Friday, May 31, 2013

Check out the new issue of Golfdom

 


-- US Open Preview
-- Plant Health Pt. 1
-- Phosphorous fertilization effects on Poa annua
-- Improving the efficacy of Tenacity for creeping bentgrass control
-- Danneberger on turf sunscreen products
-- Throssell talks Secure fungicide with Syngenta's Agnew
 

Thursday, May 30, 2013

The Unfab Four

I was flipping through the new issue of Golfdom the other day. (That's always a strange feeling after having spent several weeks sweating the contents of an issue and staring at it on a computer screen, to then read the print version. I imagine it's a similar feeling to what superintendents feel when they play their own golf course.)

Anyway, I was flipping through the mag and I came across this page:





Jeez-oh, man... how many times can I run my own photo on one page? Not once, not twice, not thrice... but FOUR TIMES! Sheesh! I hate myself right now.

I'll admit that I saw this in the proofing stage, and I thought about trying to cut down on all the images of me. The only shot that seemed viable to crop me out of was the first shot, of me with John and Keith. But dang it, it's a nice photo, we were all at the GWAA dinner... I said forget it. I kept myself in the pic. 

So what I'm trying to say is, I hope you can forgive me. Not even my own mother wants to see a page with me in four different photos! I'm sure you don't, either.

Don't worry, I'll nip this in the bud before I get so wrapped up in myself that I do something crazy like start writing a second column every issue, or publishing photos of my kids. In the future, I'll try to limit myself to two images of... myself... in any Golfdom Gallery (felt like I was quoting a Dr. Evil line there.) Three at the very most, and only on a special occasion, like my birthday or something, OK? Sound cool? ...Please don't hate me?


Thanks very much for your continued support!

-Seth

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Thanks for the hospitality

I'll post photos from my tour soon! Can't wait to see those customized Golfdom flags!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Talking Talstar with FMC's Jon McDowell

Talstar has been around for decades, but the pesticide recently received two new improvements. Jon McDowell, FMC Professional Solutions' commercial development manager, talks about these updates as well as some herbicides for controlling crabgrass and broadleaf weeds.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Turf toughie: Tifway hybrid bermudagrass

A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUIZ THAT PUNISHES GUESSING

By Curt Harler

We all know how tough life used to be: Walking five miles to class through chin-high snow drifts… uphill both ways.

Being in Dr. Beth Guertal’s classes at Auburn can be just as daunting. We’ll tell you right up front that, to get this multiple-choice answer correct, you need to know something about all four of the possible answers. Guertal’s question to her turf students:

Which of the following is a true statement about Tifway hybrid bermudagrass?
A. Not used much anymore in Alabama, TifSport has largely replaced it
B. Viable seed is available
C. Also widely known as 419
D. An intraspecific hybrid

“This is sort of a ‘two tier’ multiple-choice question,” she notes. “It is two-tier for the following reasons: 1) every question is correct for some other grass, (in other words, none of my false answers for a questions are invented nonsense, and thus sometimes a student can ‘back into’ the correct answer); and, 2) to pick the correct answer a student also has to know other information, such as what an intraspecific hybrid is.”

The correct answer, Guertal reveals, is ‘C’. In many parts of the Southeast, folks know Tifway by the other name of ‘419’. Sometimes people put it together: ‘Tifway 419.’
Eric Klaypas inspects the Tifway at Auburn University. Photo courtesy Auburn.

“It is important that students know both names and that they are the same grass – often a client only knows one name or the other,” she says. Because Tifway is an interspecific hybrid (cross of two different bermudagrass species, typically Cynodon dactylon and Cynodon transvaalensis) it is sterile, and thus does not produce viable seed. It must be propagated via sprigs or sod. That is why options B and D are incorrect. An intraspecific hybrid is a cross between two (or more) bermudagrasses of the same species (these are also known as synthetics). An easy way to keep these straight is that “intraspecific” has an ‘a’ in it, just like the word ‘same’, and ”interspecific” has an ‘e’ in it, just like the word ‘different.” Answer A is wrong because Tifway is still widely sold and used throughout the Southeast.



Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Under the microscope: Pythium blight

Pythium blight (pathogen: Pythium spp. P. aultimum, P. aphanidermatum) during hot humid weather can be a serious problem on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) and annual bluegrasss (Poa annua) greens and to a lesser extent bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon). Generally, this disease is most severe on turf sites that are wet or poorly drained and where the turf is under summertime stress. These areas include high traffic areas where compaction occurs, like the ends of fairways where mowers may turn. On tees, Pythium blight may initially appear around divots where the turf is under additional stress.

Pythium blight is active when temperatures occur between 86 and 95 F and nighttime temperatures remain above 70 F. However under extremely humid and wet conditions Pythium blight will occur at nighttime temperatures below 70 F. The risk of Pythium blight increases on turf growing in low-lying areas where water accumulates, on compacted soils, and on thatchy turf.

Symptoms on putting greens normally start off as small patches that rapidly increase in diameter becoming more irregular shaped. If you rub some of the leaves early in the morning they will appear oily (thus, the common name “grease spot”). Leaves become a light tan color as they shrivel. The leaves can become matted and covered with a white mass of mycelium. Generally speaking fungicide control is most effective when applied preventatively.

-- Karl Danneberger, Ph.D.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Four new ETQ fungicides from SipcamAdvan broaden control, expand use

SipcamAdvan expands its ETQ fungicide portfolio for season-long use with the addition of four new products. Echo Dyad ETQ, E-Scape ETQ, Eclipse ETQ and Sipcam Clearscape ETQ combine proven active ingredients with SipcamAdvan’s exclusive ETQ technology.

Echo Dyad ETQ contains chlorothalonil, E-Scape ETQ contains chlorothalonil and tebuconazole, Eclipse ETQ contains iprodione and Sipcam Clearscape ETQ contains tebuconazole. All incorporate SipcamAdvan ETQ technology to optimize turfgrass color, strength, density and consistency by protecting turf from UVA and UVB rays, heat and other stress factors.

“Our first ETQ fungicides were strictly chlorothalonil-based, but these new products contain additional active ingredients for season-long disease control,” George Furrer, director of specialty business for SipcamAdvan, said. “Professional turf managers benefit from an umbrella of protection encompassing the benefits of ETQ technology plus broader spectrum disease management and enhanced turf quality, while allowing adherence to annual use restrictions for chlorothalonil.”

Friday, May 17, 2013

Golfdom Earns 9 Editorial Excellence Awards from the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association

Cleveland, OH -- May 16, 2013 -- North Coast Media is pleased to announce Golfdom continues to be recognized for its outstanding editorial leadership and design by the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) earning nine honors at TOCA's annual awards ceremony held last week in Portland, Ore. Sister publication Landscape Management (LM) nabbed eight awards. North Coast Media once again led all publishing companies that competed for TOCA awards in the golf and landscape markets with 17 awards.

Golfdom won TOCA awards for:

Photography, Portrait/Personality -- "Like Father, Unlike Son"
Pictorial 1 (photo of golf course, park, sports field or any commercial or community area) -- "Healing Power"
Printed Magazines: Singe Page Design/Editorial -- "Golfdom Gallery"
New Media, Blogs --"The Golfdom Daily"
Writing, Commercial Publications, Column -- "A Course Built on Sacred Ground"
Writing, Commercial Publications, Turf Feature Article -- "All Zoyias are Not Created Equal"
Writing, Commercial Publications, Product Information Article -- "Enemy at the Gates"
Writing, Commercial Publications, Business Management -- "The Guy's Got Guts (and Goats!)"
Writing, Commercial Publications, Headline Writing -- "The Guy's Got Guts (and Goats!)"

"We had a very strong showing at TOCA once again this year," said Kevin Stoltman, president and CEO of North Coast Media. "This recognition validates the hard work of our editorial team, led by Seth Jones, who is so dedicated to delivering superintendents must-read resources."

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Matt Shaffer on U.S. Open conditions

Matt Shaffer discusses the arrival of the 2013 U.S. Open, the weather leading up to the event, and what players will get when they find their ball in Merion's rough (Here's a hint: it won't be perfect). Look for part two in the next few weeks...

Monday, May 13, 2013

Happy first anniversary, North Coast Media!

If you missed getting a card in the mail, that's OK — it snuck up on us, too.

