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From the TurfNet NewsDesk

  • John Reitman
    A championship-winning football coach, a pioneering sports turf manager, a leading career development consultant and some of the game's most successful superintendents: those are just a few of the speakers who will be on hand at the 50th annual Tennessee Turfgrass Association Conference and Show, proving you don't have to live or work in the Volunteer State to get something out of the program.
      Phillip Fulmer, head football coach at the University of Tennessee for 17 seasons and who led the Volunteers to the 1998 BCS National Championship, will be the keynote speaker at the conference and show scheduled for Jan. 12-14 in Murfreesboro.   Also scheduled to speak at the three-day event are superintendents like Chris Tritabaugh of Hazeltine National Golf Club, Paul Carter, CGCS, of the Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Rod Lingle, CGCS, of Ridgeway Country Club, David Stone of The Honors Course and more; a host of researchers from UT; sports turf manager Jerad Minnick of Growing Innovations; and professional development consultant and coach Laura Katen.   Stone will open the event by reflecting on his 40-plus years as a superintendent, including at The Honors Course in Ooltewah near Chattanooga, which is ranked No. 25 on Golfweek's List of the Top 100 Modern Courses. Tritabaugh will speak on preparing Hazeltine, No. 72 on Golfweek's modern list, for next year's Ryder Cup Matches.   Carter, recipient of the 2011 TurfNet Superintendent of the Year Award, along with Lingle, Chris Hartwiger of the USGA Green Section and Jim Brosnan, Ph.D., of the University of Tennessee, on Jan. 13 will lobby on the benefits of growing Bermudagrass in the transition zone. Brandon Horvath, Ph.D., and John Sorochan, Ph.D., both of UT, Jeff Huber of The Golf Club of Tennessee and Dan Stump of Chickasaw Country Club will argue on the benefits of growing creeping bentgrass in the transition zone.   Katen, president of New York-basked Katen Consulting, will discuss interviewing and first-impression strategies designed to "enhance your chance of success".   Minnick, a graduate of the University of Missouri turfgrass management program, has taken a page from the European way of maintaining soccer fields to become an expert on pushing natural grass sports fields. His talk will focus on budget-responsible solutions that also can improve the quality of natural grass fields.   Fulmer compiled a 152-52 record in 17 seasons as the head coach of the Vols, including consecutive Southeastern Conference championships and an undefeated national championship in 1998. He will speak at the conference on his experiences as a coach and interactions with turf managers both on the football field and the golf course.   Other speakers include Burton English, Ph.D., and Aaron Thoms, Ph.D., both of UT, Clint Waltz, Ph.D., of the University of Georgia, Jim Thomas of TPC Southwind, golf course architect Bill Bergin of Bergin Golf, Craig Current of Legacy Golf Management and many others.
  • Educating superintendents is nothing new for BASF Turf and Ornamentals.
      For years, the Research Triangle Park-based division of the German chemical manufacturer has been helping promoting education on the ground at Pinehurst Resort. This fall, BASF is bringing superintendents a pair of TurfNet University Webinars presented by some of the country's leading turf research scientists.   On Wednesday, Oct. 20, Bruce Martin, Ph.D., of Clemson University will present Diagnosis and Management of Winter Diseases in Bermudagrass Greens. The following day, Grady Miller, Ph.D., of North Carolina State University will discuss Pigment and Paint Use in Turfgrass Management.   Both Webinars are free for everyone.   Martin, who is one of the industry's leading authorities on researching and developing fungicide programs, will review Bemudagrass diseases that are active in fall, winter and spring and will include data showing relative efficacy of fungicides and possible fungicide programs. Diseases covered will include spring dead spot, leaf spot, dollar spot, and Microdochium patch.   Miller, a pre-eminent authority 's presentation will include an overview of modern pigments and paints as part of a turf management program. These products have wide-ranging use on golf courses. They can highlight areas, hide blemishes, and serve as an alternative to overseeding. The Webinar will share current research results from a variety of products and uses as well as experiences from other that have used these products for many years.

