RGGCSA 2nd Quarter 2019 SuperNews

The SuperNews OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE RIO GRANDE GCSA

June 2019 President Jimmy Rodriquez Vice President Matt Hughes Secretary / Treasurer Roy Johnson Board of Directors: Paul Kerr Mac Blevins John Adams Matt Urban (Past Pres.)

Vendor Representative Bryan Klock Chapter Executive Carol Cloud GCSAA Field Rep John Walker

President’s Message Hello everyone I hope your spring of 2019 is going well.

It was a welcome site for most of us to actually have a winter with moisture.

The past three winters along with the past three monsoon seasons have not been kind to most in the state. For me it seems where ever I have been for the past almost twenty years the courses I have been at were in a drought.

This has been a very moist start to the spring and I hope it continues.

We are half way through our 2019 meeting schedule and we need to start finding new venues for 2020. There are currently five meetings per year. We have meetings in January somewhere very south, March south to a bit north, May, July and October/November almost any location in the state will work for weather. If you have never hosted the process is very simple. Just let Carol or any board member know you would like to host a meeting. We have an outline form that walks you through the process for making the arrangements at your facility. We would like to have some of the courses that have not hosted in a while or especially ones that have never hosted to think about this opportunity to host. The joint meeting with the WTGCSAA went off very well with our host course Rockwind Community Links. The general meeting was held in the cities new “CORE” or Center of Recreational Excellence. The facility is really large and has so much to do there for recreation. Jake Wylie from Quali-Pro gave a presentation on nematodes. All at the meeting enjoyed the day and we hope to do another meeting with the WTGCSAA chapter again.

I want to thank the five courses that participated in the Rounds 4 Research auction held late in April 2019. Black Mesa GC Laurie Meredith Golf Director and Arron Sunderlin Superintendent, Riverview GC Jim Gordanier Superintendent, San Juan CC Roy Johnson Superintendent, Taos GC Mike Furgerson Superintendent and Towa GC Linda Howell Golf Director, Jimmy Rodriguez Superintendent. More participation is always hoped for in the future. The chapter will receive a check from GCSAA for our cut of the proceeds. We had some assistance getting this message out from Dana Lehner - Executive Director at the Sun Country Golf House. After the March Golf Summit held in conjunction with the Sun Country, Dana graciously included the information from GCSAA to your golf directors and pros in their newsletter. So there are no excuses for you not to ask next year. They are now aware of this program.

Hope that makes the task of asking easier for all.

Jimmy Rodriguez RGGCSA President

Poinsettia Management at New Mexico Tech John Adams New Mexico Tech Golf Course

Graduation is over and the spring planting has ended, it is time to start preparing for poinsettias.

In early May we sat down to decide what varieties of poinsettias we will grow this year. Last year we discovered people love the weird varieties they haven’t seen before. We also found out most people don’t like the lighter colored, like white or variegated pink in the middle of white. Last year’s varieties were red, winter blush, Polly’s pink, white, jingle bell rock, ice punch, autumn leaves, and winter rose. We grew a total of 400 mature poinsettias last year.

This year we are concentrating on the reds and the odd reds like the winter rose which last year sold out by 8am the first day of delivery and had a waiting list just in case somebody didn’t like theirs. We have decided to increase the production of the winter rose and the red to 130 of each variety this year in hopes of staying ahead of the demand. We believe with the increase of the reds and the decrease of whites our sales will increase immensely. This year with the changes in color numbers we have increased our total number to 500 plants.

To prepare for the arrival of the poinsettias in early August we have to shut down the greenhouse completely. The cool cell has to be cleaned, the fertigation tanks have to be scrubbed, and it has to be heated up through the summer to kill off any remaining bugs and diseases. The greenhouse supervisor is very busy this time of the year preparing for the beginning of poinsettia season. This time of the year she is also running a bed crew to keep beds watered and weeded.

Last year we changed all the middles of the beds to perennials to save on the labor of growing so many annuals and changing beds twice a year. This has helped to give more time for the poinsettias when they arrive.

The poinsettias will arrive the first part of August in the form of plugs. We plant three plugs per pot so when mature we will have nice full plants. We treat the plants with a fungicide to prevent any stem fungus while transplanting. After a few weeks of growing, we will run a systemic to help curb the bugs. We found it is easier to prevent than to fight the bugs after they are here. We put out little sticky papers of each table at plant height just to monitor the bugs so we can keep them in check.

