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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Rain Bird Services recently announced its beefed up training season with educational sessions scheduled for more than 90 locations nationwide throughout the remainder of this year and next.   All classes, including Rain Bird's Factory Trained Program and the Rain Bird Academy, are pre-approved by the Irrigation Association for continuing education units.   "Our training programs are very different from some of the other educational offerings in the industry today," said Robert Pfeil, Marketing Group Manager Services.  "Our classes are designed to train irrigation professionals on proven practices and techniques that can help them take their careers to the next level.  We emphasize professionalism and expertise; we are not trying to sell them products."   The Rain Bird Factory Trained Program teaches installation, operation and maintenance best practices for Rain Bird systems. Contractors who earn Installer,' Operator,' Technician' and Expert' designations through this program must re-test every three years to ensure that they are current with new technology and techniques.  Response to this relatively new program has been overwhelmingly positive.   Rain Bird Academy provides technical, college-level training for green industry professionals of all skill levels, helping them launch new careers or hone their skills in just days instead of weeks or months. Attendees can choose from five preparatory classes that can help them earn the following Irrigation Association certifications: certified irrigation auditor; certified irrigation contractor, certified irrigation designer, ceritified irrigation technician.   Individuals new to the industry can quickly learn how to install and maintain irrigation systems by attending Rain Bird Academy's Boot Camp. This four-and-a-half-day event is a hands-on necessity for beginners or those who simply want to acquire more tricks of the trade. Covering products from a variety of manufacturers, the camp includes classes on irrigation installation, technical skills, landscape irrigation design and efficient irrigation scheduling.
  • There is a difference between not having time to play golf and not making time to play golf.
     
    When he flips on the TV to watch a tournament, or reads about the ratings of televised golf, Andy Mears sees evidence that there are plenty of people who have an interest in the game, but, according to industry statistics, have quit playing or never started. Mears, the president and chief operating officer of Island Hills Golf Club in Centreville, Mich., believes factors such as time, difficulty, cost and a core audience that doesn't take kindly to newcomers all have conspired to divert occasional golfers and would-be players toward other activities.
     
    Mears wants to change that, at least in Centreville.
     
    Since 2011 patrons at Island Hills have had many options beyond playing a traditional 18-hole golf course. Five shorter routings within the 1999 Raymond Hearn layout, called Quick Courses, feature their own scorecard, and are designed to give golfers a chance to play without devoting five hours - or more - to a round of golf. The Quick Course concept is ideal for newcomers and high-handicappers as well as the scratch golfer who is challenged for time, Mears says.
     
    "We have to get people to understand that golf doesn't have to be played in traditional sets," said Mears, 52. "In an 18-hole round of golf, you leave your house, play, probably socialize a little bit, then you return home. Before you know it, you can be talking about a six-hour day.
     
    "During the past several years, there has been a huge adjustment in the way we think about our lives. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, but we've changed how we look at what we do in that time. For some people, six hours out of the day to play golf is fine. For most of us, that' s too much time."
     
    Island Hills owner Bob Griffioen came up with the idea for Quick Courses after reading about a seven-hole tournament at Jack Nicklaus's Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The Quick Course options at Island Hills include a five-hole course, two seven-hole routes and a 12-hole option. All routes, Mears says, begin on Nos. 1 or 10 and end on 9 or 18. Each route was chosen specifically to minimize the distance golfers must travel from green to tee, and all can be played for a fraction of Island Hills' rack rate. For example, the five-hole Quick Course, named Honeybee Cove, includes Nos. 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9, and golfers can play it for 15 bucks. Fees for the other Quick Courses increase slightly depending on the number of holes.
     
    There are few rules regarding the Quick Course program. Those playing the regulation 18-hole course always have the right of way on the tee, and play is not permitted on weekend mornings. Otherwise, ensuring that golfers play only the route they've paid for basically is left to the honor system. Next year, golfers playing a Quick Course will have a color-coded pennant on their golf car so traditional golfers and club employees can easily identify them.
     
    Many players have readily adapted to the concept and appreciate the opportunity to play at least some golf and do so in less time than it takes to play 18 regulation holes, while there are others for whom the idea has been a tough sell, says Mears.
     
    "Golf is a slow-adapting industry, including among those who play a lot of golf," he said. "For hundreds of years we've been playing 18 holes. Anything other than that is a strange concept to people. 
     
    "We want people to know they can get their fix in an hour-and-a-half."
     
    Like most people in the golf business, Mears is troubled by the numbers passed along each year by the National Golf Foundation. Trends he finds worrisome include the 6 million people who have left the game since an all-time high of 30 million people played golf in 2002, or the net loss of 516 18-hole equivalents since a steady diet of negative growth in new course construction began in 2006.
     
    Located between Chicago and Detroit in rural southwestern Michigan, Island Hills relies on city-dwelling tourists who are drawn to the region by Lake Templene, a 1,000-acre lake that is popular for boating, skiing and fishing. Although he acknowledges an oversupply of golf courses, Mears doesn't want his course to be the next statistic, so he and his staff go to great lengths to accommodate golfers. The Quick Course system is just one example.
     
    At Island Hills, there is no charge for the use of top-of-the-line rental clubs, nor is there a fee for lessons. And golfers can play for free after 4 p.m. on Sundays. Mears, who took his first job in the golf business at age 13, figures easing entry into the game for new golfers today might lead to loyal customers tomorrow, or the day after.
     
    "All I can control is here at Island Hills and getting people in our community to play and getting people outside the area to come to our course to play," he said.
     
    "We're not trying to make a dent in the bottom line with this. We're trying to get people to realize that golf can be part of their lifestyle, and it doesn't have to take six hours to do it."
     