  • A story of healing

    By John Reitman, in News,

    As a superintendent who at one time or another has been declared expendable by an employer, Bart Miller knows a thing or two about bouncing around and wondering where his next paycheck might come from. That experience has helped reaffirm the knowledge that there are people out there, and a lot of them, who need a second chance; a hand up rather than a handout. He sensed just that in a homeless panhandler near the Washington, D.C. golf course where Miller is the superintendent.
      Each morning, when he stopped in for his morning coffee at a gas station near the entrance to historic Langston Golf Course, Miller would speak with one panhandler in particular whom he referred to simply as Milton. He'd offer him a buck or two, along with the occasional conversation.   There was just something about Milton that, to Miller, stood out from the other 11,000 estimated homeless people wandering the streets of the nation's capital.   "I could tell this guy had something going on," Miller said. "One day, I asked him what would it take to get you out of this? He told me no one was willing to give him a chance, but if they would, they wouldn't be sorry."   That was the day Miller pointed to nearby Langston and told Milton to stop in and fill out an application.   What ensued was the hiring of an unlikely job candidate and a story that ended in a homeless vagrant who earned back the trust of his wife and children. It's a story of courage, redemption, trust, faith and love for one's fellow man.  
    What ensued was the hiring of an unlikely job candidate and a story that ended in a homeless vagrant who earned back the trust of his wife and children. It's a story of courage, redemption, trust, faith and love for one's fellow man..."
      "Because he got back to work, he eventually got off the street," Miller said. "Now, he's back with his wife and kids, he's made amends with his father. There are a few others up (at the gas station) I'd like to hire."   To understand the relationship between Miller and Milton, it's important to know a little of the former's background as well.   Miller had been working for a large management company when he lost his job at a D.C.-area golf course in Maryland in 2008. He foundered about the industry for a few years, even taking a job as an assistant superintendent, when one of his former employees who had since taken a supervisory role for a small Washington-based management company called Miller early in 2013 asking if he was interested in a job as the superintendent at Langston.   "It's funny, you never know how things are going to come back around for you," said Miller, a 49-year-old single father.   "I once had aspirations of working at Augusta (National Golf Club). Now, I just want to spend time with my kids and be appreciated by the people I work for."   Founded as an all-black golf course, Langston was built in 1939 as a cog in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal that put Americans back to work and helped lift the country out of the Great Depression. Located just east of Capitol Hill along the Anacostia River near old RFK Stadium, the course today remains the capital of minority golf in D.C. Past club pros at Langston include Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, Calvin Peete and Jim Thorpe.   Today, the course is an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary property and a First Tee facility, but aspiring youth golfers from inside the Washington Beltway aren't the only ones who get a hand here.   Miller, 49, who describes himself as a liberal democrat with a bleeding heart, stops almost every day at a Shell station near Langston's entrance for coffee or a soft drink. And almost every day for two years he noticed a homeless man who just seemed different than the others. Finally, the day came when he convinced the 36-year-old Milton to apply for a temporary, seasonal job and take that first step in getting off the streets.   Miller recalls some questioning his judgment when an applicant couldn't provide an address or a phone number. But Miller was unwavering in his desire to help Milton, an out-of-work delivery truck driver who became estranged from his wife and two young daughters after his truck broke down. With no means to get the vehicle repaired, the situation spiraled downward rapidly.   When someone asked Miller why he wanted to hire someone with a spotty past and possibly no future, his reply was convincing enough: "I drive 65 miles one way every day to work. I don't do that just for me. I want to give back to the game and the community. Would it matter if he had a phone? Would that make him a better person?   "I could tell he was reluctant to be a beggar, a panhandler. I talked to him every day, and I could tell he had ambition. He just needed a chance."   Once seasonal workers from the previous year had decided one way or the other on whether they were going to return to Langston, Miller, who is able to hire just a handful of workers, extended a job offer to Milton, who eagerly accepted. He spent the summer raking and edging bunkers, changing cups and edging around sprinkler heads.   "I told the rest of the staff before I hired him," Miller said. "They took Milton under their wing and showed him the ropes. They all called him The Rookie.' "   Milton immediately became a model employee.  
    I could tell he was reluctant to be a beggar, a panhandler. I talked to him every day, and I could tell he had ambition. He just needed a chance."
      "He's always polite," Miller said.   "There are a lot of factions at a golf course. He crossed the lines and got along with everybody. He's just a great guy."   The transition of getting off the streets and on the path to a normal life didn't happen overnight for Milton. He spent the first few weeks as a golf course worker by day and a panhandler at night. He was beaten and robbed the day he cashed his first paycheck. His colleagues - the ones at the golf course, not those on the streets - rallied, giving him food during lunch breaks. Miller gave him money for food, which Milton repaid in full.   After about five weeks on the job, Milton patched up his relationship with his mother, a move that got him off the streets and into a bed at night. Eventually, he reconciled with his family, and now has a life again with his wife and daughters.   Beginning in late September, Miller begins laying off one worker every two weeks, based on seniority. Each employee receives a month's notice so they can begin making plans   On Sept. 19, Milton, being the employee with the least seniority, was the first to go. Two days before his last day on the job, he called Miller to thank him.   "It's touching," Miller said. "I've never known what it's like to go hungry. He called me last night and said I want you to know I've put on 20 pounds, and I'm not hungry anymore, boss. I love you.' "   A bunker renovation is pending at Langston, and if Golf Course Specialists Inc., the company that manages Langston as well as three other courses, secures the funding before the end of the year, Milton and other part-time seasonal workers will be brought aboard through the winter to complete the project in-house.   The experience of helping someone who can make a meaningful contribution while picking themselves up albeit with a little help and getting their life back together has left Miller fulfilled and eager to help others in a similar situation.   "Something like this just builds. He gets a job, gets a place to live, transportation. It all just snowballs, but it has to start with a chance," Miller said.   "I'm sure he won't be the last (homeless person) I hire. There are a few others (at the gas station) right now I'd like to hire.    "This has to happen more. Everyone needs to step up and make it happen, step up and try to help people out. There are a lot of people who need a lot of help."
  • -- by Bradley S. Klein, architecture editor for Golfweek.
     
    Under the care of TurfNet member Ralph Kepple for 23 years, East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, site of this week's Tour Championship, has been the home to the PGA Tour's season finale since 2004. 
     
    Founded in 1904 and is Atlanta's oldest golf course, with an original 18-hole layout by Tom Bendelow that subsequently was modified to varying degrees by George Adair, Donald Ross, George Cobb and Rees Jones. It ranks No. 69 on the Golfweek's Best Classic Courses list. The details of its evolution as a club and as a championship stage are entertainingly covered in a newly published book, East Lake Golf Club by Sidney Matthew and Janice McDonald (Arcadia Publishing, 2015).   East Lake, home course of Robert Tyre Bobby Jones, was the scene of the 1963 Ryder Cup and the 2001 U.S. Amateur. It's also more than a fine golf course and club, because it serves as a central element in a unique public/private venture by which the once-deteriorating neighborhood benefits from East Lake's extensive charitable efforts. The current layout is a restored version of a course that had decayed after World War II until Atlanta businessman Tom Cousins rescued the dilapidated facility in the mid-1990s and brought in architect Rees Jones to revive it. Along the way, the club's distinctive Tudor clubhouse also was restored, to the point at which today it is a gathering place for corporate and charitable activities as well as a golf museum.   East Lake is not an especially difficult course. It's devoid of blindness or maddening quirks, though its ideally rolling terrain never quite leaves a level fairway lie. Wind is not much of a factor on this treed, inland site. But the par-3 finishing hole the Greenbrier Classic's TPC Old White offers the only other one on the PGA Tour these days is annually the scene of a dramatic outcome. This year should be no different.   Hole No. 1
      Par 4, 424 yards   Straightaway, uncomplicated, into the prevailing breeze out of the west, to a fairway set perpendicular to the contour line. The hole is organized around four natural high points: tee, green and two intermediate rolls in the fairway. Most drives come to rest beyond the second rise in a swale that leaves an uphill approach of about 140 yards to a green bunkered at 4 o'clock and 8 o'clock.   Hole No. 2
      Par 3, 214 yards   A perfect medium-length par 3, downhill about 15 feet and down the prevailing wind, across an inconsequential front pond the kind that everyday golfers worry about and that Tour pros never see, much less land in. The shot plays to a modestly sloped green reminiscent in its bunkering of the 11th at St. Andrews a deep bunker front right and another deep hazard flanking the left side. The putting surface, tipped toward the tee and thus receptive of the approach, is divided by a subtle ridge that effectively splits the green. If the hole is cut on the right, the ball can be worked off the slope; if it's cut on the other side, the approach must be from the left. Wind up on the wrong side and face a testy up-and-over long putt.   Hole No. 3
      Par 4, 390 yards   With dense trees and out-of-bounds looming the length of the right side, the hole requires a long iron or fairway metal off the tee, past the first bunker at 240 yards on the right, and short of a longer hazard, a pot bunker 300 yards out on the left. With the green perched above the fairway and aligned from front-left to back-right and heavily defended on the right, the ideal line is from the left side, though frankly the approach is so short for these guys that the angles don't matter much, as long as the approach is played from the fairway. The trouble here and elsewhere is trying to play approach shots from Bermudagrass rough thick enough to make spin impossible.   Hole No. 4
      Par 4, 440 yards   This is another hole that favors the left side of the fairway, thanks to a pair of fairway bunkers 315 yards to carry along the higher right side and a dense stand of trees flanking the OB there. The elevated green tends to attract shots that fall short, thanks to front bunkers that are foreshortened and a green that tips from back to front.   Hole No. 5
      Par 4, 520 yards   Here's a members' par 5 routed at the far southeast end of the golf course that offers a modest reverse-camber effect and tips from high right to low left, while bending toward the right. The west-running hole tends to plays downwind and much shorter than its nominal distance. A low-slung swale across the entrance tends to catch a lot of golf-ball traffic, especially from approach shots played out of the rough.     Hole No. 6
      Par 3, 209 yards   This is the country's oldest island par 3 (1907, according to the club's newly published history by Sidney Matthew and Janice McDonald) and surely East Lake's most action-packed hole. The tabletop green is encircled by the club's massive lake and offers one very busy bailout bunker on the left. When the wind's in effect here (quartering, against, from the left) it has a dramatic effect here thanks to the complete exposure of the hole to the elements. A back tee, set far to the right on what is technically the wrong angle, makes the hole extremely awkward to play because the offset axis of approach lines the golfer up over the water and makes a draw difficult to control. It also ends up making players line up far left to hit a left-to-right approach that often gets overcooked and winds up wet. The flat-profile green offers a back-left hole location behind the bunker that is the most inaccessible of any at East Lake. Here's a hole that will decidedly play over par and presents the chance of a real disaster.   Hole No. 7
      Par 4, 434 yards   This uphill hole twists around a strategic bunker on the (ideal) right side, 265 yards to reach and 290 yards to fly. A small deep bunker awaits overly bold drives on the inside left of the dogleg, 315 yards to carry, and anything along that left side has a very tight approach path alongside overhanging trees. The safer, more open line to the right of the tee faces a fairway that cuts off abruptly past that right-side bunker into heavy rough and makes it hard to get to this uphill green. The uphill approach into whatever prevailing wind lingers tends to force a more aggressive shot because a very deep greenside bunker blocks the entry.   Hole No. 8
      Par 4, 405 yards   This is the only one of East Lake's holes that is not set at a rigid right angle to the holes immediately in front of or behind it. There's no need for a driver here. All that counts is getting the tee shot safely into play on an unusually contoured fairway, with rolling terrain that is a remnant of Civil War-era entrenchments. From there, the short-iron approach has to be precise and with perfect spin onto the hardest green to hold at East Lake. A deep front bunker with a raised edge cuts off incoming shots and makes golfers hit it just a little harder and firmer to make sure they carry. The consequence will be many shots that end up running out long and over. The perched green is the scene of many short-sided recovery shots. It is the most delicate and subtle of East Lake's holes.     Hole No. 9
      Par 5, 600 yards   Forget the length here; this will be easily reachable downwind, downhill in two for players who can drive the ball 300-plus yards in the air and reach the downward kick point where the fairway turbo-charges the ball forward. From there, short of the lake that cuts across the fairway at 380 yards off the tee, it's a fairway wood or long iron to a green that will hold a shot slung in on the left side around a bunker that protects the front-right entrance.   Hole No. 10
