Hector's Shop - New Video in English and Spanish from Walnut Creek Country Club

Our new Equipment Manager, Hector, recently made his first instructional video from Walnut Creek and it was posted today! Please click here to watch his video. This video is a pilot video as he made it in both English AND Spanish.  With many more Hispanic technicians and equipment managers around the world, it’s increasingly important to share the videos in both languages.  Each month a new video will be posted on turfnet.com filmed from our very own shop at Walnut Creek so be sure to take a look from time to time and see what’s happening. Some of the tips and tricks Hector shares could even be useful at home with your own maintenance needs. Enjoy the videos!

8 South

8 South Fairway: Plug has been in the office for 9 days

Spring is undoubtedly not far away, and at this time of the year superintendents begin to think about how the turfgrass has handled this cold season.  Most of the time, superintendents will take a cup cutter plug out of a green or fairway and see if it greens up in their office or greenhouse.  Nine days ago I took a plug out of 8 South fairway to analyze how it will react in the spring.  To my delight, the plug greened up and is growing nicely.  This is a great sign for spring!

The USGA put out a spring report that talks a lot about winter kill on turfgrass as well as steps to recover from it which include irrigating turf earlier than you may think.  If you have the time, you can read the whole article by clicking this link http://www.usga.org/course_care/regional_updates/regional_reports/northcentral/A-Notable-Exception---February-2013/

2013 GCSAA Conference

GCSAA Conference 2013

Each year a national educational show is held for Superintendents and others to take classes, network with peers, and gain new ideas to help their facility for the year to come. This years show was in San Diego, CA. I was fortunate to take great classes this year that covered seeding/managing naturalized Fescue areas as well as a class dealing with recovering from winter kill injury on turf. Both of these subjects will come into play for us this coming season as we get ready to seed new naturalized areas and could need to recover from some winter kill injury.

In addition to taking some great classes at the show, I also attended the Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association (MiGCSA) gathering and was able to network with many of Michigan's finest Superintendents, Assistants, and Educators.

--Dan Meersman named Superintendent of the Year--

On a side note, I would like to congratulate Dan Meersman, Director of Grounds at The Philadelphia Cricket Club, as this years recipient of the Superintendent of the Year award.  This award is a great honor and one that is well deserved.  After working for Dan and getting to know him well, it's great to see Dan's leadership, strong work ethic, and progressive thinking is continually recognized.  Congratulations Dan!