North Coast Media celebrated its first anniversary recently. The Cleveland-based publishing company publishes Golfdom as well as Landscape Management, Pest Management Professional, Pit and Quarry, LP Gas and GPS World, and in my opinion it's about the friendliest group of journalists and designers you'll ever meet.

So if you need a reason to celebrate on a Monday... well, here you go. Happy anniversary, NCM!



Thursday, May 09, 2013

Sunny days in Portland

Great to see my old friend Brian Koffler, superintendent at Waverley CC here in Portland. BK has the course looking great... I got some good photos I'll post soon...

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Bayer CropScience Accepting Applications for the Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow Plant Health Academy

A little late to this one today as I was on the golf course all morning... but here ya go:

Environmental Science, a division of Bayer CropScience, today announced that it is accepting applications from GCSAA Class A and superintendent members through June 5 for the inaugural Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow Plant Health Academy. The Academy is the first of four Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow educational opportunities available to superintendents since Bayer launched the program in collaboration with the GCSAA’s Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG) earlier this year.

The Academy’s two-part immersive plant health curriculum will involve in-the-field training at the Bayer Training and Development Center in Clayton, N.C. (September 25-27), and classroom training at GCSAA headquarters in Lawrence, Kan. (March 3-5, 2014). Twelve GCSAA members will be selected based on merit to participate in the Academy, with travel, accommodations and meals paid for by the Healthy Turf, Healthy Tomorrow program.

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Thoughts from 30,000 feet

A little bit of this and that as I make my way out west for the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association annual meeting...

One of the massive bunkers on the Doak 18 at Streamsong.
  • First, some good news. We set another personal record here at the Golfdom Daily last month. In March we had our best month ever in terms of visits in a single month. That was very exciting. But that record didn't last long. The very next month we blew our one-month record away by 2,000 hits in April. ...So thanks to the thousands who stopped by the blog to see what we had cooking in April. In case you're curios, this post featuring photos of the crew getting work done at Augusta National led the way and became the most viewed page in the blog's six-year history.
  • I heard the sad news of Stan George's passing while I was in Florida last week. Stan was the CGCS at Prairie Dunes CC in Hutchinson, Kan. I had the pleasure of meeting Stan back in 2002 when I did a cover story on the course in anticipation of them hosting the U.S. Women's Open. From that point on Stan was always a trusted colleague and friend in the industry. Not that it does much good, but our condolences here at Golfdom go out to Stan's family and friends.
  • I'm on the last leg of six trips in four weeks now, as I head out to the TOCA meeting. I'm excited to be returning to Portland, Ore., where I last visited just a few months ago when I spoke at the NW Golf and Environmental meeting. No alt-rock concerts this time (caught the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion show last time, dragging architect Andy Staples with me) but I am happy to see a recent report on CNN that named Portland the No. 1 beer city in America.
  • Last week's trip to Florida ended well, as I wrapped it up with visits to Reunion Resort and CC of Orlando. I spoke at the Calusa/Sun Coast GCSA chapter meeting at Coral Creek Club in Placida. The speech went well, I'd say, but my golf round was beyond lousy... which, as Jackson mentioned here on the blog, was even tougher when you consider that I was playing with a 0, a 3 and a 4. Oof! We're playing in Portland this week... it has to get better, right?
  • More updates coming this week from Portland, especially in regards to the TOCA awards ceremony, which takes place Thursday night. Fingers crossed that it goes well for us. Although I can tell you right now that whatever we do this year, 2013 is going to be even better. And if you see misspellings on Thursday night, please excuse me, but remember: it is the No. 1 beer city in the U.S.A...

Friday, May 03, 2013

A visit to CC of Orlando

I'm back from a week in overcast, rainy Florida. Back in Kansas, where it was snowing on May 2nd, when my flight landed last night (sheesh!)

My last stop was at CC of Orlando, to visit my old friend Kasey Kauff, who became the superintendent of the course a few months ago. The last time I saw Kasey was at the 2011 PGA Championship, when he was working at Atlanta Athletic Club.

Here are a couple pics of Kasey, the course, and the huge trees they have out there at CCO. It's an old Donald Ross course with some really beautiful views.

The last photo, that tree is 600 years old, and they call it Willie Mays, because it catches everything. It's proudly standing near the landing area of a turn on a dogleg right, of course.

Thanks to Kasey for showing me around the course!