The fertilizer is pretty much set up in thirds for the growing season. The first third of the growing season we decrease our nitrogen ppm so we don’t get too much top growth. During this part of the season we cut back the plants to make them break and thicken.

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Greenest Show on Turf Matt Urban The Outlaw at Alto Lakes Through my involvement in the Rio Grande Superintendents Association, I have been presented with many unique opportunities. Networking within the association allowed me my first volunteer experience at a PGA Tour event. In May of 2018, I was fortunate to be invited as a volunteer at the Byron Nelson at Trinity Forest in Dallas, Texas. I spent the week there mowing fairways and filling divots. I had a blast!! That experience fueled my desire to be inside the ropes and would not have been possible without help from my fellow members of the RGGCSA. Having seen how volunteering at professional events could benefit my career, I began my search in the fall of 2018 for my next dose of tournament golf.

For the past seven years, I had been working with over seeded bermudagrass at Artesia Country Club in southeastern New Mexico and wanted to find a tournament venue in the south that might be dealing with some of the same challenges I was. I wanted to find a venue with superintendents at the top of their game to discuss issues like bermudagrass encroachment, weed control in dormant bermuda, pre-emergent strategies, and overseeding rates. (I mostly wanted to see if the edges between the rye grass and the bermuda were as crisp as they looked on TV.) After a look at the 2019 schedule, the Waste Management in Phoenix made the most sense. It was a non-stop flight from Roswell, New Mexico to Phoenix, and since there wasn’t a

lot going on in late January in Artesia , I decided to give the Waste Management Phoenix Open a go. I also had some connections through the industry that were tied to the Phoenix area that may be able to help me grab a spot on the crew.

For golf fans, the Waste Management Phoenix Open is known for its electric atmosphere and the famed 16th hole. The WMPO is known as “The People’s Open,” as well as the “Greenest Show on Grass.” I had watched this event on television for a number of years, and when the opportunity came to volunteer for the WMPO tournament week, I had to jump on it. However, getting on the volunteer roster was no easy task. The PGA Tour TPC staff has an in depth selection process and you must be vetted by the selection committee. I thought it was worth a shot, so I called a couple of equipment vendor friends of mine who had connections to the Scottsdale area and hoped they could put me in touch with someone at the TPC. I received a text with a contact that read, Blake Meentemeyer, TPC Scottsdale. Not really having a place to begin, I decided to give Blake a call.

At the time, I had no idea of who he was just hoping he could point me in the right direction. Blake told me that their volunteer positions had all been filled, but that I should send over a brief resume and a summary of why I would be a good choice for volunteer.

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Kenny Dierschke

Matt Hughes

Jimmy Rodriguez

WTGCSA President

Rockwind GC

RGGCSA President

In May, the RGGCSA and the West Texas GCSA held a joint event at in Hobbs NM at the beautiful Rockwind Golf Club. Our host, Matt Hughes and his staff had the course in great condition for all to enjoy. Rockwind is a unique facility that does a great job connecting with the Hobbs community through the golf course, hiking trials and the First Tee. We had a fun day on the course.

Our title sponsor was Evergreen Turf and we appreciate their support very much. Jonathan Ipiotis represented Evergreen at the meeting and thanked everyone for their business and the opportunity. Jake Wylie of Quali-Pro gave a great educational program on Nematode Management. Thanks to all who attended and sponsored to help make it a great day in Hobbs.

Our Golf Championship Teams

Champions (left) L to R: Chip Thrasher, Mike Furgerson and Aaron Sunderlin 2nd Place (bottom left) L to R: Joey Alatorre, Spencer Hill, and Shannon Allen 3rd Place (bottom right) L to R: Gilbert Contreras, Loren Dunlap, and Kyle Cloud

P R O X I M I T Y

P R I Z E

W I N N E R S

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The second third of the season we increase the nitrogen in the mix to promote the growth. The supervisor monitors the height of the plants to make sure they are the correct size according to her growing curve during this time. She will give the ones that need to grow stimulants while the ones growing too fast growth regulators. The third part of the season we increase the potassium to promote the strength and the coloring. The poinsettia starts to change color the day the darkness is longer than the light. Usually by the end of October we are starting to have good color in the greenhouse.

