A Visit With Ohio State Turf Club

This last Monday, I had the honor of speaking with the Ohio State Turf Club and presenting them with the first-ever Tee-2-Green Collegiate Turf Team Challenge plaque. I was very proud to present the plaque to the students who participated in our challenge and also to give them bragging rights, as the plaque will be gracing the walls for future students to see.


How did OSU Turf Club win the Tee-2-Green Collegiate Turf Team Challenge?
Teams from all turf schools were invited to stop by the Tee-2-Green booth at the 2012 GCSAA show in Las Vegas to participate in our ever-popular Seeds of Fortune game. This year we decided to hold a team event for turf schools/clubs where they could compete as a group to post the highest score. While playing, they were asked basic turf questions, as well as questions pertaining to the origins of Penn bentgrass and details of the 16 Penn bentgrass varieties, including recent trait-specific advancements. The game features six levels of questions, each with varying degrees of difficulty, and a randomly asked “Daily Duich,” named in honor of Dr. Joe Duich.


While visiting with the students, I gave them a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it takes
to grow, harvest, clean, and produce high-quality bentgrass for the end users. We also covered the future of bentgrass and the steps we go through at our testing facility to ensure the future of bentgrass continues to be strong.


My favorite part of any visit with turf students is just visiting with them, sharing stories,
and seeing how bright the future of our industry is going to be. After meeting the Buckeye Turf Club, I can assure you that we have some future leaders in the group.I hope to see these fellow turf professionals in the field in the near future and have a chance to work with them one on one.


Thanks again for allowing me to visit, and Go Buckeyes!
We also hope to see these OSU turf students at the booth again next year to defend their honor.

Tee-2-Green Turf Team Champions for Ohio State Turf Club -
Ron Townsend, Feng Wang, Chris Dynes, Zach Weber, Dan Quinn, Nick Fisher,
Mark Nicholson, Tyler VanLandingham, Issac Santel, Kyle Stediel

Springbank Links Calgary Canada In Early Spring

Spring Has Sprung At Springbank Links

After doing a write-up for what it takes to put my course “to bed” for the winter in Calgary, I thought a quick follow up on what it takes to get it ready in the spring was in order.

It begins by keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and crawling under the tarps to determine when the best time may be to pull back the tarps, when to be tank watering, when to begin feeding the turf, and when to charge the irrigation system.
This year after a very mild winter in which we tank watered 3 times since Christmas, we started pulling back half a dozen tarps each day and tank watering the turf with some potassium nitrate in the tank on March 19. Our daytime highs were around 14C but the overnight lows were around -4C so the tarps were replaced to give the turf some sort of protection and also create a bit of a greenhouse effect on the warm days. This process was repeated daily until April 11 as opening day was scheduled for April 12 (on which it snowed!).

The greens that had Evergreen tarps were completely thawed by the time we pulled the tarps off for good and the soil temps a half inch down were around 2C, while the four greens with solid bubble tarps were still frozen an inch down and temps were around -2C.

After the tarps are pulled off, we use a trap bike with brushes on the back to drag in the topdressing sand that was still sitting on the surface. This was followed by the first mow of the season at .160 with the groomers set a neutral just to help remove any dead and brown leaf tissue. The final step was a foliar feed during the heat of the day to begin getting the plant in gear for the season ahead.

Results for this spring are quite good as the Penncross survived 100% while the poa annua probably has a survival rate of 80-85%. We will continue to monitor the forecast, the growing conditions, and the turf to make an informed decision on whether we need to do some soddding, some interseeding, or if the spots will fill in themselves.

Thanks Again to John Faber and I hope to add more to this blog from him for years to come. John has sent along photos to share from his course that show how harsh the winter can be in his area.

Top-#17 - Solid Bubble Tarp, turf excellant with exception of some ice damage in corner
Middle-#7 - Evergreen tarp, some poa damage
Bottom-PG - Evergreen tarp, minimal poa damage

See and read more about Johns Course at:www.springbanklinks.com

A Day To Promote Golf

2012 National Golf Day
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 Washington, D.C.

Leaders of theU.S.golf industry have long recognized the need for the industry to speak with a strong and unified voice to elected officials on issues of common concern. Toward that end, leaders from the industry's major Allied Associations have determined that hosting an annual National Golf Day inWashington,D.C.affords an outstanding opportunity for the industry to reach out to Members of Congress in a coordinated and effective manner.

The fifth annual National Golf Day will take place on April 18, 2012. The World Golf Foundation is coordinating the day's agenda which will include industry leaders meeting with Members of Congress and their staffs to carry the message that golf is more than a game - it is a majorU.S.industry, providing two million jobs and creating annual wage income of $61 billion. In total, the U.S. golf economy exceeds $76 billion, making golf larger than newspaper publishing, larger than performing arts and spectator sports, and larger than the motion picture and video industry. As a significant contributor to theU.S.economy, the continued health and growth of the golf industry has a direct bearing on jobs, economic development and tax revenues for thousands of communities across the country.

Golf's leaders will be at National Golf Day to communicate the message that the industry is united as never before in its efforts to increase its impact economically, improve its environmental stewardship and use its fundraising capacity to improve the lives of millions of Americans.


Go to http://twitter.wearegolf.org and tweet why golf is more than just a game for you.

Want to compose your own tweet but don't know where to start? Here are some suggestions -- just be sure to use the hashtag #iamgolf and include the web address twitter.wearegolf.org.


• #iamgolf because golf is more than just a game for me twitter.wearegolf.org #iamgolf

• RT (Retweet) if golf is more than just a game for you. See all the tweets at twitter.wearegolf.org #iamgolf

• 2 million jobs makes golf more than just a game for America's economy twitter.wearegolf.org #iamgolf

• $76 Billion makes golf more than just a game for America's economy twitter.wearegolf.org #iamgolf

• I didn't know I burn 2,000 calories walking an 18-hole golf course. #iamgolf and golf is more than just a game twitter.wearegolf.org #iamgolf

• $1.1 Billion raised for charity by the @PGATOUR, another reason golf is more than just a game twitter.wearegolf.org #iamgolf

• Golf courses increase America's green space and benefits the environment, making golf more than just a game twitter.wearegolf.org #iamgolf

**Above copy from World Golf Foundation and GCBAA

Lets Show our support as an industry....