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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Editor's note: A few weeks ago, we came across a story about Monty Elam, a legally blind golf pro who had graduated from Penn State's World Campus with a degree in turfgrass management. Recently, TurfNet caught up with Elam to learn more about his inspiring story.   There was a time in Monty Elam's career as a teaching professional when his input was not always welcomed by colleagues during annual budget meetings with club owners and managers from other departments.   "Superintendents never cared about my experience during budget meetings," Elam said. "They didn't care how much experience I had because I was a PGA professional, not a superintendent. It was almost like they were saying 'I'm the agronomist, so you need to go sit over there and be quiet.' "   Like a lot of things in Elam's life, that seems like oh so long ago.   Elam, 52, has been a teaching professional since 1992 and has been a card-carrying member of the PGA of America since 1995. Legally blind for the past 10 years, Elam doesn't give many lessons these days, but limited vision has done nothing to affect his ability to run a golf operation. And for the past seven years, he has plied his trade as director of golf at Whiteford Valley Golf Club in Ottawa, Michigan.   His story is an inspiring record of triumph over adversity. Oh, and his opinions at those meetings carry a little more weight now.   Last spring, Elam earned a bachelor's degree in turfgrass management through Penn State's online World Campus and is working toward a master's in the same field. His hope is to spend his retirement teaching future turfgrass managers.   A self-described lifelong learner, Elam studied turf management for several reasons. Expanding his knowledge base gives him more credibility within the industry and throughout the operation at Whiteford Valley. He loves the science behind growing highly managed turf - and keeping it healthy - and it gives him options for the next phase of his career after his wife, Lisa, retires from her teaching position in the Toledo, Ohio public schools in the not-to-distant future.   "I'd like to teach turf management or soils," he said. "My wife has about seven more years to work, then she can retire. That opens the doors to moving.   "Teaching is what I want to do. If I have to move to do it, that's OK."   It would have been easy for Elam to fold the tent on his PGA career as well as his emerging plans to teach future turf managers, but that's not his way.   Ten years ago, Elam, then the owner of Blackberry Patch Golf Course in Coldwater, Michigan, had just undergone what was supposed to be routine laser surgery to remove blood vessels that had formed on the backs of his eyes. But something went horribly wrong, and both eyes were overexposed to the laser.    "I couldn't see at all for six months," he said. "You learn a lot about yourself in six months. Things you took for granted, from boiling a pot of water to going to the bathroom, you don't take for granted anymore.   "And things you once thought were important, they're not important anymore."  
    Honestly, I can say the biggest regret I have is buying that golf course. We bought it when it was overpriced, during the golf boom. It put a strain on us financially, and it put a strain on our marriage. If this hadn't happened, I can't say my wife and I would still be together."
     
    Doctors, Elam said, assured him that his vision would return to normal. When it didn't, he was referred to the Cleveland Clinic.   Eventually, he regained partial sight in his left eye, a sensation he described as relatively normal close-up, but increasingly cloudy the farther away an object appears. To this day, he remains completely blind in his right eye.   That reality, coupled with a sinking golf industry, was enough to get him out of the business of owning a golf course. Ironically, he had to lean on his wife heavily for support.   About 100 miles separated the Elam's home, then in Bowling Green, Ohio, and Blackberry Patch. Each week, he would leave for the golf course on Monday morning and return home on Saturday evening, spending weeknights in hotels or in members' vacant summer cottages near the golf course, leaving his wife and twin daughters at home.   When he returned home for the weekends, his mind often was elsewhere, usually on work. It was not an ideal situation for anyone involved.    "I was gone all the time," Elam said. "Even when I was home, I wasn't really here mentally."   Life now is a lot different. Elam can't drive a car. He can play golf - with help. Some people would resent such a fate, but Elam embraces it and welcomes the positive changes it has brought to his life.   "Honestly, I can say the biggest regret I have is buying that golf course. We bought it when it was overpriced, during the golf boom," he said. "It put a strain on us financially, and it put a strain on our marriage. If this hadn't happened, I can't say my wife and I would still be together.   "This whole thing has made us really close."   He even manages to get out and play golf a couple of times a month with help from his wife or daughters.    "I can see the top of the ball in the grass, but someone has to stand behind me and help me aim and watch my ball," he said.   "I'm OK off the tee, and my second shot's not too bad. Where I have problems are pitch shots from 20 to 30 yards. I can't see the pin, so my shot is based on what someone tells me. Same with putting. I have to walk to the hole and back and feel the undulations underneath me.   "I'd like to have my vision back to play golf. How I played then, and how I play now, there is a big difference. I'm still able to do everything at the golf course. I work the counter. Until a customer gets close I can't see a face, but I function OK. Nobody knows I'm blind, and they don't need to know"   Until now.  
  • Delaware Valley University professor Doug Linde, Ph.D., likes to incorporate as many real-world learning opportunities as possible into his curriculum. His students like that, too.   Each year, as part of a course he teaches on irrigation, his students simulate an irrigation system installation by putting together all the piping above ground around the university's research putting green. The exercise allows students to put everything together - even if it is above ground - so they have some degree of experience when they have to tackle such a project in the field for the first time.   The putting green and research plots are just steps away from the classroom located in what Linde called the "farm machinery building" and thus make for a convenient diversion for outdoor learning opportunities.   "We do all sorts of things out there," Linde said.    "There is a big demand for experiential learning. I try to do as much of that as I can."   This year, those students got to take part in a real install project after Linde decided it was time to replace the practice green's aging irrigation system. A host of industry vendors and partners got together in mid-October and donated pipe, irrigation heads, fittings and expertise to make the project happen.   Mike Hartley of Turf Equipment and Supply Co., a Jessup, Maryland-based Toro dealer with outlets throughout the mid-Atlantic, quarterbacked the project and the company donated the pipe and sprinkler heads. Harco furnished fittings and contractor George Ley, principal of George E. Ley Co., supplied the know-how.   Hartley said helping Delaware Valley students complete such a project aligns perfectly with his Tesco's goals and philosophy.   "Education is part of Turf Equipment and Supply Company's mission," he said.   About 20 students worked with Ley and Hartley on the project in a series of work stations so all students got to "touch" the project. Linde estimates donations of product and labor totaled about $6,000 to make upgrades to the 5,000 square foot green.   "We had 20 students and four industry reps spaced out in work stations on this project," Linde said.    "It was a great example of how the industry helps education."  