    Since implementing the system, Mears says he has received phone calls from golf course operators around the country who are interested in adopting similar programs locally to drive interest. Many ask Mears whether the Quick Courses have increased revenue at Island Hills. Those people, he says, don't get it. The goal of the program is to create long-term interest in the game, not short-term revenue at the cash register.
     
    "We are here to help and to drive interest in the game and hopefully build some customer loyalty along the way," he said. 
     
    "The thought process is to get people engaged at some level, then the interest will come. We can't put our needs ahead of the needs of our customers. It doesn't work that way. I see too many who do that, and they can't see the forest from the trees."
  • BASF research scientists recently gave an early glimpse into what likely will be the centerpiece of the company's booth at next year's Golf Industry Show in Orlando, Fla.
     
    Xzemplar and Lexicon Intrinsic fungicides, both of which are awaiting EPA approval, have been in testing for the past five years, and both offer  control over a broad range of turf diseases, according to scientists discussing the new products at the annual American Phytopathological Society conference in Austin, Texas.
     
    Both products contain the active ingredient fluxapyroxad, while Lexicon also contains pyraclostrobin, the a.i. common to all products in BASF's Intrinsic line. Both also are SDHI class fungicides that work by limiting the respiration process in enzymes in the target fungi.
     
    Both products have been field tested by several university researchers.
     
    John Inguagiato, Ph.D., of the University Connecticut tested Xzemplar for control of brown patch on Colonial creeping bentgrass and dollar spot on Putter creeping bentgrass, both mowed at fairway height and both under heavy disease pressure. Xzemplar exhibited control of both diseases in his trial for a period of 21 to 28 days.
     
    "Last year, our dollar spot control trial on fairway turf was supposed to be a preventive fairway trial," Inguagiato said. "But infection occurred the day before we began our treatments, so it sort of turned out to be an early curative trial. 
     
    "It provided impressive dollar spot and brown patch control."
     
    According to BASF, trial results for Xzemplar showed excellent control against dollar spot at all rates and timings. And when compared against BASF's Emerald fungicide, Xzemplar fungicide provided faster dollar spot control in the first 14 days of the trials.
     
    In other trials, Lexicon Intrinsic showed 0 percent Rhizoctonia (brown patch) infection after 21 days, compared with the untreated control plot with 70.5 percent disease incidence.
     
    In a trial conducted on Baron tall fescue, Lexicon Intrinsic showed 1.8 percent summer patch infection after 21 days. When left untreated, the turf averaged 58.2 percent disease incidence.
     
    Bruce Martin, Ph.D., turfgrass pathologist at Clemson University, has been working with both products for about four years Crenshaw creeping bentgrass and TifEagle Bermudagrass cut to putting green height.
     
    In his trials, Lexicon Intrinsic and Xzemplar were effective at controlling a variety of diseases in cool-season turf.
     
    "Crenshaw creeping bentgrass is the acid test for dollar spot," Martin said. "When I want high disease pressure if I'm working with dollar spot I always go to Crenshaw. 
     
    "I was impressed with the results."
     
    The products' performance in Bermudagrass, at least in field testing, was what stood out most to Martin.
     
    He tested the products for control of diseases such as leaf spot, pink snow mold and pink patch on TifEagle putting greens and also incorporated Lexicon Intrinsic into a Bermudagrass fairway trial that concluded in January. Nearly eight months later he still can pick out the plots treated with the new BASF product.
     
    "Those are the results that surprised me," Martin said. "Those plots were disease free all spring.
     
    "They showed excellent disease control (on TifEagle greens), and that set them apart from anything I'd seen in Bermuda. Now, will it be consistent? I don't know. This is just one trial. 
     
    BASF says it expects both products to receive label registration from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency later this year and to be available for sale next spring.
     
  • A severe storm in late July caused enough damage to the Robert Trent Jones Jr. Course at Rock Barn Golf and Spa in Conover, N.C., that the course was closed temporarily. Rock Barn is scheduled to host the Champions Tour's Greater Hickory Kia Classic in October.
     
    The course received 9 inches of rain in 2.5 hours on July 27 and was left with severe flooding and damage throughout. The course was closed until Aug. 17, when it reopened as a 16-hole layout until the repairs are completed on two holes, according to a statement on the club's Facebook page.
     
    Two greens the 210-yard, par-3 third and the 405-yard, par-4 fifth suffered significant damage and will have to be rebuilt. Greens and fairways at Nos. 4, 13, 14, 16 and 17 along with the fairway at No. 5 had up to 3 feet water and silt in some areas, according to a letter the Champions Tour sent to players. The Tour's agronomist Jeff Haley has been to Rock Barn to access the damage.
     
    Also, 22 bunkers throughout the course will need to be rebuilt. A bridge from the 13th green to the 14th tee needs repairs, as does a roadway bridge through the housing development.  
     
    Plans are still on for the Champions Tour stop, scheduled for Oct. 18-20. (The NGA Tour's Terry Moore Ford Open, scheduled for Aug. 1-4 at the course, was canceled immediately.)
     
    This is not the first time flooding has hit a Champions Tour venue. In September 2011, En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, N.Y., home to the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, was covered in 5 feet of water from the effects of a tropical storm and overflowing of the Susquehanna River that runs along the perimeter of the course. Because of the flooding and to allow the course to recover, the tour moved the 2012 event from June to August. In 2006, the course also flooded, forcing the final B.C. Open on the PGA Tour to move 2 hours north to Turning Stone Resort in Verona.
  • Remove them, or drag them and break them up?
     
