Ahh, crap!

a pitch for organic fertilizer

UMass prof talks turf at GIS

UMass assistant professor and plant physiologist Michelle DaCosta spoke to superintendents today about pre-conditioning turfgrasses. And she drew a large crowd. Pre-conditioning turfgrasses, she said, exposes plants to a mild form of stress that helps them withstand stress better later on. "Do it when the plant is actively growing," she advised.

Hamish

in the Cylex Signs booth

Big wheels keep on turnin'

in the Pomp's Tire booth

The daily grind ...

... at the Bernhard booth

Duck, duck ...

Turfgrass Talk Show at GIS spotlights wetting agents

By Marty Whitford / Golfdom Editorial Director

Wetting agents have earned their place in the golf market, according to the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America's (GCSAA's) Turfgrass Talk Show this morning at the Golf Industry Show (GIS) in Las Vegas.

Hosted by Thomas Nikolai, Ph.D., a turfgrass academic specialist with Michigan State University, today's Turfgrass Talk Show on wetting agents embodied "infotainment."

Although guests of the Turfgrass Talk Show varied in their use and support of wetting agents, all agreed it's more a question of when, where, how and how often to use the solutions.

Guests of GCSAA's Turfgrass Talk Show on wetting agents included:

* Rodney Tocco Jr., a research assistant and doctoral student at Michigan State University;

* Douglas Karcher, an associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Arkansas;

* Matthew Taylor, CGCS, director of golf for the Royal Poinciana Golf Club; and

* Michael Morris, CGCS, a golf course superintendent with the Crystal Downs Country Club.

"I haven't bought into the need for a full-blown wetting agent program yet, but we do use wetting agents on our greens during certain times of the year," says Taylor, who oversees 36 holes in Naples, Fla.

Taylor adds that wetting agents help combat localized dry spots and deal with drought conditions and related water-use restrictions.

Morris agrees, noting he is somewhat skeptical of some of the water- and money-savings claims made by some wetting agent manufacturers.

"On greens, wetting agents serve as a bridge between waxy sand coatings and water -- improving water droplet penetration," Karcher notes.

"To improve turf quality and playing surfaces, we can either water every day or cut back some on irrigation and use wetting agents," Karcher adds. "Some wetting agents have improved their residual so, in some cases, the need to apply them can be reduced from every two to three weeks to just a few times a season."

Tocco concurs that several applications of a wetting agent can help control localized dry spots and enhance soil moisture levels.

"Wetting agents clearly are one of the many tools we have to enhance turf quality," Nickolai concludes.

Too much K?

Frank Rossi challenged superintendents to think carefully about all the chemicals they apply and, more specifically, whether they're applying too much potassium on their turf. He's conducted studies on cool-season turf in New York that support ratcheting back on K. "It's a low-risk savings," he says.

Fighting back

An attendee fights back against disease pressure

Golfzilla

Oh, no. There goes Tokyo ...

Ride in style

As Asian company showcases a Rolls Royce golf cart

The Arysta folks are colorful

Standing out in a crowd

Direct Solutions race car!

Sent from my iPhoneCheck out the sweet ride at the Direct Solutions booth! The Impala SS is a race car simulator that makes you almost feel the wind in your hair. Seeing all the people taking a crack at being the next NASCAR star made Golfdom's own Seth Jones want his shot at being the next big star on the racing circuit and he will get his chance at 4:30 today. Stop by and watch Seth go the distance!

Jacobsen party

The Jacobsen party was a blast. First-class all the way. It really made an impact, which the company hasn't done at the golf show in years. There were plenty of international customers from Asia and Europe. A nice showing. To lighten the mood, there was plenty of talk about Elvis staying at the top floor of the Las Vegas Hilton back in the day.

Talk ranged from a superintendent managing seashore paspalum in Baja California to organic pesticide use in Ohio with an agronomist.

Plenty of optimistic folks despite the less-than-positive economic conditions. Very upbeat.

- John Walsh, contributing editor

GIS in full swing

So much action already today, and things just really gut busy for me tomorrow.

