Thursday, February 17, 2011
Tree Removal Behind 18 Green
As most of you know, shade can be a major issue when it comes to maintaining healthy turfgrass, especially on putting greens. After much evaluation, we decided to remove the large Douglas Fir tree behind the 18th green to help improve the overall health of the putting surface. The following are some pictures to help illustrate the issue.
2011 Golf Industry Show Recap
The GCSAA Golf Industry Show is always a great opportunity for networking, continuing education, and keeping up on the latest and greatest in the world of turf management. Although it always turns out to be a long and very intense week that makes me feel a little like I’m back at school, it’s great to be able to connect with so many industry professionals, as well as get caught up on the current trends throughout the rest of the country and around the world.
My week started off with an eight hour class on green speeds which was taught by Mike Morris, the superintendent at Crystal Downs in Michigan, and Dr. Thomas Nikolai from Michigan State University who has done several decades of study on the subject. Tuesday was spent in a four hour class on managing cool season turfgrass root systems, and a four hour session that covered such things as environmental water quality and conservation, the benefits of sand top dressing, and new technologies to deal with Fairy Ring fungus on putting greens. Wednesday and Thursday were two full days spent at the trade show making contacts with vendors and other industry professionals to find out if there is anything new that can progress our operation at Pasatiempo. Friday ended up being more education in the morning with a session on major tournament preparation, and another session hosted by the U.S.G.A. covering various issues and innovations from around the country. On Friday afternoon I had the privilege of sitting in on a session in which Paul had been asked to speak on some of the economic benefits that we have seen from our native grass project as well as our work with goats.
So as you can see my week was very busy, while at the same time, extremely beneficial and educational. Overall I view this as one of the most important weeks of the year for our department. Not only do we get the opportunity to further our education, but the networking and informal meetings that occur throughout the week are invaluable to our operation at Pasatiempo.
My week started off with an eight hour class on green speeds which was taught by Mike Morris, the superintendent at Crystal Downs in Michigan, and Dr. Thomas Nikolai from Michigan State University who has done several decades of study on the subject. Tuesday was spent in a four hour class on managing cool season turfgrass root systems, and a four hour session that covered such things as environmental water quality and conservation, the benefits of sand top dressing, and new technologies to deal with Fairy Ring fungus on putting greens. Wednesday and Thursday were two full days spent at the trade show making contacts with vendors and other industry professionals to find out if there is anything new that can progress our operation at Pasatiempo. Friday ended up being more education in the morning with a session on major tournament preparation, and another session hosted by the U.S.G.A. covering various issues and innovations from around the country. On Friday afternoon I had the privilege of sitting in on a session in which Paul had been asked to speak on some of the economic benefits that we have seen from our native grass project as well as our work with goats.
So as you can see my week was very busy, while at the same time, extremely beneficial and educational. Overall I view this as one of the most important weeks of the year for our department. Not only do we get the opportunity to further our education, but the networking and informal meetings that occur throughout the week are invaluable to our operation at Pasatiempo.
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