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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Normandie Golf Club has a history matched by few golf courses. Designed by Old Tom Morris protege Robert Foulis and opened in 1901, the course in St. Louis is one of the oldest tracks west of the Mississippi.
    Through the years, many famous athletes and Hollywood personalities have walked the fairways at Normandie. But the historic St. Louis Club is casting aside its historic past for a place in the game's future.
    Located in one of St. Louis' most underserved communities, the course is undergoing a rebirth thanks to Jack Nicklaus and members of the city's golf community.

    Golf great Jack Nicklaus donated design services to reinvent a 120-plus-year-old golf course in St. Louis. The Metropolitan Golf Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Metropolitan Amateur Golf Association in St. Louis and owner of the course, announced in 2021 that Nicklaus would be leading a multi-million-dollar renovation of the course. The renovation by Nicklaus and design associate Chris Cochran is part of a project with an overall goal of revitalizing one of St. Louis' most neglected neighborhoods and helping ensure access to the game in the future for the city's at-risk and underserved residents.
    Nicklaus has donated the cost of design services, and the Metropolitan Golf Foundation has been busy raising money to complete the project, which will be designated as a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course when it opens next year. The course closed in 2023 so work could begin on the project.
  • From St. Louis in the east to Kansas City in the west, Missouri is famous for its hot and oppressively humid summers. Conditions there can be so severe that Jon Miller, the late baseball announcer, once quipped during a Royals broadcast that visiting Missouri in summer was the world's most effective way to lose weight fast.
    To that end, it did not take Joe Wachter (right) long to recount the most challenging weather years during his long career as a golf course superintendent in the St. Louis area. Those memories are seared into his memory like a sun-baked green.
    "Yeah, 1995, 1999, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2022," said Wachter, with a laugh. "Those are the six big ones. I won't say they were the worst, but they were difficult.
    "You remember those years before you remember the good ones."
    Wachter's career as a head superintendent spanned 35 years at four courses — New Melle Lakes in Wentzville, Missouri, Eagle Springs in St. Louis, Spencer T. Olin across the Mississippi River in Alton, Illinois and Glen Echo in St. Louis, from which he retired in 2024. During that time, he encountered challenges like greens plagued by flooding rain, drought conditions and a host of diseases.
    Despite those many weather-related challenges, Wachter has a bit of advice for his younger self that would serve his colleagues today.
    "Be more patient," Wachter said. "Understand that sometimes there's nothing you could do."
    He pointed to the summer of 1995 at New Melle Lakes as an example. 
    "We were having trouble at the end of July. Then from August first through 10th, we had high heat and heavy rains, and I'm talking really heavy rains. Then we got basal rot anthracnose.
    "The greens were already wet, and I watched the 13th green slowly die. Luckily, it was a little here and there, and not the whole green. It got to about 30 percent turf loss. It was a slow death. You didn't just snap your fingers and it was dead. And you were kind of dying along with it. You just couldn't get it to stop because you couldn't get the green to dry out, and the humidity and temperatures were so high at night."
    He learned a valuable lesson that summer.
    "I was only five years in, and I was only two years being on my own as a superintendent," he said. "You have to realize that you're not going to know it all. I reached out to Ed, my brother (and superintendent). He worked 15, 20 miles from me at that time, and I know I reached out to him and a couple other people."
    Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS, (right) who also retired last year, recalls similar experiences during his career. He was in his first year as superintendent of the North Course at Des Moines Golf and Country Club when he had his first devastating season.
    Each time he encountered challenges of an exceptional nature, he managed to turn a negative into a positive, which also serves as a learning lesson for working superintendents.
    "The summer of 1983 was my first year at Des Moines. That was a tough one," said Tegtmeier. "It was hot and wet, and we lost a lot of grass that year. But you know what? We ended up changing varieties back then. It was all old Kentucky bluegrass and ryegrass fairways, and we ended up overseeding and going to bentgrass, and they've performed well ever since."
    Tegtmeier spent nearly 25 years in two stints at DMGCC, including the past 18 as director of grounds, 17 years at Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids and a year at Hinsdale Golf Club in Clarendon Hills, Illinois.
    "I came back to Des Moines in 2006. In the summer of 2007 it was very wet again, and we lost a lot of grass. We had patches of a lot of low areas that ended up being burned up because there was no root system because it was so wet. I used that experience to sell a major drainage project to the club."
    Turf loss is nothing new in golf, but how golfers respond to it is.
    "Back in '83 at Des Moines, we had the same issues on both (courses). And it wasn't just us. It was happening all over the state," Tegtmeier said. "Back then, summer burnout of turf was a pretty normal thing. It happened to everybody. It was just an accepted practice that you lost grass. That's kind of when the transition to better cultivars happened and people were able to manage turf in a more professional way."
    Summer issues also are common in the St. Louis area. 

    Joe Wachter, front row center, during his retirement celebration last year at Glen Echo Country Club. Glen Echo CC photo via Instagram Wachter was hit with back-to-back challenging summers in 2011 and 2012 on Glen Echo's Cato-Crenshaw greens.
    Cato and Crenshaw bentgrasses were developed in 1993, and by 2011 the greens at Glen Echo exhibited various biotypes, some of which had turned shades of brown and black. 
    As new cultivars began emerging with greater regularity, golfer expectations rapidly increased which manifested in lower heights of cut, which in turn resulted in more disease challenges. Wachter realized it was time to enlist expert help.
    "You could literally see those circles on the greens dying," Wachter said. "We tried everything. We were spraying and cleaning equipment with every mow, and we were walk mowing and raising heights, aerating, venting and doing everything possible."
    He needed answers as quickly as possible and drove the soil samples from St. Louis to Columbia to pathologist Lee Miller, Ph.D., then at the University of Missouri.
    "They're only two hours away. So instead of mailing them, I drove them there," he said. "I wanted to get them there as fast as possible."
    The following year was on the other end of the weather spectrum, but equally as challenging.
    "We were desert-like. That was the summer we had hundred-degree temperatures until 7 or 8 o'clock at night for about six weeks," Wachter said. "The zoysia in our fairways was literally brown. And we had some Bermuda contamination in the fairways. That was the greenest grass we had.
    "We usually stopped hand watering at 4 o'clock. During that drought, we were out there until 7 o'clock at night. That was essentially a six-week drought. Then, when it started raining, everything that was brown was green within a week. Sometimes, you just need a break in the weather.
    "It was ultimately Lee Miller (now at Purdue University) who taught me and reminded me that sometimes there's nothing you can do until the weather changes. It kind of set me on a path the last 13 to 14 years to realize you can do everything right and do the things you need to do to make things better with sprays and aeration, but unless the weather changes you're not going to turn the corner."
    Tegtmeier agreed that new grasses, as well as other new tools at the superintendent's disposal, such as better mechanized equipment and new and improved chemistries to battle diseases, brought new challenges in the way of heightened expectations and hurdles never before seen by many agronomists.

