the genie back in the bottle is going to be difficult if not impossible.
    Bayer has said it will take part in the settlement talks, but with 13,000 similar cancer cases pending, the company needs an all-or-nothing win on appeal or runs the risk of being bled dry by future decisions. Stocks have plummeted to the level that the company is worth less today than the $63 billion it paid last year in the takeover of Monsanto. The company told Bloomberg that it plans to focus on defending the safe use of glyphosate. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they will proceed as planned with litigation if Bayer doesn't come to the table.
    The growing list of municipalities to ban its use on public property has grown to include Satellite Beach and Key West in Florida. And recently Janet Napolitano, the president of the scientist-rich University of California system and the former governor of Arizona and Homeland Security secretary, has temporarily halted its use on all university grounds in a scientist-rich environment.
    Roundup has limited but definite use in the golf industry and is the most popular non-selective herbicide used in U.S. agriculture and recent developments no doubt will foster new research into alternative products, and that is a good thing. After all, money talks.
  • Jaime Bojorquez keeps things running at Westbrook Village GC in Peoria, Arizona. When David Escobedo describes the contributions of equipment manager Jaime Bojorquez to the operation at Westbrook Village Golf Club in Peoria, Arizona, he admits it all sounds a little like a story.
    Bojorquez excels at training new employees, fabricating new tools and implements, and can fix just about anything from a decades-old tractor ready for the scrap heap to a co-workers car. Even mower distributors call him for help and advice in fixing their equipment. And, he's turned down plenty of offers for gigs from competing operations.
    "Jaime is only 34 years old, but his knowledge and experience in equipment repair is way beyond his years," Escobedo said. "We have equipment here that is well past its average life span because Jaime's preventative maintenance program extends the life of the equipment which saves the club thousands of dollars every year. 
    "Jaime also has a heart of gold. He knows many staff members are not financially well off, so he is always quick to lend them a helping hand with their personal vehicles after work or on his days off. He will repair or replace starters, alternators, troubleshoot electrical issues, and just about anything one can think of. The guys try to give him money but he settles for a burger or burrito as payment.
    "Even when I say it, I know it sounds almost unreal. But that's how he is."
    Bojorquez is one of three finalists for the TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by Toro. 
    Criteria on which candidates are judged include: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic. The winner receives the Golden Wrench Award and a spot in next year's Toro Service Training University at the company's headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota.
    Bojorquez and Escobedo have worked together for a dozen years, and came to Westbrook Village together eight years ago from Palmbrook Country Club.
    Escobedo's successor at Palmbrook tried to convince Bojorquez to stay at the Sun City club.
    "Good technicians are hard to find, and we know he could make more elsewhere," Escobedo said. "He was offered a job with the city with benefits that we couldn't match, so we try to be flexible with his schedule because he has young kids and he likes to pick them up from school and go to their events. 
    "We pay what we can to be competitive. He could go north to Scottsdale and they would snatch him up in a minute. The flexibility is what keeps him here. If he says he has to leave at noon, he's going to leave at noon. That's how valuable he is, but he doesn't take advantage of that. He's humble and hard working."
    When the transmission went out on a 25-year-old tractor, Escobedo thought he was staring either at a big repair bill or a new piece of equipment. Instead, Bojorquez bought the needed parts and had the tractor up and running again in two days.
    "He'd never trained on anything like that, but he it operational again within 48 hours," Escobedo said.
    "He's saved big bucks by bringing back or extending the life of things we thought were done."
    With the 36 holes at Westbrook Village, there always are new employees entering the operation, and Bojorquez has developed his own training program to ensure the staff operates equipment properly and safely, how to clean it when they are finished and how to store it for the next person to use.
    "He's very hands on in that aspect. In fact, I've stepped away from training and I've asked my assistants to step away from it, too and let Jaime train the staff," Escobedo said. "There are certain ways he likes things done, and I'm not a guy who turns wrenches, so we stay the hell out of his way."
    Many equipment managers have a well-earned surly reputation. Bojorquez is the opposite. Whether it is in the clubhouse, pro shop, on the golf course He doesn't talk at people. He talks to them and explains to them why things have to be the way they are."
    Previous winners include (2018) Terry Libbert, Old Marsh Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; (2017) Tony Nunes, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, IL; (2016) Kris Bryan, Pikewood National Golf Club, Morgantown, WV; (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, CA; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, CA; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, IL; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, CT; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (PA) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, TX; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, CO; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, AZ; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (MI) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, FL.
  • Sean Brownson had plans on becoming a commercial pilot - until he worked the 2009 U.S. Open. There was a time in Sean Brownson's career when it was more likely he would be piloting a plane filled with people on their way to watch one of golf's majors than working at one. That was until the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park.
    Then, Brownson was working toward becoming a commercial pilot while also employed as a member of Craig Currier's grounds crew at the course in Farmingdale, New York. It was while working the ‘09 Open on the Black Course won by Lucas Glover that convinced him he was suited for a career in golf.
    "When I worked the 2009 U.S. Open, I got a feel for it," Brownson said. "I loved it.
    "I already had my private pilot's license and was close to finishing my commercial rating. I never finished once I decided to stay in golf."
    Brownson moved into the shop as a mechanic four years after joining the Bethpage staff in 2007. For the past eight years, he has supervised a crew of five mechanics who maintain equipment used to manage five golf courses and the park for director of agronomy Andrew Wilson, the former Bethpage assistant who succeeded Currier.
    Brownson, 32, is one of three finalists for the 2019 TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by Toro.
    Criteria on which candidates are judged by our panel include: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic. The winner receives the Golden Wrench Award and a spot in next year's Toro Service Training University at the company's headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota.
    Bethpage sees an enormous amount of golfer traffic each year. Some 45,000 rounds per year are played on Black Course alone, and the massive equipment inventory used to maintain the golf courses and park includes more than 300 pieces of mechanized equipment. Each season, about 500 hours are logged on every sprayer, utility vehicle and greens mower. 
    Recently, Brownson oversaw all equipment maintenance during the 2019 PGA Championship.
    "Sean has mastered many tasks, whether troubleshooting string trimmers, rebuilding a Verti-Drain, or repairing and servicing fairway mowers, dump trucks, skid loaders, or whatever the needs of the day are," Wilson wrote in his nomination of Brownson for the Tech of the Year award. "Mr. Brownson handles each well and with the attention to detail that helps our staff provide conditions our golfers enjoy. He also trains our other mechanics whether on the specifics of a job or the thought process involved in making more complex repairs."
    As a mechanic, Brownson knows how equipment is supposed to operate, but his experience on the crew provides some added perspective.
    "Since he was a member of the grounds crew Sean also has a realistic sensibility for how equipment is used and how it must perform," Wilson said.
    What drives Brownson is ensuring that golfers at Bethpage and visitors to the park have the best-possible experience.
    "I just love the park and want to see it at its best every day," he said. "I want the public to see this place as I see it."
    Previous winners include (2018) Terry Libbert, Old Marsh Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; (2017) Tony Nunes, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, IL; (2016) Kris Bryan, Pikewood National Golf Club, Morgantown, WV; (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, CA; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, CA; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, IL; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, CT; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (PA) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, TX; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, CO; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, AZ; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (MI) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, FL.
  • Ozaukee CC superintendent Brett Hosler, left, says the club is able to compete in a competitive Milwaukee-area market thanks in large part to the efforts of equipment manager Dan Dommer, right. There is plenty of inherent pressure involved in managing playing conditions for choosy golfers. When you are maintaining equipment that was purchased by the late Wayne Otto, there is a little extra pressure to maintain that legacy.
    Otto spent more than 40 years in the turf business, including 35 as the superintendent at Ozaukee Country Club, the historic 1920 William Langford-Theodore Moreau design north of Milwaukee in Mequon, Wisconsin. He was that state's first certified superintendent, and the Wee One Foundation was created in his memory after his death in 2004.
    Ensuring that superintendent Brett Hosler has the tools he needs to maintain that legacy is a lot to live up to. 
    Such is life for equipment manager Dan Dommer, one of three finalists for this year's TurfNet Technician of the Year Award, presented by Toro.
    "An elite and successful golf facility requires many strong employees, working well as a team to achieve elite results," said Hosler. "In my 18 years of experience in the golf course industry, I have never witnessed a more knowledgeable, hard-working and versatile employee as Mr. Dan Dommer. Dan is the type of employee that allows a golf facility to thrive in a saturated market."
    Criteria on which candidates are judged include: crisis management; effective budgeting; environmental awareness; helping to further and promote the careers of colleagues and employees; interpersonal communications; inventory management and cost control; overall condition and dependability of rolling stock; shop safety; and work ethic. The winner receives the Golden Wrench Award and a spot in next year's Toro Service Training University at the company's headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota.
    Among the pieces from yesteryear is a Toro 5500 sprayer that is a holdover from the Otto era.
    "Wayne Otto bought that at the show in 1997 right off the showroom floor, and it's been here for three decades," Hosler said. "If it goes down, he's right there. I can't think of an issue where if something goes down Dan doesn't have it up and running within an hour."
    Other examples of vintage equipment that continue to hum along at Ozaukee are another sprayer that dates to the 1970s and a five-gang roller from the 1920s that Hosler continues to use today to smooth out fairways.
    "What's old is new again," he said. "Thanks to Dan."
    Dommer is a lot more than just a mechanic. Ozaukee's 100-year-old shop comes with plenty of limitations, including the lack of a lift, often requiring Dommer to take equipment to the family farm to work on it.
    "He has a whatever-it-takes attitude," Hosler said. "It's rare to find someone like that. Whatever needs to happen, he's going to do it. If we're topdressing fairways, he'll stay late and do it. If we need him to mow, he'll do it. Wherever we need him to fill it, he adapts to any situation."
    At the start of each season, Dommer conducts a training class for returning and new employees, and meets regularly with Hosler to plan out each week's maintenance schedule.
    "Perhaps the most important Dan possesses is the work ethic learned and developed as a farmhand," Hosler said. "He is an excellent planner, fabricator, mechanic, teacher, worker, confidant, problem-solver and friend. His adaptability and work ethic knows no bounds. Dan is an even better person than employee as well; something that no doubt contributes to the success he's achieved thus far. Our club could not function properly without his expertise and we are beyond fortunate to have him on our team at Ozaukee."
    Previous winners include (2018) Terry Libbert, Old Marsh Golf Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; (2017) Tony Nunes, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, IL; (2016) Kris Bryan, Pikewood National Golf Club, Morgantown, WV; (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, CA; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, CA; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, IL; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, CT; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (PA) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, TX; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (GA) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, CO; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, AZ; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (MI) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, FL.
  • With Mount Hood in the background, the Great Blue Course at city-owned Heron Lakes in Portland, Oregon, is a 1992 Robert Trent Jones Jr. design. History says for every municipal golf operation that operates successfully, there are two that do not. 
    City- and county-owned courses in Cincinnati and Hamilton County in Ohio as well as Chicago and Cook County in Illinois are just two examples of successful municipal golf operations. Then there is Portland, Oregon.
    During the worst recession in decades, the U.S. auto industry was deemed "too big to fail", prompting a publicly funded bailout. On a similar, but smaller scale, municipal golf in Portland, too, was viewed by city officials as too big to fail and two years ago received its own infusion of public dollars. It failed anyway.
    Unlike the domestic auto industry which revived quite nicely thanks to a $70 billion boost by taxpayers, Portland's five golf courses are virtually bankrupt today despite an $800,000 bailout by taxpayers in 2017, according to a report by city auditor Mary Hull Caballero, who said the city's golf system is "at a crossroads." The auditor did not take issue with those managing the properties, but had stern words for city officials whom she says have been "lax" in overseeing a public resource. She went on to say that changes were needed to ensure long-term sustainability of the city's golf program, and even assigned that title to her report.
    "While Parks has taken steps to cut costs and increase the number of golfers, it is fighting a national trend of a sport in decline and past ineffective program management," the auditor wrote in her report. "Many of the factors that led to the funding shortfall in 2017 remain in place. To ensure the golf program is viable for the long term, we recommend that parks and recreation: develop alternative financial forecast scenarios and present them to city council for direction on how to proceed; negotiate contracts to reflect current conditions; improve contract monitoring; present contracts to city council for approval and renewal."
    The lesson seems to be: run it like a business, not like a government entity, which is a difficult concept for some public officials to comprehend.
    Portland has offered municipal golf for more than a century. Its five courses, Heron Lakes, Eastmoreland, RedTail, Rose City and Colwood, are intended to be self-supporting entities, but had been operating at a loss for three straight years when the city council infused the golf program with $800,000 in 2017. 
    Portland's population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, has climbed by 22 percent in the past two decades, from 529,000 in 2000 to 647,000. Rounds played at the city-owned courses is down 6 percent in the past five years and 46 percent in the last 25 years. About 2,000 golf courses have closed in the past 13 years, and a large chunk of those have been municipal properties.
    Portland's golf courses are on the precipice of becoming one of those industry statistics that no one envies.
    The operating budget for the five properties in 2018 was $9.6 million, including more than $3 million in salaries and benefits and more than $1 million in administrative costs, according to the auditor. Payment on the Colwood course that the city bought in 2014 is due in four years. 
    The city's golf program is now just about bankrupt, leaving city officials wondering what to do next. Vulnerable and strapped for cash is an unenviable position for a stable of courses that are expected to be self-sufficient and are struggling to attract golfers in a time of industry decline. 
    Wrote the auditor: "To remain self-supporting, the program must achieve positive results with the factors it can control to withstand factors outside its control. Despite making improvements, the program faces challenges that threaten its ability to increase revenue."
    Four years ago, the city's golf program started outreach programs to attract women and minorities and also has incorporated Foot Golf, but the city doesn't have data on whether any or all of these initiatives are working.
    Mandatory marketing plans and performance reviews have not been initiated. Maintenance contracts also require the city to pay for normal wear and tear and repairs, which the city has not done. And the list of deferred maintenance projects, like replacing old window and roof repair is growing while cash in reserve is shrinking.
    Parks director Adena Long wrote a response letter saying: "While maintenance of aging facilities remains a challenge, the Golf Program continues to be a good investment for Portlanders. PP&R's courses consistently generate operating surpluses and provide valuable ecosystem services over 800 acres of open space and natural area."
    The hands-off approach by the city has left all five courses to operate as separate entities, the auditor said, which has been to the detriment of the city golf program as a whole.
    The auditor advises the parks department do a better job at negotiating and monitoring contracts, defining its golf program and says it will have to come up with all new (and realistic) financial forecasting.
    To determine whether the city golf operation was being managed correctly and could be a sustaining entity, the auditor's office consulted golf industry reports, reviewed golf industry maintenance standards, interviewed staff, combed through all reports and financial documents, reviewed industry trends and consulted with industry partners. In short, the auditor's office did everything the city's parks officials should be doing on a regular basis, but according to the auditor, have not.
  • Talk about being codependent. Is there a better example of two species more reliant on each other than people and honey bees?
    Each depends on the other for its very existence. People rely on honey bees to pollinate agricultural crops. The bees, which have been domesticated for thousands of years and kept as livestock for the past several decades, depend on people to manage colonies in the face of declining habitat and exposure to parasites. 
    Suffice to say, without the other, each faces a grim future. Some bee experts, however, are hopeful that in time bee populations could develop resistance, either naturally or through selection, to parasites that threaten to wipe out domesticated colonies every year. They also say there are easy ways for golf course superintendents to provide natural food sources that bees find irresistible. 
    There are about 20,000 bee species found worldwide. About 5,000 of those are found in North America. Many species worldwide already are extinct.
    The varroa mite that parasitizes European honey bees across the U.S. is an invasive species in North America. The tiny bug, also known as the varroa destructor, feeds on the bee's fat deposits. The weakened bee becomes susceptible to diseases, like deformed wing virus, that can wipe out entire colonies. It was introduced to European bees more than 100 years ago when Russians brought that species to eastern Asia. After jumping species, the mites have been plaguing bee colonies in the U.S. since the 1980s, said Ohio State University entomologist Reed Johnson, Ph.D., an expert in apiculture and pollinator toxicology.
    Research indicates that European bees in other parts of the world have begun to slowly develop resistance to the varroa mite during the past 100 years. 
    "European bees have developed some resistance, and there is work taking place to develop that resistance in the U.S. That is a promising avenue," Johnson said. "If that happened here, that would be wonderful."
    Johnson believes that if left alone, bees probably could develop resistance to the varroa mite over the next several years. Agricultural needs, however, make that impossible. 
    "They would develop good, strong resistance to mites, and they could do that through selection," Johnson said. "We would probably see a rebound in their numbers within a decade. If we all could give up using them for a decade, it's likely their problems would be solved. But we can't do that, the agriculture industry depends on them too much."

