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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    The next time a 20-something assistant arrives late for work, or a new intern is more concerned with sipping coffee with his buddies in the break room when he's supposed to be on a mower on the back nine, don't blame him or his upbringing. Instead, it might make more sense to blame tech toys like his iPhone or some traumatic event such as 9/11, according to an expert on managing people across cultural and generational lines. 
      An overly active social life nurtured by electronic devices that easily keep one connected to friends and family, as well as stressful childhood events such as a climbing divorce rate among their parents' generation and the terror attacks of 15 years ago, are just a few examples of some of the experiences that might have helped shape the lives of Generation Y, defined as those born between 1980-1995, said Amy Wallis, Ph.D., of Wake Forest University during the recent Syngenta Business Institute. That doesn't mean Gen Y'ers cannot be convinced to carry out the duties for which they are being paid, it just means their supervisors likely will have to meet them halfway, or more.   "Things that are important to you are not important to them, so trying to use what is important to you as an incentive is not going to help them change their behavior," Wallis said.   "The observation with this group is they are less achievement oriented. Is it more important to you to be the best at what you do, or enjoy what they are doing? With this group, it's more important to enjoy what they are doing. It doesn't mean they are not competitive, but competitiveness is not what is most important to them."   Oh, there is one other problem.   "Millennials are fundamentally narcissistic," Wallis said. "This gets in the way of their ability to adapt."   An intensive four-day educational and professional-development program presented by faculty from the Wake Forest School of Business, the Syngenta Business Institute is designed to help superintendents expand their knowledge in non-turf curriculum like management, negotiating and accounting principles.   Wallis's discussion on managing employees from varying cultures and generations generated a lot of feedback from many of the two-dozen superintendents in attendance, some of whom expressed frustration with what they perceive as a lack of work ethic from those hailing from Generation Y. Complaints ranged from being late to work to being lazy once they get there.   "Some people think that being an assistant (superintendent) means wearing Oakley sunglasses and driving around the golf course all day with a dog in the cart," said one attendee who, for the sake of his (former?) assistant, will remain nameless. "There's a lot more to it than that."   But what those from one generation view as lazy or even disrespectful, those from another view it as perfectly normal.   "Very few people walk into their supervisor's office and say 'how can I make this person angry today?' " Wallis said.   Those who manage others should think of culture (yes, generations are cultures) the way a sea captain might view an iceberg.   "What we don't see below the surface is far bigger and more significant than what we see above the surface," Wallis said. "The culture we see tends to be behavioral and reflects the beliefs people enact on a day-to-day basis. What we don't see are people's values and what they think about things. Those might be subconscious values, bias and thoughts and ways of conceptualizing the world."
    You were all 20. You know how likely you were to adapt to something an older person is telling you. It's just developmentally difficult to trigger someone to do that."
     
    Generally speaking, Wallis said, those who make up Generation Y (also known as Millennials), exhibit dramatically different traits, compared with Generation X (born between 1965-1980) and Baby Boomers (1946-1964). That can be problematic for those who don't have a doctorate degree in psychology, but nonetheless must manage Millennials on a daily basis.   "Typically, the argument for finding ways to adapt and meet in the middle is a stronger argument than this is my house, and we are going to do it my way,' " she said.    "You were all 20. You know how likely you were to adapt to something an older person is telling you. It's just developmentally difficult to trigger someone to do that."   Economic factors also have helped influence how people from different generations behave, Wallis said. Baby Boomers lived through three distinct economic periods, industrial, service and knowledge-based, while Gen Xers have experienced the latter two. Millennials, however, have lived only in a society marked by the exchange of information through digital media. This group also grew up with a more relaxed attitude toward authority figures, meaning they have a different take on the relationships between employer and employee, often viewing themselves as equal to their superiors.   Baby Boomers and Gen X'ers are characterised by traits such as independence and loyalty to their profession, but those coming after them are not.   Some on-the-job characteristics of Millennials are:   > want a job that lets them exercise personal values and beliefs, > are not willing to give up their lifestyle for a career,  > multitasking (i.e., checking Twitter or texts while talking to you) is a way of life, > want to be part of a team, > need constant feedback (especially praise), > have little patience for ambiguity, > loyalty to their boss is No. 1 reason they stay in a job.   Many at SBI admitted they find it far easier to manage those from different cultures than Millennials, even if a language barrier exists. One superintendent (who also shall remain anonymous to protect his staff from shame) admitted that the Spanish-speaking members of his crew openly mock their American counterparts for what they also perceive as a lack of work ethic.
    Very few people walk into their supervisor's office and say 'how can I make this person angry today?' "
     
    Convincing or coercing them to change their lifestyle habits, Wallis said, pretty much is a fruitless labor. The key to getting them to work on time and to work harder when they are there is to tap into what makes them tick. In fact, in the case above, she said Millennials likely would be far more motivated if they knew others were poking fun at them than by a scolding from their superintendent.   "The social pressure of showing them how they embarrass themselves probably has more weight than saying you are going to write them up if they come in late," she said. "They are more concerned about their social image and relationships than any monetary rewards.   "How do you use that relational style to get people to change their behavior? Because you're not going to do it by pushing on the task."    All hope, however, is not lost for Gen X'ers and Baby Boomers managing a staff of 20-something ne'er-do-wells, Wallis said. But whereas a 50-year-old superintendent might be fixated on making sure all greens are mowed and bunkers are raked before the first foursome of the day goes out, Millennials might be equally concerned, or more, with their morning cup of Starbucks and whether that oh-so-clever Tweet from the night before has any "likes". Finding the key to unlocking that untapped potential likely will be the job of the supervisor, not the employee. And showing some willingness to change might be just the ticket to convincing them to follow suit.   "The dilemma is that I can change what I do, but I can't change what you do," she said. "We all have a responsibility to meet people halfway and adapt on both sides. You need to consider that being in a leadership position, you are role models that people look to see what they are supposed to do. You are in a better place to adapt and model that than a person a generation (or two) behind you."  
  • Now clear of a legal hurdle that nearly endangered its existence, municipally owned Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica, California, is undergoing the first of a multi-phase renovation designed to bring it back to its glory days.
     
    The Alister MacKenzie-designed course, opened in 1932, is owned and operated by the City of San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, though it technically occupies part of a 412-acre park in adjoining San Mateo County.
     
