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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    As an assistant superintendent at Oakmont Country Club for many years, David Delsandro always knew the importance of staying up to date on turf and personnel management issues in the golf industry. As the head superintendent at the Pittsburgh-area course that has become synonymous with the U.S. Open, Delsandro also knows how important it is for he and others in a similar position to share their knowledge with the next generation of golf course superintendents.   That's why Delsandro, who was a member of the inaugural Green Start Academy 12 years ago has since become a member of the executive board that leads the education for tomorrows superintendents.    The three-day series of seminars and discussions presented by Bayer and John Deere provides assistants with networking and educational opportunities in subjects such as career development, budgeting and labor management. The event is scheduled for Oct. 24-26 at the the Bayer and Deere facilities in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.    "Attending the inaugural Green Start Academy in 2006 was a defining moment in my professional development," Delsandro said in a news release. "Interacting with and listening to the distinguished panel of contributors was a great opportunity. The ability to network with similar, driven assistant superintendents only provided greater motivation in my daily work. John Deere and Bayer provided a first-class, fantastic experience that proved to be very beneficial. I recommend applying to Green Start Academy to our current assistant superintendents on an annual basis."    Those interested in attending can apply through an online submission form on the Green Start Academy web page. All applicants must submit an application, resume, cover letter, letter of recommendation and an essay that includes three ideas to initiate change in the golf maintenance industry in the next decade.   The advisory panel will choose 50 applicants from the pool to attend this years event. The application period is open through 5 p.m. on June 25.   Other members of the advisory board include: Bob Farren, CGCS, Pinehurst Resort; Pat Finlen CGCS, The Olympic Club; Lukus Harvey, Atlanta Athletic Club; Andy Morris, Country Club of Peoria (IL); Grant Murphy, The National Golf Club of Canada; Tyler Otero, North Jersey Country Club; Michael Stevens, Billy Casper Golf; Billy Weeks, Houston Country Club.    
  • As the lone turfgrass extension specialist for all of Kentucky's 40,409 square miles, the University of Kentucky's Gregg Munshaw, Ph.D., can get stretched pretty thin when conditions start going south.
     
    The university went a little farther south to find help for Munshaw.
     
    Travis Shaddox, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, has accepted a research and extension position at UK. He will officially start his new post July 1.
     
    "The university, the city, everyone we've met there, they've all been very inviting," Shaddox said. "We are looking forward to getting there."
     
    A graduate of Oklahoma State, Shaddox earned master's and doctorate degrees at Florida. He spent 10 years in private industry, including six years in various roles with Lakeland-based Harrell's.
     
    In four years at the University of Florida, including a year of postdoctoral research, Shaddox quickly developed a reputation for getting things done.
     
    A soils specialist by trade, Shaddox rapidly began rehabbing the Fort Lauderdale research station and worked with the state's GCSA chapter to outfit the facility with new equipment, including two devices that measure nutrient content in turf, soil or water. His appointment is 60 percent research and 40 percent extension.
     
    "He's bringing his name, his worth ethic and his smarts. Were winning in this, for sure," Munshaw said.
     
    "He's coming from a huge program with a lot of people on staff, so he'll bring a lot of new ideas that I've not thought of. He'll have things that worked in Florida that might work here, or things that didn't work there, but might work here."
     
    Like many university turf programs, Kentucky has struggled for several years with enrollment. And Munshaw and university officials have been working on ways to tweak the program since he arrived at his alma mater in 2012.
     
    He hopes Shaddox's appointment will give him more time to redraw the lines of a program built up by the late A.J. Powell.
     
    Shaddox will be asked to help re-establish connections across the state with Kentucky's golf course superintendents.
     
    "He will be instrumental in that," Munshaw said. "I'm scattered all over lawn care, sports turf, golf. He has his blinders on with golf. He's much better at bringing in that golf market than I am."
     
    The task facing him is much like what Shaddox encountered when he took over at the Fort Lauderdale station in 2015.
     
    "For all practical measures, I'll have the same type of research and extension duties as I do now," Shaddox said.
     
    "I envision identifying the needs of golf course superintendents and all stakeholders throughout the state. We need to find out what their needs are, address those needs and show the value of the program and how the university can address that."
  • Joe Vargas learned early in his Michigan State career not to question Jim Beard, much less make a bet with him.   Vargas had just started his new job as a professor in the Michigan State turf program in 1968, when Beard, the program's patriarch, ordered him along to help check snow mold research plots in northern Michigan. After they arrived in the Traverse City area, Beard expressed concern about some of his plots and whether water would be able to penetrate sand showing signs of hydrophobicity.   "I told him anything would pass through sand," Vargas said.    Beard disagreed, and proposed a wager. The loser would buy a bottle of wine at dinner.   "Well, you know who bought that bottle of wine," Vargas said. "I didn't even have my first paycheck yet. It was about $20 for that bottle, and it was probably all the money I had in my pocket."   After that day, the two worked side by side for the next seven years. Vargas learned a lot in that time, including the importance of listening.    Beard taught and toiled at Michigan State from 1961 to 1975 and is credited with building the program into what it is today, died May 14. He was 82.   A native of Bradford, Ohio, a rural community northwest of Dayton, Beard graduated from Ohio State in 1957 and went on to earn masters and doctorate degrees from Purdue. After building the Michigan State program into one of the country's top turf schools, he spent nearly 20 years at Texas A&M. While in College Station, he founded the International Sports Turf Institute and served as its director and chief scientist for years.    Throughout his career, he authored several books, including Turfgrass Science and Culture, which Karl Danneberger, Ph.D. of Ohio State called "the Bible for turfgrass managers. With the help of wife Harriet, who typed all his handwritten notes, Beard also authored more than 900 technical papers and peer-reviewed articles detailing the results of his research, and helped raise the level of turfgrass education and research along the way. He eventually donated his volumes of work to MSU's Turfgrass Information Center.    "He put the word science into turfgrass science," Danneberger said. "He did quality work, and he expected others to do quality work as well."   Danneberger recalls a time when Beard refused to sign off on peer-reviewed research that he didn't believe was up to par.   "As you can imagine, it rubbed some people the wrong way," Danneberger said. "But, he raised the quality of work in turfgrass research for everybody."  
    As you can imagine, it rubbed some people the wrong way. But, he raised the quality of work in turfgrass research for everybody."
     