  • News and people briefs

    By John Reitman, in News,

    EPA OK's PBI's Tekken fungicide
      The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently approved federal registration for Tekken, a broad-spectrum fungicide from PBI-Gordon Corporation.   With the active ingredients isofetamid and tebuconazole, Tekken is registered for use on warm- and cool-season golf course greens, tees and fairways for control of more than 20 turf, including anthracnose, brown patch and dollar spot.   It will be available for sale in early 2018.   A FRAC Group 7 + 3 flowable suspension concentrate, Tekken's dual mode of action provides preventive and systemic control for up to 28 days per application. It also features one convenient rate for all diseases.   Builders honor Melrose with Rossi award
      The Golf Course Builders Association of America named former Toro president Ken Melrose as the recipient of its Don A. Rossi Award.   The award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the game of golf and its growth and who have inspired others by example. It is named for Don A. Rossi, who served as executive director of the National Golf Foundation from 1970 to 1983, was instrumental in forming the National Golf Course Owners Association and served as executive director of the GCBAA from 1984 to 1990.   Melrose was named president of The Toro Co. in 1981, and was elected CEO in 1983. Under his direction, the company expanded its position as a leader in the golf turf industry through a constant stream of innovative products and service support. He also promoted the company's long history of supporting philanthropic and research efforts and was also instrumental in helping establish The Toro Foundation, which supports many community and industry causes around the world.     Following his retirement from Toro in 2005, Melrose formed Leading by Serving, LLC, whose mission is to advance the principles of servant leadership in organizations. He also remains an active supportive of the golf industry and its future growth. In 2012, he established The Melrose Leadership Academy with the Environmental Institute for Golf to help support the professional development of GCSAA member superintendents providing scholarships to attend the Golf Industry Show.   Throughout his Toro career, Melrose was a fierce champion of the golf business and industry, and remains so to this day.   The Don A. Rossi Award will be presented Feb. 6 at the 2018 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio during the GCBAA opening reception.   Wiedenmann names new sales manager
      Wiedenmann North America recently named Jeremy Stafne as sales manager.    He will be responsible for sales in central and eastern North America.   Stafne was a territory manager with Frontier Ag & Turf prior to joining Wiedenmann North America. He earned an MBA from Concordia University in 2015 and is a U.S. Navy veteran.   Based in Savannah, Georgia, Wiedenmann North America is the North & South American distributor for Wiedenmann GmBH, a manufacturer of turf maintenance equipment.
  • The North Carolina State University Center for Turfgrass Environmental Research and Education is helping professional turfgrass managers stay abreast of the latest in turfgrass management issues with the second annual research symposium.   Entitled Turf Trends for Changing Times, the free event is scheduled for 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 in the Hunt Library. Three speakers from different avenues in the turfgrass industry will discuss emerging trends in turf management, and NC State researchers will provide updates on relevant research.    Bob Harriman, Ph.D., vice president of The Scotts Co., will present "Developing the next generation of enhanced turfgrasses"; Renee Keese, Ph.D., project leader for BASF, will discuss "Plant protection products: What does the future hold?"; and Mark Schmidt, Ph.D., manager of global university relations for John Deere, will address "Defining a purpose and adapting a plan: Enabling a sustainable future for the turfgrass and managed landscape industry."   The event also will be streamed live, so those unable to attend in person still can listen in from home or office.
  • Some things are just meant to be.   Since he can remember, Steven Scott has been good at two things: growing grass and business acumen.   Although he tried his hand at business school, he eventually melded his two passions into a single purpose, running the rural northwestern Tennessee golf course where he worked and played as a kid.   After he quit business school at the University of Memphis and graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin's golf course and landscape management program, Scott, became the operator and superintendent at Persimmon Hills Golf Course in Sharon, Tennessee.   A 2007 graduate of UT-Martin and the owner of Scott Golf Management, the 33-year-old Scott has held the management contract at Persimmon Hills since 2012.   "I'm the general manager, the superintendent, the chef, the mechanic and the plumber," Scott said. "That's probably not as uncommon as you think at some of these smaller courses."   Scott tripped into a career in golf. As a youngster growing up in Martin, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, who was working with the city parks and rec department during the summer helping maintaining ballfields.    "I like growing grass, fertilizing and mowing," Scott said. "I applied to work Martin Parks and Recreation maintaining ballfields in high school. That's what my brother did, and that's what I wanted to do, but they turned me down."   Gary Smith, a retired superintendent from Illinois, and his wife had just bought Persimmon Hills, so Scott went there and asked for a job. Nearly 20 years later, Persimmon Hills is one of the only employers he's ever had. Persimmon Hills is the only course in the Martin area, which is home to 11,000 people. It also is the only course in all of Wheatley County (population 35,000), but it's not the only course in the area. Obion County to the west and Gibson County to the south together have seven other courses spanning a three-county area with a population of about 100,000. Scott is defying the odds of the golf economy and thriving because of just one thing.   "We sell the golf course on conditioning. That's how we differentiate ourselves," Scott said. "As long as we are the best-conditioned course in the area, we're going to draw golfers, and get people from 40 to 50 miles away."   Although Persimmon Hills is a small budget property in a rural area, Scott keeps up with the latest trends in turf management. He doesn't attend national conventions. No budget room for that. He does make the short drive each year to the Nashville area for the Tennessee Turfgrass Association annual show and stays connected to colleagues around the country through avenues such as TurfNet, Twitter and Facebook.   "The good thing about these diff forums, we have access, in rural America at these little courses with farmers running them, to more information that we would have never known about before, especially the guys who never join an association or talk to anybody from another club. At the same time, you have to embrace that. If I go to a conference, I can sit for hours and maybe get one thing I can use. I can spend 15 minutes on the Internet to get what I need and get back to work."   