    Rick Tegtmeier, left, with wife Sherry and fellow Iowa Golf Hall of Famer Zach Johnson during their induction in 2019. "Expecations went higher with new grasses, which made it harder," he said. "Losing turf used to be accepted, and now it's not accepted as much. Golfers like it brown and firm, but providing that can get difficult."
    When Tegtmeier's career began, there were a few common diseases, but it wasn't long before new players soon entered the game.
    "With the advent of new cultivars, you also get new diseases, or we started learning what these diseases were," Tegtmeier said. "When I first started, you had snow mold, you had dollar spot, you had brown patch. All of a sudden we had Rhizoctonia and large brown patch."
    By the turn of the century, things had changed.
    "Once we went to bentgrass fairways, I would say in the late '90s or early 2000s, is when expectations had become really high," Tegtmeier said.
    "That's when you started pushing things to the edge. Of course, they gave you better budgets, better equipment, better chemistries, and the expectation was higher."
    Like Wachter, Tegtmeier, the 2017 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year and a 2019 inductee into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame, also knew he needed expert help as the world of professional agronomy was changing. That was especially true when it came to communicating issues to members.
    "Well, that's why I always used a USGA agronomist," he said. "I always brought them in to help manage expectations. I used that to my benefit to help me sell a larger budget, help us buy new machinery and manage expectations. Without them, it was tough."
    As much as superintendents rely on science now more than ever, it never hurts to be lucky once in a while.
    "You do what you can, but realize that no matter what you know sometimes you just have to get a change in the weather," Wachter said. "It will come back."
  • Michigan State student Dan Miller was named the winner of the Mendenhall Award scholarship.
    The $6,000 award is part of the GCSAA Scholars Competition that provides financial assistance ranging from $500 to $6,000 to recognize "outstanding students working toward careers in golf course management or other related areas of the golf course industry" according to the GCSAA. The competition is funded by the Robert Trent Jones Endowment and administered by the GCSAA Foundation.
    Applicants must be enrolled in a recognized undergraduate program in a major field related to turf management, have completed at least 24 credit hours or the equivalent of one year of full-time study of the appropriate major and be a GCSAA member.
    Miller, who earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Michigan State, began working on a golf course during his fifth year of undergraduate studies. After five declared majors, he began working on the crew at Mystic Creek Golf Course and Banquet Center in Milford, Michigan under superintendent Tyler Cooper, who also is a Michigan State alumnus. He suggested the university's two-year turfgrass management program to Miller.
    Miller entered the two-year program in 2024 and recently completed an internship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Miller has one year remaining in the two-year certificate program and is scheduled to graduate next spring.
    "Winning the Mendenhall Scholarship solidifies the confidence I have in myself that I have found my path in life, and it gives me even more confidence and drive to be the best student and future professional I can be in this industry," Miller said. "I look forward to meeting and networking with as many people as I can at the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show."
    Other award winners:
    Scholars Award $2,500
    Ernesto Martinez, Pennsylvania State University Christopher Kelly, SUNY Delhi Otto Hoehl, Purdue University Scholars Award $1,000
    Bryce Thompson, Purdue University Gavin Trout, Clemson University Scholars Award $750
    Seth Knutson, Michigan State University John Monnin, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Gabriel Schneider, Michigan State University Isobelle Brasher, Michigan State University Merit Award $500
    Gavin Kenning, Purdue University James Cowden, Pennsylvania State University Owen Dodge, Michigan State University Maxum Verleye, Michigan State University Brendan Phillips, Michigan State University Tristan Carrier, Pennsylvania State University Tyler Kregel, Pennsylvania State University Evan Kluwe, Michigan State University James Anderson, Rutgers University Patrick Neustadt, Michigan State University Salman Bo Drees, Pennsylvania State University Robert Knapp, Michigan State University Jackson Reimer, Pennsylvania State World Campus The top award of the GCSAA Scholars Competition is named for the late Chet Mendenhall, who was a charter member of GCSAA, a past president (1948) and recipient of the association's Distinguished Service Award (1986). Along with this award, Miller will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2026 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show, Feb. 2-5, in Orlando.
  • The Toro Company looked within for its next president and chief operating officer.
    Edric Funk (right) is a 29-year Toro employee and has served as vice president of the golf, grounds and irrigation group since 2022. His appointment as president and COO is effective Sept. 1, and he will report to CEO Richard Olson.
    "Edric's track record of driving business performance and fostering innovation uniquely equips him for the role of chief operating officer," Olson said. "Throughout his tenure, Edric has consistently delivered strong financial results and value creation across diverse technical and business functions – directly contributing to our growth and competitive position. His deep understanding of our customers, and technologies coupled with a disciplined strategic approach, will continue to propel The Toro Company forward and create value for all stakeholders."
    Since joining Toro in 1996 as a design engineer, Funk had held roles in marketing as well as in the company's residential, landscape contractor, international and commercial businesses. 
    In 2014, he was named director of global product management for the commercial and international businesses, and in 2017 was named managing director of Toro's Center for Technology, Research and Innovation. Funk went on to become the general manager of the Sitework Systems business in 2020, before being promoted three years ago to VP of golf, grounds and irrigation.
    Funk was instrumental in the acquisitions of Left Hand Robotics and TURFLYNX, accelerating the development of robotic mowing platforms. In 2020, he was named one of the most innovative people in golf by Golf, Inc.
    Funk received a bachelor's degree in engineering and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. He also has a professional certificate in innovation and technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and serves on the boards of the National Golf Foundation, The Toro Company Foundation and Red Iron Acceptance.
    "I am honored to serve in this role," said Funk, "and I look forward to working alongside our talented team to drive operational performance across our businesses, with a focus on accelerating profitable growth, advancing the company's technology roadmap and optimizing global supply chain operations."
  • The summer of 2025 will be one to remember for many superintendents — but for some it will be for all the wrong reasons.
    What began as a cool, wet extension of spring that stalled turf growth and activity early in the golf season, quickly turned into a hot, humid — and still wet — summer prime for a smorgasbord of common turfgrass diseases.
    "Summer of 2025 has been a pathologist's dream," said Kevin Frank, Ph.D., of Michigan State University. "We've seen it all — epic dollar spot, brown patch, anthracnose and various Pythium diseases."
    Frank published a primer earlier this summer on how superintendents can beat the heat.
    David Huff, Ph.D., turf breeder at Penn State University, said turf plots in State College and golf courses throughout Pennsylvania are experiencing many of the same problems Frank has been seeing in Michigan.
    "Bentgrass here didn't wake up here until June," Huff said. "When the plants needed the roots, they weren't there. They were stunted."
    Brown patch in the state largely has come and gone, Huff said. The second half of summer, he noted, has become the season of anthracnose.
    Caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum cereale, anthracnose is a stress-induced disease found on annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass putting greens. The pathogen overwinters in a state of dormancy waiting for the right time to emerge, which can be: 
    through winter under wet, mild conditions during periods of extended overcast conditions in late spring under hot, humid summer conditions.  Annual bluegrass is especially susceptible, although it can be found in creeping bentgrass, Kentucky bluegrass, fine fescues, perennial ryegrass and Bermudagrass.
    Symptoms can vary and often first appear as yellowing turf in irregular patterns that range in size from an inch to a foot in diameter.
    Huff and Tom Bettle, a former superintendent and manager of Penn State's turf research farm, recommend a seven-day fungicide program for anthracnose control.