    Al Turgeon, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Penn State, remembers going along on some of those drives into northern Michigan to examine research plots during his days as a graduate student at Michigan State. He recalls an atmosphere of professionalism, camaraderie and respect in the MSU program under Beard, the likes of which he had not seen before or since.   "He brought a level of sophistication to research and education that was unique," Turgeon said.   "You didn't have to go to his office and kiss his ring. He came to see you to see how things were going and to offer help and advice.   "When we would make the drive to his plots, we all behaved liked colleagues. We would go out to dinner together and discuss issues on a first-name basis. It was a wonderful experience for someone who wanted to be a turfgrass academic. I have very fond memories of the collegiality that characterized that era at Michigan State."   To illustrate his demand for excellence and attention to detail, Beard was a taskmaster in how he ran field days and the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation annual conference. Field days included practice session in advance of the live event.   "Everyone had a job and we practiced it," Turgeon said. "It was very professional."   Added Vargas: "He ran everything. We had no idea how much he did until he left and we then had to do it."   His legacy includes the Turfgrass Information Center and an expectation of excellence in the classroom and the field that continues today.   "Dr. Beard influenced generations of students and young scientists with his many books, papers.and presentations, as well as his encyclopedic knowledge of Turfgrass Science," said Bruce Clark, Ph.D., of Rutgers University. "He was a good friend, mentor, and role model who set the bar exceptionally high. He will be sorely missed."  
  • Pennsylvania is the latest state considering a ban on phosphorus in some fertilizers, and the legislature could take things a step further by requiring specialized training for professional applicators.   Senate Bill 792 passed by a vote of 47-3 on March 19, and is scheduled to go before the house for a vote in October.   A previous version of the bill first was introduced in Harrisburg in 2014. According to current version, any fertilizer product used in Pennsylvania can contain no more than 0.9 pounds of total nitrogen, at least 20 percent of which must be in an enhanced efficient (slow-release) form.   The proposed legislation also prohibits phosphorus in fertilizer products with the following exceptions: > the fertilizer is an organic-based or natural organic product, > the fertilizer is labeled for repairing an existing turf area or establishing a new one, > the fertilizer is a liquid product.   Also exempt from a proposed phosphorus ban are instances where a soil test performed in the previous three years indicates phosphorus would be of benefit.   Each of those exceptions have been fairly common in other states imposing phosphorus bans. What is unique in the Pennsylvania bill is that, as written, it will require golf courses, parks, playgrounds, schools, universities and colleges that apply fertilizers to employ a "commercial applicator" who "applies or supervises the application of fertilizer to the property or premises of another or who applies or supervises application of fertilizer."   The bill makes no mention of the actual certification process that will be put into place if an when the bill is signed into law. That includes the process itself, funding and implementation as well as enforcement.  
  • Part IV in an ongoing series about labor issues affecting the golf industry.   "Necessity is the mother of invention" is a proverb that first appeared 2,400 years ago in Plato's Republic. Those words have just as much meaning today at the Devou Golf and Event Center in Covington, Kentucky, as they did in 380 B.C. when the Greek philosopher put pen to papyrus for his historic manuscript.   A decade after an eight-year fairway-renovation project that replaced annual bluegrass turf with all Meyer zoysiagrass, the golf course at modest, city-owned Devou has what many associated with the project say are among the best fairways in the Greater Cincinnati area.   The unique project, that involved a sod cutter, a makeshift nursery and a whole lot of ingenuity, was borne partly out of choice, but mostly out of necessity.    With Devou's severely limited budget, severely sloping terrain, severely poor soil and severely humid summers, the challenges facing superintendent Ron Freking were, in a word, severe.    Neither the city of Covington, which owns the course, nor the management company operating it at the time were in a position to sink a half-million into a fairway renovation. The site, which sits atop a rocky bluff high above the Ohio River overlooking downtown Cincinnati, is ill-suited for cool-season turf for myriad reasons. For starters, the slick and sloping surface made it difficult for golfers to hold even well-struck balls on Poa annua fairways, and poor soils coupled with hot summers in the Ohio River valley presented a tall hurdle for someone managing annual bluegrass.    "This is never going to be a bentgrass course," Freking said. "Not with our budget and our water. It's not going to happen. And the zoysia is better in the summer anyway."   Freking and Ralph Landrum, the former PGA Tour pro whose management company held the operations contract at Devou at the time, decided it was best to go around the hurdle rather than over it. And a random patch of Meyer zoysia discovered during a clean-up project was the key to the project.   That small patch of Meyer was discovered decades ago while cutting down an overgrown area near the first hole.   "There was so little of it," Landrum said. "You could have covered it with two golf carts, it was so small."   According to local lore, the zoysia was pinched decades ago from Hyde Park Country Club during a restoration project at the Donald Ross design in Cincinnati's posh east side.   Freking babied the zoysia and eventually grew that small patch into a 1-acre nursery. The turf performed so well during the hot, humid summers that it soon became readily apparent that it could be a source for an in-house renovation the likes of which few have seen.   Freking used a sod cutter to pull 12-inch-by-18-inch pieces of Poa from the fairways and replace them with equal size pieces of Meyer sod. In fact, the Meyer performed so well during the Cincinnati area's rough summer weather that he was able to pull patches from it twice a year for the project, once in May and again in August.   "You can play on it all winter and beat it to death, and it's done, but it comes right back in the spring," Freking said. "By August 15, everyone else on the course was dead and the zoysia looked so good. It was like carpet off a roll. We knew that if we could get enough of it, we would have quality turf. We also knew getting from Point A to Point B would not be easy."   Devou general manager David Pena was a superintendent in those early days of the project at another Landrum-managed course 10 miles south of Devou in Florence. He and his crew were at Devou often helping on the project.   During the summer, the annual bluegrass would start to check out and the zoysia would be lush and green. In the shoulder seasons and through the winter, the Meyer would lie dormant in a checkered field of green Poa.   "It truly was a checkerboard. In those early days, it was ugly 365 days a year until it grew in," said Pena said. "Everyone trusted Ron and his foresite. The one thing that convinced you that it would work was how good the nursery always looked in the summer. He'd pull from it twice a year and the turf and it looked great, while the turf it was competing with was falling apart."   It truly was a checkerboard. In those early days, it was ugly 365 days a year until it grew in."  
