Field Day

On March 22nd I attended the 25th annual South Florida Turfgrass Exposition and Field Day at the University of Florida/IFAS Research and Education Center in Davie Florida. I attend this event each year because it is a great opportunity to see the latest research and test plots up close, and hear the scientists speak about their studies. Topics this year included insect and Whitefly management, new flower trials, coated sand's influence on localized dry spots, disease control programs for turf, and a nematode control update. For the afternoon session we had keynote speakers on the topics of identification and management of south Florida turf diseases, and turf nematode treatment options for 2012. If you have kept up with my blog, or read previous updates and articles I have written, you will recognize that many of the challenges we face at Stonebridge are being researched at the university. It was a very informative day, the weather was perfect, and I look forward to attending again next year.

In addition to the test plots and speakers many event sponsors brought in equipment and products to display.  They also cooked us a great BBQ lunch under the tents!

As I mentioned above the University of Florida's Turfgrass Program has been researching new products and methods for eliminating localized dry spots. If you have been on the course this week you may have noticed that we have some. These spots form when a coating forms around the sand particles and the soil becomes hydrophobic, meaning it repells water. The brown spots that form are not a symptom of an inefficient irrigation system - our new system is working great. The spots are random, but tend to form in the same places. The remedy for these spots is to treat our irrigation water with a wetting agent, and do a lot of hand watering.

Jayme has a hose attached to an adaptor that plugs into a sprinkler body. This gives us the ability to spot water any area on the course with a hose. The hose end also has a canister built into it that holds a wetting agent tablet. Adding a wetting agent to the water helps to remove the coating on the sand that has made the soil hydrophobic. We go through these same conditions around the same time each year, and I suspect that you will be seeing more of Jayme and his hose setup around the course until we get into the rainy season!





Golf Industry Show

Last week I attended the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in Las Vegas, NV. My days started early with meetings and seminars, and I spent 2 days on the show floor looking at the latest in equipment and supplies. I spoke with vendors regarding upcoming projects and purchases ranging from lake aeration to green grooming tools. I attend the conference and show show each year and always come home a little smarter, and with information needed to insure we are getting the most out of our equipment and supply purchases. This year was no exception!

The trade show floor was packed with vendors exhibiting their latest equipment and products.

The keynote speaker at the shows General Session was David Feherty. His presentation was enlightening, inspirational, and of course very entertaining!

The 2012 GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show was another success, and I always look forward to the following year.

Earlier this week I was working in my office and got a call from Mark, our golf course superintendent, asking me to meet him on #9 green to look at something. These types of calls do not usually carry good news, so on my way there I'm trying to figure out what could be wrong. Because of the 2" of rain we received the previous week, plus the weather we were experiencing, I suspected it could be a turf disease issue. When I got to the green this is what I saw:

The green was covered with these cottony spots.

A closer look shows the cottony appearance. This is a text book example of the turf disease Pythium. This pathogen can cause a lot of damage in a short period of time if left untreated. I immediately took a sample back to my office for inspection under the microscope.

Inspection of the turf under the microscope confirmed the presence of Pythium. The pathogen was present on both leaf tissue and roots.

I am sharing this experience to illustrate a point. This type of event occurs at least a few times each year, and can happen on any day. This is why I call our spray rig the fire truck. Whether it is an insect outbreak that can decimate a large area in a day, or a disease outbreak that can do the same, we have to be able to react quickly. Sometimes it means that we have to do things that golfers don't always understand - like watering in material during play. In this particular incident we were able to coordiante with the golf shop to get on the course between morning and afternoon shotguns. The fire truck was out spraying the greens, and then the sprinklers were run to wash the product into the roots. This event most likely went unnoticed, but if we werent able to react quickly the turf would have suffered.

You can rest assured that the health and condition of the turf is being closley monitored, and the fire truck is fueled up and ready to go the next time we have one of these mini crisises!

Happy golfing,

Alan Bakos, CGCS

Director of Grounds