ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Turf Tips… and Bermuda Grass?
W
ithout a doubt, one of the perks of being a sales representative is the opportunity to meet with superintendents and discuss all things related to our industry. More often than not, every visit results in a learning opportunity and if I’m fortunate, a little “turf tip” is divulged. In hindsight, I wish I had known some of these tips when I was still an assistant superintendent but as they say, there’s no point crying over spilt milk. So, here are some interesting tips I have come across throughout the past year that I would like to pass on and hopefully, one of these tips might help you on your property someday. Interestingly, most of these tips involve alternative uses of wetting agents.
Wettings Agents: This past November, I was fortunate to attend the Penn State Golf Turf Conference where Mark Kuhns, Director of Grounds at Baltusrol Golf Club, gave a presentation titled Detailing Your Course for a Fine Look. In his presentation, he divulged that he incorporates wetting agents into his
bunker maintenance program to promote consistent playing conditions from bunker to bunker. He also preceded that information with a lament on the current trend of spending as much or more time maintaining bunkers than greens. While most golf courses won’t have the budget to go to similar ends as Baltusrol Golf Club, it might come in handy to help maintain the odd bunker that is the first to dry or maybe even help in stabilizing sand on steep bunker faces. When speaking to Aaron Weinberg, Assistant Superintendent at Oakville Golf Club, he mentioned his usage of wetting agents to reduce dew formation on his greens prior to aerification. It’s safe to assume that we have all noticed the absence of dew formation following a wetting agent application. Well, Aaron has used this to his advantage and times a wetting agent application prior to hollow tine aerification events. This not only helps to speed up core removal due to drier cores, but the final product is a cleaner putting surface as the absence of dew facilitates the removal of excess sand. Similarly, this strategy could be
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26 Green is Beautiful • Winter 2012