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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    The Miami Biltmore has been an on-again, off-again retreat for the rich and famous for nearly 100 years. Nearly a century ago, The Biltmore opened its doors as a playground to Florida's well-heeled residents and only the most prosperous snowbirds. 
    When the 273-room hotel opened in 1926 in Miami's posh Coral Gables neighborhood, it boasted the tallest building in Florida and the world's largest swimming pool. It ushered in the jazz era and was a regular stomping ground for celebrities like Bobby Jones and Babe Ruth, the Duke and Duchess of York, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland, and even Al Capone, whose bodyguard was shot to death there in 1929. Nightclub entertainer Desi Arnaz got his start at the Biltmore and Hollywood Tarzan Johnny Weissmuller once was a swimming instructor there. While he was president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt maintained a working White House office at the hotel.
    Built by real estate developer and Coral Gables city planner George Merrick, The Biltmore also was the site of a Donald Ross-designed golf course.
    Since those early days, the hotel and its golf course have had their ups and downs. The hotel also has been a hospital (twice) and medical school and the golf course, once the home of the prestigious Miami-Biltmore Open, wasn't always a showplace. Today, both are enjoying a renaissance that most recently includes a restoration of the Ross design that was among some of the last of the 44 he planted in Florida.
    In a project that began this summer, architect Brian Silva, along with Duininck Golf, have focused on lengthening the course and making it relevant to today's equipment, while also recapturing Ross's original intentions. The project includes new Tif Eagle greens and 419 tees and fairways, adding and moving bunkers lost through the years and expanding practice areas.
    Silva also had overseen a 2007 renovation that included new irrigation and drainage, rebuilding all greens and restoring Ross's original bunkers, including many that had become grassed over throughout the years.

    The golf course restoration at The Biltmore will help bring the course back to Donald Ross's original vision. During World War II, the hotel at The Biltmore served as a wartime hospital, then a Veteran's Administration hospital and later was the site of the University of Miami's medical school until 1968 when it was abandoned. The city of Coral Gables took over management of the historic, and empty, property in 1973 and a decade later sunk $55 million into a renovation that took four years to complete. It reopened as a hotel in 1987.
    When the course reopens it will look more like it did when Ross built it in 1926 than at any time since.
    According to The Biltmore, the work will include:
    > No. 1, the bunker behind the green has been restored and a right greenside bunker removed to bring back the original Donald Ross design.
    > No. 3, four Australian Pines and one large ficus tree were removed from the northeast side of the green, enabling visibility of the Biltmore tower from additional vantage points.
    > Nos. 1 and 5, a corridor connecting the fairways was restored by removing trees and a bunker. The left-corner fairway bunker on No. 5 was also restored and the original fairway bunkers on the right corner of the dogleg were restored.
    > The practice green was expanded from 5,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, and the short game practice area was increased from one green and one bunker to three greens, two bunkers and a grass bunker.
    > No. 12 was restored to the original 249-yard Par 3 design with no greenside bunkers.
    > No. 14 green was restored to the original 1925 green design.
    > No. 18 green was expanded from 5,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet; the expansion brings the steep fall-off on the left side of the green into play, and bunkering around the entire left side of the green was restored.
    The golf course is scheduled to reopen in December.
  • The Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Florida converted tees, fairways and roughs to Latitude 36 in 2016. Even for someone who has more than a quarter of a century of experience as a golf course superintendent in multiple countries, there still are opportunities for on-the-job training.
    Two years ago, when it was time for a full-scale renovation at the Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Florida, Jim Sprankle was looking for a grass that could perform well on tees, fairways and roughs year-round in South Florida. What he settled on was a turf type that up until that time had not been used extensively anywhere in Florida, and his decision to go rogue has touched off a cascade effect of other courses following his lead.
    Talk of a renovation began in 2013 at Loxahatchee, a 1984 Jack Nicklaus Signature design. Sprankle, a 27-year veteran of the industry who has managed golf courses in the Philippines and Mexico, began experimenting with various Bermudagrasses and paspalums in hopes of finding something that would outperform the Sea Isle I that he was growing at the time.
    "Members were tired of muddy golf balls," Sprankle said. "And they were not getting the roll that they wanted."
    He planted Latitude 36 Bermudagrass on the practice range and grew-in a 1-acre plot in the fairway of a short part 4.
    "We had it on the range tee right next to Celebration (Bermudagrass) and nine out of 10 golfers were hitting off the Latitude 36. They loved it," he said. "Then we planted a fairway with it and played through the next season."
    Developed by breeders at Oklahoma State University, Latitude 36 exhibits a fine texture and upright growth characteristics that Sprankle said reminds him of creeping bentgrass. As its name implies (think 36 degrees latitude here), it was bred for cold and wear tolerance that make it suited for use in the transition zone and beyond. It is recommended for use in a wide swath of the country that stretches from Southern California, Texas and Florida to the South and as far north as Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
    Recommended mowing height ranges from one-half to one-and-a-half inches (or shorter, depending on who you ask). It does not require much water and also performs well under shade.
    But it is Latitude's resemblance to bentgrass that has made it a hit at Loxahatchee, Sprankle said.
    "It's not stoloniferous. All recovery is through the rhizomes," he said. "It's like hitting through butter. Divots just explode off the club. Everyone loved it."
    Fast forward to 2016, and Sprankle grew in Latitude 36 wall-to-wall, except on greens, in what is reported to be the first extensive use of Latitude 36 on any golf course in Florida.
    "It is bred for the transition zone. It likes cooler temperatures, so we went wall-to-wall because we didn't want to risk contamination," Sprankle said.
    "I've worked around the world and back, and this is the most beautiful Bermudagrass I've ever seen. It looked good on a small trial, but to put it out on the whole golf course is a different story. What sold me was planting it on an entire fairway. I was able to test herbicides, pre-emergent fungicides, height of cut, cultural practices. With just a couple of pallets you can't do that."
    Sprankle mows tees down to 0.350 inches, and said Latitude is more tolerant to drought and traffic than the other varieties he tested.