Among the people he follows online for advice is Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa, site of this year's Solheim Cup.   "I've never met Mr. Tegtmeier, and even though he's in Iowa and I'm in Tennessee, I can take one or two things he is doing and apply it at my golf course," Scott said.   Combining computer knowledge, a knack for business and a love for growing grass has been a natural fit for Scott. Upon graduating from Westview High School in Martin, he had earned an academic scholarship to Memphis to study management information systems. Summer jobs on the golf course, however, soon had him rethinking his future. He wanted to drop out of Memphis to attend Horry Georgetown in South Carolina. But his parents intervened and convinced him that if he was giving up a free ride to college, he needed to stay home and attend UT-Martin.   "The first summer in college, I worked at Olive Branch Country Club in Olive Branch, Mississippi. The next summer, I came home, took some classes at UT-Martin and worked at Persimmon. That's when I had an epiphany," Scott said. "I liked working on the golf course and decided I didn't want to be behind a desk the rest of my life.   "My parents told me that UT-Martin had just started a turf program. I was dead set on Horry Georgetown, but they weren't too thrilled about that since I had a full ride to Memphis."   With that background, he was destined to be a boss, not an employee.   "I've worked at a seed company and a garden center, but I'd never been my own boss," he said. "In this day and age, there's not a ton of stability in the golf business. If things collapse, it's on me, not because my boss mismanaged something. And I'm not going to lay myself off because we're hurting."  
  • As the assistant superintendent at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ontario, Jordan Kitchen knows a thing or two about using greens covers during Canada's long, tough winters.   He also knows a little bit about how grueling it can be to remove cold, wet covers each spring and the toll such a task can take on one's hands, back and a superintendent's bottom line.   "The first year we had them, that was pretty easy. They were dry and came right from the factory," Kitchen said. "The next spring, after the third tarp in March, you know, it's cold and wet, they're slippery, you're shoveling snow, I was thinking to myself 'there has got to be a better way to do this.' "   When he could find no existing solution to his problem after consulting the online expert for everything (Google), Kitchen decided if there was a possible solution to make managing tarps easier and more efficient, he would have to create it. After about a year of R&D, Kitchen developed TarpDevil, a tractor-mounted system that automatically rolls tarps for easy storage.   The system, which was designed and manufactured by Kitchen and manufacturing engineer Ian Trepte, is a hydraulically driven device that mounts to any tractor and can be used to deploy and remove any permeable or impermeable tarp or cover. Simply fold the tarp or cover to the same width as the roller, and the TarpDevil rolls it up and squeezes out any excess moisture for easy storage.   Superintendent Rhod Trainor began using tarps at 27-hole Hamilton G&CC after a brutal winter storm in 2014 wiped out greens on golf courses throughout parts of Canada and the Northeastern U.S. The crew there typically double-covers each green with an impermeable tarp and another cover, either permeable or impermeable. A video on the TarpDevil web site shows how the device works.  
    Even when it was functioning, it wasn't sold in some people's minds until more than one was rolled. By the third one, people were saying 'wow, this is changing our world right now.' "
     
    Kitchen said it used to take 12-14 people four days to removed 54 tarps. With the help of the TarpDevil in March, six people were able to remove all 54 covers in three days. Kitchen said that translates into savings of about $1,800 (Canadian).   "The other piece to this, because it rolls them tighter and eliminates water, it retracts them with an even pull and is extending the life of the cover because it is more gentle on the fabric," Kitchen said.   "These things get snagged when stored, and pulling them by hand results in an uneven pull and they fray over several uses. We think it increases the lifespan by 15 to 20 percent, and it rolls them so tight they can be stored back in the manufacturer's bag. That's something you can't achieve in March when they are soaking wet and you remove them by hand."   Even members of the crew at Hamilton were skeptical of what the TarpDevil could do when Kitchen rolled it out in March. They were believers after just a few holes.   "Even when it was functioning, it wasn't sold in some people's minds until more than one was rolled," Kitchen said. "By the third one, people were saying 'wow, this is changing our world right now.' "   Kitchen invented the TarpDevil not as a product to commercialize, but, he said, as a solution to a problem.   "It helps us save labor and redirect it," he said. "Our employees really like it. It saves their backs and their hands. There's nothing exciting about covers. But, if you can take the back-breaking work out of it, it has to be worth something."
  • The Michigan State University Turf School is an intensive, week-long course designed to teach the basics of turfgrass science as well as the practical techniques of managing turfgrass.    Scheduled for Dec. 11-14, the program will be team-taught by MSU turfgrass faculty and staff. The curriculum is designed to deliver a wide range of turfgrass management topics including basic soils and soil management, turfgrass species identification, selection and physiology, turf establishment and renovation, fertilization, proper pesticide use and environmental stewardship.    A significant portion of the school is dedicated to weed, insect and disease identification and management. The pest management section is delivered in lecture and laboratory settings with hands-on learning emphasized.   All members of the MSU turf team will teach at least one portion of the session, including Joe Vargas, Ph.D., Trey Rogers, Ph.D., Jim Crum, Ph.D., Kevin Frank, Ph.D., Thom Nikolai, Ph.D., Emily Merewitz, Ph.D., Dave Smitley, Ph.D., Aaron Hathaway, Nancy Dykema and Adam Palmatier.   The program is geared toward anyone looking to expand their turf knowledge. The school starts with the turf basics and expands throughout the week. Past attendees include superintendents, greenkeepers, lawn care operators, equipment managers, sales reps and sports turf managers.   Topics to be covered will include turfgrass species and cultivars including a hands-on identification lab; establishment and renovation; nutrition and fertilizers; weed, insect and disease management including hands-on identification labs; turfgrass soils, cultivation, compaction and thatch including a hands-on soils lab; and a review of information for the certified pesticide applicator test.   The winter turf school will be held Dec. 11-14 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center on the MSU campus. Instruction will be from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.   CLICK HERE for cost and more information, email events@anr.msu.edu or call 517-353-3175.