    Laying the sod gleaned from Devou's own nursery took three or four summers, and the entire project took eight years to complete from sod to grow-in. And although it wasn't a perfect plan, it was an economical one for a municipal facility where green fees range from $12 to $38. The project was completed for pennies on the dollar compared with the projected cost of a full scale resodding project.    "We didn't pay anything for the grass," Freking said. "The only money we had in it was a little bit on fertilizer and some labor. We didn't spend $30,000 on the entire project, and if properly cared for, the City of Covington has great zoysia fairways for life."   Devou opened in 1922 as a low-budget nine-hole facility, and expanded to 18 holes in 1995. Back then, the construction of the second nine was completed in early fall. If the world of Meyer zoysia had a capital, Kentucky would be it, but because construction of the second nine didn't come until late in the year, it necessitated grassing over with cool-season turf.   "It wasn't finished until late September or early October," said Landrum, whose company managed Devou from 1986 to 2008. "And that meant zoysia was out."   Selling Landrum on the merits of the project wasn't tough. In fact, he'd been thinking about such a project for years before Freking got started in 2004.   "Devou never was a high-ticket place. When I took over, there was no irrigation system and no cartpaths,' Landrum said. "That course is too hilly for cool-season grass. You could stand in the middle of the fairway on a couple of holes and drop a ball out of each pocket, and one would have probably roll into the fairway on your right, and the other would have probably roll into the fairway on your left."   It wasn't a tough sell on customers also, as play hummed right along on the checkerboard fairways that    Ironically, Freking only recently learned that convincing his golf buddies on the merits of the plan was a tougher sell. Freking regularly plays with a couple of classmates - Dan Reekers and Chuck Bray - from his days at nearby Ludlow High School, where he graduated in 1980.   "About two years ago, we were looking at how nice the grass is and they told me that when we started this project, they thought I was crazy," Freking said with a chuckle. "I didn't know what to say. It kind of took me by surprise."   Pena and Landrum knew better.   "You have to give Ron a lot of credit for getting this project started and completed and keeping it going today and looking great," Pena said. "We have 200 golfers out here today. We're packed. Rounds and revenue are way up, and that is a reflection on Ron."   Still, Freking says the course he navigated probably isn't for everyone.   "I questioned myself a hundred times. When I looked at our terrain, our budget, our irrigation system and our water source, I saw no other way to get quality grass here. I didn't know what else to do," he said.   "I don't think I'd ever do it again. Not like that, anyway. Maybe I didn't know what I was getting myself into."
  • GreenSight acquires drone service
    GreenSight Agronomics, a 3-year-old drone services and solutions provider, has acquired the digital-transformation firm Turf Cloud Inc., thereby expanding GreenSight's ability to deliver more data, actionable information and efficiencies to turf managers across North America.    GreenSight's primary business centers on remote sensing and analysis, whereby daily drone flights deploying thermal and multispectral cameras deliver actionable data that enable course superintendents to reduce water consumption, better task labor associated with irrigation and moisture measurement, and achieve better outcomes with less fungicide, pesticide, and fertilizer applications. The firm's proprietary software also interprets drone-gathered data relating to thermal mapping and soil temperature.    GreenSight drones (www.GreenSightAg.com) fly autonomously. Data is uploaded and processed automatically using GreenSight's Cloud service. Client superintendents can access that data on any device and monitor changing turf conditions and stress levels on a day-to-day basis. All-in drone service packages from GreenSight start at $500 per month, with lease commitments ranging from 3 months to 12 months.      Greenworks expands line of battery-powered equipment
    Greenworks Commercial, a maker of battery-powered outdoor equipment for landscaping, turf management and golf maintenance professionals, introduced Greenworks Elite, a new product line available through the company's distributor network.    The new 40-Volt Elite system complements Greenworks' popular Commercial 82-Volt system. Greenworks' line of mowers, blowers, trimmers, edgers and more are powered by cordless lithium ion Smart Batteries that allow users to track battery charge status on smart phones, monitoring the tool's energy efficiency and run time.     The Smart Battery system utilizes a proprietary 40-Volt lithium-ion platform and are interchangeable between tools throughout the 40-Volt system. They also feature a USB connection so they can also be used to power other smart devices on-the-go, such as phones and tablets.    Like the Greenworks Commercial 82-Volt system, the Greenworks Elite 40-Volt tools combine brushless motor technology and a lithium-ion battery power plant to ensure run time and power that the company says is comparable to gas-powered alternatives.   Carolinas GCSA honors Clemson's McCarty
    Bert McCarty, Ph.D., of Clemson University has been named the recipient of the 2018 Distinguished Service Award from the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. McCarty, professor of horticulture specializing in turfgrass science and management at Clemson, will receive the association's highest honor in November at the Carolinas GCSA Conference and Show in Myrtle Beach.   A native of Batesburg, South Carolina, McCarty is a graduate of Clemson and earned a doctorate degree in plant physiology and plant pathology from North Carolina State University. He has worked at Clemson since 1996 after nearly a decade at the University of Florida.   In 2014, he received the Fred Grau Award as the top national and international turfgrass science researcher from the 5,000-plus member Crop Science Society of America. He is also a Societal Fellow, the highest recognition the society bestows. In 2016, he was also selected as a Fellow by the American Society of Agronomy. In 2012, he won the prestigious Godley-Snell Award for Excellence as the top agriculture researcher at Clemson University, and is a three-time winner of the university's Board of Trustees Award for Excellence.   He is a frequent speaker at regional, national and international conferences and has authored or co-authored 11 books, as well as hundreds of book chapters, journal articles, research reports and nearly 600 scientific presentations and abstracts. In 2010 and 2013, his works received the Notable State Document Award from the South Carolina State Documents Depository System. 
