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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    Willie Pennington says he is living proof that the proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" is far more than mere words.   From his parents, to his college professors and football coaches at Tuskegee University and even an induction officer at a military recruiting center during the height of the Vietnam War, Pennington credits all of them with helping shape him into the person he is now: someone who recognizes that hard work, perseverance and focus are key tools needed to navigate through life's stormy seas.   Pennington's relationship with Tuskegee came full-circle on Sept. 15 when he and nine other former Golden Tigers were inducted into the Tuskegee University Athletic Hall of Fame.    "You'd be surprised at who some of the people are in that village," Pennington said.   "They taught you perseverance, the frailty of life, the hardships of life, that you would struggle to get somewhere in life. When you're surrounded by folks of that caliber, things stick with you. You know there are going to be tough days ahead, but you can ease through it and get to where you are trying to go if you stay focused on that end goal.   "The hall of fame wasn't about me, it was about that village."   Those old-school values serve as the founding principle of Tuskegee where a statue of the school's founder, Booker T. Washington, reads: "He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry."   Those words helped Pennington on the football field at Tuskegee where he was a four-year starter at guard, and in life and they continue to resonate with him today. On Friday, Sept. 22, the 69-year-old Pennington, a native of Lisman, Alabama, will celebrate his 45-year anniversary with BASF.   Pennington was a four-year starter at guard on the Tuskegee football team and helped lead the Golden Tigers to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in 1967, 68 and 69. He was named to the all-SIAC team in 1968.   "What an honor to be recognized when you look at the accomplishments of all those young kids," Pennington said.    "When I got there, I was only 16 in 1965. We were just young kids having a good time. Never in my mind did I ever think anything like this would happen to me."   Each year since 1974, the Tuskegee University Athletic Hall of Fame honors many of its former athletes, athletic staff and supporters who have "demonstrated outstanding achievement in areas such as sportsmanship, leadership, community service, education, university support and professional fields."  
    He lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry."
     
    The accomplishments of Tuskegee University graduates read like a who's who of medicine, science and industry, entrepreneurship, politics, civil service, athletic endeavor and entertainment.   George Washington Carver taught there, the university gave rise to the Tuskegee Airmen, and the The Commodores originated there during Pennington's freshman year.   When Pennington arrived on campus as a green-behind-the ears teenager, he did so with aspirations of following in the footsteps of his idol Daniel "Chappie" James Jr.   A 1942 graduate of Tuskegee, James was as a flight instructor and combat pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Air Force during World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War. He was the first black man to attain the rank of four-star general and eventually served as the commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in Colorado.   "I wanted to be a Tuskegee Airman," said Pennington. "I wanted my bars as a second lieutenant, and I wanted to fly B-52s in Vietnam."   After going through Tuskegee's ROTC program, Pennington arrived at an induction center in Montgomery hell-bent on earning his wings.   Surprisingly, an officer there told him to stay in school and forget about life in the military.   "He saw potential in me to do something more," Pennington said. "He told me I was better off not to go to a war-torn country and be back in six weeks in a body bag.   "I look back on it as a blessing. He saw potential. He saw that I could do something better and be part of society and contribute to it."   Although Pennington excelled on the football field, the road to matriculation at Tuskegee wasn't always so easy. As a football star, he recalled how he didn't think he needed to attend English classes.   "I felt I didn't have to go to class," he said. "I was a football player."   His professor eventually set him straight.   "She asked me if I couldn't converse or write a letter, how was I ever going to be able to talk with anyone," he said. "It was all part of being the best you can be."     After earning a degree in chemistry education in 1970, Pennington briefly joined the football staff as an interim coach and scout, before moving on to General Electric later that year where he worked as a nuclear technician reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in the company's Midwest Fuel Recovery Plant in Morris, Illinois.    Two years later, he moved on to begin a long career with BASF. Currently the company's sales representative for the Carolinas region, Pennington has filled a number of roles throughout his 45-year career with the company, including national accounts manager, market manager and fumigation specialist.   He has been named BASF's salesman of the year three times and developed a method for regrassing golf courses that still is used today. For some perspective, Pennington said that when his career with the company began, Jon Sweat, BASF's director of professional and speciality solutions, was just one-day old.   Pennington has given back to others on mission trips to Europe and Central America with his church in his home of Raleigh, North Carolina.   "Tuskegee has a unique history," Pennington said. "When you just look at that statue of Booker T. Washington, whose goal was to lift the veil of ignorance for those who didn't think they could get anywhere, you realize you can do something with your life and be the best you can be. It just takes perseverance and hard work. Tuskegee taught me that."  
  • Golf and government do not always mix. Just look at Fort Brown Memorial Golf Course in Brownsville, Texas.
