WCTA Turf Line News - June Issue (Digital Version)

2 TURF LINE NEWS

WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 3

TOP STORIES

18 Travis Olson Finally Gets His Award!

32

Enhancing Turfgrass Carbon Sequestration to Improve Sustainability and Market Access

22

Stu Carmichael Steps Up, Accepts Role of WCTA VP

24

Nathan Wade Named as WCTA Director

25

Josh Carlsen Named 2021 WCTA Student Award Winner

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On t h e cover : Mike DeCicco, Turf Crew Leader for the City of Kamloops, inspects results after the first pass of the Redexim Turf-Stripper 2000 fraise mower which according to their website, ?removes turf, weeds and thatch from sports fields quickly and accurately.?

Image credit: WCTA STAFF

COVER STORY

37 Coming Events Summary

30 Fraise Mowing Coming to a Field Near You 40 Message from the E.D. - Updated CEC

Point Records Sent

FEATURE STORY 32 Enhancing Turfgrass Carbon Sequestration

to Improve Sustainability and Market Access WCTA NEWS

10 Message From The President: May/June 2021

CAM PUS NEWS 36 Olds College Turf Diploma Compressed 38 Kwantlen Turf Management

INDUSTRY NEWS 27 Canadian Turf Research Foundation

Supports SK Golf Hall of Fame Nominee Bruce Klaassen

Announcing the WCTA Online Webinar 12 Series - WOW 2.0 14 Look Who's Joined the WCTA

28

BCLNA Japanese Beetle First Update for 2021

16 83% of WCTA Members Have Paid 2021

34 CGSA Master Superintendent, Tim Kubash,

18 Travis Olson Finally Gets His Award!

35 British Columbia Golf Receives Inaugural

Dues

Suffers Serious Life Altering Accident Delivering On Diversity Award

20 The 2021/2022 WCTA Board Of Directors

Stu Carmichael Steps Up, Accepts Role of 22 WCTA VP

TURF RESEARCH NEWS 27

24 Nathan Wade Named as WCTA Director 25

Josh Carlsen Named 2021 WCTA Student Award Winner

29 Membership Is For Everyone

WCTA Supports Turf Managers by Investing in 2021 Research Projects

33 CTRF Announces 2021 Turf Research

Project Funding

39

Prairie Turfgrass Research Center Will Wind-Down 'PTRC' Moniker

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t he

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Tim Kubash, seen here doing a Drill&Fill demo at Quilchena Count ry Club several years back, recent ly suffered a life alt ering accident .

PG 08 | JUNE 2021

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BY GA RY BA RTLEY

M essage from t he W CTA President M ay/June 2021 With the changes to the PHO orders, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It has been a long and challenging 14 to 16 months. We GARYBARTLEY have all been impacted by COVID, UBCAt hl et ics some far more than others.

Even with all the challenges that the WCTA and its members have faced, the membership numbers have been strong. We have seen some members leave, but we have seen more come back or join for the first time. I want to thank the membership that has seen the value of the WCTA (and other associations) and made the commitment to maintain their membership. It is a great indication of the dedication and commitment we have for the industry.

PG 10 | JUNE 2021

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Announcing t he W CTA Online W ebinar Series - W OW 2.0 With few options for providing education opportunities over the past 15 months or so, the WCTA created our first ever, online webinar series or WOW for short. Hosted on Zoom, the inaugural episode was held in late October 2020, with a couple more following in December and January 2021. The final session had been scheduled for February but it evolved into our successful, 2-day, ?WOTS-UP?virtual conference.

PG 12 | JUNE 2021

WESTERN WESTERN CANADA CANADA TURFGRASS TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION 13 13

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Look W ho's Joined t he W CTA June 2021 Report As a unified voice for the professional golf and sportsturf management industry in western Canada, the WCTA is currently 703 members strong!

Our record start to the 2021 membership year has cooled off a little but we welcome three new members in this report. Thank you for your support and confidence in our association! We also appreciate the 1500+ non-WCTA members on our mailing list for your interest in WCTA activities.

HERE'S A LIST OF OUR MOST RECENT NEW AND RETURNING MEMBERS: Kelly Almer - City of Fort Saskatchewan Jeremy Quin - University of Victoria St eve Woodhouse - Acer Landscaping Whether you're from the golf, sportsfield, supply chain or any other turf industry sector, we would like to see your name on our new member list!

