New York State Turfgrass Association

As stated in a previous post, I will be interning in New York this summer, where the local turf association is the New York State Turfgrass Association. As outlined on their website:

"The mission of the New York State Turfgrass Association is to unify, lead and promote professionalism among people interested in the turfgrass and grounds industry. We will accomplish this through education and research, while advocating environmentally-responsible management".

The New York State Turfgrass Association, or NYSTA, operates out of Latham, NY, approximately 10 miles north of Albany, NY. The NYSTA board of directors consists of a president, vice president, a secretary/treasurer, and a past president. NYSTA is further supported by nine directors who work throughout the state, as well as an executive director, and three liasons who work with The State University of New York and Cornell University.

NYSTA is a turfgrass organization that is open to all branches of turfgrass in the green industry. Membership categories include, but are not limited to: grounds maintenance, equipment managers, sod farms, cemetaries, golf courses, and sports turf. By being a member of NYSTA, you gain access to a large network of turfgrass managers, students, and professors, thereby opening yourself up to the newest information in the industry. Having a large network of professionals is an excellent way to keep up to date with technology, the latest research, and new regulations relevant to the area.

Also promoted on the association's website is a list of upcoming events in the turfgrass industry. These events include conferences that are particular to certain regions of the state, as well as large scale annual conferences. A highlighted upcoming event worth noting is the 70th Annual Conference & Business Expo, which is held by the New York State Recreation & Parks Society. Additionally, not only are upcoming events promoted, but institutions offering turfgrass education are also listed on the NYSTA page. The institutions mentioned are from all over North America, including: SUNY Delhi, The Pennsylvania State University, University of California, and the Guelph Turfgrass Institute in Ontario, Canada.

The NYSTA page also contains numerous links that may prove to be helpful to professional turf managers and homeowners alike. Resources are provided for those who are interested in cultivation practices, diseases, insects, mowing, and irrigation, to name a few. The links lead to a wealth of turfgrass related information that encourage education and environmentally conscious approaches to turf management.

With my upcoming internship at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY, I may receive some exposure to the association. I look forward to the opportunity to work in a state with so much talent.

(image obtained from nysta.org)

Viridescent

While looking at some other turf blogs online, I came across one in particular that I enjoyed. The blog for the Asian Turf Center is one of my favorites thus far. The Asian Turf Center blog is maintained by Dr. Micah Woods, a well recognized presenter and an award winning speaker in Asia.

What initially drew me to this blog was the title of the page: Viridescent - the Asian Turf Center blog. The term viridescent is briefly defined in various online dictionaries as being simply a "greenish" color. However, to Dr. Micah Woods, the term not only describes the color of our turf (hopefully), but the philosophy and tone of the blog itself. This blog is geared towards promoting sustainable turf management practices, and a wealth of helpful information is presented here.

Additionally, the layout of this blog is attractive, clean, and full of links. Along the right column are links to Asian Turf Center related sites, a substantial variety of post categories, a list of upcoming conferences and seminars, numerous pictures, and some of Dr. Woods' suggested readings for the fellow turf manager. Each article is supported by high quality photos that give helpful visual aid to the content of the post. To name one example, the post "Relieving Turfgrass Stress: Part 1", discusses ways to limit stress on the grass plant. Provided with the post are high quality close-up photos that show the effects of dull mowing equipment of the plant. I found these to be a significant addition to his post in terms of understanding the presented issue.

I recommend this blog to anyone interested in turf management, but especially to those interested in sustainable practices. There is a substantial amount of information provided to the reader, and with new posts averaging weekly, this site will keep you busy for a while. I am going to be making some inspired changes to my blog layout after visiting Viridescent, and I hope that you find my new page more rich and appealing.

(photo obtained from http://www.asianturfgrass.com/)

Communication in Turf Management

Communication is defined as the act of transferring information from one entity to another. It is a vital component to the efficient operation of all sorts of social systems. Communication helps us relay our wants and needs to another person or group, and it helps us interpret how our message was received. The primary goal of communication is to transfer your ideas and feelings to another party in the most effective and efficient way possible. In the ever-changing industry of turf management, communication is oil in our machine.

First, communication allows us to work as a cohesive unit with a common goal. When we are working towards a common goal, we are referred to as a "team". For communication to be most effective in a team environment, certain channels of communication (I am not talking about radio channels!) must take priority over others. An example of this is in the assignment of daily tasks to the members of a turf crew.

A superintendent may communicate his wants and needs to his assistants. The superintendent and assistant(s) must be able to effectively communicate with each other in order to develop a productive plan for the crew that day. For the assistant, the most highly prioritized channel of communication at the beginning of the day is that channel shared with the superintendent. Depending on circumstances that arise throughout the day, perhaps the most important line of communication for the assistant is between other employees (irrigation technician, mechanic, etc.). Next, when the assistant relays the morning message from the superintendent to the crew, the highest priority is clear communication to the crew. From the standpoint of the crew, the highest priority is receiving the message from the assistant clearly. When a crew member encounters a problem that they are unable to solve alone, it is important that they are able to confidently communicate to their coworkers and their supervisors to find a remedy.

If communication between people or groups is unclear, a couple of things can happen. Miscommunication may result in conflict between parties, a lack of efficiency, or counterproductivity. Lets assume that the superintendent's message was to "cut greens and then lightly topdress with the R8's and finally lightly irrigate to help get the sand particles into the canopy". The assistant is hearing this during the meeting and he knows this procedure has been done here numerous times before, but he can not remember the order. Being too embarrassed to ask the superintendent to clarify, and being somewhat confident that he can figure out the order himself, he leaves to convey the message to the crew. He informs them that "we need to topdress greens and get them cut before membership arrives to play".