  • A rejuvenated Tiger Woods might be back on the PGA Tour trail, but the course he was to build in the North Carolina mountains has been officially retired. At least for now.   The Cliffs of High Carolina project near Asheville, North Carolina was to include 1,000 or so luxury homes and a Woods-designed golf course as the centerpiece. The entire project, however, has been scrapped and the nearly 665-acre parcel on which it all was to be built is for sale.    There are seven Cliffs Communities throughout North and South Carolina, each with its own golf course designed by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Fazio. The group says, according to published reports, that it is focusing its efforts on existing communities and has put the High Carolina project on hold, and maybe on a permanent basis.   The Cliffs at High Carolina project was first announced in 2007, but was slow to get off the ground because of a collapse in the real estate market the following year. By 2011, only about 50 homesites had been sold, bringing the project to a halt. Many familiar with the project say it was doomed thanks in part to the economy, the massive scope of the venture and a decline in Woods prominence on the PGA Tour.   The property is for sale by Carolina Mountain Properties for $15.9 million. It was listed in 2016 for $24 million.   The course was to be the first designed by the world's former No. 1 player, a distinction that now belongs to Bluejack National in Montgomery, Texas, which officially opened in April 2016.  
  • The nearly 100-year-old venue for this year's Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association annual meeting might have been reminiscent of the past, but TurfNet's body of work at the event is symbolic of a new wave of teamwork needed to keep pace with the way people consume information   Five people from TurfNet won seven first-place awards and seven second-place honors at the association's communications awards contest held May 4 during the group's annual meeting at the Cincinnati Netherland Hilton, an 87-year-old structure on the National Register of Historic Places.   TurfNet's John Reitman and Jon Kiger each won two first-pace and three second-place awards, and Kevin Ross, Randy Wilson and Hector Velasquez all received a first-place award   Kiger and Reitman shared first place in the new media division for podcasts on "The Hemphills, four generations of greenkeeping" and "Dick Bator: Mentor to many", respectively. Additionally, Kiger, who also was named Toca's Volunteer of the Year during the annual meeting, was honored for best use of social media with "Masters cup cutting video".   Reitman's second winning entry was the "Superintendent's Best Friend dog calendar" (best special project).    Wilson's irreverent take on the industry was recognized when he won for best use of opinion in a video titled "How to fix a starter"; Ross and his On Course series were singled out for best CD/audio visual presentation for his work at the "2017 Solheim Cup".   Finally, Velasquez, who produces a series of informative videos aimed at golf course equipment managers, earned the winning nod for best instructional video with "Don't blow your fuse". He also won runner-up honors in the category with a primer on "Plastic painting."   Other merit (second place) entries included: "Retirement only a word for OSU's Bug Doc" (writing for web site - Reitman); "For New York family, son's legacy lives on through foundation's work" (writing for web site - Reitman); "Industry report says baby boomers are propping up the game" (best series - Reitman; "Volunteering at the Irish Open" (best blog - Kiger); "Education trip to Ireland, Scotland and BIGGA BTME Conference" (best event - Kiger); "Superintendent of the Year presentation" (best CD/AV presentation - Kiger).   The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association is a 200-plus member association comprising editorial, advertising and marketing professionals working in the green industry.
  • Timing is everything when it comes to controlling white grubs. Catch them early enough and they barely offer a challenge. Wait too long, and there is sure-fire trouble ahead, prompting Ohio State professor emeritus Dave Shetlar, Ph.D., to once say the best control for larger mature grubs is a 20-pound bag of insecticide. The brand or active ingredient is really irrelevant.   "Then you take the bag and drop it on them, because thats the only thing that is going to kill them," Shetlar has said.   Reports are circulating on the eve of white grub season that populations might be up this year in some parts of the country. There is no clear consensus among experts on the accuracy of that statement.   Some have said mild winters actually can hinder population growth, and harsh winter conditions, like those that prevailed through much of the country this year, can make grubs stronger.   "I think that is mostly b.s. Insects can handle just about anything winter throws at them," said Dan Potter, Ph.D., entomologist at the University of Kentucky and the winner of the 2011 USGA Green Section Award. "They have many adaptations to buffer them from the vagaries of a given winter."   Other than when to kill the juvenile versions of critters like Japanese beetles, masked chafers and green June beetles, little is known about what makes these bugs tick, especially the factors that influence swings in population. Or, if such variations even exist at all.   "I think thats just hearsay. Nobody has any real data on grub numbers increasing or decreasing, and doubtless it depends what region of the USA you are in" Potter said.   One thing that some of the leading researchers in the field of grub control can agree upon is the soil conditions that promote population growth.   "In my opinion, the most important variable that affects grub distributions is soil moisture," Potter said.   Beetles lay dehydrated eggs that need soil moisture levels of 10 percent to 11 percent to hatch.    "The beetles seek moist soil with grass roots in which to lay eggs. They will not lay eggs in very dry soil," Potter said. "When summer is very dry, my sense is that a higher percentage of the eggs are laid in irrigated turf. In essence, the grub population is concentrated in irrigated areas in such years."   Ohio States Shetlar says prolonged wet periods through the summer during the past several years have made for prime grub-laying conditions. "Over most of the eastern third of North America, the March through early July window has been wetter than normal for the last two to three years," Shetlar said. "This means that the soil conditions for the grub egg hydration has been excellent and has led to a steady increase in their populations."  