    Anthracnose is one of many diseases that have been common on golf courses this summer. University of Wisconsin photo "Generally on native Poa, you need to go every seven days," Huff said. "When you don't, we're seeing (anthracnose) come back after 10 days."
    It has been much the same in Michigan.
    "High temps and humidity started relatively early for us — around the summer solstice — and have persisted with few breaks the entire summer," Frank said. 
    "Most of the state has at various times had too much rain while a portion of western and central Michigan have been approaching low level drought classification.
    "I was out playing nine holes the other day and thought the simplest explanation to turf maladies this summer is probably simply explained with one word — weather."
    For areas that have not received enough moisture, Frank recommends syringing hot spots at the hottest time of the day.
    It is commonly perceived that noon is the warmest part of the day, when it is often around 4 to 6 p.m., he wrote early in the summer. Syringing late in the afternoon might make the difference this year between healthy and heat-stressed turf.
    Both Frank and Huff recommended applications of nitrogen in the battle against anthracnose.
    "Fungicide programs should be at the full rate, and superintendents should add nitrogen to their tank mix at about a half-pound (per 1,000 square feet)," Huff said. "Superintendents are under pressure to produce (green) speed, so many won't want to do that, but a boost of nitrogen will help with anthracnose."
    For more information on managing common fungal diseases in turf, download the Chemical Control of Disease guide published by the universities of Kentucky and Wisconsin and Rutgers University. Or, click here for information from North Carolina State University on managing anthracnose. 
    There could be another tool in the Poa-growing superintendents' arsenal for the fight against anthracnose. Huff devoted much of his career to developing PA-33, the first commercially available seeded variety of Poa annua.
    Huff recently completed his second harvest of PA-33 seed, and for the second year, he has sold out of his admittedly limited inventory.
    On test plots and the PSU nursery where it is grown, PA-33 has shown to resist anthracnose on a 14-day fungicide program.
    "With this new variety of Poa," Huff said, "we've been able to go every 14 days and not have any problems with anthracnose."
    Huff harvested seed from about 5 acres last year. This year, he harvested about 3 acres. He plans to expand the operation next year with an additional 6 acres under production.
    The offspring of Poa supina (father) and Poa infirma (mother), PA-33 thrives under aggressive management. Neither parent can tolerate close mowing, but together, their offshoot thrives under when mowed under one-tenth of an inch.
    "Most of the seed has been reserved by repeat customers from the first harvest," Huff said. "I'm starting to tell people we don't have seed for them, and I don't want to have to do that."
  • For most of the summer, Mother Nature has been conspiring against both golfers and superintendents.
    The good news is that golfer demand remains high despite the weather.
    According to the latest National Rounds Played Report by Golf Datatech, rainfall in June (the most recent report available) was up by double digits throughout the South and much of the Midwest and East, rounds played, however, were largely unaffected.
    Rainfall totals in June were up anywhere from 8 percent to 51 percent throughout the South and Southeast, compared to the same month last year, according to the Golf Datatech report. Precipitation totals in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic were up by 12 percent to 18 percent for the same period. 