    Sharp Park was at the center of long-running challenge by various environmental litigation groups claiming that the layout was degrading the habitat of the endangered California red-legged frog and the threatened San Francisco garter snake. A succession of claims made by a coalition comprising the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and Wild Equity Institute have now been rebuffed, with the federal court in the Northern District of California ruling that the facilitys maintenance practices are consistent with standards established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
     
    San Francisco Public Golf Alliance, a citizens action committee that successfully undertook the legal defense, is now turning its attention to a long-term upgrade of the course. Initial stages of work, undertaken in-house with local contractors and funded by the city, included a new frog pond south of the course, an upgrade to the pump house, renovation of a culvert, rerouting two cart paths away from wetlands and the dredging of cattails in the channel between environmentally sensitive Laguna Salada and Horse Stable Pond.
     
    That work follows a $12 million overhaul of a water-delivery system, funded by local and federal agencies, that brings recycled water to the golf course. Irrigation-pipe laterals servicing four holes have now been completed, with more work anticipated as part of the upgrade.
     
    Richard Harris, who with fellow attorney Bo Links is co-founder of the S.F. Public Golf Alliance, reports that architecturally detailed restoration plans are now being developed by Tom Doak, in collaboration with Jay Blasi. Preliminary construction estimates for the work, involving greens, tees and bunkers, are in the $8 million range, plus soft costs for permitting, and likely would take 3-4 years to complete. Work on the project is being funded through a partnership of the S.F. Public Golf Alliance and the privately funded Alister MacKenzie Foundation.
     
    At the same time, discussions are underway at the governmental level among officials from San Francisco and San Mateo County that could see the county take over daily management of the course, though not ownership of the property.
     
    - by Bradley S. Klein, Golfweek

  • News and people briefs

    By John Reitman, in News,

    AmeriTurf, Performance Nutrition reach distribution agreement
      AmeriTurf will begin offering Performance Nutrition fertility and disease-control products through its coast-to-coast distribution network.   AmeriTurf is a specialty-products distribution company based in Italy, Texas. With headquarters in Hazlet, New Jersey, Performance Nutrition is a subsidiary of LidoChem that produces fertilizers, soil amendments and other turf-specialty products.    Among the Performance Nutrition products that AmeriTurf will make available through its national distribution network are: KaPre RemeD8 seed treatment and fertilizer additive that delivers microbes and enhances fertilizer uptake; KaPre Exalt blend of concentrated fulvic acid and plant-based surfactants; KaPre ExAlt that releases nutrients and micronutrients bound in soil; Nutrol bio-pesticide, tank buffer and water soluble fertilizer.  
    Colorado Golf Association honors Lyon
      Dennis Lyon, CGCS, recently was named the Colorado Golf Associations Superintendent of the Century.   Lyon, who worked as manager of golf for the City of Aurora, Colorado for more than 30 years before he retired, received the award during the associations recent 100th anniversary celebration that honored those who have made significant contributions to golf in Colorado.   Lyon has won a long list of awards including the USGA Green Section Award (2011), GCSAA Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award (2013) and the USGA Ike Grainger Award (2011) for his 25 years of volunteer work on the USGA Public Golf and Green Section committees. He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, was president of the GCSAA in 1989 and the Colorado Golf Association in 2002,    During its 100th anniversary celebration, dubbed the Century of Golf Gala, the association also recognized Hale Irwin (male player of the century), Barbara McIntire (female player of the century), Charles Kline (golf professional of the century), Will Nicholson Jr. (man of the century) and Judy Bell (woman of the century).   The event was held in mid-November at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
    Floratine names agronomist for southeast region
      Floratine recently named Pat McHugh, CGCS, as corporate agronomist for its southeast region.   McHugh has more than 41 years of experience in turfgrass agronomy and will be responsible for evaluating customers turfgrass and soil conditions to help them develop customized nutrition programs that best fit their specific needs.   A former superintendent, McHugh achieved certification 27 years ago and has managed a variety of courses throughout his career. He is the founder of North Carolina Turf Support, an organization that specializes in providing services for turf nutrition, physical and chemical properties of soil, water analysis and both national and international consulting.  
  • People who care about honeybees know that insecticides and pollinators usually are a bad mix, but herbicides used to control weeds can spell even bigger trouble for bees, according to university research.
      Jeff Harris, bee specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station researcher, said herbicides destroy bee food sources.   "When farmers burn down weeds before spring planting, or people spray for goldenrod, asters and spring flowers, or when power companies spray their rights-of-way, they're killing a lot of potential food sources for bees and wild pollinators," Harris said.   The direct effect of these chemicals on bees is so much less of an issue than their loss of food supply, he said.   "Disappearing food is on the mind of beekeepers in the state," he said. "That is even more important to them than losses of bees to insecticides."   Johnny Thompson, vice president of the Mississippi Beekeeping Association, is a cattle and poultry farmer in Neshoba County who has been in the bee business for the last 10 years. He said rather than eradicating weeds, he mows them so the food source is available longer to bees.   "Before we got back into bees, I sprayed pastures by the barrel to kill weeds. As a cattle farmer, weeds are a nuisance," Thompson said. "I'm trying to grow grass for the cows to eat and not weeds, but as a beekeeper, those weeds are not weeds. That's forage for the bees."   He now uses the bush hog more than he sprays herbicides to keep the food supply for bees intact on his land.   "If you kill everything the bee has for food, you may as well go in and spray the hive directly. The bees are going to die," he said. "All the emphasis is being put on insecticide, but the greater risk to bees are the herbicides."   He has made management changes for the sake of his bees' food supply, but he recognizes the tension between current agricultural management practices and pollinators' best interests.   "When you travel through the Delta or the prairie part of the state in February, the row crop land is purple with henbit blooming. By the end of March, it's all gone because farmers burned it down with chemicals to try to kill everything in the field before they plant," he said.   "They burn it down early because weeds in March or early April are a reservoir for insect pests to the crops that will soon be planted," Thompson said. Crops in the field, especially soybeans, are great sources of bee forage, and farmers and beekeepers can coordinate to protect both of their interests.   "We moved bees to the Delta this summer to make soybean honey," Thompson said. "We're working with the growers to try to put the bees in areas that are fairly protected and won't get directly sprayed."   But farmland is not the only place bees find food. Yards, roadsides, golf courses and power line rights-of-way are other places bees forage when plants are allowed to bloom naturally.   "We need to stop looking at them as weeds and instead look at these plants as forage," Thompson said. "I can manage around the insecticides, but if herbicide use means there's nothing for a bee to eat, there's no reason to put a hive in an area."   - Mississippi State University
  • What a difference a year makes. About an inch-and-a-half of snow fell last December 22 in Columbus, Ohio; and this year, the temperature in Columbus on that day was a balmy 57.  It has been pretty much like that since mid-autum and into the first couple of days of winter. With temperatures throughout much of December topping the 50-degree mark on 14 occasions so far this year and projected to be above normal through the first week of 2016, the phones at the Ohio State turf pathology offices of Joe Rimelspach, Ph.D., and Todd Hicks have been ringing off the hook from superintendents concerned about unseasonable disease pressure.   "You have to change your mindset right away," Hicks said in an Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Turf Tips video. "You're going to have to get away from the mindset that it's the end of the year, time to shut the doors, work on machinery, dream about next year and forget about last year. You're going to have to be more like our folks down in the transition area of the country. Where you're going to have to be concerned, maybe not on a weekly basis, but you need to be looking at your greens and tees and some of your other critical areas every week, every other week, something like that and checking to see what is going on out there."  
    This is not the year we put our feet up and forget about spraying anymore."
      Warmer-than-average temperatures throughout late fall and into winter, Hicks said, means cool-season turf will continue. Those temps also usually mean rain, and the result is conditions that are optimal for diseases such as pink snow mold, dollar spot and even anthracnose as well as leaf spot, which typically is associated with spring.   "We're going to see some growth. It may be slow," Hicks said.   "But it's sooner or later going to catch back up with us. These 50- to 60-degree days and 40- to 30-degree nights leaves us wide open for a couple of pathogens, and they're usually big hitters."   Many superintendents and sports turf managers, Hicks said, are concerned whether their snow mold application made in November will now be enough to get through the winter and into spring.   "If you're worried now, go ahead and hit it again," he said. "Make sure you're not going over label, not only rates, but also limits."   He noted to make sure any offseason apps don't conflict with a summer spray program.   "This is not the year we put our feet up and forget about spraying anymore," Hicks said. "You're probably going to have to look at it up until spring if this weather pattern continues."   Others were concerned about whether to continue mowing and its effects.   "The concern is that if you're using products that are local penetrants or contacts, those are going to be removed with mowing," Rimelspach said.     "If it's growing and you can keep mowing without causing ruts or problems with soft turf, keep mowing as much as possible."
  • During the Syngenta Business Institute held earlier this month in North Carolina, we asked superintendents what gifts for the golf industry they'd like to see underneath the tree this holiday season. We took the option of wishing for more golfers off the table so everyone wouldn't have the same response.
     
