Let the BigDog mow

BigDog Mowers (manufactured not too far away from me in Hesston, Kan.!) has announced their "BigDog Days of Spring" promotion, which begins tomorrow and runs through May 31st.

Customers who test drive a BigDog mower (at participating dealers) will receive a “Bite This” t-shirt and qualify to win one of several prizes including a BigDog C-142 mower. Other prizes include $100 Visa Gift Cards, Tom Tom GPS systems, Flip Video Cameras, Apple iPods and Apple iPads.

Too early to think about dollar spot?

One of our regular Golfdom emails, "Putting down roots," just went out. Karl Danneberger, Ph.D., wrote this one about dollar spot.

If you'd like to sign up for the Golfdom emails -- we have several, ranging from disease alerts to behind-the-scenes stories making the magazine -- visit www.Golfdom.com and scroll down to sign up!

Dollar spot is the most prevalent disease on high quality turf in the northern temperate region of the United States. Dollar spot is most active within the temperature range of 59 to 86 degrees F with high humidity and leaf wetness. In general, warm humid days, cool nights and heavy dews are quite favorable for disease development. Although canopy moisture needs to be present, dollar spot is more severe on dry soils. Given the wide environmental conditions which dollar spot can occur makes it the centerpiece of any disease control program.

During winter the dollar spot fungus overwinters as dormant mycelium or sclerotial flakes. The amount present during the winter influences the arrival and severity of the disease in spring or summer. Researchers at several universities have reported that a fungicide treatment in early spring can delay the onset of dollar spot much later into the year. An application at approximately the second true mowing of the season (not counting removal of winter growth) has been effective in delaying the initiation and severity of dollar spot during the growing season. If dollar spot is a chronic problem, it may be worth experimenting with an early application.

-- Karl Danneberger, Ph.D.

10 totally random questions with GCSAA CEO Rhett Evans

By now you should have received your February issue of Golfdom, featuring a cover story on GCSAA's new CEO, Rhett Evans.

I had a great interview with Rhett for that story, and sadly, a lot of it wasn't able to make it into the piece due to space constraints. But I'll include the occasional sound bite from Evans here on the Golfdom blog when I have time.

For right now, I thought I'd post a fun part of our interview (that did not make the magazine) where I asked Rhett 10 random questions to learn a little more about his personality...

10 totally random questions with GCSAA’s new CEO, Rhett Evans

1. Who would play you in a movie about your life? Jean-Claude Van Damme
2. Greatest album of all time? “Hotel California,” the Eagles
3. Favorite professional sports team? Utah Jazz
4. How did you meet your wife? On a blind date 16 years ago
5. Greatest golf shot you ever hit? An eagle on a par 4, knocked it in from 220-yards with a 3-wood
6. Your favorite website? www.ironmanlive.com
7. What was your dream when you were a kid? To be a professional athlete
8. How many contacts do you have in your cell phone? Probably 250
9. What’s your preferred game to hunt? Wild turkey
10. What is your favorite gun? My Remington 300 Win Mag… by the way, I do not hunt turkey with that bad boy!

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 8 -- Watching the Idiot Bag, er, Box!

Thanks to everyone who took time to vote in last week’s poll. I think it is obvious that the majority of Golfdom readers agreed with my take on pro-ams. After all, of the whopping nine people who voted in the poll, three of which were my wife and parents, five of the votes, 55% were for the “pro-ams suck” option.

Let me explain how Hendren’s Hyperbole polls work. It’s an all-or-nothing deal. For better or worse I am an all-or-nothing kind of guy. Because 55% of the voters agreed with my take…… my take becomes fact! That’s your weekly look into the great mind behind Hendren’s Hyperbole! Let’s get on to some golf!

Aaron Baddeley won last week’s Northern Trust Open ending his two-plus year winless skid. More important the win punches his ticket to the Masters. The win puts Aaron in 4th place in the FedEx Cup point standings behind Mark Wilson, Jhonattan Vegas and D.A. Points.

Sorry Badds, but I don't want to write about you this week... I've been waiting to write about John Daly, and after seeing this picture… it’s time!



Yes, that is a TV on the side of John’s bag. What? A TV on a golf bag? That is ridiculous!

Apparently the TV flashes advertisements throughout his round. John said he got the idea from Rodney Dangerfield’s character, Al Czervic in "Caddyshack." What a coincidence! I model my golf course maintenance career after Bill Murray’s character, Carl Spackler! Hey-oh!