    Access to tee times remains in high demand despite the challenges of summer weather. On the other end of the spectrum, the Northeast has been plagued by drought-like conditions, with rainfall totals down by an average of more than 50 percent since last June. 
    Play, however, has remained relatively unchanged during the past year, with rounds played down by less than 1 percent nationwide, ranging from up by 2 to 3 percent to down by the same amount regardless of climate and location. Year-over-year rounds played demand in June were flat in the Midwest and the arid Northeast, and down by only 2 to 3 percent in the boiled and basted Mid-Atlantic, South and Southeast.
    Likewise, year-to-date rounds played are flat for the first six months with very little deviation from one coast to the other. Play was down by just 1 to 3 percent east of the Mississippi River and up 3 to 4 percent in the western half of the country.
    Stable demand despite weather challenges is a good sign, as demand keeps pace with 2024, which was a record-setting year.
    According to the annual state of the industry report by Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp. and Stuart Lindsay of Edgehill Golf Advisors during this year's PGA Merchandise Show, 23.4 million golfers played a record 532 million rounds in 2024, the first time the 530 million rounds played threshold was eclipsed. Among those 23.4 million golfers were 4.9 million newcomers to offset 4.3 players who left the game. The net gain of 600,000 golfers included 400,000 girls and women. 
    Those 23.4 million golfers played a record 532 million rounds last year, which, according to the report, was 10 percent above the supply-demand equilibrium and the first time the 530 million round mark was eclipsed.
  • Efficient water management is one of the most significant challenges confronting golf course superintendents now and into the future. 
    For superintendents seeking to squeeze every drop from their irrigation water, Harrell's recently launched its SurfaceRx wetting agent.
    SurfaceRx is the latest in technical innovation from Harrell's and the newest addition to its HydroMAX portfolio of products.
    "Several years ago, our research and development team at Harrell's was challenged with reimagining what a wetting agent formulation could be,” said Dr. Jeff Atkinson, Harrell’s director of agronomy. "SurfaceRx introduces a novel osmoprotectant technology to a wetting agent formulation, helping turf withstand drought stress on a physiological level while mitigating soil water repellency."

    SurfaceRx is an osmoprotectant formulation that supports the plant's natural production of osmolytes, which are compounds that help balance hydration during abiotic stress, such as drought.
    The result is improved moisture penetration and water distribution while helping turf naturally defend against drought and dry-down stress and results in improved color, quality and root development under challenging conditions.
    Independent research conducted at Virginia Tech showed that SurfaceRx improved water penetration and moisture distribution and also resulted in significant improvements in turf quality, leaf color and chlorophyll content, photochemical efficiency, root surface area and root volume during drought stress.
    "This isn't just about water movement or moisture management, it's about plant protection and turf health," said Raymond Snyder, Ph.D., of Harrell's "We're giving superintendents a tool that supports turf performance, resiliency, and maximum soil moisture control."
  • Some fertilizers commonly used on golf are in the crosshairs of lawmakers around the country. More specifically, public officials are concerned about the long-term health effects of PFAS — or Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances — in fertilizers and other products.
    According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS are manmade, long-lasting chemicals, the components of which break down very slowly over time, thus earning the nickname "forever chemicals". These biosolids also are found in wastewater sludge that often is used in some fertilizer products, such as Milorganite.
    On July 1, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law a measure that will ban the use of fertilizers containing PFAS, making the Constitution State the most recent in a short list of states prohibiting their use. A similar ban is in place in Maine and Massachusetts with partial bans in other states.
    Section 21 of Public Act 25-152 (amending C.G.S. 22a-903c) the PFAS ban in fertilizers was added to the existing ban of PFAS in soil amendments.
    The action states: "No person shall use, sell or offer for sale in this state any fertilizer intended for land application or soil amendment that contains any biosolids or wastewater sludge that contain PFAS."
    For the past 80 years, PFAS have been used in several consumer products. They are used to prevent food from sticking to packaging or cookware, make clothes and carpets resistant to stains and create firefighting foam that is more effective. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, PFAS molecules have a chain of linked carbon and fluorine atoms that is very strong and does not degrade easily in the environment.

    Because they do not break down easily, PFAS also can be found in wastewater and in sewage sludge that in many municipalities is treated and sold for use as or in fertilizer. Sludge also is used as an additive in many fertilizer blends due to its composition of micronutrients, making it a better option than other fillers like sand or gravel.
    A letter from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture to licensed sellers gives a deadline of Aug. 31 to either prove their product does not contain PFAS or cease selling it in the state: 
    "If your fertilizer or soil amendment product contains biosolids, you must provide a certificate of compliance stating that the product does not contain PFAS. This proof of compliance must be furnished by the product's manufacturer or supplier to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture at the time of product registration or renewal. Any such certificate of compliance shall be signed by an authorized official of the manufacturer or supplier. A certificate of compliance shall be kept on file by the manufacturer or supplier of the fertilizer or soil amendment. In order to comply with this new law, send a certificate of compliance to AGR.Commodities@ct.gov for your fertilizer and soil amendment products that contain biosolids by August 31, 2025, OR remove your fertilizer and soil amendment products containing biosolids from Connecticut stores by August 31, 2025. Failure to do so will result in violation notices and stop sales."
    Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals around the world and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment. They are found in water, air, fish and soil and could be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. However, there are thousands of PFAS with potentially varying effects and toxicity levels, yet most studies focus on a limited number of better known PFAS compounds, so little is actually known in that arena.
    Current peer-reviewed studies, according to the EPA, have shown that exposure to PFAS could lead to:
    Reproductive effects such as decreased fertility or increased high blood pressure in pregnant women. Developmental effects or delays in children, including low birth weight, accelerated puberty, bone variations, or behavioral changes. Increased risk of some cancers, including prostate, kidney, and testicular cancers. Reduced ability of the body's immune system to fight infections, including reduced vaccine response. Interference with the body's natural hormones. Increased cholesterol levels and/or risk of obesity. Maine was the first to implement a ban on the land application and distribution of biosolids (treated sludge) as a soil amendment due to PFAS contamination on April 20, 2022.
    Michigan bans the use of biosolids containing PFAS at or above 100 micrograms per kilogram.
  • Advancements in technology in equipment used to maintain finely cut turf has helped make the golf course superintendent's job easier. That same technology has resulted in some concerns, chief among them relinquishing control to the proprietary software that runs new equipment.
    John Deere recently alleviated at least some of that concern with the launch of a new digital tool designed to enhance how users operate, maintain, diagnose, repair and protect equipment. 
    Operations Center PRO Service delivers new support capabilities for both connected and non-connected machines across John Deere's equipment lineup, including mechanized golf course equipment. New options include the ability to reprogram the system by installing software when replacing electronic components.