    John Cunningham, CGCS
    Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis
     

    As the former superintendent of TPC Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, site of the PGA Tour's AT&T Byron Nelson Classic, Cunningham has a lot of tournament experience. What he would like more of at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, which will host the 2018 PGA Championship, is more business education like SBI.   While national and regional conferences offer plenty of opportunities to learn the latest in agronomic research and developments, business education isn't as plentiful, he said. That's especially true given the current state of the golf business, he said.   "We get our fix at the (Golf Industry Show). We spend a lot of time talking about agronomics and aerification and fungicides and moisture management, and those are all very important, and we have to have those," Cunningham said. "But it's important for me and everyone else in the industry to be a better business leader because the golf industry isn't what it used to be, and every dollar is important."   Paul Carter, CGCS
    The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, Tennessee
    There are budget cuts and then there are budget cuts. And nowhere are budgets more affected during tough times than at publicly owned entities.   Paul Carter, who oversees the grounds at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, a state-owned golf course in a state park near Chattanooga, would like to see golfer expectations fall into line with the resources he and other superintendents have to work with during a challenging economy.   "I'd like to see some realization from the golfers and the golfing industry that times have changed," he said. "Golf courses are not going to be immaculately maintained, not the majority of them. Our budgets have been cut, so therefore the expectations of golfers need to be cut."   Reducing the amount of managed irrigated turf has helped many, including Carter, redirect resources where they are needed most.   "I'm glad to see more people getting involved in environmental programs," he said. "Not every square inch of the golf course needs to be maintained."   Paul Latshaw, CGCS
    Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio
    There is no questioning the fact that the golf industry has seen better days. Course closures have outpaced openings every year since 2006, and the number of rounds played is a slow, but steady decline.   Several factors are responsible for this slide, including how long it takes to get around the golf course and other family commitments.   "We have to do something about the pace of play," Latshaw said. "Anyone who has kids, that's all they're doing is driving their kids around to different sporting events. For that person to come to the golf club and spend five hours playing golf, that's a problem.   "What we've seen at our club is people coming out at 4 or 5 o'clock and hitting golf balls on the range for two hours and going home. Our driving ranges gets more use than it did five or six years ago."   The industry could do a lot to save money and shorten the amount of time it takes to play by taking some air out of the golf ball and making courses shorter, Latshaw said.   When Greg Norman won the 1995 Memorial Tournament, Muirfield Village Golf Club was playing at about 7,100 yards, compared with 7,392 yards this year.    "Something needs to be done with the golf ball," he said. "We all talk about more affordable golf, and the easiest way to do that is to have less area to maintain.    "Everything is better for the game if the golf ball is rolled back. If you want more affordable golf and you want to reach new demographics, you have to do something with the cost of the game. From my point of view, the more area there is to maintain, the more it's going to cost to maintain it. I work for Mr. (Jack) Nicklaus, and has been beating that drum for a while, and he's right."  
  • Whether it's mapping golf courses or delivering packages to doorsteps during the holidays, drone use is on the rise nationwide. In fact, one golf industry expert on drone use estimates that 1 in 20 golf courses are now operating unmanned vehicles. For those currently using, or considering a drone, there now is more to operating one than just breaking it out of the box and launching it skyward.
      Dec. 21 marked the first day that drone owners are required by federal regulations to register their vehicles with the Federal Aviation Administration.   The new rule, which came about in the wake of the formation by the FAA of an industry task force, applies to all private users with drones weighing between 0.55 and 55 pounds. Registration, which costs $5 per vehicle, can be completed online or by mail, and requires owners to provide personal contact information, including name, email address, home address and a credit card number. There is a 30-day grace period in which the FAA will wave the registration fee. New drone owners in the future must register their vehicle before flying it.    Commercial users, defined as those who are paid to provide a service to someone else, currently are exempt from the federal rule. That means golf course superintendents using drones even for purposes such as course/club marketing, monitoring agronomic conditions, managing restorations or archiving aerial imagery of the course, must register those vehicles to be in compliance with the new law. Firms that provide those same services for hire are not required by law to register their vehicles.   The new rules are based on recommendations of a task force that included drone makers, groups such as the Air Line Pilots Association and International Association of Chiefs of Police, and retailers like Walmart and Amazon.    One of the driving forces behind the new legislation is the increasing use of drone flights near airports. The FAA says it receives reports of drones flying near airplanes and airports every day. FAA guidelines require drones to stay more than 5 miles away from airports and large groups of people in places such as stadiums, remain below 400 feet in altitude and be within sight of the operator at all times.  
    If you're a bozo who is going to fly one near an airport, I doubt you're going to register it."
      Joel Pedlikin of Greensight Agronomics, a drone-enabled chemical- and water-management services company for the golf industry, believes the new rules are a good idea in theory, but questions how many drone users will register their vehicles. It is expected that as many as a half-million drones will be purchased throughout this holiday season, he said, calling into question the FAA's ability to monitor its own rules.   "The FAA already doesn't have the people or money to enforce the rules they have now. Where are they going to find time to enforce new ones?" Pedlikin said. "They don't have the resources to enforce that. So, how many people are going to register? It seems pretty unlikely to me that a lot of people will register.   "If you're a bozo who is going to fly one near an airport, I doubt you're going to register it."   Those considering shirking the new rule should be aware that failure to comply with the FAA could result in civil penalties of up to $27,500 and criminal penalties of up to $250,000 and imprisonment for up to three years.   New legislation regulating drone use has been pending since the passage of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, which charged the agency that regulates air traffic in the United States with developing a comprehensive plan for safe use of unmanned vehicles. That plan will be rolled out in incremental phases.   There has been talk within the drone industry, Pedlikin says, about future changes to vehicle set up that could help eliminate the problem of irresponsible users operating drones near airports.   "To me, flying near airports is the biggest concern of where drones are likely to do damage," Pedlikin said. "You don't even have to fly one into an engine to cause a problem, just flying it in front of the pilot on a final approach."   Geo-fencing capabilities could mean drones come pre-programmed to steer clear of places like airports. Some level of geo-fencing already is available on some higher-end models, Pedlikin said, but can be more problematic on cheaper models.   "There is no telling where in the country a unit would be used, so they would all have to be pre-programmed to avoid any airport anywhere in the country," he said. "That's a lot of work and a lot of data."   Such changes, he said, likely would increase the cost of a vehicle by $50-$100.   "You're talking about a lot of memory, and someone has to determine one geo-fencing definition. This isn't simple; it's a complicated process."