  • Since Tifdwarf made it to market in 1965, ultradwarf Bermudagrasses have helped superintendents provide putting conditions that rival those historically associated with creeping bentgrass in areas where cool-season turf can struggle in searing summer heat.   Conversely, those same warm-season turf types can suffer if exposed to prolonged winter conditions. Greens covers can provide relief from winter injury if used properly.   Recent research conducted at the University of Arkansas helps establish thresholds for exposure of ultradwarf Bermudagrasses to cold temperatures, allowing superintendents to minimize the threat of winter damage and improving spring green up.   "This project was really focused around a lack of concrete evidence for the recommendation of covering (ultradwarf Bermudagrass greens) at 25 degrees," said Eric DeBoer, a master's student at Arkansas. "We wanted to come up with a concrete number backed by research that superintendents could make informed decisions around when covering their greens and hopefully help them save money by reducing covering events."   The research was funded by the USGA, Arkansas Turfgrass Association and the Arkansas GCSA.   The results of the trial, conducted in 2015-16 and 2016-17 at the University of Arkansas Agricultural Research and Experiment Station in Fayetteville, could be especially meaningful for superintendents managing warm-season turf in the transition zone, which typically experiences extreme heat in the summer and copious amounts of cold weather in the winter. While covering greens protects them from cold weather damage, it also prevents play and requires more manpower to deploy and remove, adding to the course's operating costs.   "The results will give superintendents better information on the low temperature threshold for applying the covers," said Mike Kenna, USGA research director. "This will help reduce the number of covering events, save labor costs, and increase days the golf course is open for play."   DeBoer and his research team that included advisor Mike Richardson, Ph.D., Doug Karcher, Ph.D., and program technician John McCalla, tested Champion, TifEagle and MiniVerde using covers at 25 degrees, 22 degrees, 18 degrees and 15 degrees Fahrenheit. TifEagle and MiniVerde proved to be more cold tolerant than Champion.   According to the study, Bermudagrass greens covered when temperatures reached 15 degrees survived throughout the winter with improved spring green up. Covered greens even survived two days of extreme cold temperatures where overnight lows dropped to 0 degrees on consecutive nights.   "We had two relatively mild years, but our second year we had two night get down to 0 degrees, and that was enough to kill our uncovered controls," said DeBoer, who interned at the Creek Club at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia. "We haven't had any super long cold snaps or temps lower than that, but all plots covered, recovered similarly after being exposed to 0 (degrees) for two nights. Obviously, some things are out of our control, like overall low temps and the duration of the cold temperatures. I think the best thing to do is to let your ultradwarfs cold-acclimate through November and check into dormancy, because I think keeping them green through the fall into the winter, followed by a long cold snap could have negative effects."   The trial also included an untreated control. He used permeable covers and put down a late-season wetting agent application to control undetectable dry spots in dormant turf.   "So the idea behind a late-season wetting agent application is localized dry spot is apparent on actively growing turf but it may not be apparent on dormant turf like ultradwarfs," DeBoer. "This may be leading to increased winter injury from soil hydrophobicity throughout the winter.    "The wetting agent effect was most evident during the first year when, potentially due to natural causes, volumetric water contents were lower overall. This may benefit the plant by reducing desiccation but the increased water may also provide some extra insulation from low air temperatures.   "We presume this was due to higher volumetric water contents in the soil profile during the second year."   The trial will continue this year and next, and results should be ready for submission for peer review by next summer.  
  • For experienced professionals looking to brush up on their skills, or aspiring turfgrass managers, the University of Massachusetts Turf Winter School still is accepting applications for its next session.   Scheduled for Jan. 8-Feb. 16 at the main campus in Amherst, the UMass Winter School for Turf Managers 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.   Winter School is an excellent choice for practitioners who seek to expand their knowledge and practical skills. The program is also uniquely suited for those who want to advance in their career, but cannot schedule a two- or four-year program, as well as career changers who want to enter the field of turf management.   Students are immersed in an intensive, full-time program scheduled Monday through Friday for six weeks. Classes are scheduled: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-noon on Fridays throughout the session. This schedule is designed to accommodate weekend commuters who may want to stay in the Amherst area Monday through Thursday evenings but return home on weekends. Some area hotels offer special accommodation and rate 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.   Pesticide recertification contact hours will be offered for all New England states, and 20.4 CEUs are available.