      Fort Brown once stood as a shining monument to Texas history. Today, it's a discarded remnant of the past.   Built on the site of a former historic military installation named for the city's namesake, Maj. Jacob Brown, the golf course operated from the mid-1950s until its closing in 2015.   It wasn't declining interest in the game that doomed Fort Brown as much as it was federal immigration policy that nearly sealed off the course from the rest of the country and left the property's owner, its determined manager and those who played there out in the cold.   Like many cities throughout the state, Brownsville is rich with history dating to the Texas Revolution, the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.     Commissioned in 1846, the military installation at Fort Brown saw action in armed conflicts dating from the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) to the Civil War to World War II. Originally named Fort Texas, it was late renamed to honor its leader who was killed there in 1846.   During the Civil War, the installation was occupied at one time or another by both Confederate and Union forces, and the Army used it for air combat training during World War II.   Shortly after the fort was decommissioned in 1946, a full century after it was established, the city of Brownsville built a golf course on the site. According to historic archives, the course, like so many others, was built to as an alternative to country club golf.   For more than a half-century, the Fort Brown Memorial Golf Course was a place where locals, including much of the area's Hispanic population, could learn the game and enjoy affordable golf. Originally owned by the city, the course was turned over in 1992 to nearby Texas Southernmost College, which, along with local high schools, used the facility as its home course.   Located on the southern tip of one of the many peninsulas formed by the meandering Rio Grande, the course literally was a short-iron from Matamoros, Mexico. Years ago, that city became a haven for Mexican drug cartels and gangs and quickly cemented a place on the U.S. government's short list of Mexico's most dangerous cities.   Despite its location and aging infrastructure, the course remained quite busy after Bob Lucio took over as manager in 1997. With new irrigation in 2004 and Champion Bermudagrass greens, Fort Brown was humming right along to the tune of about 40,000 rounds per year just as the golf industry was about to go off the rails..    Then came 2005 when word of a pending border fence project leaked out. Lucio's family was heavy into local politics, so he had been aware of border fence rumors in the air, but efforts to fight the fence seemed fruitless. Almost immediately, many who played at Fort Brown on a regular basis stopped coming back and Lucio's insurance carrier nearly doubled his rates. It was bad timing for the operator, who just the year before had invested in a new irrigation system.    With the wounds inflicted on 9/11 still fresh in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security made good on a pledge to try to curtail drug and crime activity in Matamoros from crossing the border and in 2008-2009 constructed the fence years before political rhetoric of a wall dominated the news and election cycles. Rather than follow the course of the river throughout the entirety of its run between the Brownsville and Matamoros, the fence cuts along in a series of straight lines in some of those peninsular areas, virtually isolating sects of American territory between Mexico and the manmade barrier and alienating people on both sides of the Rio Grande. Located in that no-man's land, seemingly cut off from the rest of Brownsville and the state of Texas was the golf course.   There was still limited access to the course after the fence went up, but getting there became a lot harder and being there became a lot less safe. Predictably, play slowed to a trickle right away. Revenue, according to past reports, dropped by nearly half that first year, but Lucio was determined to try to make a go of it. Eventually, the prep and college teams that called Fort Brown home were forbidden to play or even practice there out of concerns for player safety.   A sign on the 16th hole warned golfers that hitting a ball into Mexico - which was very doable from many areas on the course, even for hackers - would mean prosecution. It was intended as a lighthearted reminder of the proximity to one of Mexico's worst neighborhoods.   The writing was on the wall for golfers at Fort Brown and its manager, who slogged on until 2015, when the course finally closed.   Two years later, reminders of the course still are visible, and a video by USA Today indicates fixtures still remain inside the abandoned clubhouse.   Fort Brown Memorial's past as a purveyor of affordable golf for the masses is a reminder of what is good about golf. Overgrown and abandoned, and its stakeholders forgotten, it also is a reminder that golf and government don't always mix.
  • Many parts of the country really haven't had much in the way of summer-like conditions this year, so it's a little hard to believe it already is time for many superintendents to begin thinking about winter prep.
      GRIGG (formerly Grigg Brothers), in cooperation with the universities of Massachusetts and Georgia, is presenting a three-day series of TurfNet University Webinars covering just about all aspects of winter prep on golf courses.   The three-day seminar takes place from 1-2 p.m. each day from Sept. 26 through Sept. 28.   Michelle DaCosta, associate professor of turfgrass physiology at UMass kicks things off Sept. 26 with her presentation titled Maximizing cool-season turfgrass physiology and management for winter survival.   DaCosta has published research on the effects of winter conditions on annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass. Her presentation will focus on a practical overview of cool-season turfgrass physiology and management strategies as related to low temperature preconditioning and winter survival.    Topics for discussion will include the major causes for winter injury in northern climates, physiological mechanisms aiding in turfgrass freezing tolerance, as well how environmental conditions and management practices interact with turfgrass physiology to impact winter survival.    Attendees will gain a better understanding of best management practices to help minimize winter injury and promote turf recovery in the spring.   The series continues on Sept. 27 when Gordon Kauffman, III, Ph.D., turf and ornamental technical specialist for Brandt, presents Cultural strategies for autumn and cool-season turfgrasses.   In this webinar, the emphasis will be on fertilization and additional cultural practices that can lead to improved turf vigor, winter survival, and spring green up. Specific attention will be paid to nutrient requirements, their source, and timing and method of application.    Attendees will gain an important understanding of how carefully planned fall fertilization, mechanical cultivation and disease control strategies can impact turfgrass growth and vigor as we head into the late fall and winter seasons.   The series will close Sept. 28 when Gerald Henry, Ph.D., associate professor of turfgrass environmental science at the University of Georgia, presents Preparing warm-season turfgrasses for cold stress.   In that presentation, Henry will discuss low-temperature stress and proper management strategies to enhance warm-season turfgrass acclimation to winter conditions.    Specific topics will include impact of cultural practices on the onset of turfgrass dormancy, symptomatology of freezing injury, genetic variability in freezing tolerance and microclimate influences on injury severity.    Expected learning outcomes include the identification of best management practices for the reduction of winter injury and encouragement of turfgrass recovery/spring green-up.   All TurfNet University Webinars are sponsored by GRIGG and BASF and are free for TurfNet members and non-members. These and all webinars are recorded for on-demand playback, but you have to be a TurfNet member if you want to watch those.   Click here for more information about the benefits of TurfNet membership.
  • Ben Franklin is credited with saying "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."   His words are as poignant now as they were in the 18th century, and that philosophy is the basis for a hands-on learning experience that professors at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are bringing to turf managers across the state.   The two-day Evidence-Based Turf Management workshop includes a mix of classroom lecture followed by hands-on learning in a laboratory or field environment. Part I, held last year at the university's research station in Fort Lauderdale, focused on the role of water, light, temperature and nutrition in turf management. Part II, held recently at the main campus in Gainesville, focused on managing pests, namely weeds, pathogens, insects and nematodes, with a half day devoted to each.   "One of the cool things is we enforce lectures with hands-on experience. We spend time in the laboratory looking through a microscope looking at plants with diseases and scraping those leaf surfaces and look at them under the microscope and identify them, and then we come back and reinforce that with some lecture content," said Bryan Unruh, Ph.D., professor of environmental horticulture, extension specialist and assistant director at UF's West Florida Research and Education Center in the Panhandle town of Jay.   "Because it is a two-day event, we are able to dig in deeper. We still provide education at state conferences and regional seminars and industry meetings. Those are good, but you can only go so far in one hour. Here, we have two days digging in and digging in deep. It's cool to see light bulbs go off and have 'aha' moments when attendees connect field experience with what they are seeing in a lab."   Instructors in the pest management workshop were weed scientist Jay Ferrell, Ph.D., turf pathologist Phil Harmon, Ph.D., entomologist Adam Dale, Ph.D., and nematologist Billy Crow, Ph.D., who gave a primer on nematodes that are commonly found in finely managed turfgrass in Florida.   
