WCTA Turf Line News - September Issue (Digital Version)

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TOP STORIES

18 Effects of Plant Growth Regulators on Putting Green Recovery

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2021 WCTA Turfgrass Research Summary Report

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WOW Episode #2 & #3 Rescheduled

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Pat Dooley Memorial Golf Tournament & Field Day Coming Up Oct 8

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Biocontrol Agents for Snow Mould Disease in Turfgrass - Final Report

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Rolling to Prevent Microdochium Patch

Ice- Breaker: Positive News About Winter Covers

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Tu r f Un der Fir e

During a wildfire emergency, aerial suppression units have the authority to take water wherever they can. Image from Gallagher?s Canyon Golf Course taken during the 2003 Kelowna wildfire that destroyed 200+homes.

Image Courtesy: Jesse Cowan PG 05 | SEP 2021

On t h e cover : Looking west over the driving range, the Spallumcheen Golf Course got a front row seat to BC?s third largest wildfire this year, the 83,000+ hectare White Rock Lake fire. WCTA Past President, Trevor Smith?s family campground, located 57km away in Monte Creek, took heavy damage but fortunately, no one was injured.

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Image credit: Jim Simms, Spallumcheen Golf Course Superintendent

COVER STORY 22 Turf Under Fire

TURF RESEARCH BRIEF 12 WCTA Turfgrass Research Summary

Report

FEATURE STORY 26 Biocontrol Agents for Snow Mould

20 Link for CTRF News, Updates and Turf

Research Reports

Disease in Turfgrass - Final Report WCTA NEWS

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Executive Director Update

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WCTA Founding Member and First President, Graham Drew, Passes Away at 97

28 GTI's New Location Open for Business

RESEARCH NEWS 18 Effects of Plant Growth Regulators on

Putting Green Aerification Recovery 24 Understanding and Predicting Pesticide

Use on Golf Courses Using Deep Machine Learning

10 WCTA Board of Directors 32 WCTA Online webinar Series (WOW 2.0)

$99 New Member Promo

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Olds College PTRC New Research Model is Old Model

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Rolling to Prevent, Control and Reduce Microdochium Patch

33 Member Value Proposition W/link to

Application EDUCATION NEWS 14 WOW Episode #2 & #3 Rescheduled 16 Dooley Tournament Coming Up Oct 8

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JERRY ROUSSEAU

Execut ive Direct or Updat e ?

Sept ember 2021

Over the past couple months,days have been flying by as we deep dive into all sorts of planningand productionwork for upcomingeventslike our WOW webinars,Dooley Memorial Golf Tournament on October 8th and of course,the 59th Annual WCTA Conferenceand Trade Show taking place live and in person,Feb 16-18 at the PentictonLakesideResort. Dare I say it?s almost startingto feel normal again?

I can tell WCTA membershave been busy too. Phone calls and email volumeis typically lower duringthe growingseason but when the fall weather comesand the rain/snow flies, that turns around pretty quickly! From conversationsI have had, it seems like 2021 was kind of like 2020 repeated but with added challengesof extremetemperaturesand seriouswildfirethreats in many areas.

So without a lot more banter,here?sa brief update on all things WCTA as fall and winter approaches.

- We?ve turned the Pat Dooley Memorial Golf Tournament, being held October 8th at Mayfair LakesGolf Club in Richmond, BC, into a full field day with morningeducation,supplier presentations,outdoor demosand the option to participatein the either the morning,the afternoongolf, gamesand banquet,or both. This will be our first in-personevent since the Feb 2020 conferenceand we look forward to a great turnout!

PG 08 | SEP 2021

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W CTA Founding M ember and First President , Graham Drew Passes Away at 97 With immense sadness, the family of Graham Arthur DREW announce his peaceful passing on Monday, July 5, 2021.

His four children were by his side. Graham was 97 ½ years young and living at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver, BC. He battled courageously through the outbreak of Covid 19 at the Care Centre even being diagnosed with the virus and surviving. Graham had been experiencing Alzheimer?s for several years since his early 80?s gradually declining over the pandemic until his final months where the decline advanced. He was a pillar of strength and resolve, showing great tenacity to continue living.

PG 09 | SEP 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

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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

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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

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PG 10 | 2021

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BY W CTA STA FF

2021 Turfgrass Research Summary Report One of the primary mandates of the Western Canada Turfgrass Association, along with many of our allied groups, is to foster turfgrass research for the betterment of the entire sports turf and golf course management industry.