      Par 4, 469 yards   Another converted par 5, this one is heavily bunkered along the length of the fairway on the left side, close to the line best suited for approaching the small green. The putting surface is really designed for a par 5 and thus somewhat elusive to middle irons on a low trajectory. A deep front-right greenside bunker forms a deflective angle that makes approaching on that side very difficult. This forces golfers on the tee to favor the tightly bunkered left side.   Hole No. 11
      Par 3, 197 yards   This hole occupies the far northeast corner of the property and plays slightly uphill to a deep green, the rear third of which cannot be seen from the tees. It's also heavily bunkered at 4 o'clock and 7 o'clock, which means that the oncoming middle iron must be perfectly struck or it will bound over into heavy rough, leaving an awkward up-and-over chip shot back for recovery.   Hole No. 12
      Par 4, 391 yards   All of a sudden the course loses steam, thanks to the three consecutive par 4s arrayed in a parallel sausage-style. This downhill hole is the most uncomfortable drive of any par 4 at East Lake, thanks to a massive fairway bunker on the right and an overhanging hardwood on the right that cuts off the landing area. Long irons or fairway woods off the tee considerably ease the burden. The approach shot has to carry a steep front bunker that, from the fairway, looks bigger than the green.   Hole No. 13
      Par 4, 476 yards   The uphill drive has to trundle through an ominous-looking chute of trees and needs to steer wide right of two expansive fairway bunkers 280 to 330 yards out on the left. The irony here and elsewhere at East Lake is that for all the normal advice of bunker avoidance, players are better off hitting an approach out of the sand than out of the thick Bermudagrass rough.   Hole No. 14
      Par 4, 442 yards   Straightaway, slightly downhill, it's tight off the tee to a green with a second tier that makes getting an approach close to the hole difficult, especially out of the rough. From behind the green, as with much of East Lake, par-saving recoveries will go a long way toward determining the winner.   Hole No. 15
      Par 5, 525 yards   Now the course kicks into high gear with the first of four stirring and readily memorable holes. The pressure here on the 15th tee is that feeling that a birdie must be made simply to stay abreast of the field. From the low-lying tee, the land here is just crying out for a left-to-right slider played off a deep bunker on the left side such that the land steers the ball safely around two steep fairway bunkers short and right. From there, 210 to 240 yards out from the green, it's an uphill slider to a potato-chip green that's easy to hit but hard to hold if approached through the middle where the waistline is narrowest. There will be many eagles here, with the hole playing under a 4.5 average.   Hole No. 16
      Par 4, 481 yards   A dramatic downhill tumbler, with a great view of downtown Atlanta to the west and a clear sense from the tee of a need for a drive hit into the fairway. The right side falls off quickly into woods; the left side progressively narrows from 230 to 320 yards off the tee, thanks to four successive bunkers arrayed scientifically (and mathematically) down the line of play as if with a ruler and laser. Catch the speed slot right center and be left with as little as wedge into this green. Miss the fairway and struggle to keep an approach shot from racing over and down a steep embankment.   Hole No. 17
      Par 4, 455 yards   Over the years, the lake on the left side has been brought more into play. Three yawning fairway bunkers 275 to 320 yards off the tee are definitely to be avoided, though that brings water more into play. The raised green, protected up front, kicks everything to the left and toward that water again. Just ask Bill Haas, who in a 2011 playoff with Hunter Mahan made a miraculous recovery on a ball half-submerged, then went on at the next hole to win the FedEx Cup.   Hole No. 18
      Par 3, 235 yards   East Lake is one of only a handful of major-venue courses (think Greenbrier's Old White, Pasatiempo and Homestead's Cascades) to end on a par 3. This one will get the players' blood racing because it demands a long iron or rescue to a well-bunkered, small green perched 10 feet above the tee box, though it looks much higher, given the corner of the lake needed to carry. With the world's best players no longer needing to hit long irons into par 4s, the only way to make them hit long clubs into the 18th hole is make them play a stout par 3 such as this one. Unorthodox, but it works.     All East Lake Golf Club photos are by Getty Images.
  • Nicknamed the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota isn't the first place that comes to mind when one thinks about water shortages, but researchers at the state's flagship university are playing a leading role in hopefully helping golf courses to use less water, chemicals and just about anything else a superintendent can apply to turf.
      For more than 10 years, Brian Horgan, Ph.D., and Eric Watkins, Ph.D., have been working to develop a turf type fine fescue they say will use less water, less fertilizer, fewer pesticides and can go longer between mowings, the researchers say. And they hope the new turf will be considered for use on the university's Les Bolstad Golf Course after an upcoming Tom Lehman-led restoration.    The development of this new turf is part of the University of Minnesota Science of (the) Green initiative, a Bolstad-centered effort that addresses the golf industry's need for long-term agronomic, economic and environmental sustainability.   Although the new turf requires fewer inputs, there is a downside, the researchers said.   Fine fescues can be less dense than bentgrass or bluegrass, making runoff a threat. Fescue is more easily damaged by golfer traffic and is slower to recover from stress-induced damage. It also doesn't have the lush green visual appeal as some other turf varieties.   Still, Watkins said that fine fescues overall are suitable for use in Minnesota and other areas growing cool-season turf, and researchers are studying whether some of the weaknesses can be overcome by mixing fescue varieties, breeding or other strategies.   Horgan and Watkins will continue to research different properties of fescues and other grasses, and said that no decision has been made yet about whether the Les Bolstad golf course will eventually become a living laboratory for them and others across the country. It also is unclear whether different grass might be used on putting greens and tee boxes, which constitute about 4 acres on a typical golf course.   Adding interest to the potential project is the California drought and water shortages elsewhere, Watkins said. Typically those golf courses use different grasses, he said, but the historically dry conditions are helping golfers, businesses, farmers and the general public to understand the importance of conserving water everywhere.