    Because it is a two-day event, we are able to dig in deeper. We still provide education at state conferences and regional seminars and industry meetings. Those are good, but you can only go so far in one hour. Here, we have two days digging in and digging in deep."
     
    That session also included a visit to the nematode lab, where workers there demonstrated how to extract nematode samples from soil before they can be identified. Attendees then prepared their own lance nematode samples for viewing under the microscope. He also led a demonstration in which his "students" used forceps to coax female root knot nematodes from galls on the leaf surface of turf samples.   "The primary objective was to teach attendees about the major types of nematodes that affect turf, recognize the symptoms of different types of nematodes, take samples and interpret the results," Crow said. "It is important to make the correct identification so you can pick the right control method for the specific nematodes you have."   Ferrell kicked off the workshop with a brief history of herbicides, a lecture on how they work and why some work better than others. Visitors to Phil Harmon's lab in Fifield Hall went into the yard outside the building for some quick in-the-field disease diagnosis and retreated inside to learn the differences between some common turf pathogens. That workshop also included preparing and viewing samples under a microscope for the purpose diagnosing pathogens such as sclerotinia homeocarp, rhizoctonia, curvularia and Pythium.   All lessons and findings shared with attendees are supported by published peer-reviewed research.   "When we set out to do these evidence-based turf management workshops, we get published research behind them," Unruh said. "These are not our opinions or ideas, these are facts."   The emphasis on correct diagnosis of a pest problem was an overarching theme throughout each of the four presentations.   "Correct diagnosis is the first step to effective control," Dale said.   His presentation covered some of the most common insect pests in Florida turfgrass. And although superintendents in other parts of the country might never have to worry about control methods for southern mole crickets, the basic tenets of Dale's presentation transcend geography and insect species.   "All pests directly interact with temperature, water, plant stress. Anything that makes the landscape what it is has an effect on insect pests," Dale said. "The keys to pest management are: what is the host, how does the pest feed, what is its lifecycle. All these things tell you how to treat, with what and when."   He offered a five-step process to implementing a successful IPM plan for insect pest management.   > know what problem is; > track the problem, monitor pests and damage; > decide when to act; > select a specific IPM; > evaluate progress.   "There was a need across the state for more information. We put our brains together and came up with an event that provided greater value than a traditional turf conference," said Travis Shaddox, Ph.D., assistant professor of turfgrass science and extension specialist at UF's Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center. "We felt we could provide experiential value, looking under a microscope and going out into the field to support a lecture."  
  • For those who need a utility vehicle designed for rugged terrain and extreme conditions, John Deere offers two new additions to its Gator lineup.
      The gas-powered Gator HPX615E and the diesel-powered Gator HPX815E offer four-wheel drive as well as enhanced payload, cargo capacity, towing and overall stability.   Most notably, the cargo box features removable sides and tailgate, a one-handed, pickup style opening, and is designed to last with durable composite construction that makes it dent, rattle and rust-resistant.    The new Gators also offer more cargo volume, up to 16.3 cubic feet. And the cargo box can be transformed to a flatbed for carrying large, irregular shaped cargo.   Both new models boast new styling, 1,000-pound cargo capacity, 1,300-pound towing capacity and 1,400-pound payload capacity. Optimal weight distribution, 6-inches (152.4 mm) of ground clearance and four-wheel drive allow both the gas- and diesel-powered models to tackle most types of terrain and go places many other vehicles cannot.
  • Hazard: an unavoidable danger or risk, even though often foreseeable; something causing unavoidable danger, peril, risk, or difficulty; the absence or lack of predictability; chance; uncertainty.   According to the USGA's Rules of Golf, bunkers on golf courses are supposed to be hazards, and should be maintained as such. Golfers, on the other hand, appear to be split on that issue.   There are golfers who view hazards as the USGA does, and those who believe they should have a perfect bunker lie every time; the latter meaning the only hazard on a golf course is the cost of maintaining them.   Finding ways to reduce bunker maintenance is the easy part. Convincing some golfers of the merits of reducing the amount of labor spent maintaining hazards and redirecting it elsewhere can be another matter entirely. Since it doesn't appear that the economics of golf are going to get better anytime soon, it's always a challenge worth taking on.   According to Brad Klein of Golfweek in a story written more than a decade ago, bunker rakes were not used on golf courses, even during major championships, until the 1950s. Before that, "bunker" and "maintenance" were two words that had no business appearing in the same sentence.   Recently, the USGA Green Section published a short piece on an alternative method to bunker maintenance that minimizes the time workers spend hand raking by devoting attention only to disturbed areas, allowing superintendents to devote resources where they are needed most. Known as the Australian Method, it also all but eliminates fried egg lies and results in bunkers that are playable, but not perfect, retaining some of that original intent of penalizing golfers for hitting a wayward shot.   This raking technique produces finely raked and consistent bunker floors and smooth edges. It is something the USGA has been promoting for more than five years when it was the preferred method of bunker maintenance during the 2011 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in Australia.    Superintendents and their teams that have used variations of this method have used brooms, squeegees and other implements to produce the smooth outer edges. But the technique was tweaked, if not perfected, by the green staff at Pinehurst as they prepared for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Open, held on No. 2 in successive weeks in 2014.   Unable to produce the desired smoothness with other tools, the staff their found the look and conditions they sought simply by flipping the furrowed rakes and using the backside.   The results since include playable, but not perfect, conditions on the bunker floors and smoothed faces that only are groomed when disturbed. The infrequent maintenance time spent on those faces results in a crustiness, says the Green Section, that resists embedded fried egg lies.   The ability to produce more consistent bunker conditions while reducing maintenance costs and minimizing fried eggs is a solution any golfer should be able to support.
