RGGCSA SuperNews Spring 2022

SuperNews OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE RIO GRANDE GCSA

March 2022 President Aaron Sunderlin Vice President Glenn Denney CGCS Secretary / Treasurer Mike Adkins Board of Directors: Paul Kerr Mac Blevins Anthony Wright Past President Jimmy Rodriguez Vendor Representative John King Chapter Executive Carol Cloud riograndegcsa @gmail.com

GCSAA Field Rep John Walker

Mike Adkins Twin Warriors Golf Club

Member Article

When I left for the 2022 GCSAA Conference and Trade show in February, my girlfriend asked me to bring home a souvenir. Luckily, the hotel’s gift shop sold stuffed dogs where the proceeds went to help the San Diego Humane Society; a perfect gift since she and I both like to donate to animals in need.

On the last night of the conference, Flyaway Geese and Bayer partnered to giveaway a fully grown and trained dog Mike Adkins (R) and GCSAA Field and 2 puppies. On a whim, a friend and Rep John Walker at the drawing!

I decided to enter the drawing, not even thinking either of us would win. Oops! First, Austin received a phone call. He had won! Next, my phone rang. I was shocked because I just knew I had won too!

More about Flyaway Geese and Mike’s treasure on page 14

Echo 7

On the golf course at Twin Warriors

President’s Message

Aaron Sunderlin Black Mesa Golf Club Greeting Colleagues, I think most of us are excited to turn the page and begin a new season.

As an Association we have already had two events this year. In January Painted Dunes hosted us for a nice break from the winter weather.

Thank you to the facility and staff for making it a great day to share stories, meet new colleagues, and providing a relaxing round of golf.

This past month association participants were in Las Cruces at Picacho Hills Country Club. Thank you to Ron Mahaffey for his hospitality and providing us a great meeting space, the views of the Organ Mountains were spectacular. I enjoyed meeting new faces and seeing the organization work together and provide an informative educational session. Our upcoming event will be in May at Kokopelli Golf Club. If you have not been to an event recently, I would encourage you to plan time to attend and recharge your batteries, network with colleagues, and share some laughs.

I am humbled to be serving the association in this role. I feel we offer an excellent opportunity to interact with like minded professionals, take information back to our course and be better stewards of the land and our communities. We can accomplish more in a group than we can individually. You don’t have to run for office to make a difference.

We can help you with programs like hosting a First Green event, participating in Rounds for Research, adopting facility BMP’s, hosting an association event, and even attending association educational events. No matter how small you may think your involvement may be, if everyone does a little, we can accomplish so much as a group.

Aaron

Field Staff Report - GCSAA Field Staff Representative

The Great “Pivot” Originally published 1/26/2022 I am getting to the age where I have seen the pendulum swing back and forth a few times on different fads and trends. Many years ago, the situational comedy “Friends” used a word in one of their episodes that launched that particular episode into a fan favorite status. The word they used was “pivot.”

Now, that particular word did not become a regular part of conversation at that time, but look how much it is used today.

Many politicians use pivot regularly when giving interviews, news anchors often use the word during their broadcasts and even realtors use it to make a sell.

Golf course superintendents seldom use this word but for decades they have been performing the pivot just about everyday at work. Nowhere have we seen the performance of the pivot like we witnessed during the pandemic. Superintendents work in a pivot environment and are professionals at modifying game plans.

GCSAA has also been in a state of pivot during the pandemic. We made many changes in 2020 and 2021 and most recently we have pivoted to produce a great Conference and Trade Show in the early part of February of 2022. I know there are still many reasons to be cautious during this COVID era, but I hope for a great attendance at this year’s conference in beautiful San Diego. Who knows? We may see the pendulum swing again during the conference.

Follow our GCSAA Field Rep Johnny Walker on Twitter! and Follow us!@RGGCSA

Playing catch-up for most of the final round on the South Course at Torrey Pines on Monday, Feb. 7, the superintendent at Miami Shores (Fla.) Country Club birdied the 18th hole, then birdied it again in a playoff with Tanner Westbrook to capture his fifth victory overall and his first back-to-back titles. Both Strickland and Westbrook finished regulation with two-day totals of 5-over-par 149.

Both players found the fairway on the first playoff hole. Strickland reached the back of the green in two, but Westbrook’s approach spun back into the small pond that guards the front of the green, leaving the door open for Strickland, who lagged a putt to within 10 feet, then made it for birdie to finish things off.