  • Cultural differences

    By John Reitman, in News,

    During his 30 years as a superintendent, Jim Thomas has managed just about every type of grass imaginable. Bentgrass, Bermuda, ultradwarfs you name it; he's seen it. As the host superintendent of a PGA Tour event for the past 10 of those years, he also has picked up a trick or two about keeping turf healthy during challenging times.
      "I've done 328 Bermuda, Crenshaw and Penncross bentgrass, and now I've got about 10 years of Champion (ultradwarf Bermuda)," Thomas said during an ultradwarf management seminar at the recent University of Tennessee turf research field day. "I've pretty well made mistakes on all of them."   Thomas, who is director of golf course operations at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, home of the PGA Tour's FedEx St. Jude Classic, he also has done a lot of things right.   Through cultural practices that include a lot of verticutting, topdressing and use of rollers and groomers, Thomas is able to produce consistently firm, fast and healthy greens without ridiculously low mowing heights.    His program includes verticutting weekly in two directions at one-eighth inch and topdressing every other week. He also rolls four times each week and double-cuts, first using a walk-behind unit with a cutting height of 0.125-0.130, followed by a triplex at 0.100-0.105. Half the triplex units are outfitted with brushes out front, the other half with groomers. On weeks when he topdresses, Thomas waits four-five days before grooming and brushing, so the sand can work into the canopy. Once each summer he introduces a more intense verticutting, using a scarifier at depths of three-eighths inch to one-half inch in three to five directions, followed by relieving compacted soils with the DryJect system and core aerification.   Thomas also goes light on his fertility, using 3-4 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 per year. That program includes granular applications in the spring to induce growth and again in the fall to promote root growth. Throughout the summer, he applies a foliar at a rate of one-tenth of a pound every other week to retain a dark green color.   "I've gone from one extreme to the other," he said. "I think the leaner the better."     It might sound like an intensive program, but the dense nature of Champion makes regular cultural practices necessary when producing healthy greens that consistently roll between 11 and 12 on the Stimpmeter.   "You have to find time to do it regularly," he said. If you push Bermuda up against the grain, take a pocketknife and look at it. It's layered on top of each other three to five layers. From a verticutting standpoint, that is what we're trying to do, cut those out, because that is what forms that and makes the green puffy.   "When the turf is thin, just on the verge of seeing soil, that is the best green you can have."   Thomas' work falls under regular scrutiny each year during the St. Jude, with TV analysts constantly broaching the subject of grooming. Brushing and grooming fluffs the turf prior to mowing. Along with verticutting those practices also help manage organic matter.   "They'll say the greens are rolling at 12.5. But that was in the morning after they were double-cut and rolled," he said. "Where are you at 1:30? That's what's important."   Thomas' program usually produces greens that by mid-afternoon still are rolling at 11.5.   "If I'm at 11.5 at 1:30 in the afternoon, that's really, really good," Thomas said. "They'll still think it's 12.5."
  • The Georgia Golf Environmental Foundation will give nearly $10,000 to the University of Georgia to help fund ongoing search for more sustainable golf course grasses. The money will help compensate graduate students working with Brian Schwartz, Ph.D., of the university's crop and soil sciences department.
      "We are very happy to provide this support to Dr. Schwartz and UGA," said GGEF research committee chairman Kyle Marshall of the Capital City Club in Woodstock. "It seems to us to be such a sure thing to support. I don't know of any research department anywhere that has had the record of success that UGA has produced when it comes to turfgrass."   Schwartz's work continues a tradition of turfgrass breeding research at UGA established by Glenn Burton, Ph.D., and Wayne Hanna, Ph.D. Schwartz and Hanna partnered on the recent release of a new drought-tolerant Bermudagrass called TifTuf.   "While the nature of our funding is to review programs each year, we do expect this support of Dr. Schwartz's research will be long-term," Marshall said. "The fact that he is doing much of this work on fully functioning golf courses promises real world results, but it also adds considerably to the cost in terms of travel. It makes sense for us to support this research that promises to benefit all superintendents and therefore the golf industry."   Schwartz believes that "input from experienced superintendents around the state that know what is needed day in and out will pay dividends well into the future."    Partnership between the Georgia Golf Environmental Foundation and the Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Association is the best way to develop new turfgrasses that will benefit the game of golf, he says.   The GGEF has supported various research efforts since it was established in 2004 with UGA a major beneficiary. Total funding of research efforts by GGEF has exceeded more than $150,000 during the past decade. Each year, GGEF also provides a free daylong education seminar for golf course superintendents with the latest information on advances in environmental sustainability for golf courses.   GGEF is a fundraising arm of the Georgia GCSA and delivers programs and services involving information collection, research, education and outreach that communicate the best management practices of environmental stewardship on the golf course.  
  • Stuart Lindsay is concerned that the golf could follow in the footsteps of a former Lindsay family business if course operators and those who drive industry rhetoric are not more aware of what potential newcomers to the game say is important to them.
      "My family used to sell buggy whips. Once Henry Ford came along, the market dried up. It didn't matter how much you discounted the price, you weren't going to sell many buggy whips," said Lindsay, who has been helping golf courses in the upper Midwest maximize profitability since 1989 through his Milwaukee-based firm, Edgehill Golf Advisors. "Where is golf going? Is it a buggy whip? For years, people have been telling us in large numbers that they don't want our product. We're discounting it and telling everyone it's only worth 50 cents on the dollar. If you still can't sell it at a discount, then something is wrong with your product."   It's no secret that a slow and steady decline in demand has marked the golf industry since nearly 520 million rounds were played in 2000. According to the National Golf Foundation, 450 million rounds were played last year, signaling a decline of more than 13 percent since that high-water mark in 2000. Along those lines, a net 951 courses opened nationwide between 2000-2005. Since 2006, a net 768 have closed. How millennials and other groups view the game is part of the problem of declining interest in the game.   According to NGF, millennials view the game as fun, but see others who play it as stuffy stuffy, the atmosphere to be unfriendly and uninviting, the rules too restrictive and the dress as nonconforming to their lifestyle.   According to Lindsay, the NGF, other industry groups and many individual owners and operators have not done enough to recognize this and do what is necessary to attract new customers, including millennials, juniors, women and minorities.   Those barriers cited by the NGF, said Lindsay, are every bit as real as the other excuses often tossed about in the golf business.   "It is convenient in golf to blame time, economy and social changes," Lindsay said. "It does not change the fact that people will spend money on recreational pursuits they enjoy."   "That's the problem. (Golf course operators) don't get it. If they got it, then we wouldn't be having a conversation about people saying they're not treated right when the go to the golf course."   Jim Koppenhaver, Lindsay's partner during the annual State of the Industry Report that the two present during the PGA Merchandise Show, said he returned to the status of core golfer this year for the first time since 2000. After signing up for a package of lessons with an instructor and practice sessions on a simulator, he failed to schedule his final session. Equally guilty, the pro failed to contact him as well to schedule the session, ask how they were going or if he was interested in continuing.   "Instructors, by and large," Koppenhaver wrote, aren't particularly good marketers."   Although changing or relaxing USGA rules and openly accepting casual wear such as cargo shorts or jeans might seem like a bother to some, Lindsay says there is some truth to the claims that some who work in the business seem to go out of their way to make newcomers to the game feel unwelcome.   According to NGF, 87 percent of golfers and 63 percent of non-golfers believe the game is fun and 86 percent and 74 percent (respectively) said it is a good way to enjoy the outdoors. However, only 31 percent said golf was welcoming to novice players, 36 percent said the atmosphere at the course is stuffy, 30 percent said the rules are to restricting and 33 percent don't like generally accepted golf attire.   "(According to NGF statistics) 92 percent of the population has no interest in playing golf," Lindsay said. "We must be doing something wrong.   "Golf doesn't understand that it is in the hospitality business. Why would you want to join a tight little circle, put up with crap because you're a newbie, only to eventually not be a newbie any more and be one of the group?"   Private clubs are able to offer better service only because they have a smaller population to get to know, Lindsay says. It's a lot easier to learn names and faces for 300-400 people than it is the thousands of unique customers who pour through a daily fee facility.  
    It is convenient in golf to blame time, economy and social changes. It does not change the fact that people will spend money on recreational pursuits they enjoy.
      Some of that lack of familiarity could be offset with if operators worked harder to collect contact information, especially email addresses, each time a customer walks through the door.   "You can have an iPad out there at the club drop," he said. "Staff can ask their name, tee time and get them set up with a cart. ?This is Mr. Smith, and the last time he played here was 10 days ago, or he's never been here before. Granted, that is expecting a lot from a bag boy.   "That's another problem. Who are we getting to work here? Most are working for minimum wage or close to it. We don't get much, but what do you expect?"   Admittedly, Lindsay said, those who patronize daily fee courses ? which comprise the bulk of the supply ? might be reluctant to give up an email address. Giving them a discount coupon by email, however, can help diffuse those worried about spam.   He points to a high-end resort course he has played every year for the past 27 years as an example of how a little effort to reach the customer could improve the experience for the guest and the golf course. Each time he approaches the counter, instead of being told "hi, Mr. Lindsay, welcome back," he is asked the same question: "Have you ever played here before?"   Lindsay has spent years crunching data for clients, and said it only makes sense to collect as much information as possible on customers. It makes them easier to recognize, easier to market to and, he added, data shows they spend as much as $150 more per year on services at the golf course than those who do not surrender contact information.   "It's no wonder people don't feel welcome at the golf course," he said, "when you have a staff that is not trained to take advantage of the technology available to them."
  • Rain Bird Training Services will host more than 85 irrigation training events in 25 states throughout the country through May 2016.
     
    Classes are for irrigation professionals at all experience levels, including golf course superintendents, contractors, distributors, designers and architects. All classes are certified for CEUs from the Irrigation Association.
     
    Rain Bird Training Services offers two different training programs designed to help irrigation professionals enhance their skill sets and improve their career prospects.
     
    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. Rain Bird Services will offer 45 of Factory Trained events during the 2015-2016 training season. Space is limited.
     
    Rain Bird Academy classes provide training on products from various manufacturers. This training track includes Rain Bird's Boot Camp classes, which are endorsed as IA Select courses by the Irrigation Association. Rain Bird Academy classes help 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 Services also offers on-site, customized training that is ideal for medium and large-sized irrigation contractors, public agencies and irrigation distributors.
     