    Aeration is a necessary evil in maintaining quality playing conditions, but as advantageous as it is, it also comes with plenty of downside. Golfers hate it because it can be messy and it disrupts play. Superintendents don't like it much either because removing them or breaking them up is a long, labor-intensive chore. And just what to do with cores after aerification is one of the age-old questions facing turf managers.
     
    Modern Aerofication Methods Inc. has a solution: Unleash the F1 on them.
     
    With a name that sounds like the Defense Department's latest fighter jet, the F1 is a core-removal tool that attaches to a bunker rake and eliminates the need for raking and hand shoveling of plugs from the putting surface.
     
    According to a
    demonstration by Arizona Golf Club superintendent Kirby Putt, an operator using the F1 at his club was able to remove 99 percent of all aerification cores from a 4,000-square-foot putting green in about seven minutes. The F1 collects the cores and dumps them in a pile on the collar for removal. 
    Developed by former mechanic and superintendent James Hill and distributed by Dynamic Turf, the F1 attaches to Toro's 5000 series bunker rake, the John Deere Hydro 1200 series as well as some Smithco models. It glides safely over the surface and can be used on heavily contoured greens.
  • Those walking the floor of the Golf Industry Show might notice an abundance of one product type or another in any given year. A few years ago it was turbine blowers; this year it happened to be turf brushes and brush systems.
     
    The Buchko Brush, the latest product innovation and introduction from CTRgolf, wasn't ready for this year's GIS in San Diego but has now joined the fray in the greens brush arena.  Designed by Jeff Buchko (inventor of the Jacobsen MagKnife) and Kenny Wilson (also a former product designer and engineer at Jacobsen), the Buchko Brush Conditioning System sets itself apart in several ways:
    Electric drive enables variable brush speed that can be adjusted according to turf conditions. The brush direction is reversible via a simple rocker switch in the event a counter-rotating (forward) direction is desired. It can be used independently of the mowing reel for use as a topdressing brush, or shut off when brushing is not desired. The brush fits between the front roller and the reel (where a groomer would normally go); the platform and drive system will be adaptable to future attachments like a vertical blade groomer. Three different brush densities are available for cool season, warm season and aggressive applications.
    "It's really the grooming brush for all grasses," said Buchko of the patent-pending brush system. "The soft brush is ideal for everyday use on cool season grasses and off-season use on warm-season grasses. The medium stiffness brush and controlled rotation speed is perfect for use on Bermuda or zoysia during periods of heavy growth. The 'Grass Kicker' as we call it is the stiffest brush for ultra-aggressive conditioning of heavy grasses."
     
    The brushes are distinguished by their color (black, white and green, respectively) and can be easily exchanged via a magnetic release on the non-motor side of the unit.
     
    The Buchko Brush Conditioning System is available now for Jacobsen Eclipse walk- and triplex greensmowers, and uses the on-board electrical supply on those units. A model to fit the Toro eFlex electric drive unit is coming soon, according to Buchko.
     
    For greensmowers with traditional mechanical or hydraulic drive systems, a 48-volt lithium ion battery pack is available to drive the Buchko Brush. The battery units must be plugged in to recharge at night, and will last for eight or nine greens when fully charged.
     
    Distribution is still being set up, but for ballpark purposes the Buchko Brush unit for mounting on electric mowers sells for $2000, while the model with optional battery pack will be in the $2500 vicinity.
     
    More info at ctrgolf.com.
     
