CHIPS & PUTTS OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE POCONO TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION www.ptga.org Founded in 1936 VOL. 20 NO. 8 October 2014 October Meeting Great Bear Golf & Country Club Host: Keith Snyder, GCS It’s hard to believe that it’s our last meeting of the year, but if you haven’t been able to make it to any yet, I certainly hope you take advantage of this one. Great Bear is a Jack Nicklaus signature course located in East Stroudsburg. If you ever wondered what it takes to get the “Signature” desig- nation, it means that Jack Nicklaus himself had to approve all the grading and layout of each hole prior to seeding. This par 71 championship course plays at just over 7,000 yards from the tips, and of- fers your typically beautiful Pocono mountain scenery with three lakes, streams, wetlands, and rolling terrain. Additionally, there are no parallel holes on Great Bear, which provide a relatively unique golfing experience. Grassed with bentgrass from tee to green, the 3.5 acres of tees, 3.5 acres of greens, and 32 acres of fairways meander through this 450 acre property that also contains 128 home sites. Two of the most memorable holes, the par 3 #7 and par 5 #18 will challenge all aspects of your game. Great Bear was originally opened in 1997 and has seen its share of highs and lows through the years. After many successful years, Great Bear fell upon hard times in the economic downturn and was even closed for a season. But in 2012, Shawnee Inn and Resort purchased the Club and has re- vived it to its previous luster. Continued on Page 3 Page 2 President's Message..... Officers & Directors 2014 PRESIDENT Greg Boring, CC of Scranton 570-587-4046 VICE PRESIDENT Gino Marchetti, Glen Oak CC 570-586-5791 TREASURER Patrick Healey, Scranton Canoe Club 570-378-2249 SECRETARY Chris Moran, Honesdale CC 570-253-9094 Greg Boring DIRECTORS Steven Chirip, Grass Roots, Inc. 973-418-3468 Corey Pries, Pocono Manor GC 570-994-8270 Ron Garrison, Fox Hill CC 570-655-1065 Jerry Decker, Elkview CC 570-282-3080 __________________________ CHIPS & PUTTS STAFF EDITOR Editor’s Notes….. Brian Bachman, Genesis Turfgrass, Inc. 484-661-6105 bbachman@genesisturfgrassinc.com Managing Editor Melinda Wisnosky The last meeting of the year already….didn’t we just dig 570-388-2167 out from last year’s winter? mmel500@aol.com PAST PRESIDENT Ray Waddell Thankfully, most of the area has received some much 570-903-9571 needed rain recently, and we can all take a deep breath as the season quickly winds to an end. Before you know it we’ll be spraying for snow mold and pulling on the covers. Thanks to all who have provided pictures and arti- cles...keep them coming. See you at Great Bear!! Brian Bachman PTGA Office 309 Terrace Avenue Harding, PA 18643 Phone/Fax: 570-388-2167 Any opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and/or person quoted, and may not represent the position of PTGA. Information contained in this publication may be used freely, in whole or in part, without special permission, as long as the true context is maintained. We would appreciate a credit line. PagePage 3 3 Continued from Page 1 The successful resort, located just a few minutes from Great Bear, purchased the property to expand their existing resort offerings. After some hard work and polishing (including a new mainte- nance facility), Great Bear has been reincarnated as one of the most pristine courses in the Po- conos. In an industry prone to turnover and shorter than average job stints, one man has been the steadying force through these changes. Superintendent Keith Snyder has been the only super that Great Bear has ever known. A native to the area, Keith had previously been superintendent at Dupont C.C.’s championship course for 21 years before returning home to build Great Bear in 1995. Keith is a graduate of Penn State’s 2 year program in 1975 and has been married for 39 years. Blessed with 2 daughters, he is now also the proud grandfather of 2 grandchildren, as well. I certainly hope you’ll be able to attend our last meeting of the year, enjoy the peak leaf col- or, and support your Association and profession. I look forward to seeing you there. Page 4 PSU Welcomes Dr. Ben McGraw to the Turfgrass Science Team Dr. Benjamin McGraw will be joining the Penn State Turfgrass Science program as the new turfgrass en- tomologist, a position with a joint appointment between the Plant Science and Entomology depart- ments. Ben’s responsibilities will be to conduct research on the ecology and management of turfgrass insect pests and to teach in Penn State’s 2- and 4-year programs. Ben is looking forward to working with Pennsylvania and regional turf industry stakeholders, and teaching and mentoring both under- graduate and graduate students. Prior to joining the Turf Science program at Penn State, Ben spent five years as an associate professor in the Golf &Plant Sciences department at the State University of New York (SUNY) – Delhi. At Delhi, Ben was responsible for directing the Golf & Sports Turf Management program and teaching classes sup- porting the 2- and 4-yr programs. Outside of these duties, Ben maintained an active research program and ran a consulting company developing ecologically-based solutions for turfgrass insect pest prob- lems. Ben grew up in coastal Maine, and developed a passion for turfgrass management like many did: by playing golf and mowing lawns. Ben was exposed to entomology while attending the University of Maine, where he obtained a Bachelors of Science degree. After college, Ben worked as a research entomologist for Mycogen Seeds, Dow AgroSciences, and AgraQuest. He decided to enter a gradu- ate program to combine his passion for entomology and turf management. Ben obtained a MS in En- tomology from the University of Massachusetts –Amherst working in Dr. Pat Vittum’s lab, and a Ph.D. in Entomology from Rutgers University, under the guidance of Dr. Albrecht Koppenhöfer. During his grad- uate and post-graduate years, he worked on a variety of projects including cultural and biological control of turf pests, insect and pathogen ecology, and insecticide resistance management. A main focus of his research has been the annual bluegrass weevil (ABW), a severe pest of golf course turf in the eastern United States and Canada. His work on ABW ecology and biology has led to a