  • FMC recently launched its Fame line of fungicides.
      Fame SC and Fame Granular are strobilurin fungicides that include the active ingredient fluoxastrobin. Fame +C and Fame +T are combination products that also include chlorothalonil and tebuconazole, respectively.   All four offer systemic control of a variety of turf diseases.   Fame SC is a suspension concentrate fungicide containing fluoxastrobin that controls many major turfgrass diseases, including anthracnose, blight and root dysfunction, fairy ring, summer patch, gray leaf spot and light-to-moderate infestations of dollar spot (shown here). It provides foliar and root uptake with xylem and translaminar movement.   Fame Granular is a spreadable fluoxastrobin fungicide that offers flexible surface application and uptake and movement within the plant.   Fame +C is a suspension concentrate fungicide that combines the systemic activity of fluoxastrobin and the contact action of chlorothalonil in a premix. Fame +C offers broad-spectrum protection against 30 prevalent diseases, including anthracnose and brown patch.   Fame +T is a suspension concentrate combination of fluoxastrobin and tebuconazole that optimizes resistance management with dual modes of action. University testing has shown that it protects against both root and shoot diseases, including dollar spot, snow mold and spring dead spot and major patch diseases.   

  • News and people briefs

    By John Reitman, in News,

    Bayer launches Signature Xtra Stressgard
     
    Bayer Environmental Science recently launched Signature Xtra Stressgard fungicide.
     
    With the active ingredient aluminum tris (O-ethyl phosphonate) Signature Stressgard is formulated for disease control, plant health performance and to improve program flexibility for superintendents.
     
    Signature Xtra Stressgard offers updated label language, outlining improved disease control and added plant health benefits, including the alleviation of both abiotic and biotic stresses, antioxidant properties leading to oxidative stress protection, enhanced root growth, wilt protection, mitigation and recovery from wear stress as well as improved turf color, quality and density.
     
    This new product also includes 25 percent less active ingredient compared with other Bayer Signature products. This allows for the optimization of physiological plant processes and the natural growth of the turfgrass plant.
     
    An improved flexible rate structure means Signature Stressgard Xtra is customizable for seven-, 14- and 21-day application intervals. It is available in 4 x 5.5-pound bottle/case to help optimize usability and storage.
     

     
    Valent's Aloft available from Nufarm
     
    Aloft insecticide from Valent U.S.A. is now available for sale through Nufarm Americas.
     
    With the active ingredients clothianidin and bifenthrin, Aloft is labeled for contact and systemic control of several turfgrass insects, including fire ants, billbugs and annual bluegrass weevils.
     
    Nufarm has been the exclusive distributor of Valent products since 2014.
     
    Company president gifts distributorship to employees
     
    Lawn & Golf Supply Co. of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, a Jacobsen dealer for parts of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania for almost 80 years, is now an employee-owned company.
     
    Started in 1937 by Joe Holman, Lawn & Golf Supply was gifted to the employees by current president Bob Holman, the founder's son.
     
    Throughout the next year, Ken Jeinnings will transition into the role of president. Jeinnings has worked at Lawn & Golf for more than 27 years, including the past nine as vice president and sales manager.
     
    Bill Corcoran will become the company's new sales manager. He has more than 24 years of experience in turf equipment sales distribution. Lawn & Golf also represents Smithco, Ventrac, Turfco, Redexim, Turflux, Neary Grinders and AquaMaster products.
     
    The Andersons names new president, CEO
     
    The Andersons board of directors recently named Pat Bowe as the company's president and chief executive officer.
     
    He will oversee all aspects of The Andersons multi-platform corporation that serves several markets, including the turf and ornamental industry.
     
    Bowe has more than 35 years of experience in the agri-chemical market, including most recently as corporate vice president of Cargill, Inc. He will succeed Mike Anderson as president and CEO effective Nov. 2. Anderson will remain with the company as chairman of the board of directors.
     
    Bowe also will be appointed to the board.
     