  • Scott Griffith is a man seemingly from a different era. In a time when protesting college students seek safe spaces from diversity of thought, and political correctness has run amok, Griffith stands as a testament to what one can become with hard work, dedication and a desire to overcome seemingly unbeatable odds. 
      The superintendent at the University of Georgia Golf Course for the past nine years, Griffith, 40, lived on his own during some of the most formative years of his youth while growing up in the rural South, and despite a childhood that redefines the word modest, he managed to put himself through college twice.    Griffith prefers to play his background close to the vest, so much so that he almost refused to sit for this story until wife Kim convinced him to embrace his past rather than run from it; so much so that some of his friends in the industry and superintendents he has worked for in the past are unaware of the road he's traveled to get to where he is today. They know of the square-jawed Griffith's exploits on the football fields of southeastern Alabama, they know of his time in the U.S. Marine Corps and they know of his service to the industry where he currently serves as vice president of the Georgia GCSA. But not all of them know that he lived by himself in government-subsidized housing while completing his last two years of high school, or that if not for the benevolence of a local farmer who often shared his good fortune with disadvantaged youths, things might have turned out very differently for Griffith.   "All of these experiences gave me self-reliance. I had some help along the way by people who cared, but I didn't expect that. I knew it was all on my shoulders to make it," Griffith said. "I knew if I wanted to be successful, I would have to do this on my own, I couldn't wait for someone to do it for me.   "The most important thing this has shown me is you can do anything if you have enough discipline and mental fortitude to do what you want to do."   One of those former bosses previously unaware of Griffith's life experiences is Fred Gehrisch, CGCS at Highlands Falls Country Club in Highlands, North Carolina. Griffith worked for Gehrisch years ago when both were employed at Newnan Country Club near Atlanta.   "To come from a background like that and be that successful is pretty impressive if you ask me," Gehrisch said. "He doesn't use it as a crutch, or to gain any kind of attention."   If he did, no one could blame him.   Life was tough for Griffith almost from the start.  
    I learned to be independent very early. I would jump on my bike, and I was gone from dawn until dusk."
      His parents divorced when he was just 6 years old. Soon after, he and his mother left their home in Midland City, Alabama, for a new start in North Carolina. But that new start often meant the same old problems for Griffith. His mom remarried, to what Griffith soon learned was a verbally abusive alcoholic. With both adults working, Griffith often was left on his own.   "I learned to be independent very early," he said. "I would jump on my bike, and I was gone from dawn until dusk to some sort of practice, or just hanging out with friends."   By the time Griffith reached junior high, the culture at home was beginning to take a toll, and he chose to return to Alabama to live with his father.    Back in Alabama, Griffith blossomed into a promising running back on the football field, and by the time he reached high school private Abbeville Christian Academy came calling looking for a running back. His 4.5 speed (in the 40-yard dash), while not fast enough to catch the eye of many college scouts, was more than enough to make plenty of defensive players in the area whiff when trying to make a tackle. He also figured it was why there was never any mention of money from school administrators, which was a good thing, because the Griffiths had none to spare. Griffith's dad drifted from job to job and the two lived in a low-income development.   "I always thought I was on a scholarship," Griffith said. "But I later found out someone was paying for me to go to school there."   That someone was local farm Jack Jones, who raised cattle and grew cotton and peanuts on 2,000 acres across the state line in nearby Fort Gaines, Georgia. Jones, who also was an assistant coach on the school's baseball team, made a habit of sharing his wealth with kids who came from less-than-perfect backgrounds and in whom he saw promise, and Griffith showed plenty of that.   By his junior year in high school, his dad was getting remarried and planned to move from the area. But Griffith didn't want to move. He had friends in school and was the local football hero. He talked his father into letting him stay behind alone where his landlord moved him into a smaller low-rent unit under his father's name.    "He was getting remarried and moving, and I didn't want to go," he said. "He knew he couldn't fight me, and reluctantly allowed me to stay where I was. He wasn't a bad guy; he just couldn't keep a job.   "There was a bottom, and I didn't want to be there. You know what you need to do to get out of there. There are kids today who can barely tie their own shoes. I never was like that. I knew I had to do it myself."   And do it, he did.   Griffith went to school during the day and worked at night tagging lumber for Great Southern Wood to pay his rent of $24 per month. In between he managed time for sports, especially football. Later, he took a job on Jones' farm, still not knowing that his employer also was his benefactor.   "I learned not to ask a lot of questions," Griffith said. "I knew something was up every time there was a class trip to pay for, and someone would come to me and say Don't worry about this, Scott. It's taken care of.' "   Eventually, he did begin asking questions and Barbara Lindsey, Abbeville Christian's headmaster, finally told him Jones had been footing his bills, but wanted to remain anonymous.   "He is in that small percent of heartfelt people who you have all the faith and trust in the world in. There are only two people who fit that for me," Griffith said, noting that his wife of 17 years is the other. "He had a heart the size of a mansion. And it wasn't just me; he helped many more before and after me. I thought he might have been doing it because I was good at sports, but he did it for people who weren't into sports too. He was just a genuine person. I think he felt like he was giving back to society that way."   Indeed.   Griffith and a group of his classmates went on from Abbeville Christian to Troy State University, now Troy University, where he contemplated pursuing a career in football until he saw the size of defensive players at the college level. Without Jones in his life, Griffith doubts he would have ever made it out of the fields of southern Alabama, much less to college.   "Living in a rough rural area and you don't know anything other than poor, you don't see a path to take to get to a higher level," he said. "Because I went to private school, I was surrounded by people who were successful, and that showed me the path and a different way to do things. It showed me there were possibilities out there."   Griffith worked his way through school taking jobs at restaurants like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Country's Barbecue because he could eat for free. And while a student at Troy, Griffith joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves to help him regain his focus. Despite a commitment of six years to the Marines, he missed just one semester of school.   "You don't know what you can do until you are pushed to your limits, and the Marines does that for you," he said. "Every Marine believes he can take out an entire army."   