  • When it comes to managing turf under stress, it helps if a superintendent can wear more than one hat.   Eager members ignorant of the ways of science often are guilty of pressuring superintendents into producing playing conditions that defy allowable limits defined by current climatic conditions. In response, superintendents must try to convince golfers that there is a reason they should consider mowing less frequently in favor of slightly higher heights of cut during those times when daytime temperatures and humidity soar and overnight lows offer little in the way of relief.   "You really have to be part scientist and part salesman," said Lane Tredway, Ph.D., technical representative for Syngenta and former turfgrass pathologist at North Carolina State University.   "You have to have the ability to communicate to people with varying levels of knowledge and expertise, and sometimes less expertise than they think they have. You have to be able to convince them of what you need to do and why you need to do it, which is for the betterment of their golf course. Sometimes, golfers and members think the superintendent wants to do things a certain way because it makes his life easier. But it is for the long-term health and quality of the golf course."   What many golfers do not understand, Tredway says, is that ensuring quality playing surfaces throughout the season cannot be accomplished by throwing caution to the wind and mowing cool-season turf to heights of cut lower than one-eighth inch during an ongoing summer heat wave.   "It is a year-round endeavor. What a superintendent does in September and October has a direct impact on turf quality the next May, June, July and August," Tredway said. "Managing turf is a lot like a person: You can't run a marathon without training and preparing in advance. That includes everything: fertilization, irrigation, cultivation, preventive fungicide programs, everything, and for 12 months a year."   Still, golfers often get the best of well-intentioned superintendents, coercing them into ridiculously low mowing heights throughout the summer, often with predictable outcomes.   Every time he offers advice about managing turf under heat stress, Rob Golembiewski, Ph.D., admits to feeling somewhat like a broken record.   Each year, he finds himself explaining over and over basic practices such as controlling entry and exit points on greens and the need to avoid aggressive agronomic practices during times of high heat.   "Sometimes, you feel like you're giving the same old basic advice that everyone already has," said Golembiewski of Bayer Environmental Science. "But year after year you see the same mismanagement that brings about these stresses. And guys lose their jobs because of it.   "The superintendent decides he is going to give (members) the tournament that they want. He starts to lose turf and then tries to get someone to help him. He loses greens, the club fires the superintendent and brings in someone else, then he goes through the same thing. It's a vicious cycle of unrealistic expectations."   The cycle is so recurrent that PACE Turfgrass, the San Diego-based consulting firm led by the husband-and-wife team Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D., and Larry Stowell, Ph.D., re-released one of its   aimed at golfers that explains why turfgrass struggles during summer.   In the video, Gelernter cites university research to explain to golfers how low mowing heights and too much traffic coupled with excessive heat, humidity can be devastating to cool-season turf.   Gelernter explains how heat stress strikes the invisible rootzone first before becoming evident in the leaves of the turf plant. By then, she states, it almost always is too late to salvage the grass.   "The plant's ability to conduct photosynthesis is greatly reduced because of mowing, and it begins to use up the carbohydrate reserves that it built up in spring," Golembiewski said. "If that continues long enough, the plant exhausts its energy reserves to the point where it has nothing left to counteract that stress, and at that point you start to lose turf almost overnight.   "So many golfers get caught up in speed, then the superintendent ends up losing the plant."   Golembiewski suggests incorporating a program of less mowing and more rolling to reduce stress on the plant. The yeoman's work on rolling research on bentgrass has been conducted at Michigan State. A recent peer-reviewed study out of Oregon State, which Golembiewski was involved in there, examines the effects of similar programs on annual bluegrass.   "So much research has been done on rolling and the stressful impact of mowing," he said. "Any time you can incorporate rolling vs. mowing you're definitely going to reduce stress on turfgrass."   Golembiewski also suggests skipping that clean-up pass when the thermometer is mostly red.   "Going around and around is more likely to result in turf loss in those areas," he said. "Forget about that. Few golfers are putting from the fringe, and if they are it's not life-or-death."   To stem the effects of potential heat stress, Tredway suggests superintendents consider using greens-cooling fans, pay closer attention to water management and take advantage of some of the new chemical technologies on the market, including those that tout plant-health benefits, such as Syngenta's Daconil Action, Bayer's StressGard line, BASF's Intrinsic portfolio as well as Civitas.   Fans help cool the turf canopy a few precious degrees and also help circulate air movement, preventing a layer of humid air from hanging over the turf that inhibits the transpiration process that leads to heat stress in turf.   "In my opinion," Tredway said, "fans are the no. 1 innovation over the last 20 years. They make such a huge difference. It is the No. 1 thing a superintendent can do to maintain high-quality bentgrass greens throughout the summer."   Maintaining proper soil moisture can help prevent stress caused by a profile that is too dry or too wet. Tredway recommends diving greens into sixths and taking multiple soil moisture measurements in each segment.   "The idea is when going into hot, humid weather to maintain a proper balance of air and water in the soil profile so the roots can function," he said. "They'll die back rapidly if its too hot wet. If it's too hot and dry, you end up with wilt and drought stress."   And when in doubt, put on that salesman's cap and try to explain to golfers why it is important to give the greens a break from normal agronomic practices and mowing schedules during the hottest times of the summer.   "It is easier to explain why greens have to be slower for a week or two," Golembiewski said, "that it is to have to explain that you have to shut down a green because of dead turf."
  • The news isn't good, but it's not as bad as it has been.   Rounds played across the country were down 3.8 percent in June, according to Golf Datatech's National Golf Rounds Played Report. The news marks the seventh straight month of decreased rounds when compared to the same month from the previous year, according to the report that surveys 3,410 public-access and private facilities across the country.   When compared with statistics from June 2012, rounds played were up in 10 states, including the golf destinations of Hawaii (up 10.2 percent), Florida (6.7 percent), California (2.7 percent) and Texas (1.6 percent). Washington had the greatest year-over-year gain of 11.4 percent.   The greatest year-over-year losses compared with June 2012 were in Arkansas (down 14.5 percent), New York (11.6 percent), Illinois (10.7 percent) and North Carolina (10.5 percent).   Some of the drop off, but not much, is attributable to weather, according to Pellucid Corp. The Chicago firm reports a 1 percent loss of golf playable hours throughout the period. Golf playable hours are Pellucid's measure of the total number of daylight hours compared with factors that influence play such as precipitation, humidity, daylight variances, etc.   Play is down by 9.8 percent nationwide for the first six months of the year, including a 13.7 percent drop off at private clubs, according to Golf Datatech.

  • Support system

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Oak Hill Country Club has a long history of playing host to the world's best players. 
     
    This year marks the third time the PGA Championship has been contested on Oak Hill's East Course. And the club in Rochester, N.Y. boasts of being the only property to play host to the PGA Championship (2013, 2003, 1980), the U.S. Open Championship (1989, 1968, 1956), the Ryder Cup Matches (1995), U.S. Amateur Championship (1998, 1949), U.S. Senior Open Championship (1984) and Senior PGA Championship (2008).
     
    Maintaining a facility with such a long-standing history is no minor feat. In fact, there are two requirements a superintendent needs to maintain major championship conditions at a course like Oak Hill a great staff and an understanding family. Fortunately Jeff Corcoran has both.
     
    "During the summer, I'm here from 75 to 100 hours per week," said Corcoran, Oak Hill's director of golf courses and grounds. "In the final run-up to the PGA, the hours might ramp up even more."
     
    Corcoran, 40, has worked at Oak Hill since he interned there in 1994. He was hired on the following year after graduating from Penn State, and prepped under Joe Hahn, CGCS and Paul B. Latshaw, CGCS, before succeeding the latter as manager of golf courses and grounds in 2003.
     
    A typical week for Corcoran and assistants Fred Doheny, Phil Cuffare and Charles Zaranac means arriving between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. and staying until 5, 6 or 7 at night depending on daily irrigation needs. 
     
    That has been especially true this summer, which has been hot, humid and wet with 15 inches of rain (5 above the historic average) having fallen since May 1 in Rochester. Those conditions have made the run up to this year's PGA Championship particularly grueling for Corcoran and his staff of 65.
     
