A Visit to the Carolinas Show

On November 16th, David Rosenberg and I boarded a plane to Myrtle Beach to take the opportunity of attending the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association Conference and Trade Show. There are a lot of similarities to the New England Regional Turfgrass Conference and Show, but also some distinct differences. Some of the similarities observed are: their schedule like ours begins on a Monday, they do many workshops (similar to 1/2-day seminars) and have a high priority on education, the show floor sports between 350-375 booth spaces (over the last 3 years NERTF has averaged 370 booths), the trade show opens for 3 hours on Tuesday afternoon and NC/SC Sports Turf Managers also attend with a separate education program on Wednesday. There are many differences and I will list some:
1. They also have outdoor activities on Monday including a golf tournament and Sporting Clay (Skeet) event. Obviously they take advantage of being in a warmer climate and earlier in the calendar to do this.
2. Their seminars are 3 1/2-hours long and they offer many more (25 over the two days) with most of them on Tuesday.
3. The association is made up of Chapters of GCSAA and hence the show is predominately a Golf Course Superintendents Show (mini-GCSAA) until they added some space for NC/SC STMA for the 2nd year. They don't share the same program, registration process, or show activities but both entities use the tradeshow during the same hours.
4. Trade show is only open for 8 total hours over 2 days (Tuesday & Wednesday). They do have a 27-hole Challenge prize giveaway, similar to NERTF 9-hole challenge, that they charge exhibitors to participate in. This encourages full floor coverage by attendees if they participate and there are several prizes for superintendents and assistants.
5. Because the show is based by a members association they conclude their show week with many give-aways, then with a keynote address, and finally with an Annual Meeting.
Our overall opinion of the show is favorable and that it is well run, in a nice but somewhat isolated facility, the association members seem to support the show and come to Myrtle to participate and network within the industry. What I do find interesting is that when you have 2000 attendees and only 480 minutes of trade show, that equals only 15 seconds per attendee if everyone wanted to speak to you in your booth. That seems a little tight and may be a problem if the show continues to grow and as people compete in the 27-hole challenge it may become a distraction from the purpose of the tradeshow. When going to another show, we always seem to find either a few new exhibitors, or secure some assurances from other exhibitors that they will be attending our show, and always, we observe new ideas and pickup a few tidbits that could be useful in our attempt to make the New England Regional Turfgrass Conference and Show a little better than previous years. One great thing is there is no snow to worry about!

Turf Management Wimbledon Style

On October 8th, I traveled up to the Longwood Cricket Club with Dr. Noel Jackson to participate in day 2 of a conference on the Construction and Maintenance of Grass Tennis Courts hosted by Michael Buras. On the 7th about 45 people attended from around the northeast, as far away as Philadelphia, to be taught by Mary Owen (UMass Extension) on Organics, Dr. Michelle DaCosta (UMass Amherst) on Plant Physiology & Water Management and Dr. Jason Henderson on Tennis Court Soils. On Friday, the 8th, the spotlight speaker was Neil Stubley (center of picture), Senior Groundsman, for the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, better known throughout the world as Wimbledon. Mike was the wrap-up speaker, explaining the some of the successful techniques used at Longwood that allow for great playing conditions yearly.

At first look, grass courts mostly resemble high quality fairways to the average golf course superintendent, but as you get up close and with a better idea of what the players are looking for you find some great differences. There is no arguing that Wimbledon courts are as famous and intensely treated as any of Augusta Greens. But there are some significant differences. Neil identified for the audience that all Wimbledon grass is ryegrass! Shocked?! Over the years, tests have been constantly performed to count the court grass species, and results determined that 99% of the grass counts ended up being ryegrass after a year of management and tournament preparations. Even though various bentgrasses and fescues were sown with the ryegrass. So, the common sense approach was to switch all courts to ryegrass. And that they do. As I mentioned, they don't like thatch. So, Neil, and the Wimbledon have guaranteed a zero thatch, 100% monocultural playing surface with zero Poa ready for each tournament.

A bit of a shock to me was the statement Neil made that most grass on the courts at Wimbledon don't see their 1st birthday! Meaning, that all grass is stripped yearly and resown starting just days after the final day of the tournament. Total renovation! They seem to have it down to a science using the Koro sod stripper, sweepers, lutes, custom designed floats, and with a heavy seeding rate of approx. 10 lbs/1000 ft2, covers, controlled moisture and timely fertilization it all comes together. Grading is flat with no pitch and is what the players want. Combining the best growing weather conditions for ryegrass even right through the winter with very low disease pressure it all seems to work. It is impressive especially when you consider their success.