  • To produce the conditions necessary to keep his members happy at Valley Brook Country Club, John Shaw, CGCS and his crew once double-cut and rolled greens on a daily basis. Those days are long gone since the Pittsburgh-area club made a drastic change to how it maintains its putting surfaces.
      Beginning this season, six RG3 robotic greens mowers that cut and roll all in one pass produce straight lines, fast putting conditions, crisp and clean turns, and what Shaw calls the neatest clean up pass you'll ever see.    He even can program varying turning points so that the mowers do not repeatedly reverse direction in the exact same spot every day   "We all think we're some of the best greens mowers in the world," Shaw said. "We still can't do what this mower's doing as far as a nice gentle drop. There's never a mark on the collar."   Shaw began using a pair of RG3 mowers last year to maintain 10 greens at 27-hole Valley Brook, including the nine holes on the Gold course as well as the club's practice green. It wasn't long before he was convinced the robotic mower, which was acquired from Precise Path last year by MTD (under the Cub Cadet label), was more than up to the task of producing the conditions that members demanded.   The battery-powered RG3 works by programming boundaries for each green into an onboard computer system. A collection of beacons placed around each green guides the mower using sound and light waves that control where it goes and doesn't go. A wire buried beneath each green controls where the mower travels to complete a clean up pass.   Traveling at speeds up to 3.4 mph, the RG3 produces green speeds at Valley Brook that are up to 12 inches faster than traditional mowing and rolling. The difference, which Shaw attributes to increased frequency of clip on the RG3, was so significant, that he raised the height of cut on the greens mowed with the robots to match the conditions on the other greens throughout the property. Greens mowed with the RG3 also pass the eye test for visual quality.   "The perception is that if you have stripes when you mow, then your greens are slow, and if your greens are fast, then you don't have stripes," Shaw said. "We have stripes, and we're fast."   His staff is able to mow five greens on a single battery charge in about 3:25. The RG3 frees up staff to complete other tasks, such as rake bunkers, change cups, repair ball marks and more. One downside, he said, was cost ? each unit carries a price tag of about $45,000. The tradeoff in labor savings, however, was such that he was able to offset the cost of a five-year lease program before the ink was dry on the contract.   When the RG3 debuted before superintendents at the 2009 Golf Industry Show in New Orleans, many attendees were intrigued but admitted they would have a difficult time turning a robotic mower loose on their greens. When Shaw first saw the RG3 in New Orleans, his first reaction was: "I wondered if (the RG3) could do a better job then what we were currently doing."   Members also noticed a difference in visual quality and playability, and were intrigued by the technology. They also were hesitant for their course to be a pioneer in the use of robotic technology on greens. In the end, they entrusted Shaw, who has been at Valley Brook for 13 years, with the final decision.   "My chairman at the time told me ?if we get some weird disease, you know everyone will blame the robots,' " he said.    "It was the hardest sell I've ever done. What it came down to, I told them that if I was willing to stick my neck on the line, they should be willing to put it out there with me.   "In the end, they trusted my judgment and willingness to put my reputation on the line."
  • Jacobsen launched its Professional Series commercial-grade mowers and utility vehicles for golf course superintendents and other professional turf managers. The line of new Professional Series mowers and utility vehicles includes three lines of zero-turn mowers and six different models of utility vehicles. 
      "One of our main goals with the launch of these exciting new products was to offer a wide range of options that satisfy many different categories of customer needs," said Bryan Holby, product manager for Jacobsen. "The new mowers and utility vehicles offer a myriad of options in features, benefits and pricing that will appeal to everyone from large fleet owners to one-truck-and-trailer operations."   The flagship of Jacobsen's new Professional Series is the RZT line of ride-on zero turn mowers, which provide the power and performance to handle any turf job with ease. The RZT mows up to 5.3 acres per hour with either a 25 or 27 horsepower Kawasaki FX engine or a fuel efficient 27 horsepower Kohler EFI engine.    Jacobsen's SZT stand-on mower packs power into a small footprint and features a 26 horsepower Vanguard engine and two different deck sizes. The new mower series is rounded out with the WZT walk-behind mower. The WZT features an 18 horsepower Briggs & Stratton engine and single or dual-drive drivetrain options.   The new Jacobsen utility vehicles are led by the gas-powered Truckster MS/MX (pictured here), featuring a large capacity of 1,200 pounds and a top speed of 17 MPH. An available linked suspension on the MX model allows it to handle rough terrain with ease.    For customers needing a quiet, electric option, the Truckster MS-E/MX-E is powered with a 72-volt electric drivetrain and an impressive capacity of up to 1,000 pounds.       The gas-powered Truckster LS/LX offers an 800-pound capacity and a polyethylene bed that provides years of worry-free service.    "Today's professional turf managers are being asked to take on more responsibilities and projects," said David Withers, president of Jacobsen. "They need a wide range of maintenance tools to help them get the job done quickly and easily. That's why we've expanded our product line to include nine more dependable machines to our portfolio of products."
  • When a graduate student at the University of Kentucky first showed off an area dedicated to pollinating insects during a 2012 turf research field day, few, if any, superintendents that day showed much concern for their plight, or how it might apply to golf course operations.
      Much has changed since then. Emily Dobbs, the grad student working under UK entomologist Dan Potter, Ph.D., has moved on, and the many challenges faced by pollinating insects, and their significance, have intensified.   On Sept. 17, Potter will host "Bees, Pesticides and Politics: Challenges and Opportunities for the Green Industry", the first of two TurfNet University Webinars presented by USGA Green Section Award-winning entomologists.   On Sept. 23, Pat Vittum, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts, this year's Green Section Award winner, will discuss the latest in white grub control in "Everything You Wanted to Know About White Grubs (in 1 hour) but were Afraid to Ask".   Both are free for everyone.     Vittum's presentation will include information about the different beetle species that produce white grubs, the life cycles of each and differences between them. She also will discuss threshold levels, cultural strategies for control as well as preventive and curative chemical strategies.   Potter, who was the recipient of the 2010 USGA Green Section Award, will discuss the controversy between bees and neonicotinoid insecticides, why it matters, how to talk to the public about bees and pesticides, and how to safeguard bees and other pollinators when controlling pests in turf and landscape settings.    The presentation also will cover the differences between bees and wasps, and the major causes of bee decline including parasites, diseases, bee-keeping practices, and habitat loss, and how systemic insecticides might or might not be contributing to the problem.   These and all other TurfNet University Webinars can be found here.
  • By his own admission, Matt Shaffer is a taskmaster. Once focused on an undertaking, Shaffer is as intent on reaching his goal as a 10-year-old child fixated on a Popsicle on a hot summer day.
      "I've always been a task-oriented guy," Shaffer said. "As my dad said: 'Give that boy a round peg and he'll pound it right through a square hole.' "    That intensity and focus have been important attributes for Shaffer, who has spent the past 13 seasons of a 40-plus-year career as director of golf course operations at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. The East Course at Merion, a 1912 Hugh Wilson design, is No. 8 on Golfweek's list of the top 100 classic-era courses, and success there requires more than doing things the way they've always been done in the past. It means embracing technology, cutting edge thinking and a new way of doing things, things that might seem like unnecessary risks at other courses. It means being an industry leader in managing turf and personnel.   "He's not afraid to take chances," said Jamie Kapes, who worked at Merion from 2001 to 2007, when he left the nest to become property manager at Woodway Country Club in Darien, Connecticut. "He's calculating, and he's outspoken.   "He's never about doing what is easy. He's all about doing what is right."   Shaffer is indeed a walking contradiction. A 1974 Penn State graduate, he has earned a reputation as an early adopter and an outside-the-box thinker, traits he still embraces at age 62.    To his credit, not only is he shaking up the way golf courses can be managed, but he's doing it at a place that is highly visible; a place where his successes -- and failures -- are on display for all to see. That takes guts at a place where the great Bobby Jones twice won the U.S. Amateur (1916, '30).   "Yes, Matt certainly thinks outside the box," said longtime friend John Zimmers, superintendent at Oakmont Country Club and Shaffer's right hand during the 2013 U.S. Open. "I myself follow more of the straight road. Matt loves to experiment and try many new things. I think he has a little researcher in him along with engineer.   "He is always trying to improve something to make the course better."   