    The number of bee colonies being raised on golf courses is a mere drop in the bucket of the domesticated bee population of 2.6 million colonies, Johnson said. Most of those colonies spend much of the year being trucked around the country to pollinate food crops. For example, 2.1 million colonies are sent each year to California just to pollinate the state's almond crop. That practice is a constant source of stress for bees, which, except for the queen, only live about six weeks anyway.
    "Bees are a big deal and they're big business. There is big money in commercial pollination," Potter said. "Travel is stressful, they're confined together on trucks. It affects their immune system and makes them more susceptible to disease.
    "There is an opportunity to get on the right side of this issue."
    Other threats include pesticides, including neonicotinoids, and researchers at the University of Texas suggest that glyphosate affects the bee's natural ability to produce beneficial bacteria, and adversely affecting its immune system. On May 20, the EPA canceled registration on a dozen neonicotinoids that all include the active ingredients chlothianidin or thiamathoxam. 
    There are opportunities for golf course superintendents and others to help bee populations that fall short of establishing hives on the property, said University of Kentucky entomologist Dan Potter, Ph.D., recipient of the 2010 USGA Green Section Award and the architect of the first Operation Pollinator project in the U.S.
    Something as simple as planting clover can provide much-needed habitat for bees, which can travel several miles in search of pollen. And when they find a field they like they have a special dance that tells other bees the direction of the field's location in relation to the sun and its distance from the hive.
    "Honey bees are very choosy," Johnson said. "There are particular plants they go to.
    "It sounds simple, but clover is an incredibly important plant. The more we get out there, the better it will be for the bees."
    Out-of-play areas on golf courses provide a natural food source without the commitment of establishing colonies. Linden trees also are a favorite food source for bees.
    "Any superintendent worth his salt is not going to allow spray drift onto roughs and they're not typically spraying clover," Potter said. 
    "The EPA is going to take a close look at these pesticides that might or might not affect bees. If we use them, and not use them in a crazy way, we can still have a pleasant space in our back yards and on our golf courses and make it hospitable to urban wildlife and pollinators."
  • Anthracnose thrives in cool, wet conditions, especially in areas that have been affected in the past. Photo by Rutgers University Prolonged cool, wet conditions throughout much of the country have meant that superintendents must keep two things at the ready through mid-May: a jacket and an arsenal of preferred fungicides.
    Such conditions have provided a fertile environment for many turf diseases, including anthracnose.
    Anthracnose thrives in cool, wet conditions in Poa annua and often recurs in areas that have been troublesome in the past.
    "We have a spring this year, unlike last year. Things are coming fast and hitting us really early and we're really, really wet," said Todd Hicks, program manager for Ohio State's plant pathology department, in a recent Turf Tips video. "It seems to dry out a little bit, but the weather pattern got cool again, so we're getting lots of reports of anthracnose.
    "It seems like if you had a problem with it before, it's coming back."
    That includes areas that are shaded, areas where drainage is poor and places where traffic is high.
    Average daily high and low temperatures in Columbus, where Ohio State is located, have been running about 10 degrees below normal in May, according to the National Weather Service. Rainfall for the year is about 50 percent above normal, according to NWS.
    "This cool, wet pattern is not helping anything," Hicks said. "You can't spray your way out of this one, especially in the really bad areas. You're going to have to use your cultural techniques as an add-on to your fungicide spray to solve those problems."
    Research by Rutgers University suggests low rates of soluble nitrogen applied every seven days from late spring through summer provides consistent reduction in anthracnose severity. Click here to watch a recent TurfNet webinar on managing anthracnose by Bruce Clarke, Ph.D., and Jim Murphy, Ph.D., of Rutgers.
    Pink snow mold also is a lingering problem in Ohio and other areas where these cool, wet conditions continue to persist. Cool-season rhizoctonia also continues to be an issue, and on several occasions has been mis-diagnosed as pink snow mold.
    "It's not uncommon to have this diagnosed all the way up into June if we have a few days of cool, wet whether," OSU plant pathologist Joe Rimelspach, Ph.D., said in the video.
    Rimelspach suggests submitting samples to the lab to correctly diagnose the issue and warns that in either case the infection centers are loaded with spores and it is important to guard against spreading them to unaffected turf.
    "When we get into a wet, cool period, those can move around," he said. "They can be tracked on mowers or move in water patterns. 
    "The good thing is it doesn't usually kill the grass, but it can be pretty alarming."
  • For superintendents who want to squeeze the most from every drop of their disease-control applications, Syngenta recently launched Appear II fungicide.
    With the active ingredient potassium phosphite, Appear II is labeled for Pythium blight, Pythium root rot and Pythium damping off and as part of a program can help control other diseases in cool- and warm-season turf, including anthracnose, pink snow mold, Bermudagrass decline and Bermudagrass leaf spot.
    Improved mixability and resuspension mean the active ingredient is immediately available and is quickly absorbed by the plant, while a pigment provides a deep, natural green color and enhanced turf quality through recovery that golfers can see.
     
    A surfactant system offers superintendents improved resuspension and mixability. Appear II enters into suspension more quickly, and it leaves less residue in sprayer filters.
     
    Research has shown that Appear II consistently enhances the performance of fungicide programs for disease control and stress tolerance. And when tank mixed with other fungicides, the Appear II label includes additional diseases, including anthracnose and pink snow mold. Research also has shown that fall and/or winter applications of Appear II, when tank mixed with other products, such as Daconil Action or Secure Action, lead to quicker spring green-up and improved turf quality.
  • The troubles facing the maker of a popular weed killer and its parent company have escalated to an entirely new level - a 10-digit one to be exact.
    An Oakland, California jury on May 13 awarded $2 billion to a Livermore couple who say they have used the non-selective herbicide Roundup for 30 years and blame it for causing their non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The ruling also included $55 million in compensatory damages. It is the third judgment against Monsanto in three tries, despite U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims that the chemistry is safe when used as labeled. 