The crew hears this, and those selected to carry out the task assemble the required equipment. Since the first thing that the assistant told them to do was topdress, they load up the R8's and lightly topdress the first green. Looking at the material perched on top on the uncut green, they decide they will radio the assistant and tell him that the sand is not working in to the canopy. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys to water that sand in lightly. Pop up the greens heads for a 2 minute cycle", says the assistant. The assistant has made the assumption that the workers have already cut the green, and have just now topdressed. The workers do exactly as they are instructed, and thinking that the assistant knows best, they carry on mowing.

The wet sand is everywhere! Sand is getting picked up by the reels causing damage to the cutting units. The sand that is not getting picked up by the reels is being picked up by the rear roller. Every time the greens walkers turn around for their next pass, the sand from the rollers is deposited on the collar. The crew member mowing collars picks this sand up in his reels and destroys them as well. The crew thinks something doesn't quite look right, but their assistant knows best, and they continue through all 18 greens this way.

As you can see, one misunderstanding can become magnified as it is communicated and re-communicated to others. The cost here was hours of wasted labor, new bedknives, a lengthy process of spinning and relief grinding 3 separate reels, wasted sand, and lost trust. When miscommunication occurs, trust can be lost as a result. The superintendent trusted his assistant to relay his message effectively, and he was let down. An important aspect of communication is trust. Without trust, you are unable to confidently "hand over the reigns" and are forced to supervise everything, lowering productivity.

For you to be successful in this industry, you must be able to communicate effectively. The superintendent must be able to relay his thoughts to the assistant and the assistant must be able to comprehend the superintendent. The assistant should have communicated his confusion to the superintendent. The crew should have communicated their situation to the assistant. The assistant should have followed-up to make sure the task was being completed correctly.

Communication is not only about relaying your thoughts to another party; communication is about comprehension. Communication is about confidently proposing your ideas and your views and never making assumptions. Communication is about developing strong relationships based on trust. In closing, in an industry where the individual efforts of many, contribute to success as a whole, communicating with each other is not only important, it is vital.

(Picture obtained from www.promaudio.ch)

2010 Internship at Winged Foot Golf Club

This March I finally get to put the classroom knowledge I have gained at Penn State to work in the field. I will be spending six months on an extended internship at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. While my past four years have been spent working at Tobiano, this will be my first official internship, and I have high hopes for it being a great one as well.

The Winged Foot Golf Club was established in 1921 when a few members of the New York Athletic Club decided that they wanted to build a golf course. Without support from within the athletic club, they were forced to undertake the process on their own. Within a year they acquired a 280 acre piece of land in Mamaroneck. With the selection of Albert Warren Tillinghast as their course architect, construction began. In June of 1923, after a very laborious process of tree and rock removal, construction of the East and West courses was finished.

The West Course is a par 72 and measures 7,264 yards with a course rating of 76.1 and a slope rating of 145. The East Course is a par 72 and measures 6,750 yards with a course rating of 73.9 and a slope rating of 142. The 2009-10 listings in Golf Digest place Winged Foot's courses at 8th and 65th for the West and East respectively. Winged Foot is also home to two of the longest holes ever played in a major championship. During championships, the course is converted to a par 70, and the average length of the par five ninth hole, soon becomes a monster to play at a par four rating. At 514 yards, this is the longest par four in the history of major championship play. The par five twelfth measures in at 640 yards, making it the second longest hole in major championship history.

I have several things that I hope to accomplish this summer on my internship. Over the past few weeks at Penn State, I have been taking an increased interest in our mechanic classes. This is one area that I hope I am able to gain experience with while at Winged Foot. Ideally, I would like to spend a week with the mechanic in order to gain a greater understanding of the processes involved in keeping the equipment properly tuned. Additionally, I believe that the potential benefits of "being on the other side of the work-bench" would prove to be invaluable later in my career. With some exposure to the common issues that golf course mechanics encounter, and exposure to the remedies they employ, I believe that I will become an increasingly well rounded turf manager. Here, is a sample of the mechanical related goals I developed as part of our internship preparation class last fall.

Goal: To develop a solid base knowledge of regular day-to-day mechanics.

• Become proficient at adjusting the height of both reel and rotary mowers
• Learn how to swap over cutting units
• Be able to troubleshoot small engine problems
• Be able to repair small engines
• Learn proper machine lubricating regiments
• Grind reels and bedknives

An additional goal I have for my internship this summer is to take my first leap into the realm of spraying. The safe and environmentally sensitive approach to applying products on golf courses is one of the most important agronomic practices a turf manager must employ. My goals related to spraying practices include:

Goal: To become comfortable with selecting and applying pesticides and fertilizers.

• Learn how to operate a boom sprayer
• Familiarize myself with effective chemical mixtures
• Learn to use a sprayhawk
• Learn how to properly select fertilizer
• Calibrate a spreader
• Figure out the most cost effective fertilizers/pesticides

In closing, I am very excited at the opportunity to intern at a golf course with such prestige and history and I will take as much as possible from this experience. I plan on keeping my eyes and ears open and ensuring that I make my time at Winged Foot beneficial to both myself, and the club. I look forward to the challenge of meeting the high expectations of the club and I can not wait to start!

(Picture obtained from img.timeinc.net)
(Information regarding dates and history obtained from Wikipedia)