March 02, 2012 -- Volume 50, Number 05    

Dr. Wayne Hanna, 2012 USGA Green Section Award Recipient

Turfgrass scientist Dr. Wayne Hanna, of Chula, Ga., is the recipient of the 2012 USGA Green Section Award from the United States Golf Association for his achievements in developing environmentally friendly grasses that have made a tremendous impact on golf courses around the world.

Presented annually since 1961, the Green Section Award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the game through their work with turfgrass.The USGA Green Section was created in 1920 to conduct research and to collect and distribute information about the proper maintenance and upkeep of golf courses to Member Clubs and courses.

During his 40-year career, Hanna has produced bermudagrasses such as TifSport, TifEagle and TifGrand, all of which are hardier and less costly to maintain, while providing excellent fairway and putting surfaces for the enjoyment of millions of players, including those competing in USGA championships.

"I've gotten a lot of feedback over the years," said Hanna, "but when an honor like this comes from the USGA Green Section, it's the icing on the cake. The USGA is the leader in making sure these grasses we develop perform to expectations and beyond."

A native of Texas, Hanna earned multiple degrees, including a Ph.D. in genetics, from Texas A&M University. He settled in Tifton, Ga., in 1971, beginning a long career as a research scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Georgia.

Hanna collaborated with Dr. Glenn Burton, recipient of the 1965 USGA Green Section Award, and their breakthroughs over the years are a big reason Tifton is known as the bermudagrass capital of the world. Hanna's innovations have provided ideal surfaces for home lawns, public spaces and sports fields, including many college football and NFL stadiums.

The golf industry has been one of the biggest benefactors of Hanna's turfgrass advances, and the USGA's Green Section staff has worked closely with him for decades, funding his research and consulting with him. The best example of the successful relationship between Hanna and the USGA is the development of TifEagle, which was released in 1998 and offered an improved putting surface for courses in warm climates.

The Plantation Course at The Landings Club, in Savannah, Ga., was the first course in the country to install TifEagle greens. Thirteen years later, The Landings was the host club of the 2011 USGA Women's State Team Championship, and it had TifEagle on all six courses.

"TifEagle provides a much higher-quality putting surface on a year-round basis," said Mike Perham, the director of golf course maintenance at The Landings Club. "It allows us to meet the demands of the modern golfer."

Designed specifically for greens, TifEagle can trace its origins to a Green Section meeting in 1983, when USGA agronomists made Hanna aware of the need for a high-quality bermudagrass for courses in the southern United States.

"I always felt like we were a team," said Hanna, 68. "It was because of the USGA that I started on TifEagle, and golf people have used it effectively. When you're watching a golf tournament on TV and they say that the greens are TifEagle, you get goose bumps."

Hanna's legacy in golf is secure, but it is hardly complete. Although he retired two years ago, Hanna is still involved in the University of Georgia's turfgrass research program and will continue to have an impact on future advancements. He built a strong team of scientists that includes prot�g�s such as Dr. Brian Schwartz, who is developing a bermudagrass that can stay green longer without water.

"For the future, water is one of the most precious natural resources we have," said Hanna. "Anything we can do to use less water is a big benefit."

Golf cart traffic during the winter months lowers playing quality on dormant bermudagrass fairways. Golf courses make decisions on cart usage based upon what they believe is best for their course.

Q: For some reason, our golf course staff does not want golf carts to be used on our hybrid bermudagrass fairways during January, February, and March. I know of no other golf course in our part of the world that has this guide, and a large majority of our golfers disagree with it. What do you say?

A: This is a case where the maintenance standards of the golf course have placed a premium on having the best possible hybrid bermudagrass fairways in the winter and spring.  As a result, your course has decided appropriately to restrict carts to the path during January, February, and March. On the other side of the coin, we receive calls or emails during March from golfers who complain "there's no grass on the fairways."  This happens because carts beat down the dormant bermudagrass. Our position is that as long as the course officials know the facts, they are free to decide what's best for them.

Letting the numbers tell the story on cart damage

Florida Region

Pros and Cons of a Mild South Florida Winter 

Northwest Region

Got Ice? 

The Powder Horn, Sheridan, WY maintenance staff members use a backpack blower to force air under ice to help loosen it. Opening up channels for water to get off the green as it melts is critical

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Northeast Region

The Non-Winter Continues  

The oddity of the non-winter of 2011-2012 continues for much of the region with temperatures that have been extremely mild. Some areas in the northern portion of the region have experienced more typical winter weather, but for much of the region, it has been some rain, a few snow flurries, some colder temperatures, and back up to 50 and 60 degrees. It is one of the most peculiar winters we have experienced in the Northeast. As luck would have it, a winter storm is bearing down on the Northeast at the time of this writing, so things obviously could change very quickly

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The mild weather has allowed many courses to accomplish a record amount of work outdoors, although the lack of frozen soils resulted in more turf damage from construction traffic at some courses. Interestingly, some courses are actually behind on the typical "inside" winter work. Clearly, this is a small price to pay for getting more projects done on the golf course, but it is something to keep in mind as the rest of the winter unfolds.

The biggest concerns currently relate to pest populations and the possible pest pressure for the coming season. 

Golf and Turf Update 

As measured by the amount of snowfall,most parts of the Mid-Atlantic Region have received little snow this winter. It has not been a cold and snowy winter and most courses have been open for play.

Rounds are up, golf income is up, and the usual golfer complaints about winter play are nothing but a bad memory. Unlike most years, our phones have not rung once with golfers trying to find out why their golf course is closed whereas a neighboring course is open for play. It is a good kind of "problem" to have. 

The mild winter adds to a trend of weather extremes that we have been experiencing. We seem to be setting some type of record almost every year. While the purpose of this message is not to discuss all that is involved in managing grass during weather extremes, suffice it to say, growing healthy grass should be your number one priority. Healthy grass simply has fewer problems, is more resistant to and tolerant of weather extremes, and recovers faster once those conditions are over. 

There are agronomic consequences to a mild winter. Some are relatively simple to understand, to manage and to mend. Others are not. These include:

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