    Operations Center PRO Service is designed to provide users with more control over how they use, maintain, diagnose, repair and protect their equipment, and will replace the John Deere Customer Service ADVISOR system that will be phased out over the next year.
    The new system is the result of customer feedback, and Denver Caldwell, Deere's vice president of aftermarket and customer support, says the company is focused on changing how consumers "repair their equipment."
    Local Deere service providers also can use Operations Center PRO Service to diagnose issues and make repairs — after being granted access by the owner/user.
    "Our message to our customers is clear," Caldwell said. "Whether you want the support of your professionally trained and trusted John Deere dealer, to work with another local service provider, or to fix your machine yourself, we've created additional capabilities for you to choose the option that best fits your needs."
    Operations Center PRO Service is based on foundational capabilities that are available at no additional cost, including:
    Operator's manuals Active and stored diagnostic trouble codes Secure software updates JDLink information Warranty information
    Designed to be intuitive and deliver support in real time, the Operations Center PRO Service delivers digital repair content by year and model, providing users with additional relevant information to help accurately and efficiently troubleshoot, diagnose and repair equipment.
    The service capabilities of Operations Center PRO Service are available through an annual license fee starting at just $195 USD per machine for customers. Specific features include:
    Machine health insights and diagnostic trouble codes PIN-specific machine content, including manuals Software reprogramming for John Deere controllers Diagnostic readings Diagnostic recordings Interactive diagnostic tests Calibrations Equipment owners can access Operations Center PRO Service through the John Deere Operations Center. Once connected to the platform, owners can add equipment into their account by serial number. Use of an electronic data link might be required for more advanced features, including software reprogramming. Additional capabilities and features will be added in subsequent updates.
     
  • A historic Detroit-area club recently celebrated a Dave Zinkand-led restoration of its century-old golf course.
    Until work began last August at Knollwood Country Club in West Bloomfield, Michigan, the course had been mostly unchanged since 1925 when it was designed by Donald Ross proteges Arthur Hamm and George McLean. 
    The club approved in May 2024 Zinkand's plan to address issues such as poor drainage, greens that have shrunk over time and bunkers that are plagued by drainage problems and contamination. The project also includes a tree-management plan to address shade issues, deteriorating turf health, safety concerns and open visitors to offer more shot variety.
    "The combination of higher green speeds and shrinking perimeters led to too few pin placements and lost strategic interest," Zinkand said when the project began. "The bunkering had reached the end of its functional lifespan, resulting in poor drainage, contaminated sand and unacceptable playing conditions. Many aging trees were narrowing the golf course, blocking vistas and damaging turf health. Trees were also often non-native species."
    Construction began last August 2024 as part of Zinkand Golf Design's proposed master plan for the golf course, short-game area and driving range. The 100-year-old course was built over a terrain of rolling hills encompassing its perimeter and gentler grading toward its center. Zinkand's plan included an all new par-3 17th hole, and shifting the tees and landing areas of the 9th and 10th holes to improve strategy and playability.
    "The existing 17th hole didn't fit the charming, Golden Age allure of Knollwood, so a new concept was devised to not only better fit the property's character, but also provide additional separation from the practice range," the architect said. "Similarly, the 9th and 10th holes were realigned to take better advantage of a subtle valley along a small creek in the middle of the property, while improving player safety by increasing the distance between the holes."
    The project also involved a great deal of bunker work, including moving some and removing others entirely. Some were removed due to poor drainage and contamination, and many others were moved or repositioned to maintain relevancy with today's game. Contamination issues were solved by rebuilding bunkers and lining them with CapillaryFlow liners.

    Dave Zinkand's restoration at Knollwood Country Club near Detroit included shifting the landing area on the No. 9 fairway. Zinkand Golf Design photo "We've added bunkers, particularly along fairways, to capitalize on and embellish the terrain," said Zinkand. "Those removed were generally greenside, in the name of improving playability and aesthetics. Their styling exhibits a classic Golden Age character with meandering lips and low leading edges for ease of entry and expanded visibility.
    "Previously, there were a lot of greenside bunkers and not many on the fairway, so we have turned that on its head to allow the running game to play a more integral role in the course. This approach has also allowed us to take advantage of the contours on fairways to carve bunkers that inform the strategy of the golf holes."
    By reclaiming the original perimeter of the putting greens and surrounds, Zinkand was able to mimic the design intent of Hamm and McLean, and recapture pin placements lost over time.
    "The expansion of fairways and greenside surrounds helps to provide more recovery options and promote the running game. There are a lot more low-mow and bailout areas around greens," Zinkand said.
    "A new par-three hole was designed to replace the old 17th. It didn't fit the charming Golden Age allure of Knollwood, and it wasn't particularly safe given its proximity to the nearby range. An improved concept was created to better fit the property's character and provide separation with the range. The ninth and 10th holes were also shifted and realigned to take better advantage of a charming, subtle valley along a creek, create improved strategy, as well as improve safety by increasing the distance between holes."
    Trees were trimmed to improve air circulation and turf health, and non-native species were removed.
    "Since opening earlier this month, Knollwood members have been raving about the incredible results that Dave and his team delivered," said Knollwood GM and chief operating officer Tracy Wilson. "(Zinkand)'s deep knowledge of Golden Age architecture, exceptional construction skills and impressive attention to detail have created a private golf experience that now promises to rank among the best in metro Detroit."
  • After decades of wishing away his summers on New York's Long Island, John Carlone is looking forward to a bit of respite.
    The 63-year-old Carlone, who has been a superintendent on Long Island for 40 years, including the last 29 at Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, will retire after the current golf season.
    Carlone (right) comes from the old school where work weeks of 60 or 70 hours or more per week are necessary to produce the conditions that members at clubs throughout the MetGCSA area have come to expect — and demand.
    "Retirement first popped into my head during Covid in 2020. That year was so difficult," Carlone said.
    "I want to have a summer weekend off. Between my internship at Westchester Country Club, three years as an assistant at Stanwich (Golf Club), and then 40 years as a superintendent, that's 44 years of wishing summer away. Everybody else looks forward to summer. It's fun. They go to the beach. I hate summer."
    His retirement is effective Oct. 15 when his replacement, Max Claassen, director of agronomy at Oakmont, takes over. Carlone will remain on to help Claassen with the transition and eventually will return to his native Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where his sister, Carol, still operates Carlone's Florist, the family business started by his parents in 1954. 
    "Part of my retirement package is to be available for him through the rest of the year," Carlone said. "I'll be here as much or as little as he wants me to."
    A graduate of the University of Rhode Island four-year turf program, Carlone studied under Drs. Conrad "Doc" Skogley and Noel Jackson and learned his trade on the university's turf plots that were first planted in 1890. 
    It was Skogley who helped Carlone get his first job as the assistant under Scott Niven at Stanwich Golf Club in Greenwich, Connecticut.
    "When I was working at the experimental turf plots in January 1983, the beginning of my last semester, Doc Skogley came to me one day and said 'Hey, I have a former URI graduate who is looking for an assistant, and I think you would be great for that position.' Scott had just gotten the job there," Carlone said.
    "That's kind of the way things worked back then with Doc Skogley. You really didn't have to apply for a job. He placed you where he thought you would fit."
    It was during his days at URI that Carlone shared a house with fellow alumnus and current Cornell University professor, Frank Rossi, Ph.D.