  • In 20 years as a turfgrass pathologist at Clemson University, Bruce Martin, Ph.D., has seen a lot. A lot of good and a lot of bad.   He hasn't seen anything like what he has this year in coastal South Carolina. That includes nearly three weeks of low temperatures below freezing in January in Myrtle Beach (the average is about 10 days, according to the National Weather Service).   The outcome is predictable at golf courses that have not invested in greens covers.   Martin said he estimates 20 percent to 30 percent of the courses in the Myrtle Beach area have experienced some turf loss this winter.    "This is the coldest I've seen ultradwarfs exposed to here since I've been here at Clemson. And that's been 20 years.   "I've visited quite a few golf courses that did not have covers," Martin said. "It's not a total wipeout, and if nothing changes they will be OK. But it's been a long, cool spring. We haven't had any Bermudagrass-growing weather yet, so these courses are open for play, but the Bermuda isn't actively growing. Conditions can only go in one direction - downhill. It's going to take quite a while for the Bermuda to come back in many areas."   Damage is so widespread that Bill Anderson, agronomist for the Carolinas Golf Association jokingly quipped at a recent meeting that he'd visited 50 courses in Myrtle Beach this spring, and 75 of them had shade issues.   By and large, Martin said, courses with covers did OK. Those that incorporated a second layer of protection, like pine straw, did even better, especially in late winter when average daily temperatures, according to the NWS were 3-4 degrees below the historic mean for March.   "You need another buffer between the cover the turf," Martin said. "It was really cold in January, then it warmed up in February and the Bermuda broke dormancy, then it got hammered back down with frost.   "A lot of guys don't like pine straw because it's hard to clean up, but it's better than dead grass."   Some superintendents also are incorporating the use of swimming pool noodles to at least create an air pocket between the cover and the turf.   Some areas will grow back on their own, but some of the areas with the worst turf damage could require sprigging new plant material.   Martin and Anderson of the Carolinas Golf Association warn that a run on organic material could result in a shortage of plant material.   Overseeding is another matter entirely, and the after effects won't be clear for some time, according to Martin.   "The ones who did overseed, they're looking pretty sweet right now," he said. "If they do have trouble with the Bermuda, they won't see it until June during transition. This is their high-dollar season right now, so if they're good now and have damage later, they'll gladly pay that bill. But if you have damage now, golfers will go elsewhere. Maybe a few more people will opt to overseed in the future. Covers are cheaper in the long run than overseeding. They're like insurance, you buy it hoping you never have to use it. If need them, you have them. If you don't need them, great, then you don't have transition problems, because there are always some transition issues."  
  • Toro just made it easier for equipment technicians to install new replacement reels in the company's mowers with its new Reels+ and EdgeSeries Reels+ systems.   Instead of mechanics having to install reels, bearings, seals and spacers separately, the Reels+ and EdgeSeries Reels+ provide everything a technician will need in a single, complete assembly.   These new reel systems are in direct response, Toro says, to customer feedback. The self-contained assembly will help streamline operations and reduce the time technicians spend replacing reel units. With the bearings already pressed on with required low-drag flock seals and spacers, technicians can save about 15-20 minutes per reel in installation time, Toro says.   The system also is an economical solution to making needed repairs as bearings, seals and spacers are sold at a discount from the individual part retail price for each component. Integrating the reels and components together also eliminates the guesswork for technicians and ensures the recommended bearings are utilized, which can contribute to the overall longevity of the cutting unit.   "With this launch, anytime Toro customers see the plus symbol (+) next to reels or EdgeSeries reels, they know theyre getting a fully integrated reel assembly, complete with bearings, seals and spacers," said Grant Adams, marketing manager at Toro. "We are confident that this new solution is going to simplify and streamline the maintenance processes in the long run, ultimately making a positive contribution to the bottom line of the operation."   In most cases, Reels+ assemblies will replace all Toro reels. In instances where reels do not require bearings, such as gang units, singular reel units will be available.  
  • It's easy and convenient to blame the weather for all of the problems that plague golf.   Too wet; too dry; too hot; too cold. Conditions are rarely just right in this game.   This year, however, those who like to pass the buck along to Mother Nature might have a point.   Lingering winter conditions have delayed openings throughout much of the northern tier of the country, and near-record cold temperatures a little farther south have created all kinds of challenges for superintendents managing warm-season grasses in the transition zone - and beyond. Until the next big story comes along, the 2018 golf season in much of the season appears to be defined by the weather.   Even Major League Baseball has recorded more weather-related delays in April - including many associated with snow and cold temperatures - than in any other opening month of the season in the past 32 years.   This spring, if you can call it that, has indeed been "wacky" and in some instances has affected application timing of pre-emergent herbicides, according to Dave Gardner, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of horticulture and crop science at Ohio State University, and one of the country's leading weed scientists.   In a Turf Tips video for the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation, Gardner discusses that the average temperature in Columbus was 46 degrees Fahrenheit through the first three weeks of April, compared with 59 degrees in 2017. The average daily high for the month has been just 56 degrees, which is 15 degrees behind schedule according to the National Weather Service. The average daily low of 36 is well off the historic average of 48 degrees.   In the end, this month is on track to be the coldest April in at least the past quarter century. Conversely, last April was the hottest in the past 25 years, according to the NWS.  
    I'm leaving because the weather is too good. I hate London when it's not raining." Groucho Marx
     