  • News and people briefs

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Brandt taps Mangum for top sales post
      Brandt has named Ken Mangum, CGCS, as national sales manager for the company's turf business that includes Brandt, Grigg and Brandt iHammer products.   Mangum will be responsible for all sales initiatives in the turf market, including setting the strategic direction of the turf team. He will report to John Guglielmi, Brandt's national sales director for specialty formulations.   Prior to joining Brandt, Mangum was an independent consultant and spent more than three decades as a golf course superintendent, including nearly 27 years as director of golf courses and grounds at Atlanta Athletic Club, where he was the host superintendent for the PGA Championship in 2001 and 2011.    A graduate of Lake City Community College (now Florida Gateway College), Mangum's consulting work included working with Team Zoysia on the marketing of zoysiagrasses for use on golf courses worldwide.   EPA OKs PBI-Gordon fungicide for SDS control
      The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently granted federal registration for PBI-Gordon Kabuto SC Fungicide for use in the treatment of spring dead spot in warm-season turfgrass.   Labeled for use on golf courses, sports fields, and residential and commercial turf, Kabuto is a proprietary formulation for the preventative control of spring dead spot, and the preventative and curative control of dollar spot, including control of carboxamide-resistant dollar spot.    With the active ingredient isofetamid, Kabuto SC is a FRAC Group 7 fungicide that inhibits all stages of development in the fungal life cycle and can be applied up to eight times per year as part of a resistance-management program.    Other features of Kabuto Fungicide SC include a flowable (suspension concentrate) formulation,  effectiveness at low and high use rates and no phytotoxicity concerns.   Longtime TurfNet contributor Frank S. Rossi, Ph.D., to receive industry award
      Longtime TurfNet contributor Frank S. Rossi, Ph.D., associate professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has been named the recipient of the GCSAA's 2018 President's Award for Environmental Stewardship.   Rossi, 55, will receive the award Feb. 6, during the opening session of the 2018 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio.   The award was established in 1991 to recognize "an exceptional environmental contribution to the game of golf; a contribution that further exemplifies the golf course superintendent's image as a steward of the land."   Rossi has been a contributor to TurfNet and its former sister publication SuperNews for almost 20 years.   A New York City native, Rossi, 55, received bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Rhode Island and his Ph.D. from Cornell, where he has taught since 1996. He served as a consultant for the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens at Bethpage Black and developed sand and grass specifications for the 2016 Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro. He also has consulted with Central Park, the New York Yankees and Green Bay Packers.   In 2014, Rossi was instrumental in the development of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for New York State Golf Courses. The project was initiated in 2012 by the Met GCSA, and Rossi served as the lead author of the guidelines. Nearly two decades earlier, while working as a turfgrass environmental specialist at Michigan State University, he was key to the creation of the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program, which was officially launched in 1998.    As a researcher, lecturer and former superintendent, Rossi's excellence in the turf industry has been well-documented through the numerous awards he has received, including the Metropolitan GCSA Lifetime Achievement Award, the New York State Turfgrass Association's Friend of the Green Industry, and the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association's Environmental Communicator of the Year.   Nufarm's Bull retires after nearly 50 years of service
      Nufarm announced the retirement of longtime national ornamental manager Arden Bull.    Bull's career spanned 47 years in agriculture and specialty crop protection, including 28 years of turf, ornamental, greenhouse, and nursery technical sales. He has led ornamental sales at Nufarm Americas Inc. for the past 12 years and cultivated trusted relationships with greenhouse and nursery growers and key university and private researchers across the country.   Bull plans to spend more time with his wife, Laska, and their family. He envisions his time will include more fishing with grandsons and attending the dance events of his granddaughters. He also anticipates more travel, bike rides, woodwork, mission trips and give back to his community at the local Unity House and Elder Care Home.     In Bull's absence, Nufarm will remain dedicated to providing a top-notch team of reliable turf and ornamental experts. Ornamental customers seeking assistance should contact greenhouse customer manager Brian Rund at brian.rund@nufarm.com.  
  • Cold-brewed java isn't just the latest hipster trend for millennials at the local coffee house. It also might provide a morning pick-me-up for golf course turf, say researchers at Texas A&M.   A two-year study under way at the TAMU AgriLife Research and Extension Center focuses on spreading used coffee grounds on turf to see whether the nitrogen they contain can help boost grass the same way they provide that much-needed morning charge.   The focus of the study is to determine whether used coffee grounds can replace some of the fertilizers and soil amendments commonly used to produce healthy turf, says Ben Wherley, Ph.D., associate professor in crop and soil sciences at TAMU.   He and Garrett Flores, a master's student at the school in College Station, will compare fresh and composted grounds to other organic and synthetic fertilizers and sphagnum peat moss.   The work is funded partly through a grant from the U.S.G.A. Green Section and GeoJava, a spinoff of Aspen Beverage, which offers industrial beverage solutions in the San Antonio area.    The grounds, which are supplied by Aspen, will be used in the study both as a substitute for fertilizers and soil amendments, Wherley said.    "We think this might provide a nice alternative by using a spent resource and not cutting into a non-renewable resource like peat moss," Wherley said in a release through TAMU.   Flores and Wherley are operating under the hypothesis that the nutritional value in coffee grounds will compare favorably to both slow- and quick-release fertilizers, poultry-based organic fertilizers, ammonium sulfate and sulfur-coated urea. They also will be evaluating changes in the soil microbial biomass due to spent coffee grounds as well as other fertilizer treatments.   There was a day when such research would not have been feasible because of a lack of grounds available for widespread commercial applications. That's no longer true today. Aspen produces about 40 cubic yards of coffee grounds daily, and is supplying those used in the TAMU study. That's enough to fill a dumpster 22 feet by 7.5 feet by 8 feet, and production is expected to increase by 500 percent by next year.   If the grounds can be repurposed for turf nutritional needs, it will allow Aspen and the countless other companies like it nationwide to dispose of the grounds in an environmentally and economically beneficial way.   The spike in coffee consumption is attributed to the rising popularity of cold-brewed coffee, which is said to be less acidic than traditional brewed coffee, so people who never drank coffee before now are cold-brewed coffee consumers, and the plentiful supply of grounds makes such research not only feasible but quite relevant.   A total of 10 treatments are underway at TAMU, including an untreated control. Coffee grounds tested are both fresh and composted. The composted coffee grounds analysis indicates they have a slightly higher nutrient level, the researchers say.   The spent coffee grounds have about a 2.5-3 percent nitrogen content, and a carbon to nitrogen ratio of about 20 to 1, nutritional benefits that could make them desirable to turf managers.   Cold brew packs twice as much punch   Cold brewing is a slow process that substitutes time for temperature in the extraction process. When cold water is used to brew the coffee, some of the compounds that come out at higher temperatures are left in the bean. These are the fatty acids and oils that can cause bitterness.   The result of cold brewing is a coffee with less than half the acid of hot brewing, making cold brew very smooth. This smoothness makes it possible, even desirable to drink cold-brew coffee at about twice the strength of regular hot-brewed coffee, which means twice as much coffee and twice the caffeine per ounce, Wherley said.   Regardless of which coffee grounds are used, they spread easily out of a rotary spreader if dried.    GeoJava has been working with local landscapers in San Antonio that have been doing top dressing applications for many years.  