PG 14 | JUNE 2021

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BY W CTA STA FF

83% of W CTA M embers Have Paid 2021 Dues

Dear WCTA Members, If you haven?t already, it?s now time to take care of your 2021 membership dues. Nearly 83% of members have paid and we?re hoping to catch the remaining 17% before the official start of summer on June 21.

All dues invoices were emailed last November. There are several ways to make payment - the quickest is giving Leslie Carnell a call with a credit card at (604) 372-3530. If you have not received your dues invoice via email, please let Leslie know and we?ll get it sorted out.

Thank you for taking care of this. If you have any questions regarding membership benefits, programs, activities of the association, becoming a board member or have any sort of feedback, please feel free to contact me at exec.director@wctaturf.com.

Sincerely, Jerry Rousseau Executive Director Western Canada TurfgrassAssociation www.wcta-online.com (604) 869-WCTA toll free fax: 1-866-366-5097 PG 16 | JUNE 2021

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BY W CTA STA FF

Travis Olson Finally Get s His Award!

For the WCTA, cancellation of our largest annual undertaking, the 2021 conference and trade show, ranks #1 on the scale of COVID related disruption. There will be other shows but sadly, we?ve missed so many of the meaningful things that happen at the conference each year.

For instance, it?s unfortunate we couldn?t recognize as we normally would, Travis Olson, WCTA Past President, for his efforts and leadership over the two-year term of his Presidency. Typically this happens near the end of the AGM when the new President thanks and presents a memento of appreciation to the outgoing President.

PG 18 | JUNE 2021

2021/2022 WCTA Board of Directors

pr esident Gar y Bar t l ey

v ice PRESIDENT St u Car michael

past PRESIDENT Tr av is Ol son

UBC At hl et ics (604) 970- 1417

Cit y of Cour t enay (250) 338- 1766 x7643

Kaml oops G&CC (250) 554- 1441

cl ick t o send an email

cl ick t o send an email

cl ick t o send an email

DIRECTOR of f inance Dav in Mar r

one YEAR DIRECTOR John Per r y

one YEAR DIRECTOR Andr e Dionne

Hil l v iew Gol f Cour se (250) 549- 4653

poppy Est at es Gol f Cour se (778) 809- 1607

UBCAt hl et ics (604) 927- 6246

cl ick t o send an email

cl ick t o send an email

cl ick t o send an email

one YEAR DIRECTOR Jed McGeachie

one YEAR DIRECTOR Jesse Cowan

one YEAR DIRECTOR Nat han Wade

Ov er t on Env ir onment al (604) 807- 6768

Gal l agher ?s Canyon GC (250) 862- 1540

SunshineCoast Regional Dist r ict 604 741- 1711

cl ick t o send an email

cl ick t o send an email

cl ick t o send an email

PG 20 | 2021

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BY W CTA BOA RD

STU CARM ICHAEL StepsUp, Accepts Role of WCTA VP With Cam Watt?s departure from the industry and Gary Bartley from UBC Athletics moving into the Presidency role ahead of schedule, we are now very pleased to announce that rounding out our executive team, Stu Carmichael from the City of Courtenay, has accepted the position of WCTA Vice President.

President Gary Bartley had this to say, ?I am happy to announce that Stuart Carmichael has accepted the role of VP. This is great news for the Board and WCTA! PG 22 | JUNE 2021

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BY W CTA BOA RD

NATHAN WADE Named as WCTA Director It?s been an unusual year for the WCTA Board with Cam Watt?s departure from the industry. Gary Bartley, from UBC Athletics, moved into the Presidency role ahead of schedule leaving the VP position empty but fortunately, Stu Carmichael from the City of Courtenay, stepped up and has filled that role.

The unexpected juggling left an open one-year Director spot, but we are now very pleased to announce that Nathan Wade, Parks Operation Technician from the Sunshine Coast Regional District, has been named as WCTA Director.

PG 24 | JUNE 2021

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BY W CTA BOA RD

W CTA St udent Award

W inners

Josh Carlsen Named 2021 W CTA St udent Award W inner Every year, the WCTA sets aside up to $2500 for deserving students enrolled in an accredited Turfgrass management. We would like to thank all six 2021 applicants for their submissions; it?s good to know the turf management industry?s future is bright indeed!