Another interesting fact is that the soils beneath the courts are 23% clay. This sounds like a nightmare to those managing putting greens with a 8" percolation rate/hr. Unfortunately, I bet a lot of putting greens out there might make a better tennis court! You might be thinking Wimbledon must have a secret vacuum system to take the water off each court! During the tournament most of the manpower is waiting to spring into action in case of rain. Center court now has a roof they can close. But before that, each court has special tarps that court volunteers pull over the court and inflate in seconds. The tarps have doors in them so they can do their maintenance as they wait for the rain to subside. Unlike the USGA, the clay content may have to be moisten to allow the courts to firm naturally and are kept moist enough so they won't crack due to extreme lack of moisture. Rollers are hardly used at all, as the clay gives the players the bounce they are looking for. It is all fascinating and expensive as the members of the club sacrifice lots of court time on many of the courts.

Comparing Wimbledon to the best lawn tennis club I know, Longwood, management is much different. Longwood is predominately poa annua with some creeping bentgrass in some of the less trafficked areas. As explained to me, that these courts have been there 100 years and the membership likes the grass that has always been there. They over-seed periodically using plugs or seed from their natural seed bank that has been prepared over the last 100 years. They have done this by doing nothing and letting the courts come back on their own. Soils are lighter, and not perfectly flat, but flat enough to be sufficient for great play and an occasional professional tourney. The courts are healthy and meticulously maintained and managed. I can't imagine anything better, can you?!

We've learn a lot from places like Wimbledon and Augusta National and enjoy seeing the sport's ultimate management capabilities. It costs aren't cheap both emotionally and financially on your members, family, etc. Did I mention that Wimbledon also owns a golf course. Neil made a remark I do not agree with....saying, "the only useful purpose of the course is to park cars on during the tournament." Now that was just wrong!

2010-Youch!

For all you turfgrass managers out there, no matter on ball-fields, parks, lawns or golf courses, wherever, you have earned your money, every penny and more in 2010. Looking back at a spring of abundant moisture, consistent higher than average temperatures and less than average summer rainfall, and then add the traffic and you realize that there has been virtually no let-up of stress this growing season. With hardly any temperature relief at all and very few rain interruptions, no matter what your preparations were, the available funds you have, and the experience you have accumulated, 2010 will be one of those years not quickly forgotten. With the heat being such a destructive influence, Dr. Wendy Gelernter and the people of PACE Turf produced a video explaining the effects of heat on cool season turf comparing it to frying an egg on a stove. The video was designed to help explain to the public of the effects that summer’s heat had on their turf and why possibly there has been so much turf failure. She also explained, just like a fried egg, you can’t reverse the process after it is cooked! The good news being is that August is over and cooler shorter though still dry days are now here in September!

2010 is another reminder, like we didn’t know this already that Mother Nature is still in charge and we are at her mercy. Speaking with turf diagnostic people, they have told me that this has been their busiest year in the business. You name it, pythium, dollar spot, brown patch, summer patch, waitea patch, bacterial wilt, anthracnose and even copper spot have all showed up on stage to take a bow as agents of her rule. Those are just the diseases; we don’t even want to talk about multiple generations of ABW, bumper crop of crabgrass, the worry of things like water restrictions, or the fact that sometimes it just dies. Like every year, some have fared better than others, but everyone has felt the pressure. I stopped by to see a superintendent friend whose course has been hanging in there very well with the best of them and it looked like he was dazed and had melted into his chair, but he was not giving up! We toured the course, avoided many golfers, talked about his strategies and saw mostly success. But as he said, now is not the time to let down the guard. Jim Skorulski in one of his regional updates said it best, “you have to stay focused and be flexible to survive difficult weather periods.” A difficult season it has been! You don't have to go too far down the coast to find courses closed in August to renovate prior to more conducive growing weather in September.

You can’t help but wonder what may come next and why we do this to ourselves. A call to this business starts from the heart, and requires a total commitment. Luckily, September is here, and even though it can have its own problems, September has been known to lower blood pressure, save marriages and not to mention a few jobs. September could be viewed as Mother Nature’s gift to the industry and a time to heal. Probably on average the best recreation weather of the year, September is not just for the soul of the sod, but for the renovation of the mind and the regrassing of our own nerves. Moving forward…..I hope for everyone that work is fun again and that what was learned will not be forgotten!

2011 Turfgrass Conference and Show

Wow, has the summer flown by? As we head into the Labor Day Weekend and hoping Earl doesn't upset things, I can't believe September is here. I thought we should let everyone know that we have made some progress on our next show. The dates are March 7-10, 2011 and Providence is the place! This will be our 14th conference and show and we look forward to it and feel that it will be one of our best yet!

