A Good Trip/March Is Coming In Like a Lion

In Like a Lion needless to say will refer to what we will be experiencing over the next day or so with the beginning of March. Cold temperatures this past week have still kept a fairly decent amount of snow on the course and the inches we will receive by Sunday night will impact us even further.  We will be getting a nice day on Tuesday which will help melt some of this stuff away but the rest of the week does not look good until next weekend.  

I'm giving fair warning to you now. I expect that once the snow has left the greens, the course will remain closed until the freeze has come out of them so we are not creating excessive imprinting and root shearing near the surface of our greens during this important time of our greens transitioning from winter to spring.  I will continue to keep you updated during the week with blog posts and twitter messages that can be followed directly on twitter or on the twitter feed at the top right corner of the blog.

The siege of the Alamo began 3 days before we arrived 179 years ago.

Well, I thought my trip to San Antonio for the annual conference would be both great professionally and personally. Nice weather would allow some enjoyment outside during breaks and great evening walks on the Riverwalk going from social functions and back to the hotel. Still warmer than Stl but only one really beautiful day we got to experience.

Professionally the show was excellent. Excellant presentations I saw over a couple of days from my peers as well as researchers from all over the country.  Poa annua, plant defense activators which assist plants in combating diseases, water management and managing course for environmental/business sustainability were just a few of the topics.

Trade show Floor

Shared Hospitality Night with Mississippi Valley Supt Association(STL) and Hear of America Supt Assoc(KC)

I'm in print on the trade show floor. One 100# of bentgrass seed in a contest in Nov/Dec.  Lets hope I'm not forced to use it but only use it in the fall to encourage higher bentgrass populations.

Nice presentation from San Antonia Water System regarding water conservation.

Trade show has lost some of its size from the glory days but large enough with a lot of ideas on equipment and supplies that we might consider using over the next few years. We made a significant equipment purchase 2 years before I arrived and a majority of that equipment is heading into 9 years of age.  Some have aged slowly with lower hours and still has some good life but a few pieces are getting near retirement in their career at Glen Echo.

We will be making purchases over the next few years to spread the impact of our aging fleet on the finances here at Glen Echo.  Staggering purchases keeps everything from aging all at once creating a significant impact on the club's finances. It is not beyond the possibility of purchasing some used equipment with lower hours that will help to reduce the impact to our bottomline. Some of our equipment can cost mid-20's to over $50k for our rough mowers and fairway units.  Just as automobiles, equipment does depreciate in time and some of the initial impact from being new can be offset by pieces purchased from leases after 3-4 years.  Still plenty of life available for us to utilize.

Part of that equipment we will need to replace includes member golf carts which we need to begin rotating newer carts into the fleet over the next few years. We;ve made a substantial battery replacement over the last couple of years and need to put a few years on these batteries to get our value out of the purchase but don't want for them to become too aged where we have to start replacing them for the 2nd time. Carts the size of our fleet can cost upwards of $250k or more.

Well, I better close for now. My weekend and time to go check the parking lot and drive.  A party this evening in the clubhouse and need to make sure the roadways are safe!

GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show

During the week of February 8th, I had the privilege of attending the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America's Education Conference(GCSAA) and Golf Industry Show in San Diego. The GCSAA has teamed with presenting partners which includes the Club Managers Association of America(CMAA) and National Golf Course Owners Association(NGCOA). Participating partners included the Golf Course Builders Association of America(GCBAA), American Society of Golf Course Architects( ASGCA), the National Golf Foundation(NGF) and the United States Golf Association(USGA).

Education and the trade show are two key components of the event for me. 4730 seats were filled for 99 seminars which were presented at the conference by the GCSAA.

I attended two seminars which had outstanding educators presenting some valuable information regarding the turf we manage at Glen Echo.

The first was presented by Ronald Calhoun from Michigan State who discussed"Practical Use of PGR(plant growth regulators) for Golf Courses". We use plant growth regulators for a number of reasons here at our course.

• Reduction of poa annu seedheads on our greens in the spring.
• Applications to our greens during the season to reduce the amount of poa annua and increase the amount of bentgrass which is a stronger plant.
• Speed control and consistency.
• Growth control.
• Plant health, reduction in top growth encourages root growth and utilizes less energy which is important for the turf to survive severe environmental or stress conditions of the summer.

Mr Calhoun discussed the different classes of regulators, how to use them effectively and presented research data to help evaluate the use of the various products.

Dr. Frank Rossi from Cornell University presented "Beyond Organic-Sustainable Golf Turf".
Dr. Rossi's take home point in his presentation revolved around improving resource efficiency. Improvement of resource efficiency not only makes sense for the health of our turfgrass but also makes good economical sense in utilizing the financial support provided by our membership.

Early morning presentations called the Innovative Superintendent Session began at 7:00 a.m. on both Tuesday and Friday mornings. Presentations made by fellow superintendents provided great insight into various areas of golf course management including personnel, operations, and construction. Cultural practice tips in water management, bunker stabilization, equipment modification ideas, and quality control were some other great topics covered by my peers. Superintendents from Iowa gave us insight into the terrible tornado and flooding season that struck our neighbors to the north in 2008. Hard work, innovation and determination has brought the facilities back to pre-disaster conditioning.

Two days of walking the trade show allowed me to network with vendors who provide products and services that support our facility. I was also able to check out new and or existing products that could help us provide better playing surfaces. The trade show also offers me the opportunity to renew relationships that I have developed over the years with local and national companies that provide valuable expertise and knowledge in helping our facility evaluate the many products and services that are offered to use on the golf course.

It was a great five days of education and insight into the golf management industry.

Below, I have attached a short highlight video from the GCSAA regarding the conference.