    In March, a San Francisco jury awarded $80 million to a man who blamed his cancer on glyphosate. A $289 million award granted by a California jury last August later was reduced on appeal to $78 million.
    Legal experts predict the $2 billion recently awarded to Alva and Alberta Pilliod also will be reduced on appeal. 
    Due to the size of the award and the number of suits pending in this arena, the latest decision will undoubtedly go through the appeals process, and it is likely Monsanto and parent company Bayer will await that outcome before making any long-term decisions on its defense strategy moving forward, according to a statement from Bayer and the opinion of several legal experts.
    At the crux of the glyphosate debate are conflicting reports by the World Health Organization and the EPA. In 2015, the WHO concluded that glyphosate was a "probable" carcinogen. The EPA, on the other hand, has said that there is no evidence indicating that glyphosate causes cancer based on the results of more than 800 tests and studies. 
    In the past 10 months, juries have sided 3-0 with the WHO findings and ignored the scientific findings of the EPA, which has a specific scientific review process to determine labeling for every chemistry on the U.S. market. 
    The company says it plans to appeal the recent ruling in the following news statement released May 13: "Bayer is disappointed with the jury's decision and will appeal the verdict in this case, which conflicts directly with the EPA's interim registration review decision released just last month, the consensus among leading health regulators worldwide that glyphosate-based products can be used safely and that glyphosate is not carcinogenic, and the 40 years of extensive scientific research on which their favorable conclusions are based."
    It's clear that Bayer needs an all-or-nothing win at the appellate level. The company is hoping that appellate judges will be more sympathetic to the science cited by the EPA than juries have been, and an attorney for the German-based company told Law.com that he believes there is enough science on Bayer's side to eventually beat back the wave of negative PR surrounding this issue. 
    That will be key moving forward with more than 13,000 other cases against Monsanto pending. The recent $2 billion payday ensures there will be many, many more cases to follow. Because of the growing number of lawsuits involving Roundup, federal multidistrict litigation has been centralized in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. 

    Stock values for Bayer AG have dropped by nearly 23 percent since March and are down by nearly half since the company bought Monsanto for $63 billion last year. The worth of the combined group, according to the Financial Times, is less than what Bayer paid to acquire Monsanto. It was not clear what Bayer's legal defense strategy will be moving forward.
    Some legal analysts have suggested this could be heading toward class-action status. The FT says Bayer officials have ruled that out for now and that no such settlement makes sense until the first wave of appeals takes place later this year.
    According to Bayer's statement: "The verdict in this trial has no impact on future cases and trials, as each one has its own factual and legal circumstances. Also, this litigation will take some time before it concludes as no case has been subject to appellate review where key legal rulings in the trials will be assessed. The company will continue to evaluate and refine its legal strategies as it moves through the next phase of this litigation, which will be marked by a greater focus on post-trial motions and appellate review and trials scheduled in different venues."
    With sympathetic juries ordering awards in the billions, and Bayer (or anyone for that matter) unable to sustain more decisions like the one in Oakland, neither side has much to gain in a rush to the negotiations table.
  • "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
    - Albert Einstein

    The modern golf game and hard science are joined at the hip. At least they were, but recent events are threatening that relationship.
    The debate about whether glyphosate is or is not a carcinogen is not an argument being argued with science. Instead, it is a battle being waged in venues such as courtrooms, where the ammunition is emotion lobbed at juries, and on social media, where nonsense and untruths rule the day.
    To date, juries have awarded more than $160 million to two people diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma claiming that Roundup is to blame for their cancer, despite multiple reports to the contrary by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More than 13,000 other pending cases alleging glyphosate causes cancer are awaiting adjudication, including one in which the defendants are seeking damages of $1 billion.
    The process calls into question the effectiveness of the EPA and its role in the future.
    According to the EPA, there is no definitive evidence that suggests glyphosate causes cancer. That's good enough for some in science and for some lawmakers, but not all.
    That has not stopped some U.S. cities from banning its use and some states for trying to do so.
    Three Vermont lawmakers in February proposed legislation that would ban the sale and use of glyphosate unless authorized by the state's agriculture commissioner. 
    The bill includes the following language in paragraph 1 on page 2: "In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization, concluded that glyphosate is a probable carcinogen."
    HR 301 in Vermont has not emerged from committee since it was introduced, but some state, some day is going to be the first to move on this bill or one similar to it.
    Some U.S. municipalities already have. 
    Earlier this year, Miami banned the use of glyphosate on city property. Watsonville, California, which supplies U.S. supermarkets with much of their produce, recently became the latest in a growing list of municipalities in that state to ban glyphosate use.
    The EPA has a specific scientific review process to determine labeling for every chemistry on the market. 
    The decision-making process for city officials in Watsonville was not based in science as reported by the EPA, which is the nation's agency-of-record for determining chemical oversight. Instead, it was based on World Health Organization claims in 2015 that glyphosate is "likely a carcinogen" and the findings of a group of scientists known as the California state legislature that labeled the chemistry as a known carcinogen in 2017.

    Science was not enough to stop Watsonville mayor Francisco Estrada from claiming that Monsanto, the maker of Roundup that was bought by Bayer in 2018, was "hiding" its cancer-related research until being outed by the WHO four years ago.
    The EPA has identified dozens if not hundreds of chemistries as cancer-causing agents, so it does not exactly have a track record of hiding data to serve commercial gain. But when the agency restated on social media its findings that refute a link between glyphosate and cancer, it was bombarded on Twitter by faceless trolls suggesting everything from a Trump EPA that panders to the chemical industry to direct payoffs by Monsanto.