The scientific process has been a critical component in the evolution of our industry and continues to drive us forward, operating in the background, advancing the field and providing solutions to everyday challenges. As the industry finds itself increasingly engaged in advocacy efforts, there is great need to detail and quantify all the good things that turf does for us.

PG 12 | SEP 2021

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BY W CTA STA FF

W CTA Online W ebinar Series 'W OW 2.0' - Episode #2 & #3 Rescheduled September 1, 2021 Dear WCTA Members, Unfortunately, we?ve had trouble securing our planned speakers for WOW Episode #2, scheduled for Thursday, September 23rd, and are rescheduling to a later date.

The new plan combines WOW Episode #2 and WOW Episode #3 into a single ?Super-Wow?webinar taking place on Thursday, November 4th.

Thanks to those who signed up for the Sep 23 episode and apologies for any inconvenience. It turns out this timing may have not been so great in the first place!

Further details for our new ?Super-WOW? Episode will be released in the coming weeks along with a new registration link.

PG 14 | SEP 2021

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Pat Dooley M emorial Golf Tournament & Field Day Coming Up Oct 8

2021 Pat Dooley Memorial Golf Tournament and Field Day Friday, October 8th, Mayfair Lakes Golf and Country Club, Richmond, BC Along with the 1:00pm shotgun scramble and banquet, plans for the 4th Annual Pat Dooley Tourney include: - morning turf management education session - sponsor presentations - lunch for morning session attendees - outdoor turf equipment demos The tee sheet is filling up fast! Everyone welcome! Event proceeds go toward student scholarships and turf research!

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION PG 16 | SEP 2021

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news Effect s of Plant Growt h Regulat ors on Put t ing Green Aerificat ion Recovery Int erim report - August 2021 Chas Schmid, Ph.D, Emily Braithwaite and Alec Kowalewski, Ph.D

Organic matter (OM) management with core cultivation is one of the most important management practices for golf course putting greens, and one of the most disruptive to golfers. In northern climates, core cultivation is done in the spring and fall on actively growing cool-season turfgrasses to minimize improve recovery time.

However, this is also the time of year when golf courses experience the most play.

Thus, there is a need to reduce recovery time post-core cultivation to limit disruption to golfers.

PG 18 | SEP 2021

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BY CTRF

Link for CTRF News, Updat es and Turf Research Report s For immediate release: If you?re a professional golf or sportsfied manager, or have any sort of stake in the turf management industry, you might consider signing up for the Canadian Turfgrass Research Foundation?s e-news by clicking the following link: SIGN-UP FOR CTRF EMAIL UPDATES There?s no fee to receive timely and relevant turf research news and project reports that you will not see elsewhere.

Well, eventually you might see them but why wait for others to provide news about advancements in the turf management industry when you can get it straight from the source!

PG 20 | SEP 2021

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Where there's smoke, there really is fire! These images of the 1000 hectare Embleton Mountain fire were taken by Keith Lyall just 1km from his residence located 7km from the popular Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops, BC.

BY JERRY ROUSSEAU

Turf Under Fire With unprecedented heat and high winds this past summer came one of western Canada?s worst wildfire seasons on record and at the time of writing (early Sept 2021), hundreds of fires are still burning in BC and AB. Making international headlines, the town of Lytton, BC which set three consecutive Canadian high temperature records on June 27, 28, 29, topping out at 49.6C (121.3F), burnt to the ground on June 30th (although the exact cause of the fire has yet to be announced).

PG 22 | SEP 2021

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BY GUILLAUM E GRÉGOIRE, PH.D.

Underst anding and Predict ing Pest icide Use on Golf Courses Using Deep M achine Learning This project was initiated in January 2021 and aims to use artificial intelligence to predict pesticide use on golf courses based on different inputs. To do so, we used a database containing 14 000 pesticide applications made on 379 golf courses in Québec during the 2003-2017 period. We developed a model that used Treated area, Administrative Region, Golf course ID, Number of holes, and Year as input variables and actual active ingredient rate (AAIR) as the output variable. Due to the nature of the data, we determined that a hybrid model combining three techniques: Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF) and Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (GOA) was the most accurate for AAIR forecasting.

In the next few months, we will add weather data for each golf course to the model.

PG 24 | SEP 2021

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Biocont rol Agent s for Snow M ould Disease in Turfgrass - Final Report

Rating: 1 ?Trichoderma overgrows the pathogen with no sporulation.

Efficacy of Trichoderma fungal biocontrol agents for the control of snow mould disease in turf grass Final Report Summary ? excerpts by WCTA Staff: March 2021 revised May 2021 Snow moulds cause serious problems in turf grass in regions where the winters are cold and turf is snow covered (Dicklow, 2011; Nelson, 2004).