  • Don't be surprised if one day The Villages shows up on Discovery as the subject of an episode of Mythbusters.    If you haven't been to The Villages, chances are you at least have seen commercials on television promoting it as a retirement destination for avid golfers or those who are just plain sick of northern winters. Like just about every other 55-and-older community in Florida, it has been defined by stereotypes. There are some there who are trying to break down those walls.   It's the kind of stereotype Mythbusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman have been debunking on TV for 15 years.   Since the first mobile home was planted in the early 1970s in the old Orange Blossom Hills development in north-central Florida, the area that eventually became known as The Villages has been labeled as a haven for senior citizens on the prowl for cheap golf, manhattans and early bird specials.   Some of that is true and comes with the territory of operating a property that caters to retirees.   The Villages' own radio station, WVLG (of course) cranks out real estate ads and classic hits . . . like "Solitary Man" by Neil Diamond, Abba's "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and just about anything by Barry Manilow . . . over speakers in nearly every retail and dining area on the property (and there are a lot of them), and it seems like everyone here owns their own golf car.   While some of those stereotypes are well earned. There are other factors that define this area that once epitomized rural Florida.   One of the fastest-growing population centers in the country, The Villages is home to more than 116,000 well-heeled retirees and spans about 40 square miles across parts of three counties, making it the 12th-largest city (by population) in Florida - if indeed it were a city, which it is not.  
    We have 630 holes, and we did 3 million rounds last year. These courses are busy all the time. This is the best untold story in golf, and that's why it's important to get the message out that this is such a great opportunity for assistants and interns."
     
    It encompasses an exhaustive network of support services that includes schools and what has to be one of the country's greatest concentrations of banks and financial institutions anywhere not named Wall Street.    In reality, The Villages is an elaborate and complex operation that not only is home to retirees, but employs, either directly or indirectly, thousands of working professionals. It's a backstory few consider when that plays during TV commercials.   The Villages also includes an exhaustive network of support services and 600-plus meticulously managed holes of golf spread across nearly 50 separate nine- and 18-hole courses and even an intricate and complex matrix of retention areas, canals and pump stations capable of moving vast amounts of water several miles.   This ain't your granddad's retirement community. OK, well maybe it is, but you get the point.   Marketed as Florida's Friendliest Hometown, The Villages also is a great place for wannabe superintendents to ply their trade and gain valuable experience, says the man in charge of maintaining more than a third of the golf holes here.   "It's surprising how little people really know about what is here," said Rickey Craig, superintendent over all championship courses at The Villages and two nine-hole executive courses scheduled to open in late October.   "We have 630 holes, and we did 3 million rounds last year. These courses are busy all the time. This is the best untold story in golf, and that's why it's important to get the message out that this is such a great opportunity for assistants and interns."   A native of nearby Center Hill in Sumter County and a graduate of the golf turf program at Lake City Community College (now Florida Gateway College), Craig cut his teeth at some of Florida's more renowned golf facilities, including TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach as well as Grand Cypress, Isleworth Country Club and Shingle Creek, all in Orlando. He grew-in and built Shingle Creek, where he was superintendent for 14 years before making the move to The Villages almost two years ago.   With a pedigree like that, why the move to The Villages?    That's easy, said Craig, who now manages 234 holes on what soon will be 13 separate golf facilities. And the pressure to produce top playing conditions is high every day, and Craig would have it no other way.   "There is no job like this in the world," he said. "It's a unique property in our business. There is no place else where you can go and be over so many golf courses, where golf is still the priority and where you are expected to provide a good, quality product."   The master planned community is about an hour north of Orlando and encompasses more than 40 square miles in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties.    The development includes 36 nine-hole courses and a dozen country club facilities. Two more nine-hole layouts are scheduled to open in October.   Weather, soil and playing conditions at one course can vary greatly from another because the property is so large. For example, it's 10 miles by car between 18-hole layouts Glenview on the property's northern tier to Bonifay on the southern edge.     Dozens of retention areas throughout The Villages are connected by canals and an array of pumps to manage movement of water around the property. The only exceptions are a few environmental wetlands managed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which also has the authority to limit irrigation schedules within The Villages.   "This place is so big that you can get 2 inches of rain at one end of the property and none at the other," Craig said.    "In the spring, we're extremely dry because of water allocations. In the summer, we have to move water because it rains so much."   Arnett Environmental manages flow between water bodies and recently worked with the CDDs, the developer, Craig and a trio of management companies that operate the original 36 nine-hole courses to run irrigation on the golf courses to draw down water levels as part of a flood-prevention plan in advance of Hurricane Irma.   "This has been much more than I was expecting, and I grew up around here, so I watched it being built from the beginning, going back to the old Orange Blossom Hills days," Craig said. "I've seen it grow and develop, and I'm still learning something new every day."   Adam and Jamie would be proud.  