    "There is never a break during the summer," Corcoran said. "One of the things they don't teach you in college is the hard work and dedication that it takes to maintain a place like Oak Hill to the expectation levels we have."
     
    It also takes an understanding wife.
     
    Over the years, Corcoran's wife, Mary, has grown accustomed to playing roles of both mom and dad to the couple's two young children throughout the summer. Whether it's the mundane daily stuff like shuttling kids to the doctor or dentist's office, or summer getaways, she does it all
     
    "She definitely puts up with the long hours and me working every Saturday, every Sunday and every holiday," Corcoran said. 
     
    "She understands what I need to do where my job is concerned. She makes sure the house ticks. She carries the burden of family duties, which allows me to do what I need to do here at the golf course. If I didn't have that support, it would make it tough."
     
    Corcoran makes up for lost time at home once the golf season winds down.
     
    "I try like hell to make up for it in the winter, or if it's a rainy day when we can leave early," he said. "Anything I can do to take over some of the parental duties."
     
    Despite the stress of working nearly 100 hours per week month after month and the resulting strain his schedule places upon his family, Corcoran said he wouldn't trade his job for anything.
     
    "I love it. I can't imagine doing anything else," he said. "Why? It's simple; all those same challenges that make it so hard are what make it interesting. That makes me want to be out there and put in long hours to experience that satisfaction that comes with maintaining a golf course at the high level possible, and then every 10 years or so do it for the best players in the world. There is a lot of pride that comes with maintaining a place like Oak Hill. It's one of the top golf courses in the world because of what we do, and I am proud of that."
  • Looking back at his first job in the golf business, Chris Gray admits that he didn't know a bag of fertilizer from a bag of fungicide. But Odie Martin, a retiree who did almost everything at Angel Hill Golf Course in rural Rossville, Ind., did know the difference, and he was partial a granular fertilizer from LebanonTurf named Country Club. The results, Gray says, were exceptional putting conditions on push-up greens that were originally built by former Purdue turfgrass professor William Daniel, Ph.D.   Gray, the former superintendent and current marketing manager for LebanonTurf's professional products division, also acknowledges that not much about Country Club has changed since his high school days in the 1980s when he worked at Angel Hill - until now.   LebanonTurf is revitalizing its Country Club line with three new greens-grade granular fertilizers under the Country Club MD badge with a particle Size Guide Number of 80. The three new products are the first of many that eventually will carry the company's time-tested label, not all of which will be fertilizers.   Each of the new Country Club products (12-0-24, 18-0-18, 22-0-16) represents a homogeneous formulation of Meth-Ex, LebanonTurf's proprietary slow-release methylene urea, sea kelp meal and humic acids developed for maximum dispersion (thus the name MD) with minimal watering-in to deliver season-long feeding.   "With today's canopies, whether it be ultradwarf Bermudas, whether it be bentgrasses, everything's gotten tighter. There is less and less canopy space for fertilizer to drop into," Gray said during Lebanon's recent product launch. "It's critical that the initial size of the particle is small enough to accommodate that."   To date, Country Club MD is registered in 46 states, and LebanonTurf will begin officially taking orders Aug. 5.   Kelp meal and humic acids provide the biostimulus that provides the plant with stress protection, so that when the onset of stressful conditions occur it allows the plant to stay healthier longer and recover quicker when stress periods are over, Gray said.   "The stress protection is what sets us apart," Gray said.   With an SGN particle size of 100, the original Country Club line was a good fit for the way putting greens were managed in the 1980s and earlier. But new turf varieties with more densely packed canopies combined with lower heights of cut made smaller particle sizes a necessity. Instead of working their way down through the canopy to where they were needed, those larger particles can be picked up by mowers, golf shoes, golf balls and whatever else happen to track over them.   Other companies, primarily The Andersons, have since taken over the granular fertilizer market with products touting smaller granules that get to where they are needed most - beneath the turf canopy.   "The golf standard right now in the industry obviously is The Andersons' DG technology," Gray said.   "By all of our estimations, they have the lion's share of the market; anywhere from 60 to 70 percent of the greens grade business, and up until that time there wasn't a lot of work being doing done by Lebanon as far as a way to answer that call. We had to find a way to reposition or revitalize that Country Club line.   "Up to this point, the smallest Country Club product was 100 SGN. . . . Initially, we were running into issues with the 100 SGN it wasn't breaking down into small enough particles to get into these tighter canopies.   "It is important for us to have something that was going to allow us to compete in the same marketplace."   In dispersion testing, about 60 percent of the Country Club MD product dispersed with minimal watering-in, with about 50 percent of the material beginning to break down within about six minutes.   Former superintendent Tom Trammel used The Andersons' Contec DG with 75 SGN in preparation for some very high-profile events at the Doral Golf Resort in Miami. In fact, he was so impressed that he now reps for The Andersons since retiring as a superintendent and setting up shop as a turfgrass consultant in Vero Beach, Fla.   "It was the only granular product on the market that wouldn't wash off with the rain, get tracked off or was visible to the golfers," Trammel said.   "Doral has hosted six World Golf Championships, and I was there for all six. The Andersons was part of all of them for those reasons."   A year in the making, the new Country Club products have undergone intensive scientific testing on creeping bentgrass, ultradwarf Bermudagrass and Poa annua by researchers at the University of Illinois, University of Florida and Rutgers University, respectively.    The research phase included an exhaustive fact-finding mission by Tom Fermanian, Ph.D., of Illinois, who took a closer look at the benefits of sea plant extracts and humic acids because so little scientific information on them exists.    According to a survey conducted by Lebanon, about 60 percent of respondents said they recognize the benefits of sea plant extracts. However, few have pulled the trigger to incorporate it into their management program.   The company employed Fermanian to discover the effects of sea plants and humic acids on turf, finding out what they can do and, just as importantly, what they cannot do, Gray said.   According to the findings, kelp meal provides amino acids and aids in the dispersion process, while humic acid, another biostimulant, also helps in dispersion and acts as soil microbial stimulator and organic chelator that helps maximize a plant's systemic properties.   "Anything it didn't do, we don't make a claim for," Gray said. "We want to be accurate with that. We feel that there is too much information out, and a lot of it is not accurate.   "We knew that in addition to trying to help us get to the goal of achieving the best dispersion possible, now we've got some agronomic benefits we can tout as well. It's a win-win situation that like a lot of things we stumbled upon by accident."   Fermanian also performed a performance study, in which the Country Club MD products were tested head to head against The Andersons DG 17-0-17 at various application rates as well as the 18-3-18 composite version of Country Club. MD and the Andersons product consistently showed little mower pick up and enhanced visual turf quality, according to the study results.   The 22-0-16 version of Country Club MD also was tested in the field on cool- and warm-season grasses on at least 13 golf courses.   Matt Taylor, superintendent of the Riverside Course at Atlanta Athletic Club tested the 22-0-16 Country Club product from May 5-June 1 on the bentgrass greens (007-A1/A4 mix) on the practice facility putting greens at a rate of 0.75 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet.   Taylor said he was impressed by the quick flush of growth, green color, turf density and increased root growth.    "The overall appearance and healthiness of the greens were the best that I have seen in the six years that I have managed them," Taylor said. "However, due to the large amount of nitrogen applied, the firmness decreased and thatch levels increased quickly."   Research conducted on Country Club MD showed no signs of burn when applied to turf, an attribute Chris Carson confirmed when testing the 22-0-16 on a bent/Poa chipping green Echo Lake Country Club in Westfeld, N.J.   Although applied at the same rate of 0.75 pounds of N per 1,000 square feet, there was no flush of growth at Echo Lake, which Carson attributed to use of Primo. The particle size meant no pick up, but the dark color made it difficult to see during the application process, necessitating use of flags to avoid overlap.   "It did a decent job," Carson said. "(It was) hard to apply, (and showed) good color one month later."   Currently, greens grade fertilizers are the only new products under the Country Club MD umbrella, but plans are for the line to eventually include products with larger SGN for use on tees and fairways, as well as a foliar line. Other potential product entries in the future could include fungicides, herbicides, plant growth regulators and even seed.   "Our overall focus is to make sure that the Country Club brand is a complete line," Gray said. "Country Club MD is only one step, and is the first step toward that overall goal because Country Club MD is not a complete golf line right now. It is a fertilizer line, but it's just granular fertilizer in a bag.   "Our goal (is) trying to be a full line of one-stop shopping. . . . This product, the MD technology, is only the first step in moving forward with this. We think it's an important step.
  • After 18 months in development, Green Sweep Technologies launched The "Original", an innovative tool that the company — founded by long-time TurfNet member Patrick Sisk, CGCS — says helps golf course superintendents and sports turf managers incorporate sand and other topdressing material into the root zone in a way that is less invasive than traditional methods.
     