    This is the same sort of shouting from the rooftops that dominates political discourse on social media, where the loudest voice, which usually is not the truest, receives the attention. And those voices keep shouting until the have bullied those who do not agree with them into silent submission.
    Just ask Harrell's, which earlier this year announced it would stop selling glyphosate because the company's insurance carrier refused to provide coverage in the event of litigation against the company.
    In a letter from the company, Harrell's CEO Jack Harrell said: "(D)uring our annual insurance renewal last month, we were surprised to learn that our insurance company was no longer willing to provide coverage for claims related to glyphosate due to the recent high-profile lawsuit and the many thousands of lawsuits since. We sought coverage from other companies but could not buy adequate coverage for the risk we would be incurring. So we had no choice other than to notify our Harrell's Team and customers that we would no longer offer products containing glyphosate as of March 1, 2019."
    Granted, many superintendents probably could get along just fine without glyphosate. But what happens when it is time for that next major renovation or restoration project? Or, what happens when those who are willing to dismiss scientific research come after the next chemistry on their hit list that you do use?
    No one in the T&O industry can fault Harrell's for this business decision, but the thought of the insurance industry buckling to uneducated public opinion to decide what products the T&O and agriculture markets can and cannot use, despite evidence to the contrary, is a frightening prospect and a slippery slope down which we have just begun to slide.
  • Jim Brosnan, Ph.D., right, says he is fielding more questions about glyphosate this year than at any other time in his career. Granted, glyphosate is not the most widely used product on the shelves of golf course maintenance facilities, but recent claims regarding its safety are a wakeup call that it's never too early to start looking for alternative solutions to chemistries with a questionable future.
    "You know, I've gotten a lot of glyphosate questions in 2019, probably more this year than from 2008 to 2019 combined," said Jim Brosnan, Ph.D., professor and weed specialist at the  University of Tennessee. "It's not just me. My colleagues in row crops give a talk on soybeans and all the questions are about Roundup.
    "We as a weed science group, we need to do something to educate our extension agents who are getting these questions from people in Tennessee."
    Superintendents likely use glyphosate for spot treating weeds in non-grassy areas, or to clear wide swaths of turf during renovation projects. But chances are increasingly likely that someone somewhere sometime is going to question you for using it, if they have not taken that option away from you by then.
    If and when that time comes, and it probably will, there are many options available to golf course superintendent, depending on the application, said Ohio State professor and weed scientist David Gardner, Ph.D.
    "There's three areas where I can see glyphosate being used on a regular basis on a golf course one is on hard surfaces, you know, cracks in the concrete, for example. And in those instances, there's all of the acceptable substitutes in the world that are available, so that's not a problem," Gardner said. "Second place where they would use Roundup with some frequency would be on weed control in ornamental beds. And the particular advantage of using glyphosate, there's very few selective weed-control options and none of them are for broadleaf weed control. So you could make a decent argument that Roundup is really the better choice for them.
    "The real issue then would be when they're using glyphosate for renovation and reestablishment purposes. And glyphosate is the only non selective herbicide that's truly systemic. There is some systemicity with glufosinate, but it's relatively limited. In other words, people usually don't use that herbicide in a renovation project for a reason."
    Glyphosate has been blamed for causing cancer in more than 13,000 suits, and two juries have awarded more than $180 million in damages in two cases. 
    Still, glyphosate possesses other traits that make it a more attractive option than many of the alternative herbicides.
    "Its environmental profile is actually very good," Gardner said. "It's not likely to leach.
    "Since it binds so tightly to soil particles after application, the advantage of that is that you're permitted to re-enter the area with seed seven days after application. There's a lot of non-selective herbicides out there that are systemic. The problem is that their soil residue is so long that you would have to wait for a very, very long time before you went back into the area. And so, probably from a from a golf course superintendent standpoint, I would think that that would be the most important cause for concern for them."
  • A year after incorporating autonomous mowing technology at the Presidio, Brian Nettz said putting conditions are better than ever. There was a time when golf course superintendents could not envision entrusting putting surfaces to autonomous mowers. But 12 months after incorporating the technology into his day-to-day routine at the Presidio Golf Club in San Francisco, Brian Nettz cannot imagine ever going back to walk mowing greens.
    For the past year, Nettz has been leasing a fleet of five Cub Cadet R3 mowers at the Presidio. The mowers help him save on labor and fuel costs and reduce the club's environmental footprint.
    "I first saw it on a video, I think on TurfNet," Nettz said. "I always thought they were pretty cool, but thought they'd never work here. I thought they would be too expensive and we'd never get people to embrace it."
    Turns out that some of the benefits of such technology made it a pretty easy sell.
    As each autonomous unit mows greens, its "operator" is free to do things like rake bunkers and cup cuts. The units, each weighs in excess of 500 pounds, also roll as they mow, allowing allow five people to do more in one day than twice as many could accomplish a few days a week just one year ago. In fact, Nettz figures the units help save more than 70 labor hours per week. That's a big deal with help becoming increasingly hard to find. 
    Historically, Nettz would have 15 people on staff, plus a mechanic. For the past few years, with help harder and harder to find, that number has been around 11. Based on that data, Nettz figures the units will offset the cost of a four-year lease in about two years. 
    "We've been trying to hire for three years, and there is nobody out there," Nettz said. "This saves about 72 labor hours a week."
    The Presidio Golf Club is located in Presidio National Park. Any new machinery used on the property must be approved by the Presidio Trust, a federal agency that manages the park for the National Park Service. Incorporating equipment that uses a renewable energy source was an important consideration in one of the country's environmental hotbeds, and made justifying the move to autonomous technology easier to defend.
    "They are much more progressive than a board of directors at a country club. The environmental issues were a big driver," Nettz said. "It's all electric, which was in their wheelhouse of burning less fuel. We never really had to get into the justification of it."