    "That does somewhat change up the timing of our herbicide applications, or actually does it?" Gardner said.    Phenological indicators for crabgrass applications, like forsythia bloom, have been the same this year and last despite the temperature differences, he said.    In the past few days, Gardner noted soil temperatures of 47 degrees in the top 2 inches at the OSU turfgrass research facility. With crabgrass emerging when soil temps are in the upper 50s, which likely will be in a week to 10 days, he says, so the time to treat for crabgrass in central Ohio is now. Although that is not a cookie-cutter solution, his advice provides a template for others to follow.   "Get your pre-emergents down now so they have a little bit of time to be activated, that is dispersed by rainfall in order to get that layer spread on the ground and effective."   In areas where winter annual broadleaf weeds are beginning to bloom, Gardner suggests making herbicide applications now before they seed. He recommends ester formulations because they are more suited to the prevailing conditions this spring.   "It's going to be far more effective," he said, "in the cool conditions that we're having this year."  
  • For the members of Longue Vue Club, it has been a slow and steady journey back to its roots when it was known as "The Millionaires' Club."
      Built by Robert White in 1922 and reworked in 1935 by A.W. Tillinghast, Longue Vue is located above the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh in the town of Verona. It was founded as a playground for some of Pittsburgh's most well-heeled residents. And that's a mouthful in a city where the well-to-do include names like Westinghouse, Heinz, Carnegie and Mellon, and Oakmont literally is a hop, skip and a jump away.   Just a few years ago, members described conditions at Longue Vue as "unplayable" and "horrific", and members were fleeing for greener, drier, fairways at some of the 'Burgh's more famous layouts, including Oakmont, which is less than six miles away by car.   Since superintendent Josh Saunders was hired six years ago, the course has been restored to rightful and historic place among Pittsburgh's elite golf courses.   "When you think of golf in Pittsburgh, what do you think about? Oakmont, Fox Chapel, Field Club? Longue Vue flew under the radar. Now, I think we're in that conversation," Saunders said.   "That's not being conceded. That's just being confident because I know what we've accomplished the last five years."   When Saunders, a finalist for the 2013 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta, arrived at Longue Vue, fairways and greens were soggy mix of 70 percent Poa annua and 30 percent creeping bentgrass with some annual ryegrass intrusion around the greens and in fairways.   Today, the course is a dried down version of its former self.   "I know we're in the Poa capital of the world, but those numbers are flipped," Saunders said. "Managing Poa in summer is challenging, but managing it in season is challenging too when Oakmont is right down the street. And now, we're 100 percent clean of ryegrass."   When Tillinghast left Verona, Longue Vue's tees all were neat and square. When Saunders walked the course during his interview, some tees were square, some were circles and some were a mixture of both.   "I told the members the first thing we were going to do was get rid of those squircles," Saunders said.    A native of Virginia and a graduate of VPI, Saunders is a Pete Wendt protege at Kinloch Golf Club near Richmond. He also interned at Westchester Country Club under Joe Alonzi as well as at Augusta National. He says the responsibilities heaped upon him by Wendt coupled with the challenges of managing turf in the Mid-Atlantic have helped prepare him for just about anything Mother Nature and Pittsburgh's golf market can throw at him.   "Pete's philosophy and the way he delegated responsibilities to his assistants made me feel like a head superintendent even when I was fourth in line," he said. "As I worked my way up from AIT to second to senior, I always felt in the loop. The amount of information I absorbed helped pave the way for my future. I will never go back to the Mid-Atlantic and grow grass because of what I learned there in those seven years, and I'm a Virginia native, but everything I learned there I will take with me the rest of my career.   "Maintaining turf in that area, I don't even know where to start. Every day was new and every day was a challenge. You couldn't rest. You had to be on your toes every day from a water standpoint and a disease standpoint."    
    That's not being conceded. That's just being confident because I know what we've accomplished the last five years."  
     