    The par-3 ninth hole at Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, New York. Photos courtesy of John Carlone Rossi recalls his former housemate as a detail-oriented professional who has consistently provided members with flawless playing conditions, often under severe circumstances, throughout the duration of his career.
    "John is a consummate pro," Rossi said. "From early days it was clear he had a singular focus: be the best superintendent in the region. No question John was that and more, as he was a leader of the many associations he participated in and a leader of men at his course."
    Years after graduation, Carlone enjoyed catching up with his former professors at regional events and the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show.
    "It was fun to see them when I was established in my career," he said. "I was one among many, and I think we all felt a sense of pride that they had students that had made it."
    After interning at Westchester under the legendary Ted Horton, CGCS, and working three years as assistant at Stanwich, Carlone spent 11 years at Middle Bay, before finally moving on to Meadow Brook in 1996.
    In that time, he has seen many changes, most notably improvements in equipment and chemicals that have allowed, or forced, superintendents to maintain heights of cut that are lower than anyone could have imagined 40 years ago, especially on Meadow Brook's bent/Poa greens that have been almost untouched since 1955 when architect Dick Wilson renovated the 1916 Devereux Emmet design.
    "I remember cutting greens at Middle Bay in 1986, '87 and '88 at 0.154, and we thought we were hot shots when we dropped them to 0.140," he said. "By the time I got here to Meadow Brook in 1996, we were at 0.120, and green speeds of 10 were expected. Now, I'm at 0.80. I don't think we can go any lower."
    He is able to maintain that HOC during the mildest of summers or the most extreme, like in July when overnight lows, according to the National Weather Service, remained in the low- to mid-70s for 13 of 31 days.
    "I don't change. I don't raise them; I don't lower them," he said. "I may switch to solid rollers, or skip a mow, but I don't raise them."
    Meeting and exceeding the expectations that are heaped upon Long Island superintendents requires exceptional managerial skills if a superintendent wants to first, keep his job and second, retain his staff in times of intense labor challenges.

    John Carlone with sons Dave (left) and Dan during a 2024 golf trip to Scotland. Carlone says he learned his unique brand of tough love from his parents, Pete and Peg.
    Carlone was a standout golfer and soccer player in high school, but he had a host of chores to complete when he came home after practice before he could have dinner.
    "I'd come home at 5 or 5:15 and my mother and father were about to sit down for dinner, and my father would say, 'Did you clean the shop yet?' I said, 'No. I thought I'd do it after dinner.' 'Go do it before dinner. You don't eat till the flower shop is clean.' " Carlone said. "So I'd go out and clean the shop. Work came first, and that's how I learned my work ethic. But on the other hand, I learned my father's compassion for people too, and tried to manage my staff that way."
    He recalled a story about the caring his father showed to a customer when Carlone was younger.
    "I grew up in the flower shop. Every Saturday morning, an older lady would come in whose husband who had passed away had been an admiral in the Navy and she had his picture on a table," he said. "She didn't have a lot of money, and she would come in every Saturday at 8 in the morning and ask my father if she could go through the garbage cans to take flowers he was throwing away so she could put them with her husband's picture in her house. I would go into work on a Saturday morning, and my father would say 'Hey, Johnny, go get that bucket of chrysanthemums and put them in the garbage can. Mrs. Spencer is going to be here at 8 o'clock.' He would put good flowers in the garbage knowing she was coming in.
    "That's how I learned both my work ethic and my compassion for people. You have to manage your staff, but you have to remember everybody's human, too."
    Meadow Brook retained Bradley Klein, Ph.D., for a 2016 renovation by architect Brian Silva that included new teeing areas, bunker work, a short-game facility and practice range, as well as reworking five greens. 
    "The newly restored Meadow Brook Club reopened in April 2017. It sported freshly honed bunkering with crinkled edges that looked classical, not laser-edged like some modernist construct," Klein said. "A big part of the new look were the expanded areas of wavy, knee-high e native grass. Carlone worked closely with the legendary fescue doctor John Seib Jr. of All Pro Horticulture Inc. to establish easier-to-maintain, more indigenous mixes."
    The result was a mix of sheep and hard fescues that are easier to maintain and easier for golfers to find their ball.
    The greens project involved completely rebuilding one putting surface, removing the sod from the others, reworking contouring and reinstalling the original turf.
    "The four old greens were 25,000 square feet," Carlone said. "The four new greens were 25,000 square feet. We only lost three or four pieces of sod in the process. I think we did pretty good."