Dan Blaeser- Branch/ Southern Sales Manager (575) 644-3060 Clay Guck- Northern Sales Manager (505) 681-1104 Albuqeurque, NM 6280 Desert Rd. P 505-797-5800 F 505-797-5859

With TWO Locations

HelenaProfessional.com

Mesquite, NM 251 John Grisham P 575-233-3171 F 575-233-2790

We had a great day at Picacho Hills!

Thank you to all who attended and to our very welcoming hosts!

And a big thank you to our GOLD Meeting Sponsor Austin Turf and Tractor!

Loren Dunlap

Kyler Smith

(505) 463-8280

(505) 206-8790

ldunlap@winirrigation.com

ksmith@winirrigation.com

1429 South Camino del Pueblo Bernalillo, NM 87004 Tel: 800.528.4290 Fax: 830.693.7791

Sales sales-newmexico@austinturf.com Service service-newmexico@austinturf.com Parts parts-newmexico@austinturf.com

Rio Grande GCSA BMP Focus The RGGCSA published the RGGCSA Best Management Practices Manual in 2020!

It is a resource for Golf Course Superintendents to understand and utilize industry standard Best Management Practices in many environmental and operational aspects of the work they do to make golf courses in New Mexico sustainable.

Congratulations!! to the three coures noted below!

They have completed the initial published version of their BMP Manual! Thank you for your committment to the environment and for taking the first steps to make your course sustainable.

Jimmy Rodriguez

Mike Adkins

Aaron Sunderlin

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMITTMENT! This year, the RGGCSA Board of Directors contracted Brian Cloud to help members get started creating their Facility Adopted BMP Manuals. Brian and his team have done zoom seminars and reached out to many members to help get the process started. Response has been good but we need more members to utilize this resource!! The RGGCSA BOD has set a goal to be one of the leading states in the US in the number of courses that have Facility Adopted Manuals.

So please contact Brian to access where you are in the process. There are several options for assistance and completing the manual, depending on your level of expertise and available time. Let’s work hard over the next couple of months before the growing season kicks in to full gear again! Call or email TODAY!

Brian Cloud 817-296-9117 briancloud.gts@gmail.com W E A R E H E R E T O H E L P YO U G E T S TA R T E D !

BMP Self Assessment Tool Now Available We are pleased to provide the first five chapters of the BMP Self Assessment tool. This tool is part of the Facility Adoption program that the RGGCSA is providing for it's members. The Self Assessment has been designed to help members evaluate their current understanding and implementation of the environmental BMP's.

Please take the time to complete the following chapter of the self assessment.

Below are a few tips on completing the chapters: •

The Assessment is designed to be completed in less than 1 hour.

There is an option to save your progress and return later to complete.

•

All facilities are unique. If a BMP does not apply or is not understood, simply skip the question.

•

Remember, this is not a test. It's a tool for helping you understand and assess your operation and create a game plan to better implement Rio Grande BMP's

•

We're here to help. Please feel free to reach out using the contact information listed or plan to join us on our scheduled zoom calls for more information.

Click the chapters below to access the Self Assessment for the topic listed.

Section 2

Irrigation Section 4

Water Quality Monitoring and Management Section 5

Nutrient Management Section 6

Cultural Practices Section 9

Pollinator Protection

The 2022 GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in San Diego was a great success! Participation was good and there was an upbeat spirit.

Check out all the cool happenings from the conference!

Member Article - Continued from Front Cover The stuffed puppy “turned into” a real puppy! We named him Echo 7 and he is now 16 weeks old. He has grown and learned so much. He will join his sister, Mikita, and help chase nuisance animals off the golf course.

Many thanks to Flyaway Geese and Bayer for bringing Echo 7 into our lives.

Loving Dogs & Moving Geese Since 1997 Rebecca & Josh Gibson Simply Put, We Love Dogs & Move Geese! We stand behind our dogs and our humane methods of moving unwanted wildlife. Our handlers are fully committed to customer service, satisfaction and adhering to industry standards. The following services and guarantees are what separate us from other pest control and geese management companies.

Training - The Border collies of Flyaway Geese are trained on real birds and wildlife in the field. They come with experience and extensive on-the-job training. The result is a dog that thoroughly knows it’s purpose, is eager to work and will be ready to report to duty when needed.

Socialization - Flyaway Geese works very hard to ensure that our dogs are well socialized and will adapt to any situation. Our dogs are raised in a family environment, around animals, kids and comfortable in various surroundings.