    Longue Vue currently is in the throes of a master plan with architect Jim Nagle, and current projects include a revamped practice area that will include an expanded driving range and enlarging the practice green from 3,000 square feet to 9,000 square feet.   Part of the reasoning behind work on the practice area is to keep up with the game's current trends.   "We want to keep current with where the game is going, and the trend right now is less golf and more practice," Saunders said. "This club deserves to be ranked, and our goal is to get a tournament. But we have some things we have to take care of before we can get to that point, and one of them is the driving range area."   Construction also is under way on a new maintenance facility.   Membership shares Saunders' zeal for attracting a tournament at some level.   "During his short tenure, he has done remarkable things and the course conditioning has improved dramatically," wrote Longue Vue member David Koi in his nomination of Saunders for TurfNet's 2013 Superintendent of the Year Award.   "With Josh at the helm, many of our members feel that Longue Vue has been restored to its long tradition of greatness."   Part of that return to greatness, Saunders said, was simply focusing on detail work.   "Tillinghast knew this property had tremendous potential. Somewhere along the way, they got away from the details, and I mean just down to mowing a straight line," he said. "It's OK not to be like Augusta every day, because if that is your goal, you're going to get some plant stress. So, if you get away from that, why not make every detail stand out to make the place pop? Those details are what the golfer sees every day."  
  • For those procrastinators who are still busy with last-second income-tax preparations, TurfNet has extended the deadline for nominations for the Technician of the Year Award presented by Toro.   Criteria on which nominees 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.   Use specific examples when describing what he or she has accomplished - the more we know, the better your tech's chances of getting noticed.   CLICK HERE to submit a nomination using our easy-to-use online form. All finalists and the winner will be profiled on TurfNet.    Deadline for nominations has been extended to April 30. After that, heavy penalties will be incurred.   Previous winners are (2017) Tony Nunes, Chicago Golf Club, Wheaton, Illinois; (2016) Kris Bryan, Pikewood National Golf Club, Morgantown, West Virginia; (2015) Robert Smith, Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pennsylvania; (2014) Lee Medeiros, Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Roseville, California; (2013) Brian Sjögren, Corral de Tierra Country Club, Corral de Tierra, California; (2012) Kevin Bauer, Prairie Bluff Golf Club, Crest Hill, Illinois; (2011) Jim Kilgallon, The Connecticut Golf Club, Easton, Connecticut; (2010) Herb Berg, Oakmont (Pennsylvania) Country Club; (2009) Doug Johnson, TPC at Las Colinas, Irving, Texas; (2007) Jim Stuart, Stone Mountain (Georgia) Golf Club; (2006) Fred Peck, Fox Hollow and The Homestead, Lakewood, Colorado; (2005) Jesus Olivas, Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain, Marana, Arizona; (2004) Henry Heinz, Kalamazoo (Michigan) Country Club; (2003) Eric Kulaas, Marriott Vinoy Renaissance Resort, Sarasota, Florida. There was no award in 2008.    
  • "The transition zone is where we can grow cool-season grass and warm-season grass equally poorly."
    - A.J. Powell, Ph.D.
        When calculating climatological averages over time, it takes a lot of erratic highs and lows to find a happy medium. The winter of 2017-18 definitely qualifies as one of those wild lows.   Exhibit A: When Jim Brosnan, Ph.D., was making applications for goosegrass trials at the University of Tennessee turfgrass research center in Knoxville, lingering winter conditions in mid-April brought soil temperatures of 54 degrees Fahrenheit paired with air temps of 38 degrees and flurries blowing through the air.   Only two months earlier, eastern Tennessee was enjoying one of the warmest Februarys on record. Average temperatures for the month were highs of 62 degrees and lows of 44 degrees, which were, respectively, 8 and 10 degrees above the historic average. A record high of 81 degrees on Feb. 22 was recorded at the Knoxville airport, and overnight temperatures dropped below freezing on only six occasions throughout the month, according to the National Weather Service. Precipitation for the month was double the historic average.   "This is the oddest winter and spring I've seen since I've been here," Brosnan said.    "I've seen the full gamut in my travels this spring. I haven't seen any dead greens, but what I have seen is differential spring green up following stress. . . . By and large, I think everyone will come out fine with good growth. They'll just be lagging."   Last fall, the University of Arkansas released preliminary data on a research project by graduate student Eric DeBoer that helps establish thresholds for exposure of ultradwarf Bermudagrasses to cold temperatures, allowing superintendents to minimize the threat of winter damage and improving spring green up throughout the transition zone.   DeBoer's research tested Champion, TifEagle and MiniVerde ultradwarf Bermudagrasses using covers at 25 degrees, 22 degrees, 18 degrees and 15 degrees Fahrenheit. TifEagle and MiniVerde proved to be more cold tolerant than Champion.   According to the study, Bermudagrass greens covered when temperatures reached 15 degrees survived throughout the winter with improved spring green up. Covered greens even survived two days of extreme cold temperatures where overnight lows dropped to 0 degrees on consecutive nights.  
    The weather has definitely made for a kooky start to everything."
     
