Time is winding down for those who hope to secure a spot in the 2024 UMass Winter Turf School.
Scheduled for Jan. 2-March 1, the 2024 program will be conducted in a remote, virtual format for the fourth consecutive year. Deadline to apply is Nov. 1.
Since 1927, the UMass Winter Turf School has been providing an alternative to traditional education that has pumped professional turf managers into positions all around the world.
Assembled in a compressed certificate program, the 2024 Winter Turf School will cover all the concepts essential to maintaining high quality turf, with emphasis on environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility. This comprehensive short course includes more than 110 hours of instruction taught by UMass extension specialists and faculty as well as guest instructors and is ideal for experienced or aspiring golf course superintendents, sports field managers, as well as parks and rec and LCO professionals.
The 2024 course period will be nine weeks built around a 4.5-hour block on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the duration of the program, with scheduled class time from 1-3 p.m. and 3:30-5:30 p.m. Successful applicants will receive a detailed schedule before classes begin.
Specific topics that will be covered are:
> Fundamentals of Turf Management
> Soil Science and Management
> Turf Pathology
> Turf Entomology
> Weed Management
> Advanced Topics in Turf
> Irrigation and Equipment Management
> Arboriculture
Benefits of the virtual format include saving on registration costs, travel expenses and time; and opens the program to those who otherwise could not attend.
A Certificate of Completion will be awarded to those who complete the program. Pesticide recertification contact hours will be offered for those from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, and continuing education credits will be available.