     

    Kevin Breen uses autonomous mowing technology on the practice green at La Rinconada CC in Los Gatos, California. At La Rinconada Country Club in Los Gatos, just southwest of San Jose, Kevin Breen began using autonomous mowing technology about a year-and-a-half ago. He uses it on his practice green and the No. 1 green so as to be in compliance with a local noise ordinance.
    "I believe in it. I'm pretty happy with it," Breen said. "I think there are still some things that can be improved and that's why I'm hesitant to go to the entire golf course with it yet. But it's coming and it's worthwhile and it is going to change the industry and how we work."
    Members at La Rinconada have been curious and supportive of the slow and subtle move toward autonomous technology.
    “They've been pretty enthusiastic about it," Breen said. “Most of my members are in the tech industry, so they embrace technology and understand it can be beneficial. They are all for advancing what we are doing to maximize efficiency of the operation."
    The Presidio was in the market to replace a fleet of 14-year-old walk mowers a year ago, and a few other courses in the San Francisco-San Jose area already were using them, including the California Golf Club.
    "Once we saw them in action, it was a no-brainer," Nettz said. "The operator sets it up and walks off to rake bunkers. It's heavy, so it rolls and mows at the same time. It does three jobs at once."
    The units are controlled by a series of four beacons that recognize perimeter wires buried underneath the surface to map mowing patterns around each green.
    The decision of lease vs. buy came down to staying current with improvements to the technology down the road.
    "Why own them when the technology will be outdated in a couple of years?" he asked.
    The hilly terrain at the Presidio and the mowers navigating slopes in morning dew was a concern, and once in a while a unit might need a push up a grade to get going.
    Nettz said the quality of cut is better than that produced by a walk mower. In fact, mowing Presidio's bent/Poa greens at 0.140 inches and rolling simultaneously has produced better putting conditions than in the pre-robot days, he said. 
    "That's a good speed for us and it's a good height based on agronomic factors here and the chemistries we can use," Nettz said. "The quality of cut is better, the balls rolls farther and the greens put truer because we roll every day."
    Something as dramatic as a change to autonomous technology has to be the cornerstone of an agronomic program, not just a piece of it, Nettz said.
    "You really have to reinvent the wheel and how your do your greens sections," he said. "You can't just drop it into your current plan. You have to use them and plan everything else around that. That's how you really get the efficiency out of these. There are some limitations and you have to plan around those. You have to know who you are, and we know who we are, and we know we're not Augusta. But when you plan around those limitations, there is no other way to do it. I can't ever see going back to regular mowers."
  • Eight TurfNet staffers and contributors won a combined 13 awards at the annual Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association's annual Communication Awards contest in Charlotte, North Carolina. Not shown are Parker Stancil's two awards. Photo by John Reitman With the exploits of NASCAR's all-time greats echoing nearby, it was fitting that TurfNet's driver and several members of his pit crew were recognized at the green industry's largest awards contest.
    Eight TurfNet staffers and contributors combined to win 13 awards in the annual Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association annual Communications Awards contest. The awards were presented May 2 at TOCA's annual meeting across the street from the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina.
    Winners included TurfNet founder Peter McCormick, as well as John Reitman, Jon Kiger, Randy Wilson, Frank Rossi, Ph.D., Kevin Ross, Paul MacCormack and Parker Stancil, who combined for eight first-place awards, one best-in-show award and four second place or merit awards.
    Stancil, a turf student at Horry-Georgetown Technical College in Myrtle Beach, won first place and a best-in-show Gardner Award for his blog work while interning last summer at Great Northern Golf Club in Kerteminde, Denmark. 

    Parker Stancil (2nd from right) shows off his first place and Gardner Best of Show awards, with (l-r) outgoing TOCA executive director Den Gardner, TurfNet 2019 intern-abroad Adam Galigher, and Kristy Mach, TOCA associate director. Also winning first place awards were Wilson, Reitman, Kiger, MacCormack, Ross and Rossi. Wilson, McCormick and Reitman also won merit awards.
    Wilson won firsts for best use of opinion in a video and best long video, respectively, for "A message for golf from a last-wave millennial" and "Top 4 tips for a happy future golf career".

    The annual TOCA meeting and awards contest took place across the street from the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Photo by the NASCAR Hall of Fame. MacCormack was recognized with a first-place award for his "2018 Mindful Superintendent Retreat". Rossi won best podcast for "50 years of controversy, an interview with Dr. Joe Vargas". In the category of best instructional video, Ross won for his work titled "Document projects with before-and-after photography".
    TurfNet's Kiger won in the best special projects category for the "2018 TurfNet members trip to Ireland", and Reitman won best writing for a Web site with a look back on the life of the late James Beard, Ph.D. with "Beard brought the science in turfgrass science".
    Reitman also won two merit awards in the writing category with "Labor issues affecting the golf course industry" (best series) and with "Ohio YMCA takes over golf course" (business management).
    The founder of TurfNet 25 years ago, McCormick won a merit award for Web site design, and Wilson's third award of the night was for his video titled "Forest Therapy".
    The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association is a 200-plus member association comprising editorial, advertising and marketing professionals working in the green industry.
  • In the PR war being waged against glyphosate, no one can accuse the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of buckling to public opinion.
    As the debate wears on about whether the world's most popular weed killer causes cancer, the EPA reaffirmed its findings from 2017 that there is no evidence to support claims that glyphosate is a carcinogen.
    The announcement came in response to two lawsuits in California in which juries awarded hundreds of millions of dollars to two cancer patients who say Roundup caused their non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
    It is not difficult to find negative press on glyphosate. Besides the two California cases, it is named as a cancer-causing agent in thousands of other ongoing lawsuits and it is the subject of late-night TV commercials funded by law groups seeking to cash in on the next suit. Even the city of Miami recently banned its use on city property.