Two weeks before Thanksgiving we send an email to all NM Tech employees who can pre-order their poinsettias. We deliver all these poinsettias the Monday after we come back from Thanksgiving. The remainders of the poinsettias are sold at the Golf Pro shop to the general public. This year we expect good sales since we have changed and provided more reds and fewer whites.

Our Christmas parties get the remainder of the poinsettias - some to give away as door prizes and others go to employees to enjoy over their Christmas holidays with their families. The poinsettia season is a lot of work but very rewarding for all involved. There is no way this task could be pulled off without the hard work for the greenhouse supervisor Mikaela Holt and her staff and the guidance we get from Jim Shaffner (Ex-Maintenance Director). I owe these two a lot of gratitude - to Jim for training me how to do all the figures and to Mikaela for her everyday perseverance in making it a success.

City sparks new push to get golfers to courses Since 2008, golf courses across the country have seen a decline in rounds played. Tiger Woods mania, which attracted younger players, is long gone. Younger generations aren’t interested in the sport, and private courses have taken clientele.

“I think there’s times when even the private courses are pretty slow,” said golfer Bill Vigil.

Despite dropping numbers, in fiscal year 2018, coming off an extremely warm and dry winter, Albuquerque courses saw their first increase by nearly 3,500 rounds.

“While participation in golf nationally is dropping a bit, it’s actually holding on pretty well in Albuquerque,” said Dave Simon.

Simon, the director of Parks and Rec, said they’re doing a lot to bring golfers back, including advertising with radio ads and spreads in magazines.

They’ve also done a lot of work to the courses. Of the city’s four courses, Ladera had a multimillion dollar renovation and new solar carports were added in recent years.

“For a long time some of these courses hadn’t had as much investment and attention and care [as they need and] deserve, and we’re turning that around now,” said Simon.

Parks and Rec did provide the numbers of rounds for all four courses. So far this fiscal year, which goes through July, in order to meet last year’s number’s they still need to sell more than 34,000 rounds of golf. The city is also adding new activities to the courses like fling golf, and are offering deals for the summer months.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY

2019

GOLD Sponsors

Title Sponsor - Annual Meeting November, Albuquerque CC, Abq. NM

Title Sponsor - May Meeting, Rockwind Community Links, Hobbs NM

Without your support we would not have a successful association!

Brian Hodges

Title Sponsor - January Meeting, Horizon Golf Club, Horizon, TX

Employee-owned since 2016.

Thank you for your trust in our products and 330+ employee-owners. We are proud to serve you.

ROBERT GONZALES

rgonzales@harrells.com (719) 648 - 3535

Title Sponsor - July Meeting, Black Mesa Golf Club, Santa Clara, NM

Title Sponsor - March Meeting, Sandia Resort, Albuquerque, NM

Brian Hodges New Mexico and El Paso Account Manager brian.hodges@austinturf.com (505) 710-3477 or toll free: 800-528-4290

Continued from page 7 So I did what he asked and I made sure to include my history with the Rio Grande Superintendents Association.

In late 2018, I received an acceptance letter from Jodi Bowden and Heath Booker of the TPC Agronomy Staff. I was in!! Over the course of the next few months, the TPC Scottsdale staff was excellent at keeping all the volunteers in the loop as to what was going on leading up to the event. Jodi got us set up with gear, hotel accommodations, and the tournament week schedule.

Tournament week couldn’t arrive fast enough.

I landed in Phoenix on Saturday, January 26th and caught a shuttle to the hotel where the volunteers would be staying. I was extremely happy to be sharing a room with Mr. Jay Rains, an equipment tech from Colorado who was new to the industry. We had a few hours to kill before our orientation Sunday afternoon, so we headed out to find a good local spot for breakfast and spent the morning guessing what they would have us doing on the course. Jay was hoping to spend some time with TPC Scottsdale’s equipment manager Randy Waymire. Randy and his staff were some of the best equipment techs in the country and like me, Jay hoped rubbing elbows with them would help him develop his craft.

After breakfast we headed back to the hotel where we acquainted ourselves with the other volunteers who were waiting in the lobby to catch the shuttle to the course for orientation.