PG 25 | JUNE 2021

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BY CTRF

Canadian Turf Research Foundat ion Support s SK Golf Hall of Fame Nominee Bruce Klaassen The Saskatchewan Golf Hall of Fame is dedicated to the recognition of extraordinary contributions and accomplishments in the game of golf in Saskatchewan. The purpose is to provide role models and icons for upcoming generations of golfers in Saskatchewan while setting standards for them to aspire to. Honoured members, including amateur and professional golfers and builders of the sport, will be inducted annually starting in 2010.

A group of Royal Regina Golf Club members initiated a nomination of Bruce Klaassen stating, ?Bruce?s motto of ?being creative and being on budget?exemplifies his commitment to his profession. His expertise, innovation and tireless work ethic is widely respected by his peers and appreciated by those lucky enough to play courses where he?s been Head Superintendent over a career that spans more than 40 years.?

PG 26 | JUNE 2021

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BY W CTA BOA RD

W CTA Support s Turf M anagers by Invest ing in 2021 Research Project s Current priorities for WCTA turfgrass research funding are as follows: - Nutrient and fertility management, best management practices - Soil and root-zone management, best management practices - Evaluation of alternatives to pesticides - Irrigation and water use issues (water quality and reducing water usage) - Investigations into the biology, ecology and management of current and emerging pests - Alternative cultivar and species for new turf construction, integration and conversion into existing turf areas - Species/cultivar evaluation and improved management practices for areas of heavy traffic and wear tolerance PG 27 | JUNE 2021

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BCLNA Japanese Beet le First Updat e for 2021 It's that time of year again to begin preparing for another season of Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) eradication.

Equip yourself with the latest information by watching the BCLNA's annual Japanese Beetle Landscape Technical Session.

The Result s Are In! Japanese beetle survey trapping, conducted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), concluded on November 16, 2020. 2,507 traps were placed throughout the province, with the highest density of traps placed within the City of Vancouver. A total of 214 beetles were caught in 39 traps, resulting in a 82% reduction from 2019. Read the full notice from the CFIA here.

PG 28 | JUNE 2021

PG 29 | JUNE 2021

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BY JERRY ROUSSEAU

Fraise M owing Coming t o a Field Near You

PG 30 | JUNE 2021

During our 2017 field day hosted by Tab Buckner and the Township of Langley, Ross Rivers Enterprises provided a brief fraise mowing demonstration. As far as I knew, it was the first time most of us in attendance were seeing this seriously destructive but impressive cultural practice in person. I?d describe it as coordinated sod removal by force without the need to pick-up those annoying rolls.

Around the same time, articles were popping up in various industry publications along with social media chatter that gave me the impression fraise mowing was more widely known and popular than I first thought.

We even had Kevin White, then from Seattle University and now at Portland University, do a great fraise mowing talk at our 2015 Victoria conference and BCPRA just had Ross Rivers present at their 2021 virtual conference on the subject.

PG 31 | JUNE 2021

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BY OSU

Enhancing Turfgrass Carbon Sequest rat ion t o Improve Sust ainabilit y and M arket Access Dr. Ruying Wang, Dr. Clint Mattox, Dr. Claire Phillips, and Dr. Alec Kowalewski Oregon State University Horticulture and the United States Department of Agriculture Criticisms of the environmental impacts of lawns, including a high climate footprint, pose challenges to the market acceptance of natural turfgrass domestically and internationally. However, turfgrass systems have been shown to accumulate soil organic carbon (SOC) at high rates, comparable to regenerating forests and fallowed cropland.

PG 32 | JUNE 2021

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BY CTRF

CTRF ANNOUNCES 2021 TURF RESEARCH PROJECT FUNDING For immediate release: The Canadian Turfgrass Research Foundation (CTRF) is pleased to share current and ?new for 2021?, turf research project funding details as follows. You can view current and past CTRF funded research reports at www.t urfresearchcanada.ca.

Canadian Turfgrass Research Foundat ion (CTRF): ?Understanding and predicting pesticide use on golf courses using deep machine learning?, Dr. Guillaume Gregoire, Universite Laval. $59,225 commitment for two years, partnered with FQRG ($40,000).