After graduating from Troy with a degree in business management, Griffith and his new wife moved to the Atlanta area to be closer to members of her family. It was that move that finally pointed him to his life's calling. Desperately in need of a job any job he answered an advertisement for part-time help at Newnan Country Club.   "I needed a job just to get my feet on the ground," he said. "It didn't take me long to fall in love with it."   A co-worker told him he could study turfgrass management at nearby Gwinnett Technical College and advance his career.   "I was that person who didn't know you could get a degree in turf," he said.   He quickly worked his way up through the ranks thanks to superintendents like Jim Miller and Gehrisch.    "He's one of those guys I have a great deal of respect for. He's a class act and one of the hardest-working guys in the business," Gehrisch said. "I always told him to work for successful people, because they will teach you the best habits. He was smart enough to make the right decisions in his career."   One decision Griffith regrets is falling out of touch with Jones when his professional career took off.   "One of my teachers tracked me down years ago to tell me he had died," Griffith said. "I carried some guilt for that."   Despite that guilt, the lessons learned through his hardscrabble life and the kindness Jones bestowed upon him have, coupled with his wife's own modest upbringing have provided the Griffiths with much fodder for raising their own children.   "I can tell you one thing; our kids know the value you of a dollar," Griffith said. "There is always the danger that if you never had it growing up, there is a desire to give your kids more than what you had, to overcompensate and go overboard. Knowing where the bottom is helps us raise our kids. Someone who has never been at the bottom might not understand that. You have to steer your kids away from that kind of life.   "If I'd had some parental guidance, I probably would have been a better person, but I don't regret it. I'm happy where I'm at."  
  • Everyone knows that inclement weather has an adverse effect on the amount of golf rounds played. It's pretty simple, actually; it's hard to play golf in the snow or rain, or freezing cold temperatures, or hail or lightning, during a tornado or in the eye of a hurricane. What seems to be up in the air is how much favorable weather actually drives golfers to the course.   It will be a few weeks before the rounds played report for November comes out, but when it does come out, that report might shed some light on the relationship between favorable weather and an increase in rounds played, if indeed there is one at all.   According to Pellucid Corp., the Chicago-based golf analytics firm run by Jim Koppenhaver that makes its hay crunching all the golf data so you don't have, the number of golf playable hours in November increased by 49 percent, compared with the same month in 2014. Golf playable hours in Pellucid's measurement of the total number of daylight hours compared with factors that influence play such as precipitation, humidity, daylight variances, etc. In other words, the amount of time in a day over the course of a month when someone could comfortably play golf if so inclined. And a 50-percent increase in the amount of time available to partake in any activity is significant.   In the meantime, the relationship between the amount of golf playable hours and actual number of rounds played were pretty similar in October, with both figures being roughly flat compared to the same month last year.   Rounds played, according to the Golf Datatech Monthly Rounds Played Report, rose just 0.6 percent compared with October 2014. That left year-to-date rounds played up just 0.7 percent for the first 10 months of the year. Public access courses (up 1.4 percent) faired better in October than private clubs, which saw a drop in rounds played of 2.5 percent. For the year, rounds are up by 1.3 percent at public access facilities and down by 1.7 percent at private clubs, according to the report.    Golf playable hours through November are up by 3 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2014.    Regardless of what news the November Rounds Played Report brings, it's unlikely the last two months of the year will be able to much to move the needle to 3 percent on rounds played, leaving participation throughout 2015 like most other years in recent memory flat and uninspiring.   There was some good news in October, with double-digit increases occurring in eight states, including Ohio, where play was up 22 percent, Michigan (18 percent), Missouri (16 percent), Washington (14 percent), Indiana (12 percent), Oregon and Kansas (11 percent), and Kentucky (10 percent).   The biggest losses in October were in South Carolina, which experienced catastrophic flooding, and play was down by 20 percent, which almost seems like a moral victory. Other double-digit losses occurred in Texas (down 12 percent) and North Carolina (down 10 percent). Everyone knows that inclement weather has an adverse effect on the amount of golf rounds played. It's pretty simple, actually; it's hard to play golf in the snow or rain, or freezing cold temperatures, or hail or lightning, during a tornado or in the eye of a hurricane. What seems to be up in the air is how much favorable weather actually drives golfers to the course.   It will be a few weeks before the rounds played report for November comes out, but when it does come out, that report might shed some light on the relationship between favorable weather and an increase in rounds played, if indeed there is one at all.   According to Pellucid Corp., the Chicago-based golf analytics firm run by Jim Koppenhaver that makes its hay crunching all the golf data so you don't have, the number of golf playable hours in November increased by 49 percent, compared with the same month in 2014. Golf playable hours in Pellucid's measurement of the total number of daylight hours compared with factors that influence play such as precipitation, humidity, daylight variances, etc. In other words, the amount of time in a day over the course of a month when someone could comfortably play golf if so inclined. And a 50-percent increase in the amount of time available to partake in any activity is significant.   In the meantime, the relationship between the amount of golf playable hours and actual number of rounds played were pretty similar in October, with both figures being roughly flat compared to the same month last year.   Rounds played, according to the Golf Datatech Monthly Rounds Played report, rose just 0.6 percent compared with October 2014. That left year-to-date rounds played up just 0.7 percent for the first 10 months of the year. Public access courses (up 1.4 percent) faired better in October than private clubs, which saw a drop in rounds played of 2.5 percent. For the year, rounds are up by 1.3 percent at public access facilities and down by 1.7 percent at private clubs, according to the report.    Golf playable hours through November are up by 3 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2014.    Regardless of what news the November Rounds Played Report brings, it's unlikely the last two months of the year will be able to much to move the needle to 3 percent on rounds played, leaving participation throughout 2015 like most other years in recent memory flat and uninspiring.   There was some good news in October, with double-digit increases occurring in eight states, including Ohio, where play was up 22 percent, Michigan (18 percent), Missouri (16 percent), Washington (14 percent), Indiana (12 percent), Oregon and Kansas (11 percent), and Kentucky (10 percent).   The biggest losses in October were in South Carolina, which experienced catastrophic flooding, and play was down by 20 percent, which almost seems like a moral victory. Other double-digit losses occurred in Texas (down 12 percent) and North Carolina (down 10 percent).
  • The Carolinas GCSA Conference and Show has changed quite a bit since the first event held more than a half century ago.