    Measuring 5.5 inches by 5.5 inches and weighing 10 pounds, The "Original" is designed to fit walk-behind blowers with rectangular output ports. It delivers topdressing material into the soil profile through a process called air-redirection technology, eliminating the need for brushes or mats. Air-redirection technology forces topdressing material into the desired location quicker and more efficiently than gravity, brushing or dragging with mats.
     
    The "Original" is manufactured from 16-gauge steel and features rounded leading and trailing edges to provide even greater protection for the turf surface. 
     
    At 24 inches in length The "Original" is large enough to make quick work of large-volume sand applications and small enough to get into the intricate details of putting greens, tees, infields and targeted micro-environments in a fraction of the time, says Green Sweep Technologies, a company created by turf managers to develop tools and solutions for other turf managers. 
     
    For more information, visit greensweeptech.com.
  • The deadline is rapidly approaching for an opportunity to apply for a coveted slot in this year's Syngenta Business Institute, a four-day professional business development program that provides attendees with graduate school-level business education in a compressed and interactive format.   Developed in conjunction with the Wake Forest University Schools of Business, the program supplements superintendents' management skills with a curriculum that includes financial management, personnel management, effective communications and negotiating skills delivered in an interactive series of seminars and workshops conducted by members of Wake's MBA faculty.   The Syngenta Business Institute is scheduled for Dec. 6-9 at Graylyn International Conference Center on the Wake Forest campus in Winston-Salem, N.C.   The application deadline is Aug. 20, and the program is limited to 25 superintendents.   To apply, superintendents must complete an application that includes an essay on why they believe they should be chosen to attend. All expenses, including airfare, hotel and meals will be covered by Syngenta.    For more information or to apply, visit www.greencastonline.com/SBI.
  • Turfco offers new solutions for overseeding
    With overseeding season quickly approaching, Turfco offers solutions to golf course superintendents with two products launched earlier this year.   The WideSpin 1550 topdresser offers a new hydraulic system and spinner design, allowing operators to switch between a super light to ultra-heavy applications; instantaneous width and rate control for topdressing tee boxes, greens and approaches; 20-percent larger capacity hopper; an optional electronic controller that automatically calculates the rate of the application and amount of material is needed.   The 1550 is available as an engine or hydraulic tow-behind unit or a hydraulic truck-mounted unit. All offer spreading widths from 15 to 4- feet and spreading ranges from as little as 0.08mm to more than 0.25-inches. All units are also available with manual or electronic control.   The TriWave 40 tow-behind overseeder offers Turfco's WaveBlade technology that creates clean square slits for optimal germination with decreased turf disruption; the ability to turn while seeding and to seed greens with steep sides and bunker surrounds; one-button control that lifts and lowers seeder so operators can spot seed quickly and move on to the next area; floating heads that follow the contour of the ground for effective seeding and a patented seed-delivery system; an optional electric lift and lower for trucks without hydraulics, allowing operators to hook up to any vehicle.   For more information, visit www.turfco.com.  
    Ewing restructures for improved efficiency
    Ewing has restructured its operation, including the appointment of three new vice presidents, to help the company achieve its goals of increased growth and greater efficiency.   New vice presidents include J.R. Richards, who will oversee operations in the Pacific Northwest, California and Southwest; Jay Riviere, who will head up the company's interests in the Rocky Mountain states, Midwest, and Texas; and Ray Murphy, who will head up operations in the Southeast, East Coast, and Florida.   Along with the vice presidential appointments, Ewing welcomed several new members to the company's regional management team, including Casey McWilliams, Pacific Northwest; Jake Ray, Arizona; Dave Northrup, New Mexico and El Paso, Tex.; Sean Wimble, Central Texas; Leon Garza, South Texas; Aaron Budimlija, Midwest; and Marshall Caudill, Southeast.   The appointments for the resulting branch manager position openings were fulfilled internally. The new managers include: Chris Bednarek in Tigard, Ore.; Hunter Williams in Chandler, Ariz.; Jake Sommer in Peoria, Ariz.; Herman Romero in Albuquerque, NM; Ray Salazar in Austin, Tex.; and Greg Stafford in Houston, Tex. Relocations included Ray Espinoza from Peoria to Deer Valley, Ariz.; Mike Falloon from Austin to Cedar Park, Tex., and Mike Alvarado from Houston to Friendswood, Tex.   For more information, visit www.ewing1.com.
    Bayer offers solutions via Twitter
    Bayer has launched a Twitter account for its turf and ornamental business that is focused on solutions for its golf course customers.   The site twitter.com/BayerGolf will share Bayer-related news and industry news stories.   Bayer also will share with superintendents expert advice to some of their most challenging issues from the company's Green Solutions team.   Magro joins Stevens Water
    Stevens Water Monitoring Systems recently named Carmen Magro, CGCS, vice president of business development and agronomy.   A former golf course superintendent, Magro has more than 20 years in of experience as an agronomist, including serving in a multitude of roles at Penn State University, as well as positions with Floratine, UgMO Technologies and Agronomy Management Solutions, the latter a consulting firm he had founded.   At Stevens, he will be responsible for helping the company advance its expertise in water-monitoring technology.   For more information, visit www.stevenswater.com.  