  • When discussing turf stressors in the Midwest, nematodes typically do not come up in conversation very often. But, it is a discussion that is becoming more common.   Don't tell that to Tim Glorioso, who has been struggling for ways to control stunt nematodes for much of his 17 years at Toledo Country Club, an 1897 Willie Park Jr. design along the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio.   "I don't think we had a problem when I got here, but when I got here, I started a heavy topdressing program," Glorioso said. "That's when it became a problem. When you have that sand layer you have created a perfect environment for nematodes."   Shortly after he started building that sand layer at Toledo, Glorioso noticed occasional signs of stress he hadn't seen before. Symptoms appeared as yellowing, stressed turf. It wasn't until about seven years ago, after talking with turf consultant Brian Mavis, that Glorioso even considered nematodes.   "It was irregular. Something was going on, but I didn't know what it was," Glorioso said.   "Brian asked if I had ever checked for nematodes, and I said nematodes? We don't have nematodes in Ohio, "   A root sample sent to the University of Massachusetts revealed otherwise.   The presence of nematodes in Ohio and other northern states isn't all that rare, says Joe Rimelspach, Ph.D., turf pathologist at Ohio State.    Factors contributing to nematodes entering the conversation on a more regular basis, he said, are the loss of some control products, and, as in the case of Toledo Country Club, misdiagnosis.   "We are seeing a lot of nematodes this summer," Rimelspach said.   "It's not abnormal to have nematodes in Ohio, but I think one of the reasons were seeing so many is because we had some really strong products in the past, like Nemacur, that we've lost."   After Oct. 6, Nemacur will be gone for good in the United States. Nemacur sales were stopped in 2008, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave turf managers until Oct. 6, 2014 to use existing stock. That deadline was extended in September 2017.   Even when he learned he had nematodes at Toledo Country Club, Glorioso struggled to control them. Turf that showed increasing signs of stress summer after summer. And he and members of his team had to return to the course every afternoon throughout the summer to hand water the weakest areas.   "We had whole areas on greens wilting," he said.    "We had to come in every afternoon and syringe them. You couldn't go a day without it. It was a train wreck."   Recently, hes tried a couple of new products - Indemnify and Divanem - and his life has gotten much easier.   "I tried different products over the years, and nothing worked," he said.    "I think I've finally found something that works."   He is still testing greens every day with a TDR meter, but hes spending less time hand watering and believes he can cut that time even more.   Now, other turf managers around the area are calling him asking for tips on nematode control.   "We've probably cut our hand watering time in half," he said. "This is my first year, so I don't know yet how far I can go. I'm still afraid. I still go check them every day. I think we can cut even more if I had the nerve to just let them go."
  • As Hurricane Irma bears down on Florida, Jacksonville-based GT AirInject Inc. plans to deliver four new Air2G2 Soil CPR machines to help renovate and restore more than 20 golf courses and sports fields in Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The machines will be delivered next week to aid in the ongoing recovery of the Texas facilities.   GT AirInject, Inc. will transport the machines to Texas on Monday, Sept. 11 for use at approximately 20 golf courses  and numerous athletic fields. Hurricane Harvey did damage to facilities at every level. Golf courses and sports fields ranging from recreation, municipal and professional facilities, all sustained damage from flooding and compaction.    The Air2G2 machine injects air into the soil profile to open pore space, increase percolation to move standing water through the soil column and help turf recover. Turf managers who have expressed interest in utilizing the Air2G2 to help recover their turf from massive flooding, particularly in the Houston and southeast Texas region will be able to do so at no cost to them at least through October. The transport from Jacksonville to the Houston area is expected to take at least 48 hours and the shipping and usage will come at no expense to the facilities.   Jeff Kadlec, owner and manager of GLK Turf Solutions in San Antonio and an Air2G2 distributor, will coordinate the effort in Texas.
  • When Dick Gray of PGA Golf Club learned that he had been named the recipient of the 2016 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta, he immediately asked in jest: What's the criteria, age?   For the record, age is not among the criteria on which nominees are judged, and in Gray's case, it didn't even help, even though he was 74 when he won the honor.   TO NOMINATE SOMEONE CLICK HERE    What does matter is experience and performance in several other areas. And like so many others who have been nominated for the award during the past 17 years, that is where Gray excelled. In fact, by the time he relinquishes his title, Gray will have overseen renovations on four golf courses in four years, including one this fall, at the PGA of America-owned facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida.   In fact, the criteria for the award when Gray won have been the same since Kent McCutcheon, then of Las Vegas Paiute Resort won the inaugural Superintendent of the Year Award in Y2K: 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.   If you know a superintendent who excels at any combination of the above, please nominate him or her for the 2017 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, presented by Syngenta.   Nominations can be submitted by colleagues, employees, general managers, golfers, club members, vendors, or anyone else who believes their candidate deserves recognition.   The nomination deadline is Nov. 30.   The winner will receive a nifty plaque and a trip for two on the TurfNet members golf trip in fall 2018 to a destination that has yet to be determined. Prior stops on the trip include a host of courses throughout Ireland, Whistling Straits and Bandon Dunes. This year's trip, scheduled for October, will be a tour of golf courses in Scotland.   Finalists will be profiled later this year on TurfNet and the winner will be announced in February at the 2018 Golf Industry Show in San Antonio.
