In the four decades he has been managing golf courses, Mark Hoban, CGCS, has learned a lot about what works - and what doesn't. Both will be on display July 19 when Hoban hosts his Organics and Native Grasses Field Day at Rivermont Golf Club in Johns Creek, Georgia.
"I want to show people what we're doing," Hoban said, "and give them ideas on how to reduce inputs and still produce a good, quality product."The field day will include information on native grassess, pollinator zones, compost fairway trials (thermal and vermi), an update on University of Georgia trials underway at Rivermont, biological trials on greens, compost tea brewers and Hoban's worm farm.
"I have more worms than what should be allowed by law," Hoban said. "Some of them have escaped and invaded the fairways. When it rains it's worm-city out there."
The great worm escape helped Hoban identify areas in his management plan that need tweaking, including aerification. In fact, his field day aims to inform other superintendents that his program isn't necessarily the end-all, be-all of low-input maintenance.
For example, before this year's playing season, some of Hoban's fairways had received no inputs of any kind for as many as four years, and he learned that he probably pushed some areas too much.
"We went so low on inputs that it almost became a game," he said. "I'm learning this year that you can go too low, but I would never have learned that if I hadn't done it. I don't want people to think I am some kind of guru, because I'm not. I'm still trying like hell to learn, and I'm failing quite a lot.
"I've learned that I need to do a better job at balancing my program and I need to do some aerification.
"I still question whether I went too far, or if it was just timing."
I don't want people to think I am some kind of guru, because I'm not. I'm still trying like hell to learn, and I'm failing quite a lot."
Hoban has been incorporating low-input practices since 1986 when he succeeded Palmer Maples Jr. at The Standard Club. The thought for a field day first came to him when John Shamblin of Regal Chemical asked if he could bring a few of his customers by.
"He thought some other superintendents could benefit by what we were doing with native grasses," Hoban said.
Then another vendor asked the same question.
"I thought, well, hey, I should have a field day," Hoban said. "But I wanted to wait until I had something to show them."
On board for the field day include Clint Waltz, Ph.D., of the University of Georgia, who will provide updates on UGA's trials, and Emily Dobbs, a doctoral student at Emory University who worked on the first U.S. Operation Pollinator project under USGA Green Section Award winner Dan Potter, Ph.D., at the University of Kentucky. For more information, contact Mark Hoban.
