What Can You Learn from 16 sq. ft.?

One of the best things about my job is the educational opportunities that are available on a daily basis.  Whether it comes in the form of a classroom, monthly superintendent meetings, discussions with fellow peers via Social Media or something as simple as throwing a sheet of plywood on the ground, there is always something to be learned everyday. You'd be surprised at how much info you can obtain from a simple 4'x4' square (16 sq. ft.) of plywood. 

During my 6 years here, I have been closely monitoring our applications of fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides to ensure that they are necessary, timely and that we are achieving the desired results. With a struggling economy and the costs of these products continuing to escalate, it is imperative that each application not only work, but it needs to be justifiable.  One of the ways I have been monitoring the performance of the products that we use is through the use of the aforementioned sheet of plywood. 

Portable 4'x4' sheet for easy transport

There isn't anything tricky about how to use the plywood.  Simply place it in an area that is being treated (usually on one of our green or fairway nurseries) and make the application.  The purpose of the plywood is to shield the chosen section of turf from the application so that it can serve as a "check plot" against the treated area.  After the application is made, remove the plywood and wait. Over a period of time, the hope is that there is a noticeable difference between the treated area and check-plot.  If there isn't a difference, you could make the argument that the application wasn't necessary or the timing was inaccurate.  You could also make the argument that the product didn't work, but in my experience that usually isn't the case, but it has happened here.

Unfolded plywood on green nursery

The best example of the use of check plots here at Elcona happens every spring.  Everyone is aware that our greens are mostly comprised of poa Annua (Annual Bluegrass) and that it is a prolific seeder in the spring.  Hopefully you are also aware that we make 2-3 applications of growth regulators to help suppress the formation of the seedheads. It is never expected that we will achieve full suppression of the seedheads, but the hope is to reduce them by 50-60%.  How can we tell?  You guessed it...a check plot.  The photos below show you quite clearly where the plywood was placed and it should be obvious that there are significantly more seedheads in the check plot vs. the treated area.  Imagine how the greens would putt if we didn't make these applications!  As we expected, the application has been successful and certainly more than justifiable.

Check Plot on #1 green. White square caused by excessive
seeding within the check plot.

Check Plot on #10 green.  Software used to add yellow
tone to make the seedheads more visible.

Productivity in Las Vegas? You bet! (pun intended)

What do education, published research results, networking and David Feherty have in common? You probably answered "nothing", so let me give you the answer. All four were prevalent in Las Vegas this past week at the 2012 GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show.

Anthracnose updates

This event is held each year in varying cities and is attended by golf course superintendents, owners, builders, architects and equipment/product manufactures and distributors from around the world. Without a doubt, it is one of my favorite weeks of the year as it allows me to become exposed to new technologies, research that is being conducted as well as reconnect with fellow peers from throughout the world that I have developed friendships with.

The Business of Golf

Whenever I take classes, I am constantly reminded of how much my profession has changed over the years, but that is a topic for another day. This year's classes that I registered for included Best Management Practices for Anthracnose and its genetic history, The Business of Golf, Advanced Excel for Budgeting, Using Social Media for Communication as well as a few others.

A very small portion of the Trade Show floor

Of course, there is also the Trade Show which takes a couple of days in itself to get around if you have a lot of items to review and/or purchase.  It is literally miles of aisles worth of products and equipment all related to managing turf in some capacity.  It makes for a long couple of days and some very sore feet, but it is also a good opportunity to speak directly with manufactures as opposed to the distributors.


One of the highlights of the week was the Opening Session Keynote Speaker, David Feherty.  If you have seen or heard him on television, I can assure you that he's as engaging as you would think and even more "colorful" than you can imagine.  He took the stage at 8:15 am and had 45 min to talk.  By the time he was done with stories pertaining to his life, american citizenship, the golf industry and his extraordinary support for our military, it was about 9:30 am.  Truly an amazing individual that I could have listened to all day. I am really hoping that the entire video is released at some point so you can see it.  In the meantime, a brief interview and some of the highlights are in the 10 min. video below.


David Feherty from GCSAA TV on Vimeo.

It was a fantastic week, and this trip never fails to re-energize me and get me ready for the season. Yes, I was able to confirm how bad of a poker player I really am so there shouldn't be any concern that I will be leaving to join the World Poker Tour. It is, however, safe to say that I am officially ready for spring so, keep an eye out for new posts on everything that is happening on your golf course.