Matching - With information provided by you, we select a trained dog from our kennels that will best adapt to your working and boarding/home environment. We want to please not only you, but also make sure the partnership is mutually beneficial for the dog as well.

Delivery - To ease the transition of the dog into its new environment, we personally delivery all our dogs. We train handlers while onsite and do not leave until all your questions are answered.

Warranty - Our warranty is the most extensive warranty in the industry. We give our customers a 45-day health warranty, 6-month replacement warranty, and lifetime consultation on the dog.

Membership! News and Info!

Renew your Membership Apply for a new Membership PDF Membership Application Interested in hosting an event?

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Check out RGGCSA member Jimmy Rodriguez on this very cool GCSAATV video from the conference in San Diego!

Click Jimmy’s picture to check it out!

Quality Products & Superior Service Call an Agronomist!

Mike Ickes (505) 228-2497 mike@pnssw.com Utilizing Superior Testing Services To Help You Move Your Property Forward Full Line of Products Proven in This Region!

Fertilizers, Surfactants, Plant Protection, Soil Amendments, Injection Equipment, Biostimulants and a Complete Catalog of Golf Course Accessories

United States Golf Association WEST REGIONAL UPDATE

Water Reduction Strategies That Are Making An Impact

Brian Whitlark - Senior Consulting Agronomist Golf courses in Western states face immediate challenges with escalating water costs, pinched water budgets and water quality concerns. In many cases, annual water budgets range from $250,000 to over $1 million. With chronic drought conditions along the Colorado River Basin forcing states to reduce water allocated from the river, golf courses feel the trickle-down effect through tightening water budgets. In response courses in California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico are using innovative strategies to reduce water use, while still providing premium playing surfaces for golfers to enjoy.

California course managers have employed various strategies to reduce their water use, but one of the biggest successes has been seen where courses are able to convert large playing areas from cool-season grasses to bermudagrass. Superintendents report that converting fairways to bermudagrass reduced annual water use 25% and allowed for firmer and faster playing conditions. With some of the highest water costs in the country, the return on investment for this strategy is often only six or seven years. Some pioneering courses in Southern California are also using in-ground soil moisture meters to assist with irrigation scheduling. Superintendents find they can apply less water or irrigate less frequently when they know exactly how much moisture is held in the rootzone.

In southern Nevada and southern Arizona, courses are reducing overseeded acreage and some have eliminated overseeding altogether. Superintendents are experimenting with new grasses such as ‘TifTuf’ bermudagrass and two experimental varieties soon to be released from the University of California, Riverside, turf program under the direction of Dr. Jim Baird. These grasses not only retain winter color better than the standard hybrid bermudagrass, but they also begin growing earlier in the spring and have improved traffic tolerance.

Furthermore, these grasses perform well when irrigated with 20% less water than the standard ‘419’ bermudagrass used for decades.

Continued on next page

Using turfgrasses that require less water in fairways and roughs, and converting out-of-play areas to native areas, has helped courses in the West save significant amounts of water.

Superintendents are also evaluating zoysiagrass as a non-overseeded surface. Early indications are that zoysiagrass performs very well, providing a robust stand of turf with excellent traffic tolerance and a better dormant surface than bermudagrass.

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Las Campanas Resort courses use subsurface drip irrigation to achieve substantial water savings. Drip lines running approximately 6 inches underground provide irrigation right to the turf rootzone with no evaporation or off-target watering. Not only has Las Campanas used this strategy on teeing grounds, they have also expanded it to include rough areas. The water savings have been remarkable – research shows 40% to 80% water savings compared to overhead irrigation.

These conservation strategies save water and provide a better playing experience for golfers – a win-win. However, making such upgrades across an entire golf course is expensive. Turf conversion costs can be approximately $30,000 per acre. Adopting in-ground soil moisture meters is much less expensive, with costs from $10,000$20,000 to set up sensors across a golf course. However, experience with this technology is limited and it is too early to forecast potential water savings. The USGA, USDA and members of the Cactus and Pine Superintendents Association are working together to evaluate how irrigation scheduling and water use can be improved using data from in-ground soil sensors. Dr. Bernd Leinauer from New Mexico State University and Tom Egelhoff, director of agronomy for Las Campanas Resort, are also investigating this technology with support from the USGA. I would also like to acknowledge those who made significant contributions to the soil moisture evaluation project, including Carmen Magro from Stevens Water, Josh Friel and John Dalman from Toro and Chris Thorup from Spiio.