    Latitude 36 also has done well at Old Marsh Golf Club (here and below) in Palm Beach Gardens. "It has more of a lime green color like 419, and that is fine for us," he said. "Our club is not about color; playability is our main concern. We have an old irrigation system, and a lot of times we don't know we have a problem until we have a hot spot. This grass bounces back well, whereas paspalum could take months to recover."
    About the same time Loxahatchee was going through a renovation, so too was nearby Old Marsh Golf Club. Superintendent Tony Nysse also was looking for a new grass for the fairways and rough areas at the 1987 Pete Dye design nestled among 400-plus acres of environmentally sensitive wetlands in Palm Beach Gardens.
    After the club tested several varieties, the decision there too was made to grass with Latitude 36.
    Celebration didn't have the wow factor members were looking for, and zoysias that were tested there lacked the desired traffic tolerance and were susceptible to encroachment from common Bermuda types.
    "This is an environmentally sensitive area, and the thought of making 12 or even 15 herbicide applications to keep out off types did not seem like a sound solution," Nysse said. 
    "2015-16, that was an El Niño year, and (Latitude 36) was phenomenal. It required few inputs and members liked it. It took a good renovation and put it over the top."
    Other than at Loxahatchee up the road, Nysse had not heard of Latitude 36 in Florida.
    "Where was the farthest south I'd heard of it? I don't know. Oklahoma?" he said.
    Latitude 36 has become a favorite on sports fields in locations as far north as Cincinnati and as far east as Philadelphia.
    Although the grass performed well under trial conditions in South Florida, Nysse, too, couldn't help but feel he was taking a chance.
    "Oh yeah, I had several people ask me why did I go with a grass that was unproven across the entire golf course," he said. "We at least had a neighboring course going through this at the same time."
    That skepticism on the part of others has since turned to optimism.
    Since Loxahatchee and Old Marsh made the move to Latitude 36, several other courses throughout Florida have followed. Sprankle said superintendents and others from no fewer than 30 golf courses have toured Loxahatchee to get a better look at the grass in real-world conditions.
    "I was sticking my neck out putting it on 70 acres on the golf course, and I was concerned," Sprankle said. "But, grass is grass. You eventually figure it out."


  • If you missed this week's free TurfNet University Webinar - The ABCs of putting green maintenance: Speed does not kill, ignorance does - by Thom Nikolai, Ph.D., and Michael Morris, CGCS- fear not; the recording is available on-demand .
    The Webinar is the first in a four-part series by Nikolai and Morris on their years of research, dating to the late 1990s, on rolling and mowing and how they affect putting green speed and turf health.
    In this Webinar, Morris sets the table for the subsequent three broadcasts by recalling how attaining customer satisfaction and consistent playing conditions, and not a specific green speed, were the driving forces behind his greens management program. 
    The presenters challenge the notion that speed kills and demonstrate a proven method to find any golf courses ideal green speed that maximizes the ABCs of putting green management: Agronomic conditions, Budget and Customer satisfaction. 
    Specifically, Morris and Nikolai revisit how consistency and customer satisfaction were achieved at Crystal Downs Country Club through a four-part process that includes:
    Measuring daily green speeds Surveying golfers to determine their target range Evaluating maintenance practices to manage those speeds Communicating results to stakeholders.  
    Other archived Webinar recordings can be found here. All TurfNet University Webinars, live and recorded, are sponsored by Grigg and are free for everyone.
    Part II of the ABCs of putting green management - Putting green management and the law of diminishing returns: cultural practices - is scheduled for 1 p.m. eastern on Oct. 18. In this Webinar, the presenters will focus on achieving customer satisfaction through sound cultural practices, including irrigation, fertility, plant growth regulators and topdressing.
    Session III - Putting green management and the law of diminishing returns - will focus on mechanical practices, such as mowing, brushing and rolling, and they will conclude the series on Nov. 1 with You cannot manage what you cannot measure, a review of the previous three sessions and how the lessons learned in each can be used together to maximize consistency, customer satisfaction and turf health. The calendar for these and other upcoming broadcasts is available here.
  • Choosing from paints, pigments or dyes depends on the application and factors such as dormancy level and traffic. Photo by North Carolina State University Extension It wasn't that long ago when superintendents throughout the south spent much of the fall season overseeding ryegrass into soon-to-be-dormant Bermuda.
    Overuse of water during fall establishment and challenges associated with spring transition back to warm-season turf, along with the accompanying financial considerations were among the many factors that eventually led so many superintendents to chuck overseeding in favor of a dormant Bermuda surface.
    In recent years, painting or coloring turf has played an increasingly important role across the South in helping superintendents providing green putting surfaces in late fall, throughout winter and into early spring. 
    Professor Grady Miller, Ph.D., and research technician Drew Pinnix of North Carolina State University have compiled the Guide to Turf Colorant Use that covers everything from types of products for specific uses, the effects of colorants on turf, application tips, pros and cons of colorant use and more.
    Miller wrote: "Colorants and related products offer an alternative to overseeding that may be more cost-effective while still providing an aesthetically pleasing turfgrass surface during dormancy of warm-season turfgrasses. These products do not provide a wearable surface like a growing turfgrass. But under moderate wear, using such a product may result in healthier Bermudagrass due to less competition during the spring and summer months. The products vary in color, longevity, and ease of application (among other attributes), so turfgrass managers have options that they may consider."
    Colorants fall into three categories: paints, pigments or dyes. 
    Paints contain four basic components: solvent, pigment, binder and additives. Solvent consists of water; pigment is an insoluble product that provides color; binder - often a resin - is a film-forming component of paint that adheres pigments together; additives consist of surfactants, thickeners and emulsifiers to aide in mixing, application, dispersion or adhesion.
    Colorants can be a dyes, pigment products or paints, and usually are considered to be a product used to treat completely dormant turfgrass.
    Pigment is a highly concentrated, insoluble substance that forms a suspension when mixed with water forms a suspension. Pigments usually contain little or no binder.
    Dye is a liquid that contains soluble ingredients such that it forms a solution and often is used as a spray indicator.
    Pigments have a lower viscosity and do not express the same color longevity as a paint, and they often work much better when applied to naturally greener turfgrass that has some photosynthetically active tissue to enhance color for short durations.  In contrast, the products with higher binder content can be applied to dormant turfgrass and still have acceptable, lasting color.
    Potential drawbacks of using colorants include: once dormant tissue is worn or torn away, no regeneration occurs until spring, so wear factor must be considered; application error or blemished turfgrass can result in an uneven appearance.
    Wrote Miller: "Turf managers can pick from several spray-on products to keep their turfgrass green regardless of the turf's condition. These products can accentuate light-green grass, mask blemishes, or cover the tan color of dormant turfgrass. They can be used on warm-season or cool-season turfgrass and may be applied on lawns, sports fields, or golf courses. There are several products currently on the market, so picking the best one for a situation may require some experimenting. Because there are two significant product categories, one may want to begin their decision process by deciding how they will use the product based on selected use characteristics."
  • EPA OKs Sipcam granular fungicide
    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently granted federal registration to Endow, a granular fungicide from Sipcam Agro. 
    With the active ingredient azoxystrobin, Endow G is a Quinone Outside Inhibitor fungicide registered for use on all turf types and use sites including golf courses, commercial turf and residential lawn.
                        