  • Editor's note: We've heard of superintendents and golf professionals advancing their careers by becoming a general manager, but we've never heard of a golf pro earning a degree in turf management. And we've really never heard of one studying turf with hopes of one day becoming an agronomy instructor.   Until now.   William Elam, or Monty as he is known, is a golf pro at a course in southeastern Michigan and recently earned a degree in turfgrass management from the Penn State World Campus. The following is reprinted with permission from Penn State. Look for more on Elam's story at a later date.   Monty Elam has been legally blind since an operation almost a decade ago left him without sight in either eye. But that didn't stop him from earning a bachelor's degree in turfgrass science online through Penn State World Campus.   Elam, 52, is one of the almost 14,000 students who graduated during the university's spring commencement.   Elam chose World Campus for its flexibility and so that he wouldn't have to rely on other people to drive him to classes at a traditional campus. Most of his classmates aren't aware of his disability, he said, even when they do group projects together.   "All the professors have been wonderful," he said. "They've been very accommodating."   Elam completed his degree while working full time as director of golf at Whiteford Valley Golf Club in Ottawa Lake, Michigan, near his home in Toledo, Ohio.   Every spring as the weather warms up, life at the course gets hectic just as his end-of-term coursework also would ramp up, Elam said.   "Things are good until April," he said. "Then it gets tough, with finals coming up and projects due and the golf course starting to get busy."   Elam usually did his coursework at night and early in the morning.    "I'll get up at 4, 4:30 a.m. and do work then," he said. "I'm one of those people who doesn't require a lot of sleep."   Elam regained some vision in his left eye after a 2008 operation, but he compared his vision to holding "a paper towel tube over your eye, with a piece of tissue paper over it."   He uses his computer to enlarge text when he reads and has a document reader that reads to him. He also has a monitor that allows him to view enlarged paper documents.   World Campus gives Elam extra time on exams, since it takes him longer to read questions. Terry Watson, the disability services coordinator for World Campus, helps Elam get electronic versions of his course books so that he can enlarge the print or have the computer read them to him.   Elam now is working toward a master's degree in turfgrass management program through World Campus. His ultimate goal is to teach agronomy and turfgrass management after he retires.
  • For turfgrass management professionals who want to squeeze every conceivable benefit from every drop of irrigation water, Rain Bird Training Services will conduct more than 60 irrigation training events throughout the country through May. All classes are open to irrigation professionals of all experience levels, including golf course superintendents, designers, architects, contractors and distributors.    All classes are eligible for CEUs from the Irrigation Association.   "The need for highly trained, knowledgeable irrigation professionals continues to grow," said Paul Lierheimer, director of Rain Bird's contractor division. "That's why we've packed our training curriculum with a wide variety of courses. We want to help both new and experienced irrigation pros learn about the latest techniques and technology that can help homes, businesses, athletic fields, golf courses and parks use less water in the pursuit of healthy, attractive turf."   Rain Bird Training Services offers three different ways for irrigation professionals to enhance their skill sets, become better water managers and improve their career prospects: Rain Bird Factory Trained Classes, Rain Bird Academy Classes and Rain Bird Customized Training. Classes are held in almost 30 states nationwide. Click here for a schedule and more information. Due to the hands-on nature of these classes, space is limited.   Rain Bird Factory Trained classes provide comprehensive training on Rain Bird products and help attendees become experts on installing, managing and maintaining Rain Bird irrigation systems and earn the designation of factory-trained irrigation professional.   Rain Bird Services will conduct 28 Factory Trained classes during the 2017-2018 training season. These classes span a wide range of topics, including drainage, low-volume irrigation, valves, residential controllers, commercial controllers (ESP-LX, central control systems (MAXICOM and IQ v3.0) and decoders. Golf irrigation topics include Integrated Control System technician, central control operation, satellite control operation and golf course technician.    Rain Bird Academy classes provide general irrigation skills training on products from various manufacturers not just Rain Bird. This training track includes Rain Bird's five popular Boot Camp classes, which are designated as "IA Select" courses by the Irrigation Association (IA). Rain Bird's Irrigation Boot Camp provides attendees with the basics of irrigation in just one short week, making it ideal for individuals who are new to the profession. Boot Camps will take place in numerous cities during the next six months.    Rain Bird Academy classes also are available to prepare individuals for the IA's certification exams (Irrigation Technician, Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor, Certified Golf Irrigation Auditor, Certified Irrigation Designer and Certified Irrigation Consultant).    Rain Bird Customized Training is ideal for multi-course operations, management companies, irrigation contractors, public agencies and irrigation distributors. Rain Bird's highly trained instructors travel to your location and provide training on only the products you use.    "We realize that sending a large group offsite for irrigation training can be cost-prohibitive and logistically difficult," said John Sais, senior technical trainer for Rain Bird Services. "Our customized, on-site training can be much more affordable, and it allows larger organizations to train employees with varying skill levels on products and practices that are completely relevant to their specific needs."   Rain Bird Services also will host two Professional Irrigation Training Camps. These week-long events include both Factory Trained, Boot Camp and Golf training tracks, giving attendees the flexibility to register for those courses that best meet their needs. The first PITC will take place Dec. 11-15 in Las Vegas. The second is scheduled for Feb. 12-16 in Orlando.
  • Spend just a few minutes with Travis Shaddox, and it quickly becomes apparent that he is all about data, peer-reviewed research and the scientific proof it yields. Who can blame him? It is, after all, important for someone in his position as a turfgrass researcher and extension specialist at a satellite campus of a major university in the most densely populated area of the country's third-largest state to have reliable information when making diagnoses and handing out recommendations.