 - Went to a Phoenix UPI meeting, where they talked about changes to the company since the acquisition by UPI. Owen Towne raved about the possibilities of the company now that is was a UPI business. UPI has grown 29% in the last year. "It's still the same customer service," Towne told the group. "It's still Sharon doing our customer service. Only the last few letters of her email have changed."
- Popped into the Syngenta media reception, where Stephanie Schwenke, golf market manager, talked about Daconil Action. Bombed their boxing quiz that they gave everyone while I caught up with all of my media brethren. Chatted with Bob Goglia -- he golfed this weekend in Vegas with his 79-year-old dad.
- Saw about 100 supers I knew as I ran from one corner of the convention center to the other. Sorry that I had a cell phone attached to my ear!
- Got the Golfdom booth set up for tomorrow...

Speaking of tomorrow... we'll be presenting our Herb Graffis Business Person of the Year Award to Paul Chojnacky tomorrow at 10:45. Come see Paul and say hi!

The rest of tomorrow's schedule:

 9-10 a.m. -- Anthony Williams, CGCS, CGM, environmental editor
10-11 a.m. -- Seth Jones, editor-in-chief
11 a.m.-12 p.m. -- Beth Geraci, senior editor
12-1 p.m. -- Matt Hendren, contributing editor
2-3 p.m. -- Joel Jackson, CGCS, contributing editor
3-4 p.m. -- Clark Throssell, Ph.D., research editor
4-5 p.m. -- Karl Danneberger, Ph.D., science editor

Feherty talks superintendents, 2012 GIS, and the mower he killed

Here's a little sneak preview of what you're going to get at the 2012 Golf Industry Show. Feherty is going to kill it at the Opening Session! Can't wait!

Checking in with Jacobsen's Withers at BTME

GIS Games

I'm getting revved up for the 2012 GIS! I thought I'd be ready for it, and here I am staring down Thursday, and there's still a lot to do before I leave for Las Vegas.

A couple cool things I'm looking forward to:

We're giving away an iPad at the Golfdom booth. You have to earn it, though. No random drawing. You have to be the best Wii golfer at the GIS. Best score at our booth walks away with the iPad. Bring your A-game.

I'm lucky to once again be participating in BASF's media charity event. This year we're doing "Superintendent Pyramid" which is based on some 1970s game show, I'm guessing. I'll Google it. Jeopardy! is the only game show I ever watch. But I'm looking forward to it. I've done well in BASF's games so far, knock on wood, dating back to when I won their Media Jeopardy game in 2008. I was a question away from being a "Thousandaire" last year. Fingers crossed I do well in Pyramid. Come by and see me do it, it takes place at the BASF booth (# 1860) at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

I'm also driving a race car simulator at the Direct Solutions booth. This is a first for me. It's also a competition among fellow turf media, for charity. I'll warn all those suckers: I drive an 8-cylinder Z28 everyday, and I like to drive angry, so they better bring their A-games.

OK, that's it for now. Hey, check out the photo of me playing Turf Jeopardy back in 2008! Ahh, that was a good day. I remember it well: "Who is Alan Shepard?" was the question that put me over the edge. Good times! (Watch me fall on my face at Superintendent Pyramid.)

Do You Have Weed Madness?

A madness of a different sort is about to begin.

FMC is hosting an NCAA bracket-style "Weed Madness" contest at the GIS to see what will prevail as the toughest weed in the land. You can vote at the GIS, or via FMC's Twitter feed. 

The details from the press release are below. I'll take Poa Annua and Goosegrass in my final four.

For the other madness? I'll take my Jayhawks, UK, 'Cuse and...... Marquette.

On February 29th and March 1st at the Golf Industry Show (GIS) in Las Vegas, FMC is hosting a "Weed Madness" contest by pitting 16 of the worst weeds in the country against one another to determine the Toughest Weed of 2012. Superintendents and Twitter followers (@FMCturf) can vote for the toughest weed in various match-ups over the two days.

One of the many cool things...

You might be able to nab at the Golfdom booth this year!