BIGGA Video Series: Reconstructing a Green

BIGGA's Reconstruction of a Green training video takes a look at the basic problems and solutions associated with various types of green construction and maintenance. Don't let the Old School video editing throw you off, this is an excellent introduction to understanding how a golf green works.

Super Grass: The Advantages of Endophyte-Enhanced Turfgrass in Golf Course Management

We'd like to welcome Guest Contributor Skylar Christensen to Turfhugger. From his earliest days growing up in a small northern Utah town, Skylar could always be found in the great outdoors. He developed a great love of nature and appreciation for beautiful landscapes, both natural and manmade, which led him to pursue a career that would allow him to spend as much time outdoors as possible. With an educational background in Horticulture from Utah State University, Skylar’s many years of experience in the landscape/turf industry has taught him much about working with nature. This in turn led him to realize that the future of this industry rests upon sustainability and responsible agricultural practices. He works for Naturesfinestseed.com, a company that believes strongly in the principal of sustainability.

We all remember the story of Spiderman. A boy gets bitten by a radioactive spider, transforming and infusing within him superhuman strength and spider-like abilities. He’s able to do things normal humans could never achieve. I love the story of Spiderman. Who hasn’t fantasized about the possibilities of becoming superhuman, powerful, and able to shoot web out of your hands? Although this example is a work of fiction, and human symbiosis with spiders is, sadly, out of our reach, that’s not to say that symbiosis within other life forms, such as turfgrass and fungi, is impossible.

Identifying Warm Season Turfgrasses

These two videos from the Institute of Applied Agriculture at the University of Maryland, reviews the structural characteristics of a number of warm season turfgrasses.

Video One:

Kikuyugrass -- Pennisetum clandestinum
Common Carpetgrass -- Axonopus affinis
Centipedegrass -- Eremochloa ophiuroides
St. Augustinegrass -- Stenotaphrum secundatum

Video Two:

Zoysiagrass -- Zoysia japonica
Bahiagrass -- Paspalum notatum
Buffalograss -- Bouteloua dactyloides
Seashore Paspalum -- Paspalum vaginatum
Bermudagrass -- Cynodon dactylon

Video One

Video Two

Identifying Cool Season Turfgrasses

These two videos from the Institute of Applied Agriculture at the University of Maryland, reviews the structural characteristics of a number of cool season turfgrasses.

Video One:

Kentucky Bluegrass -- Poa Pratensis
Annual Bluegrass -- Poa Annua
Roughstalk Bluegrass -- Poa Triialis
Perennial Ryegrass -- Lolium Perenne
Annual Ryegrass -- Lolium Mulilorum

Video Two:

Tall Fescue -- Festuca Arundinacea
Red Fescue -- Festuca Rubra
Hard Fescue -- Festuca Brevipila
Sheep Fescue -- Festuca Ovina
Creeping Bentgrass -- Agrostis Stolonifera
Colonial Bentgrass -- Agrostis Tenuis

Video One:

Video Two:

Fine Fescue as a Disease Management Strategy at Northland Country Club

Last week, after noticing some potential disease on the 14th fairway and approach, I sent a couple of samples to the Turf Diagnostic Lab at the University of Wisconsin. The suspected disease is a leaf spot caused by the pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana. Bipolaris leaf spot is a bugger of a disease, which affects mostly bentgrass. While it does not completely wipe out turf it does present a challenge in that fungicide applications are expensive and only seem to suppress the disease as opposed to completely controlling it. Dr. Jim Kerns of the University of Wisconsin wrote a blog post in July on Bipolaris for the TurfDiseases blog. The post highlights some of the difficulties of dealing with Bipolaris leaf spot. 

Using Fine Fescue as a Solution to Fairway Dry Spots at Northland Country Club

We see them each summer; as you play the golf course in July and August you will notice some areas on fairways have a brown tinge to them. The photo above shows some these areas on the third hole. Over the past five seasons we have seen areas such as this become less and less around the golf course; the reason for the reduction are numerous.

Greg Evans discusses conditioning at Ealing Golf Club

In this video Greg describes the conditioning of the Ealing Golf Club, how he insists on "championship standard, 7 days a week" and the honor of being awarded a Master Greenskeeper Certificate.