      About 30 golf course superintendents attended that inaugural show held in 1962 at Clemson University. This year, about 1,900 professional turf managers attended the 53rd annual conference and show held in November at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.    In fact, while declining attendance has marked the national Golf Industry Show since 2009, the reverse has been true for many regional shows, indicating that the desire for ongoing education is still there even if travel dollars are not.   Attendance at this year's show is slightly ahead of last year's show that drew 1,885 and is approaching the record of 2,018 set during the 2008 show. This year's show also included 190 vendors and about 100,000 square feet of convention center floor space.   The numbers also were up this year at the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Conference and Show held earlier this month.   More than 1,600 attendees were hand as 100 speakers conducted 140 education sessions. A total of 111 vendors occupied nearly 20,000 square feet of exhibit space on the trade show floor at the Great Columbus Convention Center. All represent increases over last year's show held in Sandusky in the shadows of Cedar Point amusement park.   More than 9 of 10 attendees and exhibitors also indicated they plan to attend next year's show.   Numbers also were up at the New York State Turfgrass Association Conference and Show where 64 vendors showcased their wares to 611 total attendees, both of which are up from last year's event.   In contrast, attendance and participation at the Golf Industry Show has been on a downward slide since the 2008 show in Orlando attracted 25,737 attendees and 965 vendors.  A total of 12,400 attendees and 551 exhibitors were on hand this year in San Antonio, compared with 14,147 and 561 last year in Florida.   Statistics for the Rocky Mountain Regional Turfgrass Association show held in early December were not yet available.   There still are several regional shows yet to come, including the New England Regional Turfgrass Foundation Conference and Show.   After this year's show in January was plagued by a blizzard that all but canceled the event, the New England Regional Turfgrass Foundation Conference and Show has been moved to its historic early March time slot.    Scheduled for Feb. 29-March 3 at the Rhode Island Conference Center in Providence, the 2016 show will feature a lot of changes for attendees. A total of 13 separate two- and four-hour seminars will start at 1 p.m. Monday and 8 a.m. Tuesday. In previous years all seminars were held on Monday of show week. Thursday educational sessions will begin at 8 a.m. rather than 9 a.m.   There also will be a two-day trade show opening at 8 a.m. on the Wednesday and Thursday of show week.  
    Attendees who registered for the 2015 show will receive a 50 percent credit when they register online."
      Sports radio personality John Dennis of WEEI-FM in Boston will be the keynote speaker again this year. His address last year was canceled due to the inclement weather.   Attendees who registered for the 2015 show will receive a 50 percent credit when they register online. Online registration will begin later this month. Exhibitors also will receive a discount. Details will be in the vendor packet.   We will have more information on this show as it becomes available.   Other upcoming shows include: Michigan Turfgrass Conference, Jan. 5-7, Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, East Lansing; Tennessee Turfgrass Association Conference and Show, Jan. 12-14, Embassy Suites, Murfreesboro (keynote speaker is former University of Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer); Nebraska Turf Conference, Jan. 12-14, LaVista Conference Center; Arkansas Turfgrass Association Trade Show and Conference, Jan. 13-14, Hot Springs Convention Center.
  • Dow Chemical and DuPont reached an agreement Friday to combine operations into a single company that eventually will split into three.    The new company, which will be known as DowDuPont, will have a combined value of $130 billion upon passing regulatory review, making it one of the largest business mergers ever.   The eventual split into three separate and publicly traded companies is expected to result in businesses concentrating on agricultural products, material science and specialty products. Such a split is expected to take up to two years to complete. Until then, shareholders of each company will hold 50 percent of the combined giant.   Dow's chief executive Andrew Liveris will be executive chairman of the new company, with DuPont chief executive Edward Breen keeping the CEO title. DowDuPont will have dual headquarters in Midland, Michigan, and Wilmington, Delaware.   The planned merger is the result of pressure from stockholders for both companies to become leaner and more profitable. For example, DuPont no longer manufactures paints and coatings, including the business that invented Teflon nonstick coating for cooking pans. Dow has gotten out of the business of marketing chlorine and epoxy products.   The deal, which will create the world's largest seed and chemical company, is expected to close in the second half of 2016.   - Compiled from wire reports.
  • A recent VIP visit to a Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex golf course is proof positive of the power of the pen.   Octavio Tripp, the Dallas-based Consul General of Mexico, and Jorge Croda, superintendent at Southern Oaks Golf Club in Burleson, Texas, have known each other for three years.   When  a mutual acquaintance told Tripp that Croda, a finalist for the 2014 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta, also was a published author on the exploits of Hispanics working in the golf industry in the United States, Tripp wanted visit the course south of Fort Worth to help the crew celebrate its successes.   "He sent me an email, asking to come and congratulate the group for doing such a good job," said Croda, a Mexican national living in the U.S. "It's good to show to all Latin people in the United States that we can do good things in this country."   A golfer and an outspoken advocate for immigration reform, Tripp tweeted about the visit to Southern Oaks.     In his third year as superintendent at Southern Oaks, Croda developed a reputation in his native Mexico for reviving golf courses that were otherwise flatlining where playing conditions are concerned. Croda credited a new crew that he hired - and trained - himself as being the difference in the turnaround of Southern Oaks.    "If you take care of your crew, your crew will take care of you," Croda said. "That's the message for the superintendent."  
    I need to understand more about this culture in the United States. If I learn more about it, I can do a better job. If I just say, 'no, no, no, this is my culture and you need to understand me,' that's not true."
      Relating to a mostly Hispanic crew is easy for a superintendent from Mexico. That said, Croda believes what has been accomplished at Southern Oaks still can be a template for success at other courses. Key to that is Americans understanding cultural differences among those from other countries, and vice versa.   "We need to understand (other) cultures. We need to respect that," Croda said. "I teach that to my crew. For Mexican workers in the United States, the motivation is to do better. You can come here, and you can better yourself.   "I need to understand more about this culture in the United States. If I learn more about it, I can do a better job. If I just say, 'no, no, no, this is my culture and you need to understand me,' that's not true."   One thing Croda has learned about the golf culture in the United States is the need for more players, and he's been active player in trying to attract more participants to the game.   A certified First Tee coach, Croda visits local schools where he teaches the organization's core values of honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility, perseverance, courtesy and judgment. The First Tee of Fort Worth operates out of several facilities, and although Southern Oaks is not yet one of them, Croda said he hopes to have youngsters on the course learning more about the game and its values and virtues by next year.
  • Koch Agronomic Services and Eco Agro Resources have reached a settlement in a pending litigation between the companies.
     