    The EPA says otherwise when it backed up its findings in an April 20 news announcement.
    "EPA has found no risks to public health from the current registered uses of glyphosate," said EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler. "Today's proposed action includes new management measures that will help farmers use glyphosate in the most effective and efficient way possible, including pollinator protections. We look forward to input from farmers and other stakeholders to ensure that the draft management measures are workable, realistic, and effective."
    According to the EPA: There are no risks to children or adults from currently registered uses; there is no indication that children are more sensitive to glyphosate; and there is no evidence that glyphosate causes cancer. 
    The Agency concluded that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans. EPA considered a significantly more extensive and relevant dataset than the International Agency on the Research for Cancer. 
    A California jury last year ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million to a school groundskeeper who said his terminal cancer was caused by Roundup. That figure was later adjusted by a judge to $78.5 million. In March, a San Francisco jury awarded another cancer patient $80. 
    According to published reports, there are more than 11,000 lawsuits pending against Monsanto and Bayer. However, in 2017, a study published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute said there was no scientific evidence to link glyphosate and cancer in people. Another study published in Brazil came to the same conclusion.
    The EPA's cancer classification is consistent with other international expert panels and regulatory authorities, including the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority, European Food Safety Authority, European Chemicals Agency, German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority and the Food Safety Commission of Japan.
  • Pete Cookingham (below right) presides over one of the world's largest collections of turfgrass literature and scientific research It is not a mistake, nor is it a coincidence that Pete Cookingham is the curator of one of the world's foremost collections of literature dedicated to turf.
    Long before Cookingham became project director of the Michigan State University Turfgrass Information Center and the corresponding digital presence known as Turfgrass Information File, he had a career as a grounds manager. Specifically, Cookingham, who first graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in recreation and park administration, was the general manager of an 1,800-acre property owners association in rural central Illinois and later was a park administrator in Africa for the Peace Corps.
    “My real first world is outside in the dirt," said Cookingham. “It's not in fine turf, but in rough turf, parks and recreation facilities."
    An information junkie, the 66-year-old Cookingham has headed up the MSU turf library since 1985, when he graduated from the University of Illinois with a master's in library science.
    Today, he oversees what is probably the world's foremost collection of works on turfgrass and turfgrass research. 
    “I would have thought the likelihood of me connecting libraries with information services was pretty low. Turns out, that would have been a bad assumption," Cookingham said. 
    “I was always interested in information resources and the transition of connecting research to management, the whole science-into-practice and how to apply what goes on in the lab and what goes on in the field. Then I realized if you are going to do this, you have to have people who understand it and do it theoretically."
    The Turfgrass Information Center was started by former MSU and Texas A&M professor James Beard, Ph.D. Part of that early collection includes some of the private collection of O.J. Noer, who died in 1966. Beard, who died last year, also gave the center volumes of works from his private collection in 2003. Part II of the Beard collection is due in East Lansing soon, and will include some very unique publications, Cookingham said.
    “He collected a lot of obscure stuff," Cookingham said. “He had some things that no one else had."
    Part II of the Beard collection, Cookingham said, is a whopping 8 tons of material. Although Cookingham is unsure of the number of publications on hand in the Turfgrass Information Center, he said in all it tips the scales at about 40 tons.
    “It's amazing the amount of information they have amassed and is right there as a student when you need it," said MSU alum Sean Reehoorn, superintendent at Aldarra Golf Club in Sammamish, Washington. “You don't full appreciate it until you've left school and need to find something later in your career.  It's a legacy Pete Cookingham can leave behind and know he helped everyone in our industry."
    Some of the works from the Beard collection are located in other libraries around campus and efforts to digitize some works has made counting them a nearly impossible task.
    “The number of volumes? I don't actually know the answer to that. I know tons is not a good way to measure," he said.
    “We try to acquire everything in the world published in turf. That's easier said than done, but that is our goal."
    Whether it is browsing the shelves of the Center in East Lansing, or browsing the File online from a remote location, the MSU turf library has been a valuable resource for academicians, researchers and turfgrass managers for nearly 60 years.
    "I became familiar with the Turfgrass Information File at MSU Libraries when I was in grad school at MSU," said Brandon Horvath, Ph.D., turfgrass pathologist at the University of Tennessee. “I met Pete during my first few years there, and I was happy that I did meet Pete. He greatly increased my efficiency and effectiveness for searching what research had been done on turfgrass. Pete has continued to be one of my biggest cheerleaders, and has always supported me however he could. Now, as a professor, I ask Pete to help me expose what he does, and what the TGIF can provide to our students, and he consistently has gone above and beyond what I've envisioned for any activity I've done with our students. I'd just say that I truly appreciate what Pete has done for our industry, and his efforts have gone largely unsung. I hope as we move forward, many others come to appreciate how important it has been to have someone tirelessly cataloging literally everything that gets published in this industry."
    For those who think the TGIF eventually will become a virtual mirror image of the brick-and-mortar library, think again.
    Cookingham's efforts to digitize library works recently surpassed 300,000 publications and journal articles, but copyright issues prevent him from making everything on the shelves available online. For some works, interested readers are going to have to make the trip to East Lansing. Even for the works that are digitized, hard copies are retained because eventually even digital works will deteriorate, he said.
    Staying on top of technology and new ways to store information are important when working with something so vast.
    “Right now, PDF is the comfortable and safe display standard. What happens when that is not the case. Everything falls apart whether it is physical or digital," Cookingham said. “Our digital archives are in TIFF formation. How long will that be viable?
    “If you're not looking 20 years ahead, you're in trouble, because you are turning an aircraft carrier. There is too much stuff and the scale is too massive, so you must have a system for swapping out information and refreshing it."

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