Our keynote speaker this year will be a local man from the Boston area that captained the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team that went on to win the gold medal. Mike Eruzione scored the winning goal against the Soviets in the 1980 Winter Olympics to advance them to the final game against Finland. Sports Illustrated voted the team's victory as the #1 sports moment of the century! Mike continues to be involved in Olympics in fundraising and as a broadcaster. He still affiliates with his alma mater (Boston University) and is active in many causes while residing in his hometown of Winthrop, MA with his wife and their three children. It has been 30 years since the Miracle on Ice, but the memory continues to motivate the belief that if you give it your best you just might finish on top!

Several seminars are being organized again for 2011 for Monday, March 7th. Tuesday will be another full day of USGA selected speakers and topics that are related to some of the challenges of 2010. Wednesday, will include several tracts for Golf, Sports Turf, Turf & Ornamentals, and Turf Equipment Technicians. Thursday will be the morning not to miss especially for turf agronomic topics as speakers will focus on pathology and best management techniques. The trade show will be open for 14 hours over the three days giving every attendee the opportunity to see each of exhibiting companies. The trade show is the biggest part of the event and we appreciate all the support the exhibiting companies provide to the show to help make it a true quality event. We encourage all attendees to spend some quality time on the trade show floor and see the latest in turf management equipment and products in the industry.

Even through this proplonged economic delay, we acknowledge everyone who continues to support the show and conference each year. The Turfgrass Industry continues to be sustaining these challenges, and those who participate in the conference and show only enhances their own position. So, please stay tuned for more information of the 14th Annual New England Regional Turfgrass Conference and Show. The website is http://www.nertf.org/.

UConn Field Day 2010

July 20, 2010 marked the second Official Turfgrass Field Day at the University of Connecticut's turfgrass research facility. It was a terrific day for a field day as the partially overcast skies and moderate heat and humidity would allow turfgrass managers to slip away from their facilities for a few hours. For the hosts, the difficulty is to provide enough interest and reasons to make turfgrass managers consider the visit. A nice contingent of turfgrass managers and assistants did attend from many areas of the turfgrass industry. Turfgrass suppliers also supported the event with exhibits and sponsorships. Research plots were toured by attendees and UConn staff summarized their efforts and results at intervals across the facility.

The field day gave Phil Neaton the opportunity to present Dr. Jason Henderson with a $10,000 donation for a piece of lab equipment called a Camsizer from the foundation. A camsizer can perform particle analysis for topdressing research and allowing the different effects they may have on turf quality to be studied. Jason had found partial funding (85%) from the university for the equipment and the foundation was able to make up the difference to ensure the acquisition of the needed equipment. The purchase will provide quick analysis to his efforts, in past cases, samples would have to sent out to other soil analysis labs for material identification and consistency tests stalling the process. Jason's efforts are providing data to better understand the effects of fairway/sports field topdressing and the materials used.

A real highlight for the day was the announcement that Dr. John Inguagiato had accepted the position as an Assistant Professor of Turfgrass Pathology. This is a clear indication of the University's strong support of sustaining the growth of the turfgrass education and research program at UConn. John's responsibilities will include teaching, research and managing the Turfgrass Disease Diagnostic Center. As the reputation of the program continues to grow, new generations of turfgrass students are recognizing the appearance of a good opportunity and its possibilities for them. The university has a strong agricultural program, and appears to see the value in a strong turfgrass program. Since the last field day two years ago, the research areas are expanding in quantity and quality. Without a doubt, I'll have to say all attendes were impressed with what they saw.

UMass Field Day-June 16, 2010

UMass Field Day: A real success as over 300 attendees and vendors enjoyed a morning of turfgrass research tours, networking, vendor interaction and enjoyable food. This was a common scene as UMass Staff and Research Assistants explain the type and purposes of ongoing research that is the focus at the Joseph Troll Research Facility. Each June, UMass hosts a morning of research tours that allow turfgrass managers to interact with researchers to share management techniques that could help solve challenges at their own facilities. Currently, the NERTF is funding three ongoing projects at UMass. The most recent includes a study of Dollar Spot resistance to DMI fungicides.

One highlight at this year's field day was the acceptance of a $7000 donation from the NERTF to the Geoffrey and Carol Cornish Fund of Enhanced Learning Opportunities by Geoff Cornish. In the photo (l-r) Dean Steve Goodwin, Geoffrey Cornish, Mike Buras, and Bob Ruszala chat concerning the future of UMass School of Agriculture among other things.