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NOTE TO GOLFERS: Rationale for core cultivation on golf course putting greens Ryan Goss Ph.D - New Mexico State University

One of the most feared days for a golfer is the day the putting greens are core cultivated (sometimes called aerification, punching holes, plugging greens, or aeriation). Often these putting greens are in great condition at the time of core cultivation. Therefore, superintendents are bombarded with questions on why these perfectly good putting greens are being core cultivated. These superintendents often struggle with core cultivation too because the process takes extensive planning, many man-hours, unique equipment and lots of sand. However, this evil of maintenance is one of the most important practices that a superintendent can employ to ensure long-term health of the turfgrass stand. Eliminating core cultivation will result in poor turfgrass in the future, and skipping one core cultivation event puts the turfgrass stand behind schedule that will take years to “catch up.�

Without regular core cultivation, the underlying soil will compact losing vital air space and air space columns within the soil complex. Roots will be deprived of the necessary oxygen to conduct simple physiological actions including regular growth. This lack of oxygen and reduced rooting capacity will result in poorer quality turfgrass that is more likely to die due to stresses like golfers walking, turfgrass diseases, and normal mowing. Inevitability the playing surface will become unacceptable to golfers.

In other situations where we grow plants, the earth is turned over by plows every year to ensure a healthy soil and higher crop yields. Gases that are detrimental to plants are released back into the atmosphere. Oxygen levels are renewed in the soil pore spaces. This yearly practice ensures prosperous crops to reach our plates at a reasonable price. New Mexican chile growers rely on regular cultivation to produce a healthy crop year after year. In a permanent crop like turfgrass, our only op-

tion is core cultivation. Other cultural practices can help improve the soil and putting green surface, but none impact long-term soil health as much as core cultivation.

Core cultivation also improves the soil quality by reducing the amount and location of organic matter and thatch layers. Without core cultivation, the thatch layer will become thicker. Ball marks caused by high-flying golf balls landing on putting green surfaces will become larger and more damaging to the underlying turf.

These further damaged greens will have less true surfaces where the rolling ball will bounce more. Golfers will miss more putts.

In addition, larger thatch amounts change the growing conditions of the turfgrass plant. The rootzone will be shrunk to the higher moisture thatch layer and prevent roots from penetrating deeper into the soil. When roots are mostly restricted to thatch layers, a more difficult maintenance situation exists where irrigation must be applied more frequently with higher water amounts to keep the turfgrass plants alive, especially during summer stress periods. These restricted rootzones usually result in the need for day watering by irrigation or hose to keep plants alive during the hottest part of the day. All of these changes require additional maintenance practices and labor (a.k.a. money!). Regular core cultivation results in a larger rootzone and provides a superintendent more flexibility in their watering schedules.

Essentially, core cultivation is required to maintain a healthy turfgrass stand. And if you are currently maintaining a turfgrass stand where core cultivation was previously neglected, more frequent and aggressive core cultivation is the most effective method to reach smooth, playable putting greens.

Also consider the United States Golf Association’s perspective on the topic:

CLICK HERE Ryan Goss, Associate Professor New Mexico State University. ryangoss@nmsu.edu

Rounds 4 Research auction raises $364,000 for turfgrass studies

National program has raised more than $1 million since 2012.

The 2019 Rounds 4 Research fundraising program to support turfgrass studies, administered by the Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG), sold 1,465 rounds of golf and yielded nearly $364,000 in its May online auction, making it the most successful in the program’s history and an increase of $51,000 over 2018. The EIFG is the philanthropic organization of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA).

The Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association raised $61,000 and was the leader among more than 70 GCSAA affiliated chapters and turfgrass organizations that received proceeds from the auction to support turfgrass research at the local level. The Florida GCSA was next with nearly $40,000 raised for its chapter.

The top bid was $4,750 for a round of golf for four donated by Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas.

"Rounds 4 Research continues to grow every year, and that is thanks to generous donors and bidders who care about supporting the game they love," said Rhett Evans, GCSAA chief executive officer. "It is wonderful to see all aspects of the game come together to ensure its future.�

The national campaign is supported by a $50,000 donation from The Toro Co. The Golf Channel, Golf Advisor and GolfNow provided promotional support. More than 70 golf course management companies donated more than 400 rounds to the auction, including American Golf, Billy Casper Golf, ClubCorp, CourseCo, Founders Group International, Marriott Golf, the PGA Tour TPC Network and Troon Golf. The program has raised nearly $1.5 million since launching in 2012.