    Golf course superintendents throughout the transition zone who have made the switch to Bermudagrass during the past 15 years are covering their greens. Even among those who use covers, conditions have varied as they peeled them off, said Brandon Horvath, Ph.D., turfgrass pathologist at UT.   Some putting surfaces have been greener than others, while some have been more prone to typical spring disease pressure.   "Some turf has greened up under double covers or areas on covers where there is overlap, like along seams," Horvath said. "From a disease standpoint, we've seen all the usual suspects. In greens that have been double-covered, we've seen some pythium because it's been wet recently."   That list of usual suspects includes pythium, spring dead spot, leaf blight, take-all patch and fairy ring.    For those who might be set on a calendar for making fungicide applications, this year might be a good reason to move on from that thinking, Horvath said.   "Application timing is one of those things where it's easy to get into a run. If you're into a calendar-based thing, with the the weather the way it's been - somewhat cold still, but not terribly cold, you have to pay attention to that," Horvath said.   "For fungicides, we don't have indicators like forsythia blooms like you do with herbicides. Soil temperatures trigger when to make applications. When you have soil temperatures around 55 to 65 degrees, that's when you want to pull the trigger on those applications when soil temps are in that appropriate range. But with respect to periods like this when it gets colder, warms back up and gets colder again, you need five or six days of sustained soil temperatures to make those applications."   About 10 golf courses, mostly low-budget facilities, in western Kentucky have made the switch to ultradwarf Bermuda in recent years because they lack the budget to manage bentgrass through the state's hot, humid summers, said Gregg Munshaw, Ph.D., of the University of Kentucky.   "They only contact me if they have issues," Munshaw said. "They haven't contacted me yet this year, which means they're no problems, other than green up is just a little slower this year than they would like."   Like in Tennessee, Munshaw isn't predicting any long-term problems for the courses in western Kentucky, or anywhere else throughout the transition zone for that matter. Any damage occurring on greens should be relatively simple to fix, but will require patience from superintendents - and golfers.   "Unless there is widespread death, it's probably not going to be doom and gloom," he said. "If there is some loss, they might want to consider plugging from outside the greens, but that stuff spreads pretty well. The problem is what will members expect, or if you're a daily fee and you are relying on play coming in the door, are golfers going to come in and play if the grass is not there, or it's patchy? Because it might be late June until they are where they want to be, or maybe later. This isn't football, where you can wait until August. This is golf and you need to be ready now."   What is of more concern to Munshaw is what might happen to turf on the northern end of the transition zone if cold temperatures persist and the turf uses up the precious resources it needs to survive the winter.   "My only concern is the longer the grass stays dormant, the more it will burn up carbohydrates," he said. "If they are gone, and those places will struggle with green up. We need that turf to start waking up now."   The wild temperature swings throughout the transition zone from winter through mid spring have created some challenges for weed control as well, Brosnan said.    Warm temperatures in February led to some early green up and put into question whether it was safe to make applications for Poa control since the turf was beginning to emerge from dormancy.   At a recent Middle Tennessee chapter meeting, superintendents were discussing early damage from Poa control applications, Brosnan said.    "It was so cold in January, then in February the weather broke like there was no tomorrow," Brosnan said. "We had high temperatures and high amounts of rainfall. We exceeded the 30-year rainfall average in just about all the major cities in Tennessee.    "We reached 100 growing degree days in February, and that made for unsettling decision on Ronstar and Roundup. Then we'd have frost for the next four or five days. I know you're no longer accumulating growing degree days when it's that cold, but does that reset the clock? "The weather has definitely made for a kooky start to everything."
  • After exhausting its useful life for more than decade as a gravel pit nearly a century ago, a patch of land on the east side of Ann Arbor looked more like something out of a science fiction movie than it did a location for one of Michigan's most environmentally friendly golf courses.
      "If you look at the old photographs, when they finished mining, it was bald," said Corbin Todd, director of golf courses at the University of Michigan. "It looked more like the surface of the moon."   Today, Radrick Farms, a 1962 Pete Dye layout, and its sister course, the Alister MacKenzie-designed Blue Course, are leading the university's campus-wide efforts toward sustainability and environmental stewardship.   "Sustainability is the right thing to do," said Chantel Jackson, general manager at UM's Blue Course. "I don't care what field you're in, or who you work for, if you live here in Ann Arbor, you have to be aware of sustainability. It's a passion here, and it needs to be part of everyday life."   To that end, the courses have implemented several environmental programs that include an innovative construction method for the parking lot that helps manage surface water, conversion of managed turf to naturalized out-of-play areas, an unconventional rooftop on the renovated clubhouse of the Blue Course.   Along the way, each has earned certification from the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Clean Corporate Citizen Program with the help of the e-Par system. And progress is monitored and audited by the university's office of campus sustainability.   "Sustainability is rooted in our tradition," Todd said.    "We want to leave the property better than we found it. We want to be good stewards of our resources."   More than three decades before Dye converted land in eastern Ann Arbor into one of Michigan's best golf courses, the Cadillac Sand and Gravel Co. sold the mined out property to Frederick Matthei who restored the property from eyesore to pasture and farmland before donating it to the university in 1957. Five years later, it had become one of the first works of a young, up-and-coming architect from Indianapolis.   Today, Radrick is the only course in Michigan to be recognized by the Groundwater Foundation as a Groundwater Guardian Green Site, a program that acknowledges the work of turfgrass managers for their efforts to protect groundwater resources through "practices related to chemical use, water use, pollution prevention, water quality, and environmental stewardship". In 2012, the course received the Washtenaw County Environmental Excellence Award for Water Quality Protection.   "The university always wanted to keep that land natural. That's why they hired Pete Dye," Todd said. "They've always wanted to be good stewards of the environment, and that started way before sustainability was even a thing."   Across town, MacKenzie planted the Blue Course on the edge of the UM campus in 1929. While providing generations of students, faculty, staff and alumni with a classic golf experience, the course also has for many years doubled as a parking lot for the 107,000-seat Michigan Stadium directly across Stadium Boulevard. That hasn't hindered efforts at the Blue Course, as well as Radrick Farms, to lead the way toward sustainability.   Efforts there include an aggressive recycling program with an ultimate goal of zero-waste at the golf course (and throughout campus), converting managed turf to naturalized out-of-play areas, a green rooftop on the renovated clubhouse that includes a native planting program managed by superintendent Scott Rockov and utilizing permeable fill in the parking lot that aids in filtering surface water and minimizing runoff.   The university's golf operation has worked hard to communicate its efforts to customers.   "We have talking points for our staff," Jackson said. "There are enough things we are doing around the golf course to create questions, and we want to make sure our staff has the right information to give back to them."   The program clearly resonates with the university's environmentally engaged clientele.   "In Ann Arbor and at the University of Michigan, it is expected of us to be responsible environmental stewards," Jackson said. "We ask our customers in a survey if they are aware of what we're doing and if it is important to them, and they definitely care."   The efforts of the UM staff extend far beyond the golf course. Objectives such as sustainability and zero waste are campus-wide initiatives that fit into the university's goals of training the next generation of pace-setters.   "Our core value as a university is to build leaders of tomorrow," Todd said. "If we don't challenge them today, we don't have leaders of tomorrow."  

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