    Available in 30-pound bags, Endow G offers broad spectrum control of multiple diseases, including anthracnose, brown patch, Pythium blight, take-all patch, gray leaf spot, spring dead spot, gray and pink snow mold by impeding the fungus cells' ability to produce energy, causing the fungus to die.

    Textron launches fleet-management system
    Textron Specialized Vehicles recently launched its Textron Fleet Management Shield Plus technology designed for professional turf equipment, utility vehicles and golf cars.
    Shield Plus is a web-based management solution that can be accessed anywhere, at any time, on any web-enabled device, from a mobile phone to a desktop computer that enables golf course staff to monitor, maintain and protect their equipment in real time, increasing productivity and more effectively managing course operations.   
    The system tracks equipment activity and location, enabling course managers to monitor their equipment and work crews in real time. Shield Plus also uses geofencing and user-defined speed zones which will send you instant alerts detailing the location of equipment when exceeding speed limits or entering a protected geofence location.
    Shield Plus also monitors equipment travel history and usage, mileage, hours, and idle time, and produces work efficiency reports.
    PBI-Gordon adds to sales force
    PBI-Gordon recently named John Wiblishauser and Matt Ayala as regional sales managers.
     
    Based in Philadelphia, Wiblishauser is responsible for PBI-Gordon product sales to turfgrass management customers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
     
    His previous experience in the industry includes positions with Grigg Brothers and Bayer.
    Ayala has joined the company's sales team as Florida manager. Based in Fort Myers, he is responsible for PBI-Gordon product sales to golf course and turfgrass management customers in Florida and the Caribbean region. 
     
    He comes to PBI-Gordon from SePRO Corp., where he was sales manager for the turf and landscape markets in western Florida.
  • Work is starting this week on a five-month greens renovation project at Chambers Bay. Dictionary.com defines evolution as "a process of formation, growth or development." Using that description, evolution is a natural progression for any living thing, including a golf course.
    The municipal course in University Place, Washington that was the site of the 2015 U.S. Open closed Monday for a five-month greens renovation that will include regrassing the fine fescue putting surfaces with Poa annua, the dominant turf type in the Pacific Northwest.
    "In the old greens, it's fine fescue and Colonial bentgrass, and now you have Poa, so you have three grasses. You can have three to 10 different grasses in there because of the different stages of Poa," said Eric Johnson, director of agronomy at Chambers Bay. "Visually, it looks (expletive deleted) right out of the gate because you see all these different grasses, so it must be bad. I think a lot of it's perception, and rightfully so when you get up above and see all this mottled look, so it's gotta be bad. I think that's part of the push to resod; it's so uniform. 
    "In the Northwest, everything is pretty much Poa. The only thing that's not Poa is a brand new green."
    At 11-12 years of age, the greens at Chambers Bay no longer are new.
    Chambers Bay opened a decade ago with fine fescue greens, but thanks to warm, dry weather in the run-up to the U.S. Open, Poa began to invade the putting surfaces and dominated headlines during the tournament.
    The 2007 Robert Trent Jones Junior design was supposed to be the site of next year's U.S. Four-Ball Championship, but the city that owns the course abandoned those plans last year in favor of installing new greens. 
    Four putting surfaces, Nos. 7, 10 and 13 and the practice green, were regrassed with Poa last October. Conditions are so favorable, it prompted the current greens renovation.
    Ridgetop Golf of Gig Harbor and Desert Green Turf in Moses Lake will get started Saturday fraise mowing 5 acres of fine fescue, Colonial bent and various types of annual bluegrass.
    There had been discussions about letting the Poa take over naturally, but that is a lengthy process and still does not result in a mono stand.
    "It came to not wanting to wait for 10 to 15 years for a complete takeover of annual bluegrass. It was an easier decision to jump 10 years ahead by resodding," Johnson said.
    "A lot of the annual bluegrass that does come in is the coarse annual type that reverts to the perennial type Poa, and that's not real desirable. It's coarse and nasty looking."
    Johnson established a 2-acre nursery on site using sod from Bos Sod in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
    "He can clear his field, and we can take the harvest from that," Johnson said. "Once we tap him dry, we'll harvest here for the balance."
    Feedback on the four renovated greens has been positive.
    "The people I have talked to have been nothing but positive about the Poa annua greens that they've played," said Larry Gilhuly, USGA agronomist, in a news release from Chambers Bay. "Players think the greens are spectacular. They're firm. They have good pace."
    The course is scheduled to reopen in March, and the USGA will bring the Four-Ball back in 2021.
    "With all the tournaments coming up, we thought it would be better to accelerate the process by resodding. This way, we don't get that mottled look. It's a uniform look. By that standard, it's a no-brainer to resod," Johnson said. 
    "We'll keep growing it as much as we can over the winter and using all the tools in our toolbox, including covers. We're shooting for a March opening. The Farmer's Almanac says it's supposed to be a warm, wet winter. That can be good, and it can be bad. As long as we don't get any long cold spells, we should be able to keep everything on schedule."
  • Sipcam names 2 new managers
    Sipcam Agro USA named Todd Mason to the position of speciality manager of its southeast accounts and southern region product development team. His responsibilities will include sales and management for the southeast region and product development for the southern region.
                        