Besides the obvious reasons a TV stuck on the side of John’s golf bag is ridiculous, I have thought of a few more I would like to share with you:

#1 I don’t think sponsors are going to be advertising on Mr. Daly’s TV very long if he continues to miss cuts. He has only played in three PGA events in 2011 and of the three he only made one cut.

#2 When did golfers start relying on gimmicks to attract sponsors and make a few more dollars? When did golfers stop winning or at least competing and making cuts to earn a living? It’s bad enough that professional golfers are shameless walking billboards without introducing golf bags with TVs on them.

#3 Isn’t John Daly’s wardrobe a big enough distraction without adding a TV? I think John is trying to stay in the limelight despite his lackluster golfing with horrible, god awful outfits and now… a stinking TV. Hey John, how’s about playing some decent golf and drawing attention to yourself for your golf game and not a bunch of stupid clothes and gimmicks?

What is your opinion of John Daly’s clothing and golf bag TV? I have a feeling your thoughts are not going to be far off of mine.

That’s going to do it for this week’s Hendren’s Hyperbole. Keep those comments coming and look for the next poll coming soon!

--Matt Hendren

What in the Sandhill?

Cranes, that is.

More on them soon.

My three best moments of the day:

1. Called to talk with an old superintendent friend of mine, someone I haven't seen in a while. We caught up about my recent job change. Anyway, he mentioned to me that there is a photo I took of him and his wife together at the golf course some 8 or 9 years ago, that is to this day one of his favorite photos ever. Apparently I sent him the photo after the story came out, and he hung it up in his house. "Every time I look at that photo I smile," he said. "And sometimes it even reminds me of you, and when you came out here to the course to do the story." That's pretty cool, in my book -- to have a photo I took hanging up in someone's house, and, in a small way, being a part of that person's life.
2. I called another superintendent friend (I was on the phone a lot today) and as soon as he answered, he said, "29 meetings in 2 days?" quoting back to me something I wrote in my most recent Chip Shots Golfdom e-newsletter. You want to make a writer feel good? Quote something he wrote back to him.
3. The new Radiohead album came out a day early... and I've been rocking it all day.

It was indeed a VERY GOOD day.

So, back to the Sandhill Cranes.

We were playing golf at the GCSAA golf tournament at PGA National. We spotted these birds. I didn't know what they were, but one of our playing partners, Dennis DeSanctis, a regional rep for Syngenta, knew what they were.

He was able to walk right up to these birds! They didn't mind us at all. I snapped a few photos, and told Dennis I'd send him the pictures. So... here ya go, Dennis -- click on them and grab them off the site!

Wait, wait, wait... did you look at your watch?

During the Nick Price interview?

OK, I've gotten a few emails from people, asking me if I really had the audacity to look at my watch during my Nick Price interview.

And the answer is, "Yes, I did."

BUT I CAN EXPLAIN!!!

OK, it went like this: there were only two of us there to interview Nick during his "media round table."

As a journalist, let me tell you -- media round tables SUCK. Everyone is stuck getting the same answers, so the interviews are completely unoriginal.

Well, at the beginning of the "media round table," it was only me, Nick, and one of my rivals in the turf media industry. I proposed to my friendly rival that we split the 30 minutes that the GCSAA allocated with Nick. No round table -- two 1-on-1 15-minute interviews, peace on earth. He agreed.

Then two more competitors showed up. Damn.

But my rival liked my idea so he proposed we still do it, only splitting the time -- now down to about 25 minutes -- to 5 minutes each for the four of us. I asked the group, and everyone agreed it was a fair deal.

(Brief aside -- I think this set-up totally freaked out my old GCSAA pal Bill Newton, who handles the media for the association. Apologies, Bill! Thanks for being a good sport and letting us media guys flip the script on you.)

I told Scott Hollister from GCM to take the first 5-minutes. He's my old boss, after all, and the GIS is his party, best to step aside for the man. Scott began his interview while the rest of us stepped away.

Then the question was asked among the three of us: What if one of us selfish bastards decided to take more than 5 minutes? "Well, that wouldn't be cool," I said. Yeah, but what if?

I promised the guys that I would only take 5 minutes and not a minute more... and if I did, they could call me out on it.

Then I set up my video recorder and got ready to roll tape with Nick Price.

