What’s Up and Who’s on Deck for the Deep South Turf Expo?

As I type this I’m sitting in an empty office, having just finished my last online lecture for the semester. It’s so odd to not see my students, and I miss live lectures and visits. But this will pass, and I’ll keep recording lectures and meeting via Zoom as long as it takes to keep folks safe. I know we all are looking forward to the end of social distancing, and a return to some type of normalcy in our turfgrass lives. And towards that eventual day, I’d like to briefly mention some of the great speakers and topics that we have lined up for this year’s Deep South Turf Expo.

This year we will meet from Monday, November 2nd until Thursday, November 5th, at our usual locations of The Beau Rivage and the Mississippi Coast Convention Center. On Monday, we’ll host the first half of the Deep South Four Ball Classic Golf Tournament at The Preserve Golf Club. Tuesday opens with the Sports Field Tour, the Skeet and Trap Tournament (at the Coastal Rifle and Pistol Club), and the second day of the Deep South Four Ball Classic Golf Tournament (at Fallen Oak). If you are not doing the Four Ball tournament, we’ll also have a one-day Scramble Golf Tournament at The Preserve, with a tailgate party and dinner to follow. All attendees and exhibitors are welcome to the party and dinner!

Wednesday kicks off the General Session at the Convention Center, with three top speakers covering a wide range of topics. Brad Jakubowski of Penn State University will discuss weather apps, and how you can use them for safety and information. This will be a highly entertaining and useful talk. Following is Armen Suny, a search and consulting executive. He has expertise in executive searches for general managers, golf course superintendents, golf professionals, assistant general managers, and clubhouse managers. He also sits as one of 240 worldwide architect/panelists ranking golf courses for Golf Course Architecture magazine. Our final speaker for the General Session is Dr. Chase Straw from Texas A&M. Dr. Straw is an expert on traffic and traffic patterns in athletic fields, and he will discuss new research that helps you understand the impact of people on managed turfgrasses.

Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday are the breakout sessions, and you can find a wide array of topics for turfgrass management. All your favorite state turfgrass people are on the program, with presentations on Poa annua, pond management and turfgrass pathology. Come meet Dr. Marco Schavion, a new faculty member at the University of Florida, who will be discussing water quality issues. Tim Hires and Dr. Bryan Unruh will both be covering Best Management Practices, both from the agronomy and people viewpoints. There are a wide range of herbicide and weed control discussions, covering goosegrass control, weed control in home lawns, worker safety and sprayer use, and ecologically beneficial turfgrass. On the athletic field side Doug Schattinger will give a presentation on robotic sprayers, and the athletic field managers from the University of Alabama will give a talk on game day preparation.

In all it’s a great schedule, and it promises to be several days of fun and great education. So mark your calendar now and join us in warm and sunny Mississippi for the Deep South Turfgrass Expo. Come recover from social distancing with us!