    Mason has experience in sales, marketing and product development, including Belchim Crop Protection, where he was a key account manager. He also has worked at John Deere/LESCO and Arysta Lifescience.
                        
    In other news, Augie Young was promoted to specialty manager, northeast accounts and northern region product development, where he will have responsibilities similar to Mason.
    Target launches Turf Fuel Cleanse to combat LDS
    Target Specialty Products launched Turf Fuel Cleanse, a product for turf professionals to treat soil that displays signs of localized dry spot, poor infiltration or poor soil health. 
    Cleanse combines Turf Fuel’s proprietary Soil Sync technology with a stronger solvent than previous formulations that breaks down the cause of localized dry spot. 
    This two-part system works to attack hydrophobic organic acids responsible for localized dry spot while delivering enzymes to promote healthy soil biology and root system development. This combination gives treated soil an improved rewetting capability, the company says.
    PBI-Gordon names Cleveland as VP/GM
    PBI-Gordon recently named Neil Cleveland as vice president and general manager.
     
    Cleveland will oversee all aspects of the PBI-Gordon professional turf and ornamental and home lawn and garden unit, including product sales, marketing, operations, research and development, regulatory, and technical services. He will be based out of PBI-Gordon headquarters in the Kansas City area.
     
    Cleveland replaces Tom Hoffman, who is retiring from PBI-Gordon this month after 35 years with the company.
    Cleveland was director of commercial operations for Bayer CropScience division since 2012. Before that, he held a series of positions with Bayer and ChemLawn Services during his 30-year career.
  • To help golf course superintendents and other professional turf managers control mature grassy weeds in warm-season turf, Syngenta has launched  Manuscript herbicide. 
    With the active ingredient pinoxaden, Manuscript is an Acetyl CoA Carboxylase inhibitor formulated to provide post-emergent control of weeds, such as tropical signalgrass, bull/thin paspalum, crabgrass and dallisgrass in Bermudagrass and zoysiagrass.
    "Syngenta is delivering an exciting new technology for managing mature weeds that are tough to control," said Stephanie Schwenke, turf market manager for Syngenta. "Now available during the GreenTrust 365 early order period, Manuscript will help our customers manage their golf courses, sports fields and sod farms while the turf is actively growing throughout the season." 
    Manuscript can be used anytime  weeds are actively growing, including in the heat of the summer when desired turfgrass is actively growing and fills in more rapidly. For sod growers, Manuscript also can be used on St. Augustinegrass.
    Manuscript is formulated with a built-in safener that speeds the metabolism of pinoxaden in desirable turf to help improve turf safety without sacrificing control of mature, difficult-to-control weeds. This allows for effective spot treatments, further improving selectivity against tough weeds.
    "Manuscript was specially designed for turf safety and potent activity on certain weeds," said Lane Tredway, Ph.D., technical services manager for Syngenta. "These are just a few of the unique features that enable Manuscript to improve the uniformity, playability and aesthetic quality of treated turf."
    Manuscript is packaged with Adigor surfactant from Syngenta, which is custom-built for use with Manuscript for improved rainfastness and faster weed control. Using Adigor with Manuscript maximizes the quantity and rate of absorption of pinoxaden, as well as the degree of translocation once pinoxaden is in the plant.
    Manuscript has been shown to be safe to use around ornamental beds and shrubs. 
  • Research conducted at New Mexico State University indicates that Kentucky bluegrass might be a better choice for those managing turf under drought conditions than previously thought.
    New Mexico regent's professor and extension turfgrass specialist Bernd Leinauer, Ph.D., and research assistant professor Matteo Serena, Ph.D., are finding the idea that Kentucky Bluegrass is a poor choice for droughty climates to be misleading if not incorrect. They are looking to change the public's perception on which turfgrasses can survive the best in the drought conditions we find in our region.
    Research historically has shown that warm-season grasses have greater drought tolerance than cool-season grasses. There also is the perception that cool-season grasses require more water, but Leinauer says it's not the grass that's the problem. He and his team established test plots with different grasses receiving different amounts of water. 
    "If you think your grass is using too much water, apply less. Let's find out how much water we can save," Leinauer said in a release by New Mexico State. "And that's what our research is looking at."
    Test plots were irrigated to 100, 80, 60 and 40 percent of ET. Early results of the induced-drought trials show that Kentucky bluegrass requires much less water than other cool-season grasses. 
    "When we factor in both the amount of water needed and recovery after drought stress, the winner among cool-season grasses is Kentucky bluegrass. It's not only about performance during drought, it's equally important how quickly and well grasses can recover after drought. Such considerations are important for our region," Leinauer said.
    Such findings are different than what has been previously stated. The general opinion has been that Kentucky bluegrass should not be used because of the amount water that it needs to survive.
    "This message is the complete opposite of what we've been hearing . . . . Kentucky bluegrass has been perceived as the worst of all and uses the most water. However, our findings don't support that," Leinauer said. 
    Once a fairway favorite, Kentucky bluegrass had fallen out of favor. Newer varieties, however, can tolerate mowing heights as low as a half-inch, and it can withstand a variety of soil conditions.
    "Our results show that if a cool-season grass is chosen," Leinauer said, "Kentucky bluegrass should be (the) grass of choice."
  • Conditions in Ohio this season, like this flooded fairway at Terrace Park Country Club, have been anything but average, but the struggles superintendents there have been facing are typical of what others are facing elsewhere. Photo by Scott Les Chander via Twitter When it comes to average, Ohio literally is as much like anywhere else as it gets. 
    The population is so diverse, that Ohio is considered a nearly perfect cross-section of the rest of the country; so much so that when restaurant chains like McDonald's, Fazoli's and Taco Bell want to roll out new menu items they test them in places like Cincinnati and Dayton first. When Panera, Max & Erma's and Ohio-based Wendy's considered changes to their store designs, they tried them out first in Columbus, which has earned the nickname of America's Test Market. Several years ago, when Frito-Lay rolled out Biscuits and Gravy-flavored potato chips, they did not do so until the Toledo market, where it was tested, gave its approval.
    It's the same in golf in Ohio. The state is so much like the rest of the country that many of the troubles experienced by superintendents elsewhere, occur there, too.
    "We've been getting our teeth kicked in," said Scott Les Chander, superintendent at Terrace Park Country Club in Milford near Cincinnati. "Our member-guest was over three days the first week of June, and we got 6 inches of rain and a lot of wind. Since then, it's been deluge after deluge."
    The daytime highs, according to the National Weather Service, have reached or surpassed 90 degrees on 37 days since May and overnight lows during that same span have averaged between 72 and 77 degrees. Both marks are far above average for this cool-season neck of the woods .
    When the temperature has not been climbing past 90 degrees, it's usually because it has been raining.
    A total of 8.2 inches of rain was observed at the airport in August, including 5 inches on Aug. 16. The monthly total  is more than double the historic average of 3.4 inches, but 3 inches below the August record of 11 inches. At Terrace Park, Les Chander's weather station has recorded 12.43 inches for the month, blowing away the airport's record. To date, he's measured more than 9 inches of rain in September alone.
    It's the wettest summer here in 54 years and the sixth-wettest on record, according to the NWS. That means it also has been a good summer . . . for anthracnose and summer patch on Terrace Park's bent/Poa greens, and pythium and "brown patch galore" on tees and fairways.
    A 2007 Ohio State graduate, Les Chander typically is on a 14-day interval between sprays, but he's adjusted that to 10 days, sometimes eight, this year because of the rain at Terrace Park, located on a point where the Little Miami River and the East Fork of the Little Miami River meet. 
    "There's a direct correlation between the rain and how much disease pressure we've faced," he said. "There's no miracle product that is going to stay in the ground with that much rain.
    "In one day, we had 8 inches of rain in 24 hours. We drain really well. We are on sandy, loamy soil because we're at the confluence of two rivers, and I've still had fairways under water multiple days when it's over 90 degrees. 
    "It has been a nightmare."