    The parties have been involved in litigation since August 13, 2014 when Koch filed a patent-infringement suit against Eco Agro. The latter responded a month later with a countersuit.
     
    Eco Agro is a High Point, North Carolina-based maker of nutrient products for the agriculture and turf markets. With headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, Koch Agronomic Services is a subsidiary of Koch Industries Inc.
     
    At issue, according to the suit, was a patent involving enhanced, stabilized nitrogen fertilizer formulated to reduce the dissipation of nitrogen into the air and groundwater. Eco Agros N-Yield product and Koch's Agrotain each contain three ingredients, two of which are the same: N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) and propylene glycol. According to the suit, differences in a third ingredient made the products different.
     
    Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
     

  • OnGolf and Playbooks for Golf have reached a strategic partnership that will integrate the latter's Coverage System within OnGolf's cloud-based golf course management platform.
      "Chemical and fertilizer tracking is a tedious, imperative task in the daily management for golf course superintendents, and the Coverage System leaves no room for error, helping with planning, budgeting and regulatory compliance," said Walt Norley, founder and chief executive officer of OnGolf.   "Playbook's Coverage program was developed by smart guys who have deep operational experiences in managing golf courses and the challenges superintendents face daily with this critical operating input."   OnGolf is a cloud-based, data-analytics software program that aggregates key line-item data to help superintendents manage soil conditions, water use, fertilizer and pesticide use, labor and more as efficiently as possibly. Founded by Norley, who brought golf UgMO (Advanced Sensor Technologies) and Matt Shaffer, director of grounds at Merion Golf Club, OnGolf was derived from an existing ag-based platform known as OnFarm.   Founded in 2008, the Playbooks for Golf Coverage System helps users track chemical and fertilizer use, planning and reporting in a timely manner and shows how long each product will last. This agreement offers OnGolf subscribers an opportunity to use our Coverage System software at no additional cost. It streamlines both software into one central location and even feeds some Playbooks data into their dashboard within OnGolf through use of APIs. If a superintendent is interested in the analytics that OnGolf provides, they can now also get all the benefits that Coverage System offers as well.    The Playbooks for Golf Coverage System is designed to save the superintendent time versus using their own spreadsheet formula. The software is continually updated with new features that are directly requested from superintendents.    Designed for use on smartphones, tablets and computers, the system will continue to be available as a standalone product.  
  • Ask just about anyone who knows Brian Boyer and they'll tell you he's pretty innovative, even for a golf course superintendent. But there are some things even Boyer can't do, like pull a rabbit out a hat or draw water from the arid hillsides around San Jose, California. After four years of drought in California, coaxing water from the ground and rodents from a chapeau happen are pretty much the same thing.
      So when the Santa Clara Valley Water District informed Boyer early in 2014 that he had a month to take Cinnabar Hills Golf Club off of surface water in favor of an alternative source, there was just one teensy, weensy problem.    "We don't have an alternative source," Boyer said.    "Folks who didn't have an alternative, they let them stay on."   Recycled water will not be available at Cinnabar Hills at least for another three to five years, according to the SCVWD's five-year plan. Potable isn't an option either. The homes surrounding Cinnabar Hills on the southern reaches of San Jose all are on wells, but attempts to find well water underneath the golf course have come up dry literally. In fact, if not for surface water Boyer treats on site, even the clubhouse restaurant well let's just say there would be no clubhouse restaurant, or bathroom or you get the idea.   "We dug everywhere for wells," Boyer said. "We don't have any."   Oh, by the way, Boyer also was told by SCVWD to cut water use by 20 percent through the remainder of 2014, nearly a year-and-a-half before most other courses throughout the state were ordered to make similar cuts.   "Twenty percent last year, that was hard," Boyer said. "The learning curve was hard.   "I didn't realize what 20 percent meant last year."   Welcome to golf in California where few things are as they appear.     Boyer not only has accepted the challenge thrown down by Cinnabar's water provider, he has since barged his way (figuratively, of course) onto the San Jose water scene, sitting in on just about every SCVWD committee meeting imaginable. At a minimum, he wants to make sure water district officials know who he is and that he wants to do the right thing by them. At most, he wants district officials to know who he is so that they do the right thing by him.   Since late winter of 2014, Boyer and Cinnabar Hills general manager Ron Zraick attend SCVWD board meetings every other Tuesday and attend a host of other committee meetings as well, including those addressing use by landscape professionals and residential users.   "It helped the first day we showed up on Feb. 28, 2014," Boyer said. "One of the two of us has been to all of them. I think there have only been two meetings in a year-and-a-half where both of us weren't there."   Boyer wasn't alone when the SCVWD came around telling courses to get off surface water. Four other courses in Santa Clara County received the same directive early in 2014: Spring Valley Golf Course and Summitpointe Golf Club, both in Milpitas, The Golf Club at Boulder Ridge in San Jose and La Rinconada Country Club in Los Gatos. All are on the district's Cross Valley Pipeline that also happens to provide water to three treatment plants in the county that supply drinking water to California's third-largest city. And when it comes to drinking water vs. golf, the choice usually is pretty clear.   At La Rinconada in nearby Los Gatos, superintendent Kevin Breen was taken off Santa Clara Valley Water District surface water, only to be put onto a potable source the district sold to the city of San Jose. Additional treatment meant additional cost. Fortunately, he was able to locate an old well near the facility's practice range that, according to records, was first tapped in the 1920s.   