    John and Leslie Carlone with children Dave, Emily and Dan on the course at Meadow Brook in 1997. In retirement, Carlone plans to make up for lost time with Leslie, his wife of 38 years, and their children Emily Lowney (Lucas) and their three children, as well as sons David and Daniel, and the latter's wife, Sydney. 
    Both sons are Army veterans and former officers — Daniel, a West Point graduate who played football for Army before his career was cut short by injury, rose to the rank of captain. Dave, a Hofstra graduate, was a first lieutenant in the Army when he completed his commitment. Carlone still enjoys making the short trip up the Hudson River for visits to the West Point campus and the occasional football game.
    Daughter Emily and husband Lucas have three children, Savannah (7), Cassidy (4) and 2-year-old Tyler.
    "I'm going to spend time with my grandkids," he said. 
    "I'm tired of wishing summers away."
  • Two turf management legends in South Carolina recently were awarded one of the highest accolades from the state's golf community.
    Bruce Martin, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Clemson University, and longtime superintendent Arthur "Max" Morgan Jr. of National Golf Management were named as the newest members of the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame. They will be inducted Sept. 24 at Pine Lakes Country Club in Myrtle Beach.
    In a career that spanned more than 30 years, Martin was a voice of reason for so many superintendents throughout the Grand Strand, as well as the rest of South Carolina and beyond for disease and nematode management. 
    "Dr. Bruce Martin and Max Morgan are among the architects of Myrtle Beach golf's success," said Tracy Conner, executive director of Myrtle Beach Area Golf Courses Owners Association. "They are both pioneers in golf course agronomy and their contributions behind the scenes ensured that millions of visitors could enjoy world-class playing conditions year-round. Their expertise, leadership and mentorship have helped shape the Grand Strand's golf identity, and their legacies will live on through the countless superintendents, agronomists and courses they influenced."
    Martin is a 1976 graduate of Hendrix College, located in his hometown of Conway, Arkansas. He earned master's and doctorate degrees in plant pathology from the University of Arkansas and North Carolina State University, respectively. 
    He had been working at a research station in Connecticut when his wife was hired at Clemson's Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Florence, South Carolina, so he spent his first year in the Palmetto State working at Horry-Georgetown in Conway, South Carolina where  in 1987he established a turfgrass diagnostics lab to help superintendents along the Grand Strand.
    His work did not go unnoticed, and the next year he started his 31-year career at Clemson University, where he began work in tobacco and field crops.

    Bruce Martin, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Clemson University, here speaking at a Clemson turfgrass research field day, is one of two people who will be inducted this year into the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame. USGA photo At NC State he studied under Leon Lucas, Ph.D., whom he credited with influencing his career in turf pathology.
    From providing diagnoses of turfgrass issues to conducting cutting-edge trials, Martin became noted for developing a host of fungicide programs to combat myriad diseases under a variety of conditions.
    Martin was the first in 2001, along with Larry Stowell, Ph.D., the founder of PACE Turf, to diagnose and name Rapid Blight (Labyrinthula terrestris), a disease in cool-season turf typically caused by irrigation water that is high in salt content.
    When it came to other types of cool-season grasses and how to help them make it through summer, Martin was on speed dial for a lot of superintendents, regardless of their location. Likewise, he was a regular speaker at regional and national educational events.
    Martin's guidance proved especially valuable as courses transitioned to ultradwarf Bermudagrasses like Champion, MiniVerde and TifEagle.
    In 2005, Martin was named one of the 10 most influential people in the South Carolina golf industry by the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel. His accolades include the Carolinas GCSA Distinguished Service Award, the Clemson Alumni Award for Distinguished Public Service and the GCSAA Col. John Morley Award in 2014.
    A graduate of Horry-Georgetown, Morgan (right) has been VP of National Golf Management since 2012. He has helped shape the golf business and advance the superintendent profession on the Grand Strand for more than 30 years. 
    He held superintendent roles at Eagle Nest, Waterway Hills, Marsh Harbour and Myrtlewood before taking a position at Myrtle Beach National in 1999. In 2003, he took on the responsibility for the nine additional courses under the same ownership. Founders Group International purchased the company in 2015, and Morgan remained in the same role and currently oversees 21 FGI golf courses in the Myrtle Beach area. 
    He has brought technical expertise, calm leadership and a deep understanding of both turf science and golfer expectations while prioritizing playability, weathering hurricanes, floods and ice storms. He takes pride in teaching, collaborating and fostering relationships between maintenance crews and golf shop staff.
    The Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame was established in conjunction with Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday and the reopening of Pine Lakes Country Club in 2009.
  • The application deadline is rapidly approaching for this year's Syngenta Business Institute. Aug. 11 is the deadline to apply for this year's edition of SBI, a four-day education and networking event that has been helping superintendents become stronger leaders for almost two decades.
    Scheduled for Dec. 2-5 at the Graylyn International Conference Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, SBI is a conducted by the Wake Forest University Executive Education department that provides superintendents with graduate-level business instruction in the following areas:
    Leadership/decision-making Work/life balance Negotiations Leading across cultures and generations The deadline for applying for this educational and networking event is Aug. 11 Class size is limited and applicants must be a current GreenTrust 365 participant and employed in the U.S. as a golf course superintendent, director of agronomy or similar position.
    Click here to apply. Superintendents can also contact their Syngenta territory manager for more information. To be considered, candidates must fill out an application that includes a short essay on why they should be chosen to attend.
    "I would tell anybody to do it," said 2024 SBI attendee Cody Sander, superintendent at Wilmington (Delaware) Country Club. "I've done several professional-development experiences before, and this is by far the best one that I've been a part of. It really shows that Syngenta is committed to bettering us and that they put the financial side separately. It also shows their commitment to creating better superintendents and getting back to us as the end user."
    Applications must be submitted online by midnight Pacific time on Aug. 11. Selected participants will be notified in October.
  • It is not uncommon for those who kill grass for a living to have a certain fondness for turfgrass diseases.
    Nathaniel Mitkowski, Ph.D., professor of plant pathology at the University of Rhode Island, is no exception. If Mitkowski had to pick a favorite it would be gray leaf spot. And, as a model of evolution, it soon could be coming to a golf course near you.
    "Frankly, it's my favorite disease, because it's the easiest one to identify," Mitkowski said during July 24 in a TurfNet webinar on managing and preventing summer stress.
    "I said some diseases are killers and some diseases are just aesthetic. Well, this one is a killer. It moves very quickly."
    Caused by the fungal pathogen Pyricularia grisea, gray leaf spot is a foliar disease that affects perennial ryegrass and tall fescue, and also can persist in some warm-season grasses. 
    The disease, which often presents in late summer or early fall, first infects and kills leaf blades and can spread to the crown, resulting in plant death, according to Purdue University research. Severe cases can cover wide areas of turf.
    It can spread quickly under hot, humid conditions like those that have dominated this summer, Mitkowski said.
    "At this point, I have not seen any gray leaf spot in New England or the Northeast, but I am sure it is coming because we are looking at some hot weather," he said. "We are looking at some humid weather.
    "Gray leaf spot rolls through just about every summer."
    Early symptoms often resemble drought or heat stress and can manifest as small, water-soaked lesions which become necrotic, according to the University of Massachusetts.