There are several causal agents of snow mould; the three main fungi are Typhula ishikariensis, T. incarnate and Microdochium nivale (Jung et al, 2007). These pathogens cause patches of discoloured and water-soaked grass and delay turf recovery after winter, which, in turn, reduces the quality of the turf and playability on golf courses (Jung et al, 2007; Nelson, 2004).

PG 26 | SEP 2021

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Olds College PTRC New Research M odel is Old M odel In April 2021, the Olds College Centre for Innovation, which oversees research programs taking place at Olds College in Olds Alberta, let us know they were planning to ?wind down the Prairie Turfgrass Research Centre moniker?.

What did that mean exactly? The departure of Dr. Chavarria from PTRC, and Katie Dodson not long before, triggered OCCI?s review of the future of turfgrass research at Old College with the oversight group concluding they could no longer support dedicated turf research in its present form.

In an email to Jim Ross of the CTRF, Joy Agnew, Associate VP, Applied Research, stated, ?While support and interest from industry, ATRF and CTRF remains strong, there is not a strong enough case to recruit and hire a qualified research scientist with a specific focus on turfgrass.?

PG 27 | SEP 2021

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BY SA RA STRICKER

GTI's New Locat ion Open for Business!

The new location of the Guelph Turfgrass Institute is officially open!

The GTI is a partnership between the Ontario turfgrass industry, the University of Guelph, and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The GTI conducts quality turfgrass research and provides education services, with a special emphasis on environmental sustainability and enhancement.

PG 28 | SEP 2021

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BY STERF

Rolling t o Prevent , Cont rol and Reduce M icrodochium Pat ch It is well known that rolling can reduce dollar spot (fungal disease caused by Clarireedia spp.). It is less known that it can have a preventative effect on microdochium patch (formerly called fusarium/pink snow mold, caused by the fungus Microdochium nivale), but experiments at Copenhagen Golf Club and research at NIBIO Landvik suggests it.

PG 30 | SEP 2021

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BY W CTA STA FF

W CTA Online W ebinar Series (W OW 2.0) $99 New M ember Promo

If turf management is what you do, whether you?re on a golf course, sportsfield or anywhere turf is used for recreation or sport, now is a great time to become a Western Canada Turfgrass Association member.

Our WOW series continues on November 4th - episodes are no charge for all WCTA members. Instead of creating a non-member rate for these popular turf management educational opportunities, it was simpler to create a promotional rate for new WCTA members.

So? for the remainder of 2021 or until the Board says otherwise, we are offering a $99 rate for new WCTA members!

Not only are you able to participate in WOW webinar episodes through the end of the membership year (Dec 31), all WCTA member benefits are on the table, such as: - Access to employment networking service - Pesticide applicator certificate point tracking (BC only) - Access to turf management educational opportunities, Turf Line News Magazine and e-newsletter - Annual member directory - Member rates at our annual conference - And much more!

PG 32 | SEP 2021

WCTA M EM BER APPLICATION FORM

PG 33 | SEP 2021

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JOHN REID / W CTA STA FF

Turf Chemical Quick Reference Guide

Good friend of the professionalsportsturf and golf management industry in western Canada,John Reid of John Reid & Associatesand Terralink Horticulture,recently put together a valuableturf chemical quick referenceguide in the form of an EXCELspreadsheet. Definitelya few late nights,right John?

CLICK HEREFOR JOHN?STURF CHEM QUICK REFERENCEGUIDE

Previouslycirculatedby the BC Golf Superintendents Association,the one page document is an excellent easy-referencefor all turf managersand is current as of May 2021. While you may have already seen it, we have now scoured PMRA updateson pesticidenew uses and discontinuations relevant to turf going back to December 2020 and includethis for your reference,excerptsas follows,check the PMRA website for full documents: Re-evaluationdecisions: RVD2020-13:Dec 3, 2020 ? Thiophanate-methylre-evaluation decision (Renovo) Under the authority of the Pest Control ProductsAct, Health Canadahas determinedthat continued registrationof productscontaining thiophanate-methylis acceptable,when used accordingto revised conditionsof registration.

PG 36 | SEP 2021

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Ice-Breaker: Posit ive News About W int er Covers

By Trygve S. Aamlid,Wendy Waalen, Pia Helt oft , Mart e Skat t ebu and Jan Tangsveen, NIBIO

Results from NIBIO Apelsvoll confirm superintendents?positive experiences with impermeable plastic covers during the winter on annual bluegrass, creeping bentgrass and red fescue putting greens.

LINK TO PDF VERSION PG 37 | SEP 2021

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