    It's a similar story at nearby Hyde Park Country Club, a 1920 Donald Ross layout, where superintendent Pat O'Brien has been overseeing a renovation project that includes not only work on the golf course, but a new practice range, short-game area and golf training building, as well as a new pool, paddle tennis courts and pickle ball courts.
    "Gas lines, sanitary, everything's new. There are a lot of moving parts," O'Brien said. "The weather and more than 50 inches of rain since spring has made it a challenge to get things done and done well and meet deadlines with this project."
    The effects of the weather on the golf course include dollar spot, anthracnose on creeping bentgrass, brown patch, summer patch and even large patch on zoysiagrass.

    The crew at Hyde Park Country Club sneaks in a quick mow between rain showers recently. Photo by Pat O'Brien via Twitter "Spring here wasn't much of a spring. With almost 40 days over 90 degrees, I'm seeing conditions I haven't seen before in my career," O'Brien said. "It's almost October, and we're still over 70 degrees at night."
    He's had to delat aerification until the last week of September, and has spent much of the summer leaning on the expertise of assistants Dan Lawendowski and Aaron Garrett to manage the golf course while he continues to oversee the various parts of the renovation.
    "Nothing has been normal this year. Conditions are dynamic and we're learning how to make adjustments to maintain playability and turf health," he said. "I've really relied on the guys, especially my assistants. Observation is huge under these conditions, and they've done a good job doing that and adapting while I'm torn in other directions."
    As further evidence that this area is indeed a microcosm of the rest of the country, the end of the golf season here can't come soon enough.
    "Fall 'recovery' has been far from pleasant so far. But the days keep getting shorter and we'll be bitching about snow and shoveling paddle courts soon enough," Les Chander said.
     
    "It is safe to say, I will not miss the 2018 season and most certainly will never forget it."
  • Syngenta's Stephanie Schwenke presents Superintendent of the Year plaques to Jorge Croda (left) and Rick Tegtmeier. The ink is barely dry on Jorge Croda and Rick Tegtmeier's TurfNet Superintendent of the Year plaques, nonetheless it's time to start thinking about their successors. And with so many superintendents across the country experiencing a difficult summer this year, the list of potential suitors for the 2018 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year award presented by Syngenta should be a long one.
    Today's golf course superintendent must wear many hats to provide the best possible playing conditions for the club's golf clientele with the resources at hand. 
     
    To do that, he (or she) must be a self-disciplined, multi-tasking agronomist in charge of managing the clubs most valuable asset; a multi-lingual personnel manager; babysitter; therapist; accountant; electrician; politician; hydraulics expert; ditch digger; plumber; arborist; environmentalist; integrated pest management specialist; turfgrass pathologist; entomologist; irrigation expert; and mechanic. One only need look to the abundant seminars and educational programs for superintendents that focus on topics besides agronomy for proof of the evolving role of the golf course superintendent.
      
    Since 2000, the Superintendent of the Year award has recognized dozens of nominees for their work in producing great playing conditions often during times of adversity. If this sounds like your golf course superintendent, or someone you know, nominate him (or her) for the 2018 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award.
     
    Nominations can be submitted by golf course owners, operators, general managers, club members, golf professionals, vendors, distributors or colleagues, even by mothers and wives. The nomination deadline is Nov. 30.
     
    The winner, who is selected by a panel of judges from throughout the golf industry, will be named at next year's Golf Industry Show in San Diego, and will receive trip for two on the 2019 TurfNet members golf trip, courtesy of Syngenta.
     