  • As a turfgrass researcher, Todd Hicks used to be wary of growing conditions in August. Any more? Not so much.   "In the old days, I don't feel like I'm that old, but evidently I am, I used to fear August," said Hicks, research program manager for the turf pathology department at Ohio State at this year's Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Turf Research Field Day. "It was a heavy month, then in September it started to slow down, and in October you looked forward to shutting her down."   That hasn't been the case in late summer and early fall in Ohio the past few years, however, as mild conditions have persisted deeper into the calendar.   For example, temperatures in September 2016 reached 90 degrees on five occasions in Columbus. On seven days throughout the month, six of which fell after the 17th, the daily high exceeded the historic average by 10 degrees or more. That trend continued in October, with temperatures of 80 degrees or more on eight days, and on 10 occasions the daily high beat the average by at least 10 degrees.   "In years like this, we have one month, December, where we have cool conditions," Hicks said. "This year, guys were mowing in Ohio by the end of January. The turf got one month off. Diseases and other problems were doing the same thing. You end the season behind, and start the next season with shorter roots."   That trend is not unique to central Ohio or the OTF Turfgrass Research and Education Facility. It's one that is occurring with regularity in many locales around the country. And it is beginning to change the way some researchers look at turf management.   "We're now transitioning to a longer, warmer fall. More than 50 percent of the golf courses I talk to are busier in September than they are in August," Hicks said.    "Traditionally, people have been taking their foot off the gas a bit by then. Guys are tired and they're losing some of their help. But now, you still have a lot of things going on, and it's easy to fall behind. Then you add on things like normal agronomic practices, which are set on the schedule because of time and play. We have to stop and look at what we're doing. We are doing everything agronomically wrong because of the golfer."   Hicks says agronomic practices should be scheduled around local weather conditions, not golfers. And changing some of those practices, like solid tining rather than coring, can make that easier.   "Breaking up the soil and letting some air in there is a good thing. The only time you need to think about pulling a core is when you have thatch issues," Hicks said.   "Superintendents are doing more than they've ever done, and sometimes I think they just don't have time to ask these questions."  
    If we'd gotten two solid weeks of heat and humidity this summer, we'd have to change our phone numbers."
     
    Because of changes in the local climate the past couple of years, Hicks and Joe Rimelspach, Ph.D., turf pathologist at Ohio State, are seeing some things in the field they aren't always used to seeing, including gray leaf spot in juvenile tall fescue and gray leaf spot on perennial ryegrass. Throw on top of that typical hot and humid summer conditions, and some old favorites are back stronger than ever.   "I've never seen dollar spot this aggressive or severe in high-cut turf than it is this year," Rimelspach said. "I don't know what it is, but in Ohio this is the worst year I've seen.   "Last year, we saw gray leaf spot in perennial ryegrass first on July 29. This year, the first reported sighting was at least two weeks earlier than that.    "This has been a challenging year."   The only thing bailing out superintendents this summer, Hicks said, has been a seemingly regular cycle this summer of a few hot, humid days followed by a couple of days of cooler temperatures. If it weren't for that, he said, the phone in the OSU turf pathology lab would be ringing much more often than it already is.   "The saving grace has been that feast-or-famine weather pattern of three to five days of hot followed by two to three days of cooler temperatures that allow guys to catch up," Hicks said. "If we'd gotten two solid weeks of heat and humidity this summer, we'd have to change our phone numbers."
  • At the 2016 edition of the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Turf Research Field Day, Dave Shetlar, Ph.D., was bid a fond farewell prior to his pending retirement. At this year's event, it didn't look like much had changed for Shetlar, who was Ohio State University's turfgrass entomologist for nearly 20 years. As about 200 attendees packed the OTF facility in Columbus to hear the latest in turfgrass management research from the OSU faculty, there was Shetlar, holding a cup filled with white grubs and talking to turf managers about how to kill them.    "The retired Dave Shetlar doesn't look very retired to me," said Joe Rimelspach, Ph.D., OSU's turfgrass pathologist.   The Bug Doc, as he's affectionately known, might be retired, but, unlike the grubs he was toting around during field day at the OTF Research and Education Facility, he's still quite active.   Shetlar, 71, still is doing a lot of extension work around the state. He is teaching an online course that is continually being tweaked and that he described as so exhaustive it will give students virtually everything they need to know about any invasive turf pest found anywhere in the world. He also is in the process of revising "Destructive Turf Insects" which he co-authored in 2001 with Harry Niemczyk, Ph.D.   His annual bluegrass weevil trials in the Cleveland area are ongoing, and after a mandatory 60-day separation agreement after his retirement last spring forced him off campus temporarily, he soon will have an office on campus and trials under way at the research facility.   "I had to move work off university property for a while. But in 2018 I will be back at the research facility working on sod webworms on bentgrass, billbugs, etc.," Shetlar said.    "I'm still trying to figure out what retirement really means. I have the chance to say 'no' to some extension work when I want to, but the reality is that I will be doing exactly what I've been doing. I'll still be doing field testing, still doing conferences and shows. Right now, all retirement means is I'm not getting a paycheck from the university. I'm getting a retirement check."   In the short amount of time he has been "retired" Shetlar already has been missed, said Rimelspach.   At a recent field day for lawn care operators, "more than one person asked 'where's the Bug Doc? And where is his replacement?" Rimelspach said. "If he's not here, his replacement should be here."   Shetlar said there are no plans to replace him as the university's turf entomologist. Contraction through attrition is a disturbing trend in turfgrass academia as researchers nationwide compete for a shrinking pool of funds.   John Street, Ph.D., who has been a turfgrass professor since 1975 when he headed the OSU-Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster, has been on the main campus in Columbus since 1980 and since then has been one of the leading voices in sports turf management research, extension and education. Although he retired in 2015, he still retains professor emeritus status and directs the educational components of OTF's annual summer field day and the conference and show held each December.   "There will not be a replacement for John Street, and there will not be a replacement for Dave Shetlar. The bottom line reality is that the extension funding line of federal and state dollars has been on the decline," Shetlar said. "And the easiest decision to make is that when those positions are vacated we just won't fill them.   "I can't tell you how many times I've submitted grant proposals to federal agencies and got top marks for it. But it isn't food. You can't eat it, so it's not going to get funded. That's been my biggest frustration, and if you talk to any other turf entomologist they're complaining about the same thing. We have ideas; we have an industry that needs our expertise. But, try to get money for it. It isn't going to happen."  
    Right now, all retirement means is I'm not getting a paycheck from the university. I'm getting a retirement check."