Albert a Turfgrass Research Foundat ion (ATRF): ?Evaluating Snow Mould Control Alternatives for a New Environmental Legislation?by Shabeg Briar Ph. D, Olds College Centre of Innovation. $15,000 commitment for one year of the two year project.

PG 33 | JUNE 2021

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BY W CTA BOA RD

CGSA Mast er Superint endent , Tim Kubash, Suffers Serious Life Alt ering Accident #TEAMKUBASH is asking for your support in getting the word out to your membership to request any support they may be able to give on behalf of Tim Kubash, CGSA Master Superintendent.

Tim suffered a serious and life altering accident on May 5 that required not one but two air ambulance trips eventually taking him to the Intensive Care Unit at Vancouver General Hospital. Tim suffered a break to his C6 and C7 vertebrae and received emergency surgery May 6th.

While Tim has shown improvement, he is facing many, many months of rehabilitation and therapy and will be wheelchair dependent.

PG 34 | JUNE 2021

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BY BC GOLF A SSOCIATION

Brit ish Columbia Golf Receives Inaugural Delivering On Diversit y Award

The awards were held on a virtual basis and Minister Mark made the announcement to open the proceedings. The award recognizes a ?Provincial, disability or multi-sport organization that has demonstrated a commitment towards advancing accessibility and inclusion.?

British Columbia Golf received this recognition and acknowledges that all sports organizations in the province are working harder on a daily basis to make their specific sport or activity as welcoming and accessible to everyone as is possible.

PG 35 | JUNE 2021

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BY JA SON PICK

Olds College Campus News: Turf Diploma Compressed The turfgrass management diploma and degree programs are still going strong amidst covid; all sections are once again at capacity.

With great success in 2020/21 amidst COVID, in-class sessions were compressed for the first 9 weeks of the school term. Those critical skills and hands-on learning took place in the College?s Landscaping Pavillion, a 20,000ft² indoor construction lab.

PG 36 | JUNE 2021

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Coming Event s Summary M ay 2021 For more than a year now, online and virtual experiences have dominated the education and meeting scene but we are now seeing the potential to return to some form of normal as various organizations begin announing plans for in-person events and meetings.

Of course, all of these are entirely dependent on respective PHO restrictions at the time and while it's certainly a postive step forward, don't mark your wall calendars with permanent ink just yet! You can bet we'll see online offerings integrated into in-person education programs and even hybrid events in an effort to reach as many participants as possible, especially those in remote areas. We will continue to do our best to provide status updates on all things related to turf management, including our own WCTA offerings, as they come together.

PG 37 | JUNE 2021

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BY STA N KA ZYM ERCHYK

KPU Turf Campus News M ay 2021 Congratulations to the following KPU Turf students who recently earned these KPU Student Awards: Patrick Dooley Memorial: Mat Bursey, Dallin Hummelle, Christy Olsen, Theo Fong and Ardit Kapri.

BC Instant Lawns: Frank Koo. Bur-Han Garden & Lawn: Nishant Kumar.

Univar Canada: Fedja Mazur.

BC Council of Garden Clubs: Stanley PG 38 | JUNE 2021

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BY JA SON PICK

PRAIRIE TURFGRASS RESEARCH CENTRE W ILL W IND-DOW N 'PTRC' M ONIKER

As many are aware, the PTRC lost two very capable turfgrass scientists in recent years, which has prompted an in-depth review of the sustainability of its research program.

In a recent decision by Olds College?s Center of Innovation, while acknowledging the legacy left by Jim Ross and Mark Anderson, the College will wind-down the ?PTRC?moniker, and reconfigure its research team.

PG 39 | JUNE 2021

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BY W CTA STA FF

M essage from t he E.D. - Updat ed CEC Point Records Sent Leslie has just finished the big job of sending updated Continuing Education Credit (CEC) point records to all BC pesticide certificate holders we are tracking for renewal.

A few notes about your record: - If you didn?t receive an updated record via email, you are either not being tracked by the WCTA or we don?t have a current email address for you. Please contact Leslie at admin@wctaturf.com to rectify.

- Please check your record carefully and let us know if there are any errors or omissions. Please contact Leslie at admin@wctaturf.com to rectify.

- If you attended either or both the 2020 or 2021 CGSA conferences, check your record as attendance reporting was delayed and points might not be attributed. Please contact Leslie at admin@wctaturf.com to rectify.

PG 40 | JUNE 2021