Hooking up to the old well which Breen had refurbished as well as the potable backup system, required building a new reservoir and replacing an old booster system with a new MCI pump station to work with La Rinconada's Rain Bird heads and Toro control system.   It's all part of the changes necessary to comply with the state's sweeping attempt to cut urban water use by 25 percent from May 2015 through June 2016. The amount each of the state's 411 urban water providers is required to save can range from 4 percent to 36 percent, with the exact number for each district determined in Sacramento by the state's Water Resources Control Board. Then how each district arrives at its number by targeting any combination of commercial, golf sports turf, landscape and residential users is pretty much up to them as long as they achieve that goal.    SCVWD was ahead of the curve, setting mandatory use restrictions long before the state did. At La Rinconada, Breen learned of 30 percent cutbacks in mid-February when the district left a message on his voicemail telling him he had until March to find a new water source.    "We had to hit the gas pedal and find an alternative source," Breen said.   The well worked perfectly for about five months. '   "We're now using potable water, which was the last option we wanted because it's expensive," he said.   In fact, drinking water, said Breen, is running about three times what he was paying for surface water.   Administration at both La Rinconada and Cinnabar Hills were eager to the right thing and play a positive and responsible role in water management. That support came as a relief to Breen and Boyer.   "In the beginning, I didn't know what the directives from the club were going to be," Boyer said. "Then they got in front of me and said This is what we're doing, we have a commitment to this community to save water.' I didn't say We have to do this.' They told me We have to do this.' "   Meeting the district's demands of cutting use by 30 percent in response to the state-mandated program has meant more than going to meetings and switching sources. For both men, as well as hundreds of other superintendents throughout the state, it has required creativity and an ability to admit that not every inch of turf is going to be green anymore.   Typical areas to receive less or no water are practice ranges, perimeters, roughs and the areas between greens on one hole and tees on the next.   "We're an old parkland course that was watered fence line to fence line in the past, which was very typical of how private, parkland courses would go about things," Breen said.    "It gets difficult in a parkland setting to turn off areas between holes because some holes are really close together. You have to find niches and places where you can do that."   It also has meant taking areas out of management by installing native plants or mulch and making sure water goes only where it is supposed to.     Breen took advantage of a program through the water district that paid $2 per square foot (25,000 square feet maximum) taken out of irrigation. Breen easily reached the maximum and is in the process of finishing a conversion program that has taken out about 12 acres of turf since 2014. Breen also has converted 150 full-circle heads to part circle and changed out more than 500 individual nozzles.   Back at Cinnabar Hills, making the most of the water Boyer has at his disposal has meant cutting back in the roughs, changing irrigation times and duration and implementing some different agronomic practices. The result is a course that is brown around the edges, greens that are as good as ever and fairways that Boyer says are better than they've ever been since he's been there.   Deep watering over light and frequent irrigation, together with more frequent aerification and acid injection to maintain healthy soils and keep nutrients available to the plant have helped Boyer save about 10 percent from his historic water use numbers.     "We've changed our irrigation run times from 9 p.m. to about 12 or 1 a.m. so we have water on the greens through the heat of the day, and that has gotten the tees down to about 50 percent of ET. We used to be at 70 to 80 percent," Boyer said. "The biggest problem here is sodium in our soils, and the acid injection keeps the calcium and magnesium soluble, and it has some nitrogen in it, which provides some green up.   "Our fairways are better than they've ever been since I've been here, and our greens are always good. The rough is dead. That's where we've had to cut. I have a spreadsheet that says here is the percentage of where all water is going, and this is what we have to take away, and it's about 42 percent (of water) on roughs just for everything else to stay decent."   Boyer looks forward to the day when the water district makes recycled or indirect potable water (treated water that is just this side of toilet to tap) available.   "Those are the keys for us in my opinion," he said.   In the meantime, he'll continue to attend water district meetings.   "When you can put a face to a name, it makes it hard to say no," he said. "We're trying to do the right thing and be representative of the golf industry, and they know that. We have a good relationship, and that is going to be huge for getting recycled water here."   This part of a multi-part series on golf and water in California.
  • Syngenta recently added new enhancements and tools to GreenCastOnline.com, its informational and education online portal for professionals in the turf and ornamental industries. Users now can access product and program information, technical tips and an extensive collection of agronomic tools from smartphones and tablets.
      "Delivering information in the most convenient way for our customers is important to Syngenta," said Tripp Trotter, head of marketing for turf and ornamentals at Syngenta. "We know they spend most of their time outside the office and weve seen a substantial increase in mobile traffic on GreenCast, so making key tools and information easily available on mobile devices is essential."    With this redesign, the GreenCast Online Web site now is optimized for use on mobile devices or tablets, allowing users to easily browse the Syngenta product portfolio, read articles from Syngenta technical experts and university contributors, subscribe to e-newsletters and more.    Additionally, the golf, lawn and landscape, sports turf and aquatics resources have been updated with featured tools and a product selector to navigate by product type or target pest and easily search labels.    Users also can find information on agronomic programs that can be customized by geographic location, turf type, program type and rotation. The maps section provide information on pest outlook, soil temperatures, growing degree days and weather forecasts that also can be customized by location.  

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