     
    Shetlar came to Ohio State in 1990. Before that, he was a professor at Penn State and spent six years as a research scientist in the private sector for ChemLawn (now TruGreen).   In that time, he's helped countless golf course superintendents, sports field managers, lawn and landscape professionals and residential homeowners find solutions to their insect pest problems.   Fortunately for turf students, turf managers and homeowners throughout Ohio and elsewhere, he hasn't lost his zeal for sharing his knowledge about bugs in turf.   He is working with Purdue entomologist Doug Richmond, Ph.D., to revise "Destructive Turf Insects" and the online course he teaches - Entomology 5608-Turfgrass Insect and Mite Pests: Identification, Biology and Management - include 28 modules that cover virtually every turf pest on the planet, how to control them, and how to get the most out of insecticides and biological controls.   "Anyone who takes that course should have everything that they would ever need," he said. "It actually has more information than my book."   He also is developing a virtual pest tour that he hopes will be ready for students next spring. That module will present students with different problems at different locations during different times of the year and will prompt them to make recommendations for control based on their observations.   "The idea," he said, "is to get people thinking about different things that they need to be doing."    That's pretty innovative thinking for someone who is retired - or at least is supposed to be.
  • This year's Solheim Cup highlighted much of what is good about golf.   The hybrid course fashioned from 36-hole Des Moines Golf and Country Club was immaculate thanks to Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS, and his crew, who have been preparing for the event for much of the past five years. Tegtmeier also received a lot of help during the week of the event from dozens of volunteers from throughout state and the surrounding region, most of whom had previous ties to Iowa or Tegtmeier or both. Galleries turned out in record-setting numbers, and the state of Iowa, which isn't a familiar stop on the golf major trail, showed that it was more than capable of grabbing the spotlight on the game's biggest stage.   The event also shed light on some of the things that are wrong with golf. At the top of that list is the obvious fact that those who don't live every day in the turf world have no idea what takes place behind the scenes to ensure such an event goes off without a hitch.   Remember the Staples Easy Button? Regardless of how many "Thank a superintendent" ads the GCSAA cranks out on weekends, there are many people who believe pressing that button is all that is required to provide championship conditions, even for a high-profile event like the Solheim Cup.   That was never more evident than when a single irrigation head malfunctioned for no apparent reason, delaying a final-day match between Paula Creamer and Georgia Hall for all of three minutes. Tegtmeier's team was on top of the situation, and lickety-split the sprinkler was shut down, any excess water was squeegeed off and play resumed. No harm, no foul.   The incident falls under the category of stuff happens. Unexpected blips like this occur in every industry every day. The story isn't that these things happen. What is important is how those involved recover afterward.    Did it affect the match, won by Creamer, 1-up? Not likely.   Did it affect the outcome of the contest, won by the U.S., 16.5-11.5? Not a chance.   Things happen. It was fixed. Play resumed. End of story.   So, when reporters seized sprinkler-gate as a story opportunity, it's no wonder Tegtmeier, who spent nearly every day for the past five years preparing for the event, was, in a word, frustrated.   One media outlet even went so far as to say that the green would have flooded under the pressure of three minutes of water from a single head if not for the heroic efforts of a rules official who tried to stand on the sprinkler. Even the PGA of America climbed on the sprinkler-gate bandwagon.   Flooding?    After 3 minutes of water?   On a new, tournament-ready green?   Seriously?   One member of the media went so far as to point out his position in relation to the sprinkler, making the story not about how the mishap affected play, but how it affected him.   As Mark Twain once said: "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."   Tegtmeier hinted that a better storyline might be how the club staged what by all accounts was a successful event after five years of preparation that included dozens of people from multiple.    In all fairness, the local paper did a short feature on tournament prep, but spent more verbiage on the threat of rain and who at the LPGA was really calling the shots than any of the nuances of DMGCC or those who worked to make sure the best women golfers from the U.S. and Europe had a venue worthy of a Solheim Cup.   "That's not much of a story," was the abridged version of the response Tegtmeier received.   Therein lies the problem.     Media outlets were abuzz after the event about record attendance, record merchandise sales, and how city and state organizers came together to host an event that made Iowa and the Des Moines area, which never have held a U.S. Open, PGA Championship or Ryder Cup, look like veterans of major championship golf. For the record, the nearby Wakonda Club does a great job every year as the host site of the Champions Tour's Principal Charity Classic and DMGCC was the site of the 1999 U.S. Senior Open, but the area has never before been part of anything of this scale.   Civic pride? News.   Concerts? News.   Sprinkler malfunction? News.   Reporter standing near said sprinkler? News.   How to set up the venue on which the event is played? Sorry, nothing to see here.   The topic of turf management always has carried the stigma of being "too inside baseball" for the average media consumer, and evidently the average media outlet. Those outside the business don't care about grass as long as it is green. When playing conditions are less than perfect, even for 3 minutes, everyone wants a scapegoat.   If members of the media really want to know what is involved in preparing for a golf tournament, invite them to find out for themselves. If they want access to the superintendent, for good stories, or bad, they can be at the maintenance facility at 4 a.m. during tournament week like everyone else. See it, live it, learn it, understand it. Otherwise, keep your questions and comments to yourself.  
  • In the ongoing struggle to control white grubs in golf course turf, research conducted at Purdue University indicates that granular and liquid formulations of some biological controls can be effective tools in a turfgrass manager's arsenal.   Doug Richmond, Ph.D., associate professor of turfgrass entomology at Purdue, and Robert Behle, Ph.D., research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recently completed a three-year study showing that liquid or granular formulations of a common biological control were effective at killing Japanese beetles, June beetles, masked chafers throughout various life stages.   The researchers used a USDA method, known as liquid culture fermentation, to mass produce Metarhizium fungi and convert them into granular form that is applied to the soil. According to Richmond and Behle, liquid and granular formulations of Metarhizium fungi made with microsclerotia that are capable of producing infective conidia after application to the field can be more effective than commercial grade biologicals at controlling grubs depending on the life stage of the pest.   Beetles were collected at three stages of the lifecycle and placed in cups where they were exposed to varied rates of commercial grade biologicals, granules made from microsclerotia and imidacloprid.   Control of biological products ranged from 20 percent in the larval stage early in the season to almost 70 percent in third instar grubs in late summer or early fall. By comparison, imidacloprid controlled virtually all grubs in the larval stage, but control was similar to that shown by biological products at the third instar level.   The project, which was conducted on Kentucky bluegrass turf in West Lafayette, Indiana, was funded by a grant from the U.S. Golf Association.   Researchers were not recommending biologicals as a replacement for tools like imidacloprid, but rather as part of an integrated pest management plan.  
