The USGA Green Section
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September 24, 2010 -- Volume 48, Number 16 |
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| A Wash Pad Alternative With the Environment in Mind | Equipment wash-down areas are a concern at many maintenance facilities. Options are available to improve these areas without breaking the bank.
by Paul Stead, CGCS and Mike Loftus, Landscape Manager
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A variety of plants were used to establish the rain garden. Some mortality was planned for at establishment, but, surprisingly, virtually all of the original plants survived and thrived.  | Several years ago, Kennett Square Golf & Country Club (Kennett Square, PA) needed to address a problem that many golf courses face; concerns over the equipment wash-off area and the associated runoff from the washing procedures. Proper equipment wash-down areas are a long-standing issue for many golf course maintenance facilities. Commercial systems are very expensive, especially if extensive site preparation is required. We hope to offer an alternative and innovative solution to deal with equipment wash area runoff. Although it may not be the ideal solution, we reduced the potential environmental impact from equipment.
Read the rest of this article
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| Bacterial Wilt Survey | | A short survey for those who experienced bacterial wilt on creeping bentgrass greens in 2010 | | The extended high temperature was the primary challenge for those growing bentgrass greens in 2010. However, there were a number of courses around the country that reported damage/loss from a relatively new disease - bacterial wilt. If you experienced bacterial wilt on creeping bentgrass greens please take a minute to complete the following questions.
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| USGA Research You Can Use |
Organic Matter Dilution Programs for Sand-based Putting Greens by Dr. Erik Ervin and Adam Nichols, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
Manufacturers provide a wide array of cultivation options to manage the turf health. Selecting the best method for the golf course requires testing and evaluation.  | The project objective is to compare various putting green cultivation strategies to determine which organic matter dilution program maintains mat layer organic matter at less than 4% while providing the fewest days of putting quality disruption each year. The techniques implemented for this study removed from 10 to 27% surface area, and the effects on agronomic performance of a mature putting green in east-central Virginia were carefully examined.
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| A Green Section Turf Tip Everyone Will Enjoy! | Kite Aerial Photography (KAP)
by James F. Moore, USGA Green Section |
Dramatic aerial photographs like this one can be taken from a kite equipped with remote controls.  | Golf courses and photography naturally complement one another so it is no surprise that a great many of us have combined the two passions. Some of my favorite pictures have been the aerial photos taken when I could convince a pilot to take me up in a helicopter or airplane. Aerial photos also can be tremendously valuable in helping to identify drainage and irrigation problems and pest outbreaks.
Unfortunately, such opportunities are few and far between. Commercial aerial photography, while invaluable for professional work, is too expensive for the casual pictures most of us enjoy taking. The good news is there is another option for getting spectacular aerial photos you might not have considered - kite aerial photography or KAP.
Surprisingly, attaching cameras to kites is not a new idea. A gentleman and inventor named Arthur Batut is credited with being the first person to do so in the late 1880's. He used a slow burning fuse to trigger the shutter release on his camera and could only take one photo at a time. Today, the process is much simpler and almost certainly a lot more fun. To find out if KAP is for you watch the following short video.
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