  • Breaking the mold

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Laurie Bland has been breaking down barriers throughout her brief career in turfgrass management.    Recently named the new head superintendent at Miami Springs Golf and Country Club in South Florida, Bland is a Hispanic woman taking on a man's world, and succeeding.   At the ripe old age of 26, Bland comes to Miami Springs after a five-year career at Doral Golf Resort in Miami, where she worked on several courses, including the famed Blue Monster, and prepped for numerous PGA Tour events. According to the GCSAA, there are just 60 women in the association with Class A or superintendent member status, but Bland's biggest challenge in battling stereotypes began long before she ever stepped foot on a golf course.   Growing up in what she called a traditional Hispanic household her mother is of Cuban and Spanish heritage Bland was expected to stay home after her high school days at Miami's Turner Tech Arts High School. Leaving home to attend college nearly 400 miles away to learn a man's trade definitely was not in her family's plan.   "I grew up in a family where no one left home. I was expected to get a job and stay here," said Bland. "In a Hispanic family you don't leave the nest."   Despite the challenges of where she's been, Bland is more focused on where she's headed.   She is trading valuable experience at one South Florida property with deep tradition (the Blue Monster has been a PGA Tour stop since 1962) to take over the challenges presented by another course that boasts a proud past, but now is in need of some TLC.   Miami Springs is a small town of 14,000 just north of Miami. The Thomas Martin-designed golf course that bears the town's name opened in 1923 and was the site of the Tour's Miami Open from 1924-1955. In recent times, however, the city-owned property has fallen into a state of disrepair that belies its heritage. And Bland will have to call upon all of that confidence and the agronomic skill she attained during her time first at Lake City, then Gainesville Country Club and finally Doral to whip Miami Springs into shape before the next South Florida golf season begins this fall.   "We have to get the grass growing again," she said. "There are so many areas that still need grass.   "We have a very short window to make it great."   Those who have worked with Bland in the past are not surprised by where she is now.    "Over the course of my 25 years, I have managed many superintendents, and Laurie has that intrinsic motivation, passion, hunger and desire to be a turf manager," said Tom Trammell, former director of agronomy at Doral. "She was with me for five years, so I spent a lot of time with her. She was always confident and didn't allow herself to be rattled."   That determination came in handy when she told her parents she was intent on breaking the traditional mold reserved for her and instead carving her own path in life. Her focus was trained on a career in turfgrass science ever since a class field trip from Turner Tech to what then was called Lake City Community College in north-central Florida.   At that time, she'd never been on a golf course before, or even knew that it was possible to earn a living managing one. She was captivated that day at Lake City by a demonstration that today she could do blindfolded.    "They showed us how to change a cup. It's funny. That is so rudimentary now," said Bland. "But to us it was fascinating that you could do that and put the cup back into the ground and not be able to tell where the old cup was."   From that moment she knew she wanted to be a superintendent. What she didn't know was whether the door would be open for her. As it turned out, it was left ajar far more than she could have hoped.   "I asked (LCCC instructor John Piersol) how many women do this, because I didn't see many there," she said. "I think he said there had been something like two women in the last two years. So, I asked if there were any scholarships, and what was the likelihood that a woman like me would even make it in this profession."   There is no questioning that even at age 26 Bland has paid her dues during her short career. In fact, she made a significant sacrifice before she took her first class at Lake City.   "I was determined to leave the nest, and I had plenty of friends who were willing to let me sleep on their couch," she said. "My mother was against it, but she told me that if I was going to prove myself I'd have to do it on my own. I think she gave me $20, and I hitchhiked to Lake City and slept on a couch for the first year. After a while, my mom saw I was serious and that I wasn't going to back down."   What Bland learned on the job was that hard work, determination and leadership skills were blind to gender. And so was Marriott, which granted her a scholarship to continue her education at Lake City.   In exchange for scholarship assistance recipients must complete an internship at a Marriott Golf property, and that opened a lot of doors for Bland.   A 2008 Lake City graduate, she worked alongside men as an intern at Gainesville Country Club and has supervised them since her days at Doral (a former Marriott property), where she was an assistant on the Blue Monster before being named superintendent of the Jim McLean Course for two years beginning in July 2011.   "During her time at Doral, she has been promoted to different positions on several of the courses giving her the opportunity to gain skills in managing different courses with their own unique microenvironments and challenges," said David Robinson, senior director of golf grounds for Marriott Golf. "With each new challenge she rose to the occasion and excelled. She was able to improve course conditions each and every time."   Admittedly, Bland cannot do everything a man can do. She can't heft 100-pound bags off pallets, but even in a job historically reserved for men, there are other ways in which she can perform as well as or better than any of her male counterparts.   Her Hispanic heritage and the open corporate culture at Marriott helped her pave her way.   "I've always had to work hard. No one could see a woman working alongside 80 men," she said. "Latin men felt this wasn't a job for women. I had to prove myself over and over. Because I'm Hispanic and bilingual, I'm able to communicate to them that not all women are the same.   "I can't do everything a man can do, but men now understand and respect that I can do this and that I'm educated to do this."
  • Sod webworms are a common pest in cool-season putting greens in late summer. However, recognizing the damage they cause often can be confused with stress caused by other factors such as disease, heat or drought.   It's important for professional turfgrass managers to recognize the signs to correctly diagnose the problem when sod webworms make their presence known.   Bobby Walls, Ph.D., of FMC Professional Solutions offered some tips to help superintendents tell the difference between damage from sod webworms and damage from heat and drought stress.   According to Walls, sod webworm larvae are easy to recognize for those who know what they are looking for. They vary in color from gray or light green to tan or brown, and they reach a length of about 1 inch.   Areas of damaged turf materialize as small brown patches that often run together into larger and irregular-shaped areas of damaged turf. The pest burrows into tunnels in thatch during the day and emerges at night to feed, attacking the leaves and stems of turfgrass plants just above the crown. This nighttime feeding ritual of the sod webworm explains how damage occurs before the pest is detected. The presence of large flocks of birds, namely starlings, gathering in the turf to feed is another indicator of sod webworm presence.   The most severe damage typically occurs in July and August, according to information from Purdue University.   A soap drench solution of two tablespoons of liquid detergent per gallon of water is an effective way to flush and monitor sod webworm movement.    The recommended threshold for sod webworms, according to Walls, is 10-15 worms per square yard. Other researchers indicate higher threshold levels of several dozen, with 10-30 pests per square yard being enough to attract birds looking for a free meal. An information sheet from Purdue sites threshold levels of four to six pests per square foot.   According to John Deere Landscapes, popular control methods include endophytic turfgrasses. Some products such as chloronicotinyl and spinosad-based insecticides can be used preventively when the pest is still in the larval stage. Products like pyrethroids, such as those with the active ingredient bifenthrin, can be effective curative controls.
  • Deere goes mobile with parts platform

    John Deere has launched a mobile version of its parts Web site that allows customers easier access to much-needed parts. 
     
    By visiting jdparts.deere.com from a smart phone or tablet customers can view equipment parts information from nearly any location. 
     
    Like its desktop counterpart, the mobile version allows customers to quickly access parts information, pricing, availability and order parts online. Customers can search by parts catalog, model number, part number or keyword to locate the appropriate parts and attachments.
     
    For more information, visit jdparts.deere.com.
     

    Lebanon tabs Bially as new product manager

    LebanonTurf recently named Paul Bially as product manager for its biostimulant division.
     
    Bially brings years of turf industry experience to LebanonTurf, including prior service with Aquatrols and Precision Labs in which he worked extensively with surfactants and other specialty products. 
     
    Most recently, he worked as a sales and technology specialist for Lamberti USA managing the company's line of surfactants, polymers and pigments.
     
    For more information, visit www.lebanonturf.com.
     

    Hunter controllers earn EPA nod for saving water

    Hunter Industries' AC-powered controllers that are paired with Solar Sync sensors will carry the WaterSense label for professional turfgrass managers interested in getting the most for the least from their irrigation systems.
     
    Controllers to carry the WaterSense label will include X-Core, Pro-C, I-Core and ACC lines. Hunters' controllers are the only in the industry to carry the label granted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
     
    Water Sense is an EPA partnership program that recognizes products that perform as well or better than their less-efficient counterparts, are 20 percent more water efficient than average products in their category, realize water savings on a national level, provide measurable water savings results, achieve water efficiency through several technology options, are effectively differentiated by the WaterSense label, and obtain independent, third-party certification.
     
    For more information, visit www.hunterindustries.com, or www.epa.gov/watersense.

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