Continued from page 17 At the orientation meeting we were introduced to the TPC Agronomy Staff of Heath Booker, Blake Meentemeyer (who helped get me a volunteer spot), Jodi Bowden, Chris DeBellis, Bryan Pierce, and Julio Riojas. After a quick safety meeting, we all made our introductions and I was surprised when I found out that Blake was the Director of Agronomy at TPC Scottsdale. I had to wonder, when can you cold call the Director of Agronomy at a PGA Tour event and get a volunteer position? I considered myself very lucky and figured it may have had something to do with being President of the Rio Grande Superintendents Association. Lord knows it isn’t my ability to walk mow straight lines!!!

They dubbed this event, the greenest show on grass…no doubt because the people of Waste Management handle tons and tons of trash in the most economical way possible. The turf conditions also lent to the name as they were absolutely perfect. As we took a tour with Heath, you could see the hours of preparation and planning that went in to making TPC Scottsdale the “Greenest Show”.

The highlight of the tour was of course the stop at the 16th hole. There were a few practice rounds going on, so we waited in the tunnel from the 15th green to the 16th tee where there is the most extravagant port-a-let I have ever seen provided by Waste Management. Upon entering the stadium area, we all shot videos and took pictures to send our friends and family. The infrastructure set up on the 16th as well on the rest of the golf course was a sight to behold. I could tell it was going to be interesting navigating the course with all of the structures. Not to mention the more than 200,000 people who were expected on Saturday.

Tournament week went by very quickly. I spent most mornings pulling weeds in the desert areas, and hand raking the more high profile desert areas which were all perfectly edged and well maintained. Other mornings were spent removing dew from the tees and approaches and helping with bunkers. Two superintendents went with each group of 40 (split between the front nine and back nine) to help keep us going in the right direction and to work with the data collection team measuring moisture, firmness, and green speeds. Julio and Chris supervised the front 9 crew while Heath and Bryan looked after the staff on the back 9 holes. Randy and three other technicians split each 9 holes to make sure the equipment was performing properly. Despite my limited experience walk mowing greens, the staff trusted me to mow the back nine greens in the evenings following play. I struggled at first with the smaller 18 inch reels on the John Deere walkers keeping straight lines with all the lights from the scoreboards and the lack of moisture, but feel I improved with each pass throughout the week. Heath was very patient tolerating all of my skips and he only called me back once to clean up a more than obvious skip on #17 green.

Blake and his staff were very creative with assigning jobs to all the volunteers in getting them to experience both the front nine and the back nine between the morning and afternoon shifts. I believe they tried to get everyone a chance to do a job on the famed 16th hole on at least one of the shifts. This was overwhelming for all of us with the over excited fans chanting and doing the wave since 7am. I marveled at the way Heath and the other assistants directed the staff. Their job wasn’t easy. Utilizing and trusting a group of people they have never met before to prepare a golf course for a PGA Tour event. Not to mention navigating equipment and personnel in and out of the over 200,000 spectators!

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I am not sure about the other volunteers, but I was certainly nervous before all 13 of our pre-shift meetings led by Heath Booker. Heath delivered his announcements with a quiet confidence that helped calm my nerves and get me focused on the task at hand. “Quality vs. Quantity,” he would repeat over and over to the staff in his southern drawl as he delivered each job. We were never in a hurry. There was always plenty of time to do each job and we always had the right equipment. Volunteers were paired with seasoned employees or returning volunteers to help guide us around the course.

The first two shifts on Monday were a tad clunky, but as the week went on, we began to mesh as a group and by Thursday we were a well-oiled machine. Between shifts, we shared meals, swapped stories, and took in some of the coverage on the Golf Channel. By the end of the week we were all tired but remained in good spirits. We were in the desert, so I wasn’t sure why there were rain suits in our volunteer package, but they sure came in handy. As the rain set in on Sunday morning, the crew buckled down and we was able to prepare the golf course for the day’s play as well as repair the flooded wash areas which were crossings for both the players and the fans. It would have been easy to get discouraged, but there were nothing but smiles when we finished our final shift.

I sincerely thank the TPC Agronomy Staff and the PGA Tour for allowing me to be a part of their team for the Waste Management. Through this unique experience, I was able to cultivate relationships with other superintendents from around the country and from around the globe. There were a handful volunteers from other countries including a few from Ireland and England who were preparing to host their own European tour events. Perhaps a volunteer experience across the pond may be in my future…