The most recent cause du jour at Merion is changing how turf is managed through a program that includes reducing spray applications and watering less often.    While going the better part of a year between spray apps might sound like a one-way ticket to the unemployment office to some, it works for Shaffer and it works for Merion. He says sound agronomics are key to learning how far he can extend those windows.   "It's been a 198 days between sprays on our greens, and 212 days on fairways," Shaffer said. "It's all about understanding the plant.   "My initiative now is to figure out how to grow grass, not spray grass, water less and truly be sustainable."   Convincing others to push the limits at their respective courses can be difficult.   "Superintendents have no job security. To ask them to do something that is risky is in itself risky for them, because they can be fired if it doesn't work," he said. "My wife says it's like being married to a football coach, except we don't make as much money. In coaching, if you win you keep your job. If you lose, they pull up the slack on the trigger so fast, you're dead before you hit the ground. So, it's hard for superintendents to take risks. I'm getting close to retirement, so I'm going to take them. I work for a club that has a high profile and feels like they should be on the leading edge. If we can do risky things here, that should be leverage for any other club to do it, so kudos to the members her for that."   His revolutionary style extends beyond turf to include being an intense people manager, who drives employees to give their all and be their best while they are on the golf course, and to forget about work when they're off it.    Woodway's Kapes, who called Shaffer's management style a form of tough love, credits his former boss for giving him the tools necessary to succeed at the next level.   "Working for him was hard. This is an in-your-face industry, and he treats you the way members are going to treat you," Kapes said. "There is no polish on his message, and I don't think a lot of people come in expecting that teaching method. He's that way because he wants you to be prepared. He cares about his employees. He is fair and genuine."   Another former employee recalls a time when that intensity was ramped up even for Shaffer.   "Matt's an intense guy. One time he started coming into work like a raging bull and we all wondered what he was always yelling at," said Scott Bordner, a Shaffer protégé who has been superintendent at Chicago Golf Club since 2009. "We found out his wife had bought him an espresso machine. We learned that if you needed anything from him you had to wait until 10 or 11 o'clock when the caffeine wore off and he was rational again."   Caffeine rushes aside, Shaffer even promotes himself as a superintendent on the edge. It's a reputation that is only partly true. He's also a superintendent who cares about his workers and wants them to have a life off the golf course.   "A lot of my peers thought I was crazy for working for him," Kapes said. "They said 'He's crazy. I hear he makes you work 20 hours a day.' If you're willing to put the time in and care about the golf course, there is no one better to work for than Matt Shaffer.    "There are a lot of superintendents who might go three or four months before they give their assistants a weekend off, but Matt always made sure you had every other weekend off. When you were there, you worked, but if it was your weekend to be off, he wanted you outta there at 3 o'clock on Friday, and he didn't want to see you until Monday morning. I do that here (at Woodway) with my crew."   Shaffer's reputation as a mad scientist came to the forefront during preparations for the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion, which many believed was too short for a major championship.   "When we got the Open, I got really nervous," Shaffer said. "(Professional golfers) are so gifted. It doesn't seem real how good they are. I thought 'we're only 6,950 (yards). They'll straighten us right out.' "   The only straightening out was the lesson Shaffer and his crew imparted upon the world's best players.    With pundits predicting a winning score of 10 under par or lower, Justin Rose needed an even par 70 on Sunday to win at 1 over par despite 6 inches of rain in four days that saturated and softened the course the week before the tournament. Only six players in the field were under par on the tournament's final day.    Making a short course difficult was a challenge. Shaffer sought new grasses that when planted strategically changed the way the East Course played.   "I got creative. I got really creative," he said. "I spent months looking for the worst grasses to play out of, then I found those grasses and planted them in the landing zones and in the rough. I planted some of them together in different combinations in the same area, so if you landed in a 4-foot square four days in a row you could have four different lies."   Given Merion's length, Shaffer said he thought it was his responsibility to prove the USGA didn't make a mistake in choosing the 1912 Hugh Wilson design for its national championship.   He experimented with mixing concrete into topdressing sand, but that made the greens too hard. He finally settled on an ultra fine sand, and proceeded to work that into the greens for three years, making them hard as bricks and a fair but tough challenge for the Open field.     "I thought 6 under would win it," Shaffer said. "I figured if it was 6 under or less, the Open would come back some day. If it was 10 under or more, they're never coming back here. That's what I cared about. I want the members' kids to have an Open here some day, so I figured it was my responsibility to cave (tour) golfers' heads in.   "To this day, I still can't believe plus-1 won here. I'm thankful I don't have to replicate that performance. I'm pretty sure I couldn't top that effort."   That preparation did little to ease the tension that comes with hosting a major.   "I probably slept seven hours in 10 days," he said.    "I thought the rain hurt us, but the course dried out every day and got progressively more difficult. Then oddly enough the wind came out of the east for the championship. It always comes out of the west, but when it comes from the east it makes the course play much harder. I'm positive God was looking over my shoulder for that even, which was a good time for him to show up."   Shaffer calls himself a superintendent who was "stuck" in his career until Paul R. Latshaw hired him in 1986 to be the assistant superintendent at Augusta National Golf Club. It was under Latshaw's tutelage that Shaffer learned championship golf. Ever since, he has made himself available to colleagues and competitors alike to help them achieve a similar goal.   "He always left his door open for anyone," Bordner said. "He has a lot of young guys who look up to him. He's like a father figure to a lot of us who were working there and were far from home. Merion was like our family, and like a parent, he let us go out and experience things -- without letting us do anything too stupid.   "If someone calls him for advice, it doesn't matter if it's another elite private club or a nine-hole municipal course, he'll talk to them for an hour if they need to."   Kapes said that willingness to share information is another Shaffer trait he tries to copy, sometimes not as successfully as his former boss.   "Two of my former superintendents have gone on to become superintendents, and when they call me sometimes I might not get to them within 24 hours," Kapes said. "That makes me feel awful, because Matt always gets back to me within an hour."   That willingness to share the experiences of a career that has spanned more than 40 years is something Shaffer says he learned growing up on the family farm in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania. There, he said, his parents gave him the gifts of a work ethic, the ability to forgive and the communications skills necessary to share his good fortune with others.   "He was always asking for opinions, too," Bordner said. "He never thought he had the answer to everything."   It just seems like he does.
  • The list of must-read titles for golf course superintendents is a long one. On it are books such as "Management of Turfgrass Diseases" (Joe Vargas, Ph.D.), "The Future of Golf in America" (Geoff Shackleford), "Turfgrass Management" (Al Turgeon, Ph.D.) and "Rough Meditations" (Bradley S. Klein, Ph.D.), just to name a few.
      Another selection for that list could be the "Golf Solutions Guide" (by Bayer Environmental Science).   Wait. What?   Compiled by the Bayer Green Solutions Team, the Golf Solutions Guide offer complete diagnostic tips and solutions for problems caused by turf diseases, weeds and insects.   Each section includes background information on each disease, weed or insect pest, symptoms and recommended solutions specific to warm- and cool-season grasses. Both publications also include product guides for Bayer fungicides, insecticides and herbicides. Solutions include tips on what to apply as well as label information inlcluding rates and timing.   The guides are available here.   Cool-season guide
      > Diseases: anthracnose, bacterial decline, brown patch, curvularia blight, dollar spot, fairy ring, gray leaf spot, leaf spot and melting out, Michrodochium patch, Pythium disease, rapid blight, snow mold, summer decline, summer patch, take-all patch.  > Weeds: annual bluegrass, crabgrass and goosegrass. > Insects: billbugs, nematodes and white grubs.   Warm-season guide
      > Diseases: Bermudagrass decline, curvularia blight, damping-off, dollar spot, fairy ring, large patch, leaf spot and melting out, leaf and sheath spot, Michrodochium patch, Pythium disease, rapid blight, spring dead spot and take-all root rot.  > Weeds: crabgrass, dalllisgrass, doveweed, goosegrass, annual bluegrass, sedges, tropical signalgrass Virginia buttonweed.  > Insects: billbugs, fire ants, mole crickets, nematodes.  

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