  • In the high-stakes game of major championship golf, Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS, never has been a player. But if he didn't put a chip onto the table at least once in his career, Tegtmeier didn't want to spend the rest of his life asking himself "what if?"   In his one trip to the table, Tegtmeier hit the mother lode, delivering to the LPGA a golf course that was in nearly flawless condition and provided a stern test of player skill in what many are calling one of the best Solheim Cup championships ever played.   "When the opportunity came, it scared the (expletive deleted) out of me," said Tegtmeier, director of grounds at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, in West Des Moines, Iowa.   "It's always something I wanted to do. I thought to myself 'can Rick Tegtmeier do this?' I've had a lot of sleepless nights wondering if I could pull this off."   Turns out, Tegtmeier was worried over nothing. And that is because he has 36 freshly renovated holes and what he called a "rock star" team that planned for every possible contingency.   That team included North and South course superintendents Nate Tegtmeier and Tim Sims, respectively, DMGCC's staff of about 45 and dozens of volunteers from golf courses around Iowa and throughout the region, many of whom had Iowa ties.   One of the most important jobs of the week was blowing clippings from fairways after a fleet of borrowed fairway mowers arrived sans buckets.   In that group was Doug Krantz, general manager of D&K Products, a Des Moines-based supplier of turfcare products.  
    It's always something I wanted to do. . . . I've had a lot of sleepless nights wondering if I could pull this off."
     
    Krantz, according to his Apple Watch, walked 87 miles throughout the week - just blowing clippings.    Aaron Porter also logged some time with a backpack blower. The superintendent at Fargo Country Club in North Dakota, Porter also is a former North Course superintendent at Des Moines Golf and Country Club.   "Rick, Nate, and Tim have a finely tuned machine, as it always was," Porter said.   "(They) and the rest of the crew deserve all the credit on this one. They deserve to be proud as the course, the amenities, and the food they served us all week were first class. "There is no doubt in my mind that Rick Tegtmeier is one of the best in the game."   Tegtmeier wanted to ensure that the event helped shine a spotlight on his colleagues as well as his staff.   "I really wanted this to be an Iowa pride event," said Tegtmeier. "Iowa guys really don't get a chance to do majors, or big golf tournaments. To have something like that here and have so many guys from Iowa volunteer; that was way cool."   Mission accomplished.   The Solheim Cup was played on DMGCC's original 18 holes, which comprises a hybrid mix of holes from the club's recently renovated North and South courses. Beginning in 2013, the club closed and refurbished nine holes per year after a master plan developed by Pete Dye and Tim Liddy. The renovations were announced before the club secured the Solheim Cup.   "People think we did this for the Solheim Cup. We did this for our membership," Tegtmeier said.    "It was tough on the crew, Tim and Nate through the whole thing. And, it was tough on the membership to close nine holes a year for four years.    "The Solheim Cup is three days. What we did for the members is for a lifetime."     That doesn't mean the LPGA and the U.S. and European teams didn't benefit from Dye and Liddy's handiwork. They certainly did.   Attendance of 124,464 at the event, won by the U.S. team 16.5-11.5, set a new Solheim Cup record. Merchandise sales and infrastructure build out - concessions and souvenir tents, hospitality pavilions, grandstands - also established new LPGA records. That, according to the LPGA, included 250,000 square feet of flooring, 200,000 square feet of structure, bleacher seats to accomodate 1,200 people, 1 mile of fence and 1.5 miles of railing. The 7.3 million people who watched at home on TV, according to the Golf Channel, were the most since the 2014 U.S. Women's Open at Pinehurst No. 2.   The LPGA tweeted after the event: "Thank you, Des Moines/West Des Moines and the state of Iowa. You delivered!"   None delivered more than Tegtmeier's army of staff and volunteers that included Doug Ruffridge, Fargo's Porter and Steve Cook, the host superintendent of the 2004 Ryder Cup Matches and 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  
    He drove up here every day and was always on time. It wrenches your heart that these guys are there for you."
     
    Andy Johnson, an assistant under Tegtmeier during their days together at Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids who is now out of the industry, took a week off from his job at a Seattle-area hospital to help his former boss.   Ruffridge, a retired superintendent from a nine-hole facility in Pocahontas, Iowa, drove 140 miles one way from Sunday to Sunday to be part of the event.   "He drove up here every day and was always on time," Tegtmeier said. "It wrenches your heart that these guys are there for you."   For the past nine years, Porter has been the superintendent at Fargo Country Club in North Dakota. Before that, he was the North Course superintendent at DMGCC under Tegtmeier from 2001 to 2008. He and his 11-year-old son, Roman, worked the event for six days, mowing fairways and blowing clippings. The trip back to DMGCC was a welcome homecoming.   "I put more work and time into DMGCC than any other course I've been at now just next to my current job of nine years at FCC," Porter said. "I wanted to see the changes to the course with the renovation, and I wanted to experience working on the other end of the spectrum of setting up a major tournament where I can watch and absorb everything that goes into it. "It has always been a goal to host an event at a high level and to experience it for the first time at DMGCC was priceless."  