Twenty seconds into my interview with Nick, it occurred to me that I needed to be able to know how long this bad boy was running. I wanted to keep my end of the deal. I didn't want to go over 5 minutes.

Hence, the blatant glance at my watch.

No, Nick Price does not bore me. Quite the opposite, Nick cracks me up and I enjoy chatting with him.

Yes, I did look at my watch. But it was for good reason.

And at the end of the day, it adds a funny side-story to my interview.

And now you know!

Golfdom interview with Nick Price

I got great news in my email inbox yesterday morning... my interview with Nick Price at last week's Golf Industry Show was the most-viewed Golfdom video EVER! Thanks to everyone who gave it a look. Here it is below, in case you missed it.

My selling point on this video: You have to hear Price's take on greens committees (which is my last question of the short interview). It's classic.

But this is indeed a sign that Golfdom readers do enjoy quality industry videos... so plan on seeing more from your friendly Golfdom editor-in-chief!

To see the video click over to www.golfdom.com

Hendren's Hyperbole! Episode 7 -- Does Anyone Really Want to Watch Maury Povich Golf?

Welcome back to another riveting addition of Hendren’s Hyperbole! I hope everyone enjoyed the 2011 Golf Industry Show. Hopefully you followed Seth on twitter @Golfdom during the GIS and got yourself some sweet prizes. I think you all brought some of the nice weather back with you. Thursday the high is supposed to be 71 degrees! 71 sure beats the sub zero weather the country was engulfed by about a week ago.

Congratulations to D.A. Points for capturing his first PGA Tour win at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with a final score of -15. D.A. teamed up with Bill Murray to also win the Pro-Am Team Championship. After the win Murray gave the following quote “I’m thinking of turning professional. I probably won’t because I’ve got other responsibilities.”

I realize Bill is a comedian but come on, give me a break! Comedy and golf DO NOT MIX! There is nothing funny about golf. Well, that’s not entirely true. Tiger was fined an undisclosed sum by the European Tour for spitting on the 12th green last Sunday in Dubai. That is funny!

Personally I hate pro-am tournaments. What a joke. I don’t care to watch a bunch of hacks beat it around the course. If I want to see a bunch of hacks firing chili peppers all over God’s green earth I can just look out my office window.

I really don’t care what all the no-talent hacks, who haven’t been relevant in about 15 years, if ever, have to say about anything! I’m talking about you Andy Garcia, Kurt Russell and Maury Povich! Really, Maury Povich had time to stop revealing paternity test results and play golf? Don’t even get me started on Bill Belichick or Chris Berman.

If I am going to watch golf on TV I want to watch professional golfers. I would rather watch the Nationwide Tour or the LPGA. Yeah, I said it. LPGA, women’s golf! BRRR! I just got a chill running down my spine! Never mind, I have reconsidered and at no time would I rather watch the LPGA over a pro-am.

Where do you weigh in on the pro-am golf tournament? Vote in our poll or fire me a comment and let me know!

--Matt Hendren

BASF's "Media Thousandaire" on YouTube

You can check out my questions and see how awkward I am in front of a crowd by watching the below YouTube clip, courtesy of BASF.

If you swing by the BASF Turf Talk Blog you can see the other contestants, too.

I'm happy to report I raised $1,900 for the Wee One Foundation, and was able to get 9 out of 10 questions right (with some help from my lifelines) before missing out on the last one.

All told, BASF's event raised more than $7,000 for charity. AWESOME!

My favorite moment: when I got the typewriter question, and I told the crowd, "You know... I've never used a typewriter before." I thought the crowd was going to attack me at that point.

But it's true! Despite my gray hair, I come from the digital age! I don't understand your prehistoric tools!

Here's the video:

GIS hangover

Plus, it doesn't help that my Jayhawks got whipped by K-State.

Anyway, we're back in the editorial office at Golfdom... just trying to pick up all the pieces still. Thanks to everyone who came by and said hello, wished us well, signed up for magazines/emails/Pinehurst/Twitter/etc.

Back to the real world!

Superintendent assaulted outside Peabody Hotel

There were a lot of positive stories this week at the Golf Industry Show, but there was also one scary story that could have ended a lot worse than it did: A superintendent was assaulted outside the Peabody Hotel near the Orange County Convention Center on Tuesday night.

The Midwestern superintendent -- who requested that we not use his name -- was walking with a friend at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night when a car pulled up next to them. Two men got out, and before the superintendent knew what was happening, he was blindsided by a punch -- either a fist or a forearm -- in his right eye. The punch wasn't enough to knock the superintendent down.

The attackers had a gun and shouted for the men to get on the ground, but they refused. The two superintendents kept walking away. Lucky for them, the attackers lost their nerve and got back in their car to drive away.

The superintendent didn't get his wallet stolen, but his glasses were broken and his nerves were rattled.

"We were lucky these guys weren't pros," the superintendent told Golfdom on Thursday afternoon at the Golf Industry Show. "We would have been popped, we would have been dead. These guys were green."

The superintendent -- who had a scuff near his right eye -- said the attacker more or less "bounced" off of him.

"This guy thought he was tough, but he wasn't," the superintendent said. "He popped me and he didn't knock me down."

The superintendent has been coming to the GCSAA's annual conference and trade show for over two decades, and said the hardest thing for him was to believe it really happened.

"It took me a while to really get over it," he said. "Anything can happen. And it happened so fast."

The superintendent said his only reaction was to get away from the two men.

"I told (my friend), I just said, 'Keep walking!' And I kept walking away. They decided not to keep after me, so I went back to get my glasses, they were all smashed on the ground."

The superintendent said he did not report the attack to the police, but he did report it to both the Peabody Hotel and his own hotel. He also did not tell anyone with the GCSAA about the attack, because he didn't want to "make a big deal" about it. He said the attack wouldn't keep him away from any future Golf Industry Shows, but mostly it made him worry about his daughter, who was also at the GIS with him.

"She went out with her friends that same night... what if these guys went after her?" he asked.

Last day at GIS

This has gone by so quickly!

Come see me at the BASF booth at 3 p.m. playing Turf Media Thousandaire!

Congrats to Chris Zugel, superintendent at Whistling Straits, for winning a $50 gift card by following me @Golfdom on Twitter!

QUICK UPDATE: Everyone has been RAVING about the amount of traffic on the trade show floor. Peter Driver from Jacobsen told me it was the most traffic they've had in five years.

The show floor is visibly small... you can see both ends of the show with no trouble, which I don't know if I've ever been able to do that before.

I've got to get back out there... thanks for keeping up with us, I'm stockpiling information, interviews, etc., I'll post when I can but for sure I'll be sharing this in the upcoming weeks.

Off to the show!

Stay classy, Golfdom!

At Roy's with the fine folks of Rain Bird!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

How many blades of grass do you think Syngenta helps out?

Oh... THAT MANY.

More from the Syngenta booth tomorrow!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Bumper sticker...

Would be perfect for a superintendent! At the Rain Bird booth, talking IC system and about how it reduces the amount of wire needed by a whoppimg 90%!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Bigfoot!!!

Sighting at the Valent booth! We'll investigate more soon...

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Club Car's Visiage at GIS

Caught a presentation from Mark Langer, director of agronomy, Farmlinks GC, and Mike Read, talking about the Visiage golf fleet management system. It's GPS and cellular powered, so if your golf car gets stolen and ends up three states over, you can still find it via Google earth!

I'll have more info in a future issue of Golfdom!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Tomorrow the real work begins

So far so good at the GIS... but tomorrow, things are going to get crazy.

Had great meetings today with both John Deere and FMC... caught up with our friends at Syngenta... met up with both Clark Throssell, Ph.D., and Dave Kopec, Ph.D. ... chatted with my old pal Nick Price... and even had a few beers with the complete Golfdom team, which is something I've only done a few times since joining the team.

Keep checking in, I plan on sharing as much info as I can tomorrow!

If you're here at the GIS, please stop by the Golfdom booth and say hi!

For now... sleepy time. TOCA breakfast in the morning. Why just you wake me so early, TOCA???

REMINDER: I'm giving away prizes tomorrow! Follow us on Twitter, we're @Golfdom!

See you at the GIS...

-Seth

Just got done interviewing Nick Price

Great interview. Nick has such a great sense of humor. I videotaped the interview so I'll share it with you just as soon as I can.

One of the questions I asked: what do you really think about greens committees? Nick laughed and said, "one of the worst things ever invented! Who wants to take advice on how to do their job from a used car salesman?"

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

The booth is rockin'!

Great job by the Golfdom team today... we went from yesterday's mess to this masterpiece! You know what this booth looks like to me? A place where you could win a free trip to Pinehurst!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G