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.