  • This isn't your grandfather's weed handbook. In fact, at 136 pages, Purdue University's Turfgrass Weed Control for Professionals might be best described as the mother of all weed guides.   This newly expanded guide provides weed identification and control information that turfgrass professionals can use to develop effective weed control programs for golf courses, athletic fields, sod farms, lawns, and other turfgrass systems.    Updated annually since its inaugural printing in 2012, the guide identifies a total of 105 weeds and contains more than 300 color images. It is available in hard copy for $20 or as a download for $12.   Authored by Purdue's Aaron Patton, Ph.D., and Dan Weisenberger, the guide also includes input from scientists in several other states, including Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin.   For each weed, the guide includes the scientific name and characteristics such as growth type, detailed physical description, habitat and favorable growth conditions, control options and similar weed types.   Other additions new to this year's edition include: a chart describing the label notes of postemergence crabgrass herbicides based on growth stage, modifications to the weed control efficacy tables. recommendations on herbicides for use on buffalograss as well as new information on herbicides and plant growth regulators.
  • Today would have been Griffin Engle's 10th birthday. Instead of helping him celebrate a milestone, dozens of his friends and family members will gather at Plank Road Park in Brewerton, New York, where Griffin played soccer so they can trade stories, cry on each other's shoulders, have a little fun and tell one another about how they were fortunate to know the fun-loving boy, who died three years ago after losing a brief fight with pediatric cancer.
      "My wife and I have a celebration at the park and soccer field where he played," said Adam Engle, Griffin's dad and the superintendent at Lake Shore Yacht and Country Club in Cicero, New York. "Friends and family get together and we all celebrate Griff."   Griffin Engle's story, and that of his family, is a complicated tale woven with immense tragedy, bravery, loss, heartache and an overwhelming desire to help others traveling a similar path.   The middle of the Adam and Erin Engle's three children, Griffin was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer, shortly after his sixth birthday in 2013. He underwent surgery and a series of radiation and chemotherapy treatments to no avail. He died Sept. 12, 2014, just 25 days after he turned 7. Since then, his family has worked tirelessly through Griffin's Guardians, a 501c3 foundation they established in his memory, to help others who are experiencing similar situations.   The foundation, which is supported through a series of annual fundraising events, provides support and financial help to families of children in central New York who are fighting cancer.   Their effort is a true family affair.  
    Griffin Engle's story, and that of his family, is a complicated tale woven with immense tragedy, bravery, loss, heartache and an overwhelming desire to help others traveling a similar path.
      Erin is instrumental in the day-to-day management of the foundation. Griffin's siblings Grace, now 12, and son Everett, 5, help out, as do grandmothers Rita Griffin and Judy Engle.   Financial help to families comes in the way of assistance with bills or helping to pay for personal items for families of children going through prolonged stays at the State University of New York Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital in Syracuse.   Since 2016, the foundation helped 77 families at Golisano.   "When we were going through this, everywhere we looked someone was supporting us," Erin Engle said. "We knew others didn't have it as good as we did.   "After Griff passed away, I told the kids we have to do something good with this and help other people. They agreed and were on board."   The foundation has taken on many forms.   Every time Griffin visited Golisano, he went to the hospital's reading room for a new book. Today, Griffin's maternal grandmother, Rita Griffin, manages a book drive that continues throughout the year to provide the hospital's eager readers with a perpetual supply of new books. Paternal grandmother Judy Engle heads an effort that provides patients with personalized pillowcases.   When a child is admitted into the hospital, each receives a unique, kid-themed pillowcase.   "It's so simple," Erin Engle said. "But it makes the hospital a little less scary and more like home."     Patients and parents aren't the only ones who struggle when a child has cancer. Watching a brother or sister go through cancer can be difficult for siblings, too.   Started by Griffin's big sister, Grace's Sibling Sunshine provides brothers and sisters of patients with a gift to remind them they are strong and brave, as well.   Erin Griffin personally interviews each family that seeks help. During one interview process, Grace asked her mom whether the patient had a brother or sister, because this affects them, too.   "I had sort of shrugged it off, but she's right," Erin said.   "She shops for them for a gift specific to their likes to let them know they are strong and brave, too. She justs wants them to know what they are going through is hard and she is thinking of them."   Radiation treatments for glioblastoma multiforme are very site-specific, so it is important that patients remain absolutely still during the process. Anyone who has children knows what a challenge that can be during the easiest of times, much less something stressful like radiation treatment. To keep patients from moving during the process, they are fitted with a mask that covers their head and shoulders, essentially pinning them down so they cannot move.   "It's terrifying for a child," Adam Engle said. "The only other option is to put them out. Then they're their all day. But if they can put the mask on and relax, it's over in a half-hour. But it's hard to get a kid to do that."   In Griffin's case, preparing for a month's worth of these procedures meant meditating with his mother, which gave him strength to endure the procedure. To help others through the process, a local artist paints the masks with images of superheroes and princesses.  
    When we were going through this, everywhere we looked someone was supporting us. We knew others didn't have it as good as we did."
     
    Helping others has helped the Engles as they continue through what doubtlessly will be a lifetime of mourning that comes with losing a 7 year old. It's a process that Adam has described as "a daily hell."   "I don't know how to explain it. It's so bad and so sad."   Those same emotions are what drive Erin to help others.   "For me, being able to lessen anyone's financial burden has been huge," Erin said. "Helping us carry on Griff's legacy and continue the way he lived his life is rewarding in itself.   "I've walked this path that others are just starting."   Griffin first showed signs that something wasn't right on his sixth birthday. That's when he began dropping things and complaining of headaches. His party was planned for the following day at Plank Road Park, but that was delayed in lieu of a visit to the doctor. By the time his seventh birthday party took place at the park, Griffin's condition was much more grave.    "As hard as it was for us, we are adults," Erin said. "But 6- and 7-year-olds don't understand what's going on. They don't know anything about cancer except that their friend has it and he is very sick. We thought it was important for them all to be together one last time."   Less than a month later, Griffin was gone.   Even before Griffin was sick, one of his favorite sayings, his mother said, was "It's a great day to be alive."   In retrospect, it was profound, especially for someone so young.   Thanks to the ongoing efforts of his family, other child cancer patients and their families in the Syracuse area now carry a similar message of hope.   "He said that all the time, and that's just another glimpse into our little guy. What other 5-year-old says that?" Erin said.    "That Griff touched so many lives even though he was alive just seven short years, that speaks volumes. He continues to touch lives today, and I'm honored to be his mom."  

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