    Gray leaf spot infects and kills leaf blades before moving on to the crown and killing the plant. It is found most often in perennial ryegrass and tall fescue as well as in some warm-season grasses. Affected leaves can become twisted and covered with grayish spores. Disease can develop rapidly under hot, humid conditions.
    Mitkowski said outbreaks of gray leaf spot almost routinely accompanied hurricane season in the Northeast.
    "Within three days of the first hurricane rolling through, gray leaf spot would explode, and that was usually September," he said. 
    Warmer winters have changed that, he said. According to the National Weather Service, the 10 warmest years on record in the U.S. (compared to the average temperature from 1900 to 1999) all have occurred since 1998. 
    "Because we have warmer winters, we have warmer growing seasons," Mitkowski said. "This is a disease that has taken advantage of warmer climates. It now overwinters. The winters don't usually kill it. It survives the winter, which means it's gonna start earlier."
    With turf diseases it is always better to prevent them than treat them, and because gray leaf spot is so destructive it is no exception.
    Mitkowski recommends preventive applications of DMI fungicides. However, not all DMIs are created equally.
    "I would avoid the strobilurins, because resistance is pretty much 100 percent widespread through the populations of gray leaf spot. DMIs are your best option," he said. 
    "There are a lot of DMI fungicides out there. They are not all the same though. So, if you are going to go and manage your gray leaf spot, if you are going to put out a preventative material, make sure that the DMI is labeled for it, because not all of these DMIs will work against gray leaf spot, which is unusual because we typically think a DMI is a DMI is a DMI, but that's absolutely not true. Every DMI is a little different and some work better on some things and others work better on other things."
    Researchers often suggest regrassing susceptible or affected areas with a turfgrass variety that is naturally resistant to gray leaf spot.
    "Plant resistant varieties, because they're the best way to solve the problem," he said. 
    "If you are growing ryegrass, you should be growing gray leaf spot-resistant ryegrass. There is a lot of it available, and you should never in the Northeast grow anything that is not GLS-resistant. . . . If it (is resistant), you don't have to worry about it. It works."
  • What began nearly 10 years ago as a way to help superintendents and sports field professionals manage turf growth has grown to become a tool to assist them in maintaining playing surfaces more efficiently.
    GreenKeeper App was founded in 2017 by Bill Kreuser, Ph.D., then of the University of Nebraska, and Doug Soldat, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin. Its initial use was to help superintendents and sports field managers manage plant growth regulator applications by tracking growing degree days. Since then, it has undergone numerous upgrades, enhancements and program features that have armed superintendents with more data to make better agronomic decisions. 
    Among those recent updates is the addition of remote mower-mounted sensors to help diagnose turf health and integrate the data, a weather station that collects data to be used in making agronomic decisions to maintain turf health and manage green speeds, and a new whiteboard system that integrates the "who" with the "what" and the "where."
    "People are now understanding that data are important in turf management," Kreuser said.
    The rX Turf Health sensor system uses LED light to measure radiative transfer and biophysical characteristics of the turf plant. The key, Kreuser says, is monitoring the plant after the mower has passed over it.

    The GreenKeeper App now includes a fully interactive whiteboard. Some of the factors the sensors measure are:
    nitrogen status leaf density drought symptoms biotic stress damage abiotic stress damage presence of grassy and broadleaf weeds "By mounting the sensors behind the mower, an LED light is looking at the reflection of light," Kreuser said. "As a plant gets healthier, it reflects more light energy."
    The integrated AX Datalogger system turns on when the mower starts, scans turf during the mowing process, tracks mower run time and location, and uploads data to the GreenKeeper App when the mower returns to the shop.
    The WX Weather Station measures: 
    temperature humidity pressure precipitation solar radiation wind speed wind direction The station reports weather data every 15 minutes to GreenKeeper App and begins monitoring precipitation when it starts raining. Solar radiation measurements allow for accurate hourly and daily evapotranspiration. Rain gauges can be added to collect data across the property.
    The whiteboard allows for basic tasks like managing staff and scheduling labor and can also be used to integrate agronomic practices, including spray programs and mowing schedules, and assign equipment to specific personnel and jobs. 
    Later this year, GreenKeeper is adding a reporting feature that puts all of this data into the superintendent's hands at the click of a button.
    "We are taking data the superintendent is collecting and putting it in one place to help them make better decisions," Kreuser said. "This kind of decision-support helps them be more precise and save time and money."
    Previous updates include Greenkeeper CIS that allows users to map course boundaries, log pest applications, create prescription spray maps and add drone maps and application records. Users can turn data into application maps for GPS-guided sprayers allowing them to save time and money on product and water.
  • To remain current and responsive to customer needs, DryJect has launched a newly redesigned web site.
    The updated site provides turfgrass professionals with:
    agronomic-management tools and worksheets cost-analysis calculators university and industry research data library case studies testimonials service provider locator "We are thrilled to offer this new website as a resource for sports turf managers and golf course superintendents who want to learn how they can grow stronger turf with less downtime and fewer facility closures inflicted by traditional core aerification," said DryJect owner and former superintendent John Paddock.

    DryJect recently launched a newly redesigned web site that makes it easier for users to find research and a local service provider. The site also features background information on how the DryJect system works and links to book a demonstration or an appointment.
    DryJect is a one-step process that combines aeration, soil amendments and topdressing all in one easy, simultaneous service. Following a DryJect service, playing surfaces are clean, smooth and with no cores to clean up. Its high-pressure, water-based injection system creates aeration holes through the root zone to fracture the soil while simultaneously filling holes with sand or other soil amendments.
    Incorporating  DryJect into an existing aerification schedule can enhance the benefits of deep-tine aeration, and in some cases can reduce the number of coring events.
    Because DryJect is a service provided by independent franchisees, there is no large capital equipment expense, or employee training required, leaving the staff to complete routine, daily tasks. Turfgrass is ready to play almost immediately due to DryJect's minimally disruptive process reducing the threat of lost play and revenue.

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