    Nominees are judged on their ability to excel at one or more of the following criteria: labor management, maximizing budget limitations, educating and advancing the careers of colleagues and assistants, negotiating with government agencies, preparing for tournaments under unusual circumstances, service to golf clientele, upgrading or renovating the course and dealing with extreme or emergency conditions. 
     
    To nominate a deserving superintendent for this year's award, visit the 2018 Superintendent of the Year Award nomination page. For more information, email John Reitman.
     
    Previous winners of the award include Jorge Croda, Southern Oaks Golf Club, Burleson, Texas, and Rick Tegtmeier, Des Moines Golf & Country Club, West Des Moines, Iowa; Dick Gray, PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, Florida, 2016; Matt Gourlay, Colbert Hills, Manhattan, Kansas, 2015; Fred Gehrisch, Highlands Country Club, 2014, Highlands, North Carolina; Chad Mark, Kirtland Country Club, Willoughby, Ohio, 2013; Dan Meersman, Philadelphia Cricket Club, Philadelphia, 2012; Paul Carter, The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison, Tennessee, 2011; Thomas Bastis, California Golf Club of San Francisco, South San Francisco, California, 2010; Anthony Williams, Stone Mountain Golf Club, Stone Mountain, Georgia, 2009, Sam MacKenzie, Olympia Fields Country Club, Olympia Fields, Illinois, 2008; John Zimmers, Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania, 2007; Scott Ramsay, Golf Course at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut, 2006; Mark Burchfield, Victoria Club, Riverside, California, 2005; Stuart Leventhal, Interlachen Country Club, Winter Park, Florida, 2004; Paul Voykin, Briarwood Country Club, Deerfield, Illinois, 2003; Jeff Burgess, Seven Lakes Country Club, LaSalle, Ontario, 2002; Kip Tyler, Salem Country Club, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2001; and Kent McCutcheon, Las Vegas Paiute Resort, Las Vegas, 2000.
  • Whether you are an accomplished golf course superintendent, groundskeeper looking to expand your knowledge base or someone looking for a career change, the University of Massachusetts has a program for you.
    Applications are being accepted for the 2019 University of Massachusetts Winter School for Turf Managers as well as the UMass Extension Green School. 
    The UMass Winter School is a compressed certificate program that covers all the concepts essential to maintaining high quality turf, with emphasis on environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility. This comprehensive, dynamic short course is ideal for experienced professionals associated with the management of golf courses, athletic fields, parks, municipal and private grounds, fine lawns and landscapes.
    Scheduled for Jan. 7-Feb. 15 at the UMass campus in Amherst, in an updated, time-efficient, six-week format, the UMass winter school is certificate program designed to help experienced turf professionals brush up on their skills or provide aspiring managers who can’t squeeze a traditional academic schedule into their calendar with the skills necessary to succeed.
    Classes meet 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m.-noon on Fridays to accommodate weekend commuters. Some area hotels offer special packages for UMass Winter School students.
    UMass Amherst faculty and distinguished guests lead a combination of classroom, laboratory, group project and discussion activities. Close-knit classes offer an opportunity to learn from the experiences of fellow students and to form relationships that will last a lifetime.
     
    A Certificate of Completion will be awarded to those who satisfactorily complete the program requirements. A high school diploma or GED is required for admission. 
    Every other year, UMass also offers its Green School for aspiring and busy turf management professionals.
    Designed for turf and landscape professionals hoping to get a better understanding of horticulture fundamentals and management strategies but who just don’t have the time for full academic course load, the Green School is a comprehensive certificate short course taught by UMass Extension specialists and faculty. 
    Attendees will learn the latest about sustainable methods of plant selection, plant maintenance, and pest and nutrient management which lay the foundation for environmentally appropriate decision-making. 
    The Green School curriculum, which emphasizes a systems-based approach to plant care, is based on current research and focuses on environmental stewardship, best management practices and integrated pest management. Students can choose from one of three tracks: turf management, landscape management and arboriculture. Classes will meet twice a week from Oct. 29 through Dec. 13 at the Doubletree Hotel in Milford, Massachusetts. 
    The goal of the turfgrass management track is to help turf managers "produce surfaces that meet functional and aesthetic expectations while at the same time minimizing the impact of management practices on human health, natural resources and the greater environment."
     
    Pesticide recertification contact hours will be offered for all New England states, and CEUs are available through both programs.
  • Bunkers at Corica Park are lined with artificial turf, including some from the nearby Oakland Raiders practice facility. If any of the Oakland Raiders show up to play a round at Corica Park Golf Course in nearby Alameda, they should feel right at home.
    As part of a recent renovation project, bunkers on the redesigned South Course at Corica Park were lined with pieces of artificial turf, including some from the Raiders practice facility located just a mile down the street.
    "It works pretty well, it's cheap and it's not tossed into a landfill," said Jason Cook, regional superintendent for Greenway Golf, which has managed Corica Park since 2012. "If you see any green, it's a good indicator that you're light on sand. I wouldn't say this is a new philosophy, but on a large scale like what we're doing here, it is. We have a high volume of bunkers."
    The use of artificial turf to keep rocks out of the bunkers and sand in is just one example of some of the ingenuity that went into the three-plus-year renovation of the South Course at historic Corica Park.
    Formerly known as the Chuck Corica Golf Complex, Corica Park is a 45-hole, city-owned facility that abuts the northern edge of Oakland International Airport. Greenway Golf has a 40-year contract to operate Corica Park, and is making significant long-term investments to make it more attractive to local golfers.
    "This project focuses on water recapture, target irrigation, native grasses, the design and playability," said Cook. "The cost of water, the cost of labor, aging infrastructure all are impacting golf significantly, especially in California. Investing in infrastructure now saves money down the road. I don't see the cost of water going down."
    The original routing, now Corica Park's North Course, was designed in 1927 by William Park Bell. The South Course, added in 1957, was the work of architect William Francis Bell. That layout recently was renovated by Rees Jones and Steve Weisser along with Greenway Golf principal and chief agronomist Marc Logan, the architect of Greenway's fertility program.
    The new-and-improved version of the South Course, which reopened June 22, is an Australian Sandbelt design patterned after such historic Aussie layouts like Royal Melbourne and Victoria Links. The North Course is being renovated nine holes at a time.
    Key elements of the South Course renovation, which was precluded by rebuilding the practice range and par-3 course, include multiple turf types, target irrigation and adding landforms all designed to help minimize inputs and improve playability at a city-owned muni in one of the country's hottest golf markets. 

