Is this the newest member of your crew?

Pasatiempo Golf Club (Santa Cruz, California) faced a dangerous and expensive problem trying to clear the overgrowth of poison oak and brush in the barrancas that run through the back nine.  The slopes are steep and inaccessible to equipment, making hand removal the only available option.  After investigating various alternatives, Superintendent Paul Chojnacky thought that since the course is a classic Alister Mackenzie 1930's design, why not go back to the 1930's brush clearing methods - goat power! Read the rest of this update

Sod is just one of the options available to recover from this past summer.

Without a doubt, this has been one of the worst ten months on record for the turfgrass industry, as seen in my 32 years as an agronomist, and the winter season had the worst bermudagrass kill since 1989.  The spring was cloudy and cool, which slowed bermudagrass recovery measurably.  The summer began with heavy rains throughout much of the lower Midwest, and many areas quickly experienced the shock of 100�F temperatures, humidity and stagnant air conditions.  I recorded many soil temperatures at the two inch depth in the low 100�F, with surface temperatures sometimes as high as 116�F.  Read the rest of this update and Bud's tips for recovery

What are you looking at?

2010 may go down as one of the most trying for golf course superintendents in every portion of the U.S.  From the brutal winter damage in the Pacific Northwest, bermudagrass winter damage in the lower Midwest, to summer challenges to cool season grasses all over the central and northern tier states, 2010 was not a year of gentle trade winds and evening showers.  The one state in the U.S. that is historically known for both of these traits, Hawaii, is now in the second year of a severe drought. While the lakes provide the water, the roughs have been denuded by grazing deer and sheep.  Since irrigation water has been eliminated from the roughs, only the strong grasses have survived. Read the rest of this update

B-17's often relied on grass runways in remote areas of the world. (Pictures were taken at the National Archives and are offered Royalty Free by the World War II Picture section of Historylink101.com . Pictures can be found at the World War II Picture Page.)

One of the wonderful results of being able to search the entire Green Section Record all the way back to the inaugural issue in 1921 is that you often come across really interesting aspects of our industry that most, if not all of us, either have forgotten or never knew about in the first place.  While researching the historical use of sheep for grazing golf courses we came across a perfect example. Sure enough, an article was quickly found regarding the reinstatement of sheep for mowing to conserve resources and free up agricultural land for food production during World War II. The surprise was that the article also discussed the efforts of turfgrass researchers and practitioners to perfect the use of grasses for airfields across the world. It was published in the USGA Green Section's Timely Turf Topics dated August, 1942. Read the article

Everyone can easily search the Green Section Record archives. It is easy, fun, and free. Search the Green Section Record