      A soil scientist by training, Shaddox has been working to bring the University of Florida's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center into the 21st century since he arrived at the facility two years ago after a brief career in private industry.   In that time, he has been almost singularly focused on making the center the state's go-to source for all questions about turfgrass fertility with the goal of helping stakeholders in the industry on the never-ending quest of doing more with less.   And the Florida Golf Course Superintendents Association, comprised of 11 chapters and more than 1,100 courses statewide, is only too happy to help him.    "When he was new in that position, we went to him to see what he needed to make things happen," said David Dore-Smith of Copperleaf Golf Club in Bonita Springs, then the president of the FGCSA.    "We wanted to know what we could do to help him help us."   Shaddox had a big ask of the state's turfgrass stakeholders, namely two devices that analyze nutrient content in just about any medium, including turf, water and soil. One device, a Carbon/Hydrogen/Nitrogen Determinator, measures nitrogen content, the other, called an Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometer,  measures "all the other nutrients, except carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen", Shaddox said.    "The way nutrients are analyzed, nitrogen is unique and different from all other elements, in terms of analysis, and then there is everything else. Everything we do requires two steps. We have to analyze for nitrogen, and we have to analyze for everything else."   Thus two machines that eventually will help superintendents, sports turf managers, lawn care operators and others manage fertilizer applications more wisely. By knowing how much of an element already is in the soil or the turf, this information will help end users produce healthier plants with fewer inputs.   "Turf managers want to know what fertilizers do we need to apply, and what nutrients are deficient and can we alleviate that with fertilizer applications," Shaddox said. "Our goal is to better manage the application of nutrients and fertilizers and be able to tell if we have a problem, is it a nutrition problem, a nematode problem or a disease problem.   "Let's ask these questions and in so doing get better at what we do so the end use can be more environmentally conscious."   The association provided the majority of the funding, but it took some salesmanship to do it, and the process has changed the way the FGCSA does business on a day-to-day basis.  
    We wanted to know what we could do to help him help us."
     
    As the president of the FGCSA when the university hired Shaddox, Dore-Smith and FGCSA executive director Jennifer Bryan played key roles in rallying support for Shaddox's cause.   That included convincing others around the state of the benefits of one day knowing exactly how much of an element is in a turf or soil sample and how that knowledge could help superintendents manage nutrient applications more wisely.   "The state association went out to chapters and talked to them about how this would benefit us," Dore-Smith said. "That's how this all came about. In the past, researchers had to go to the chapters individually, and that was not helping the situation. Now we go to the members, discuss what we are doing and we publish an article in every issue of the Florida Green about the research that is taking place and what is taking place around the state.   "This is a big deal, because there are not a lot of places around the country doing testing at this level. No one is doing this. Travis is at the forefront."   Since January, Shaddox has been collecting tissue samples from around Florida to develop ranges and protocols so that that data he produces and the recommendations he one day will make have meaning.   "There are different philosophies in interpreting these numbers, and they all have weaknesses," Shaddox said. "We've developed a philosophy that we have adopted from the medical field, and it's working for us. But we have to establish these ranges first before we can provide any meaningful interpretations and recommendations for superintendents and sports turf managers.    "When you go to the doctor and he tells you that your cholesterol is high, what does that mean. What number to you is high?   "We are comparing an unknown sample to a population of turfgrass that we know is healthy,  just like doctors do in medical world. When doctors say cholesterol is high, what they are doing is comparing my values to 95 percent of healthy people. If my value falls outside that, that is what doctor considers high."   Shaddox hopes that stakeholders around the state will be able to realize a return on their investment some time next year.   "The goal is to get to a point where we can receive samples from the public, analyze them, interpret results and get recommendations back to superintendents within a week," he said. "That is a big challenge, to get that done from scratch."   One more tool that eventually will help superintendents be better stewards of the environment and give them the information they need to use their budget dollars more wisely is critical as the golf industry continues to find new players and revenue opportunities.   "It's huge. To maximize dollars that are being donated is incredibly important," Dore-Smith said. "Donation money across the nation is not easy to get.   "If we can justify what doing and publicize it, then people can see where it is going and then maybe decide to help out. It is important to showcase what we are doing and why we are doing it."  

  • News and people briefs

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Nufarm extends rewards deadline for fire-affected customers in California
      Nufarm has extended its rewards program until July 31, 2018, for golf courses, nurseries, greenhouses and lawn care operators in areas affected by the wildfires in northern California.     "We know that some of our customers in that area have endured tragic loss, and we want do our part to aid in their recovery," said Sean Casey, vice president of the Nufarm turf and ornamental business.    Nufarm Rewards benefits that are normally only available from mid-September through October will be extended through July 31, 2018, with no minimum purchase requirement. The offer is limited to persons and business entities in the zip codes affected in October fires; details are available by CLICKING HERE.   More than 40 Nufarm fungicides, insecticides, herbicides and plant growth regulators are eligible for distributor credit through Nufarm Rewards. Customers must register online; previous registrants are automatically registered for 2018.   Wiedenmann recognizes top sales performers
      Wiedenmann North America recognized its top performers at the company's annual sales meeting held recently in Savannah, Georgia.   Individuals and dealerships were recognized for their outstanding sales efforts in 2016: 2016 Salesman of the Year: Frank McKee, Everglades Farm Equipment, Belle Glade, Florida, 2016 West Coast Dealer of the Year: Pacific Golf & Turf, Portland, Oregon, 2016 East Coast Dealer of the Year: Greenville Turf & Tractor, Greenville,, South Carolina, 2016 Central North America Dealer of the Year: Brookside Equipment Sales, Houston.   Headquartered in Savannah, Wiedenmann North America is the North and South American distributor for Wiedenmann GmBH of Rammingen, Germany, a manufacturer of natural and artificial turf maintenance equipment.   PBI-Gordon prolongs EOP in wake of hurricanes
      PBI-Gordon is extending its early order program for customers in hurricane-affected states in the South and Southeast.   PBI-Gordon customers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas will have until November 30 to take advantage of the maximum rebate allowed for their specific purchases so they can devote attention to recovery efforts after the hurricanes.   CLICK HERE for more information.   "Weather is everything in our business, and this hurricane season has been devastating," said Doug Obermann, PBI-Gordon vice president of professional and agricultural sales. "Our distributor and end-user partners in affected areas have enough work to do without having to worry about early order pricing deadlines."

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