    Several types of turf are grown at Corica Park in an effort to better manage water and golfer traffic. Most of the 120-acre South Course was capped with a 6-to-8-inch layer of sand to add contouring and interest to the once-flat layout and to help manage water. More than 600 catch basins installed throughout the South Course help to capture rainwater for irrigation use.
    "We are putting in an extensive drainage system that is going property-wide, but on the South Course alone we've installed 172,000 linear feet of drainage and more than 670 catch basins that are able to capture stormwater. The entire property drains into a closed system for irrigation.
    The South's large greens were grassed with Pure Distinction creeping bentgrass. At an average of 7,500 square feet, each has enough contouring for three exit points for surface water and enough to make them interesting yet not too difficult for golfers.
    At one time, among California golf courses, only Torrey Pines was busier than Corica Park. Since then, the South Course sees about 200-220 rounds per day
    "With all that sand, you have to do everything three times. You have to shape and finish then sand and refinish again," Cook said.
    "It's enough subtlety to make them fun, but also to be able to move golfers around."
    Nearly 34 acres of fairways were sprigged with drought-tolerant Santa Ana Bermudagrass, believed to be the first successful sprigging of that variety on the Northern California coast. Collars are Seaside II seashore paspalum to handle mower and roller turns, and bunker edges are covered in Agrostis pallens, a cool-season grass native to California that Cook says looks and performs like a tall fescue.
    Water use in the fairways is down about 60 percent since grassing with Santa Ana, says Cook. In fact, everything here was done to handle golfer traffic and minimize water use. Even the irrigation system, with 5,300 heads, was designed to target the specific needs of each variety.
    "We're not trying to overwater or waste water in a non-target area," Cook says. 
    "The water requirements of warm- and cool-season grasses are different."
    The investments by Greenway are aimed at making the property a viable competitor in the San Francisco area golf market for decades to come.
    "This is about water recapture, target irrigation, use of native grasses, innovative design and improving playability," Cook said. "That's all very important, especially now and especially in California."
  • Bert McCarty, Ph.D., here at a recent Clemson field day, was named the recipient of the Carolinas GCSA's Distinguished Service Award. Whether it is advice on managing bentgrass or Bermuda greens, controlling weeds or getting the most from PGR programs, Bert McCarty, Ph.D., has been helping golf course superintendents throughout South Carolina, around the Southeast and across the country tackle some of their biggest challenges for three decades.
    Superintendents have expressed their collective thanks by naming McCarty recipient of the Carolinas GCSA Distinguished Service Award, the association's highest honor. 
    "We are very proud of Dr. McCarty," Carlyle Brewster, Ph.D., chair of Clemson's plant and environmental sciences department, said in a news release. "His achievements are making positive impacts on our students, on the turfgrass industry and on our state."
    A graduate of Clemson with a bachelor's degree in agronomy and soils and a doctorate in plant physiology and pathology, and North Carolina State with a master's in crop science, McCarty was a professor at the University of Florida for nine years before returning to Clemson nearly 23 years ago. 
    The golf industry has an annual economic impact of about $7 billion on North and South Carolina. McCarty's work helps golf courses throughout the area maintain their status, said Tim Kreger, executive director of the Carolinas GCSA.
    "It's very easy to make a case that Bert McCarty's career is one of the reasons we can bank on this economic benefit year after year," Kreger said. "He makes the game better from below ground level through his research and from above through his teaching and support of future and current superintendents."
    During his career, he has authored or co-authored 15 books, 93 book chapters and 114 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has chaired 37 graduate students and been a committee member for 30 more. He currently chairs two doctoral candidates and two master's students. He is the coordinating author of Clemson's Annual Pest Control Recommendation Guide for Professional Turfgrass Managers. 
    In 2012, he was named the recipient of the Godley-Snell Award for Excellence that is given to the top agriculture researcher at Clemson University, and in 2010 and 2013, won the Notable State Document Award from the South Carolina State Documents Depository System from more that 3,000 entries. In 2014, he was the recipient of the Fred Grau award through the Crop Science Society as the top national and international turfgrass science researcher. In 2016, he was named a Fellow for the American Society of Agronomy, the first for any Clemson researcher.
    Among his works are: Common Weeds and Wildflowers that he authored with botanist David Hall, Golf Turf Management that includes 16 chapters on common turf species and cultivars and how to manage them, and Best Management Practices for Carolina Golf Courses, which was published by the Carolinas GCSA in 2015.
    McCarty will receive the award at the Carolinas GCSA Conference and Show scheduled for Nov. 12-14 in Myrtle Beach.
  • Golf courses as far inland as Charlotte, like TPC Piper Glen here, are feeling the effects of Hurricane Florence. Photo by Aaron Jayjack via Twitter @aaronjayjack Hurricane-related damage on golf courses is not always about wind damage and uprooted trees. Excessive rain and prolonged exposure to floodwater can be the real culprits, especially in a year already defined by weather challenges.
    North Carolina State and Clemson University have produced a hurricane-preparedness guide to help golf course superintendents recover from events like Hurricane Florence that dumped more than 30 inches of rain in parts of eastern North Carolina and nearly a foot in northeastern South Carolina.
    The guide tackles topics like weed control due to herbicide loss from floodwaters. Included are tips on fall Poa control in the aftermath of a storm and a reminder to consider skipping overseeding if Bermuda has been weakened too much.
    It already has been a rough year for growing grass throughout the transition zone, including North and South Carolina. Warm temperatures in late winter, followed by abnormally cool conditions in early spring and blazing hot temperatures in May and June confounded superintendents growing warm- and cool-season turf. And hot, wet conditions throughout much of the summer have turned many courses into grass-covered petri dishes.
    Several courses throughout the transition zone had to regrass Bermuda greens this year because of winter damage that former Clemson turf pathologist Bruce Martin, Ph.D., called the worst in South Carolina in decades. Bermudagrass can survive prolonged periods under water, but courses with new greens that also flooded might be in for a long recovery.
    "Those newly established areas might not survive submersion ... ," Martin said. "The Carolinas seem jinxed in recent years."
    The hurricane relief guide also has advice for irrigation water that might be contaminated with saltwater. Hint: total dissolved salts readings of 500 parts per million or pH levels of 7 might be a cause for concern, according to Clemson's Dara Park, Ph.D.
    Other topics in the guide include tree damage, soil fertility and disease pressure, which can be especially high because of weather conditions and the threat of leaching or degraded fungicides due to flooding.
    Conditions will be right for diseases such as pythium and take-all root rot, Martin said. 
    Places like Morehead City and Wilmington in North Carolina got the worst Florence had to offer, with more than 30 inches of rain falling there. Flooding on golf courses has been reported at least 300 miles inland Charlotte.
    Early forecasts called for rain totals up to 40 inches in areas like Myrtle Beach. The Grand Strand was spared from anything like that with only about 5-6 inches of rain falling there. However, the worst might be yet to come there with south-flowing Waccamaw River draining harder hit areas to the north. The river, which runs right through Myrtle Beach, is expected to crest at 19 feet later this week, a mark that would break the all-time high of just below 18 feet set in 2016.
    "There will be major disease issues for them, as we were already above average rainfall in most areas that were severely affected," said Jim Kerns, Ph.D. of North Carolina State University. "I suspect courses are going to have a hard time with revenue as many will be closed for some time cleaning up.  This could be devastating for many courses in our region unfortunately.
  • Joel Kachmarek hasn't pulled a core from the greens at Tacoma Country and Golf Club in five years. When Joel Kachmarek says he spends a lot of time venting on his greens, he's not talking about anger management issues associated with poor putting conditions. In fact, it's quite the opposite. After nearly two decades, Kachmarek couldn't be happier with the putting conditions at Tacoma Country and Golf Club.
    "No more hollow tine aeration," Kachmarek said. "I haven't done any of that since 2013.
    "Our greens are almost 120 years old, and they're the best they've ever been."
    There are differing schools of thought on aerifying greens - namely whether to pull a core, and what to do with them after extracting them.
    Kachmarek, a 19-year veteran of the club in Lakewood, Washington, wasn't always a devotee of solid tining. He tried it initially as a way to stretch the season for golfers.
    "That whole thing was facilitated by me wanting to get the greens leaner. I was just tired of watching the greens heal. When coring with hollow tines, it takes three to four weeks to heal. That's not cool for membership," Kachmarek said. "I wanted the greens to be good for them for more days out of the year. I didn't want to take away that perfect stretch of weather in the spring and that last stretch in the fall. I was always looking for a way to make this less painful for golfers."
    Through the years, he's gone from removing as much material as possible to aerating with solid tines at varying depths. 
    "When I first started, I was on the other side of the spectrum where I was trying to figure out how to remove more material each time," Kachmarek said. "Now, I've really gone backwards the other way."
    It's a philosophy made popular by Roch Gaussoin, Ph.D., of the University of Nebraska, who for years has disputed the need to pull a core on greens. It also is one that works well for Kachmarek in the Pacific Northwest, but he admits might not be everyone.
    "Everybody should do it, but I don't think it would work everywhere," he said. "But I do think a lot of people would like to see if they could modify what they're doing."
    Venting and aerifying with solid tines are important components of Fred Gehrisch's regime at Highlands Falls Country Club in western North Carolina, but they're just that - part of his program. So are core aerification and dry injection of sand topdressing.
    "I believe aerification is more than just a single type of aerification," Gehrisch said. "I'm a believer in core aerification and a believer in DryJect. I don't think one works that well without the other.
    "I think it takes a combination of all types to be successful."
    At Laurel Creek Country Club in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, John Slade runs DryJect over the greens usually in early May. With the end of the golf season in view, he core aerifies in mid-August.
    "In this area, people are all over the map, and it all has to do with the golf schedule," Slade said. "I've always said, 'you can aerify in March and you'll look good in May, or you can aerify in May and you'll look good in May.' You're going to look at holes for a long time if you aerify in March.
    "Because the greens are under stress in August, I don't want to put giant holes in the ground that are going to struggle to recover. Some guys wait until October because of golf. In that case, you're probably looking at holes all winter. Personally, I think what we are doing now is as good as we can do to help the greens make it through the summer."

    Aerification gets under way at Laurel Creek CC in New Jersey. In Tacoma, Kachmarek does not see the dramatic weather swings that necessitate such cultural practices on golf courses on the country's east coast or, for that matter, the eastern edge of Washington.
    "Growing Poa in this climate in the Northwest, I know it works. You can't push nitrogen if you do this," Kachmarek said.
    "Hollow tines create vigor in the turf, and that is important. If your greens already are healthy and have adequate sunlight, then I should never feel the need to increase vigor."
    As much as core aerification helps Gehrisch provide optimal conditions at Highlands Falls, he's nearly as concerned about the effects of a program that wouldn't include it - namely all that sand going into the profile and nothing coming back out.
    "You're putting all that material down and taking nothing out. At some point you are changing the shape of your green," he said. "That's a physical fact, and I don't see how you can maintain that. Eventually, it won't be the same green it was designed to be."
    That has occurred to Kachmarek, as well.
    "What will it take, 100 years of doing this to elevate a green 2 inches? It would be a soft build-up, not a ledge. And is that bad?" he said. "I don't know. I don't see it as a bad thing. 
    "That's part of golf. Golf courses change. Weather, trees, architects all come in and change things. Golf courses are living things, they're not meant to be created and remain static forever. What we do to golf courses and what Mother Nature does to golf courses is part of golf, and it's part of what is cool about it: It's forever changing."

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