greater un- derstanding of the insect’s behavior and population development, and has improved cultural and chemical management. At Penn State, Dr. McGraw’s research will focus on understanding insect ecology and behavior to de- velop sustainable turf pest management practices. He will continue to work closely with turf managers to better understand pest issues, provide practical solutions, and generate much needed information on emerging pest issues. Additionally, he is looking forward to working with a diverse team of turfgrass scientists and entomologists, and developing partnerships within and outside of the University to im- prove our understanding of managing pests in an ecologically sound manner. Page 5 Head of the (snow mold) Class Posted by Paul Koch, September 12, 2014 Via Turfdiseases.org Which fungicide class provides the most effective snow mold control? The switch from August to September doesn’t only signal the onset of football season, for many su- perintendents it also signals the onset of snow mold season. There are a host of factors that go into choosing an effective snow mold program at your facility: budget, course expectations, disease pressure, etc. Further complicating matters is that there are a number of products and product mixtures that provide effective snow mold suppression. Over half of the 108 treatments tested in our snow mold trial last winter provided exceptional control under extreme pink snow mold pressure at Wausau CC in central Wisconsin. If you look at most of those effective treatments, they have two things in common. First, they all have multiple active ingredients, which is required under the heavy snow mold pressure that central and northern Wisconsin experiences. Second, most include an active ingredient from the demeth- ylation inhibitor (DMI) class. In fact, if you could only use one fungicide class for snow mold control, I would argue that the data supports the DMI fungicides as the most effective one. Highly effective snow mold products and mixtures including Instrata, Interface + Triton FLO, Torque + 26/36, Lexicon + Trinity, and Turfcide + Concert all include DMI fungicides. Further, removing just the DMI fungicide from a 3-way mixture causes a disproportionate decrease in disease control. The Torque + 26/36 shown in the figure above provided exceptional control as a 3-way, and when Torque (a DMI fungi- cide) was applied alone disease severity increased from 1.8% to 34%. However, when 26/36 (a 2- way mixture) was applied in the same trial without the DMI, disease severity jumped all the way to 72%! The same phenomenon was observed with Interface + Triton FLO; as a 3-way mixture there was 4% disease, with Triton FLO alone there was 31% disease, and with Interface alone there was 63% disease. Under the lower snow mold pressures commonly observed over much of the country, a DMI applied alone may provide all the protection you need. Now I am not saying that DMI’s alone will provide adequate protection under moderate to heavy snow mold pressures when applied alone, they won’t. However, our research suggests that they Continued on Page 6 Page 6 Continued from Page 5 may be the most important part of that 2, 3, or even 4-way mixture. So if you are looking to re- duce costs this fall with your snow mold program, I wouldn’t recommend doing so by eliminating the DMI. For more information about Wisconsin’s snow mold research, including full reports and pictures of each treatment, please visit www.tdl.wisc.edu/results and come to your own conclusions about what products may be best for your situation. Chips & Putts PATRON SPONSORS AERIFICATION AND OVERSEEDING IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE Aer-Core Stephen Thompson 610-972-5933 John Deere Brent Wood 570.499.1441 William Mast 610.327.3390 Turf Equip. & Supply George Skawski 610.554.9366 Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Michael Longyhore 610.390.8827 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 Lawn & Golf Chris Butler 710.933.5801 PLANT PROTECTANTS Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 EQUIPMENT Rich Gdovin 570-278-1131 Aer-Core Stephen Thompson 610-972-5933 Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 William Mast 610.327.3390 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 John Deere Brent Wood 570.499.1441 Lawn & Golf Chris Butler 610.933.5801 Growth Products Craig Lambert 973-601-3303 Turf Equip. & Supply Michael Longyhore 610.390.8827 Lawn & Golf Chris Butler 610.933.5801 George Skawski 610.554.9366 Syngenta Lee A. Kozsey 610.861.8174 Finch Services Ted Zabrenski 484.614.6436 SEED & SOD Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 FERTILIZER Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Finch Services Ted Zabrenski 484.614.6436 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 Lawn & Golf Chris Butler 610.933.5801 Growth Products Craig Lambert 973-601-3303 Lawn & Golf Chris Butler 610.933.5801 TOPDRESSING / SOIL AMENDMENTS Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 GREEN AND TEE SUPPLIES Blue Ridge Peat Farms Gene Evans 570.443.9596 Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 Rich Gdovin 570-278-1131 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 Lawn & Golf Chris Butler 610.933.5801 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 John Deere Brent Wood 570.499.1441 Lawn & Golf Chris Butler 610.933.5801 Support our Sponsors - They support us! Photo of the Month PTGA SCHEDULE We all see interesting things every day….wildlife (like bald eagles and bears), Oct 6th PTGA Golf Meeting strange turf problems (like a lightning strike), Great Bear CC an employee who stayed out too late the night before, etc. So if you have a great Nov 18-20 PSU Turf Conference photo, send it to me (bbachman@genesisturfgrassinc.com) and share it for everyone to enjoy (or laugh at). Dec 9-11 New Jersey Green Expo Atlantic City October Photo of the Month It doesn’t happen often in our area, but do you recognize this little critter? Thanks to Ryan Berger at Riverview CC for this picture. POCONO TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION R.R. 1, BOX 219 POSTAGE HARDING, PA 18643 POCONO TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 309 TERRACE AVENUE HARDING, PA 18643 NAME & ADDRESS PHONE/FAX 570-388-2167 WEBSITE: ptga.org ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED.