CHIPS & PUTTS OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE POCONO TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION www.ptga.org Founded in 1936 VOL. 21 NO. 9 Nov/Dec 2015 PTGA WINS THE ANNUAL MET TOURNAMENT (front row l-r) Paul Brandon, Ron Garrison, Les Lear (back row l-r) Ed Cimoch, Steve Chirip, T.J. Hart, Jerry Decker, Greg Boring Page 2 President's Message..... Officers & Directors 2015 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 DIRECTORS Steven Chirip, Grass Roots, Inc. 973-418-3468 Corey Pries 570-994-8270 Ron Garrison, Fox Hill CC 570-655-1065 Jerry Decker, Elkview CC Editor’s Notes….. 570-282-3080 __________________________ CHIPS & PUTTS STAFF And another year is in the books…...trusting it was a good one EDITOR Brian Bachman, Genesis Turfgrass, Inc. for you. 484-661-6105 bbachman@genesisturfgrassinc.com Thanks to all those that provided pictures, articles, feedback, Managing Editor etc for the newsletter. I truly appreciate it. Melinda Wisnosky 570-388-2167 mmel500@aol.com Thanks to Shaun Barry for all the pictures of our victorious MET Championship Team!! Have a very Merry Christmas and I’ll see you in the New Year!! 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. Page 3 Highlights from the Annual Met Tournament PagePage 3 4 Pennsylvania Considering "Amusement and Recreation" Sales Tax By Chase Rogan, Mid-Atlantic Regional GCSAA Rep Pennsylvania has a budget deficit, and the golf industry could suffer the consequences. The State's General Assembly is considering ex- panding sales tax to include "amusements and recreational activities." This would include – you guessed it – greens fees. Other businesses subject to the tax include, but are not limited to: amusement parks, bowling alleys, marinas, car trade-ins, personal care services (what!?), RV and camping sites and movie downloads. In most areas of the State, this tax would total six percent, with exceptions of seven per- cent in Allegheny County and eight percent in Philadelphia. So, what does this mean? It means higher costs for our customers. Consequently, the Pennsylvania Golf Owners group is drafting a letter to oppose this taxation, and our PGCSA logo will be included on the letter to support this opposition. Our main argument is that the golf industry continues to struggle for participants and their discretionary income. The addition of the sales tax would make golf more expen- sive to the consumer and that consumer will play less often, if at all. This is something the golf industry in Pennsylvania cannot afford. Additionally, some courses are already subject to a local amusement tax and the inclusion of a state sales tax would be double taxation. When opposing such issues, it is important for us to share our industry's positive attributes with our state legislators. For example, Pennsylvania's 663 golf courses employ approximately 30,000 individuals. Like- wise, the golf industry is responsible for nearly two billion dollars in direct economic impact in Pennsyl- vania. While there is not an official date set to vote on this issue, you can take action by calling or emailing your state legislators to voice your opposition. To find out who your representative is, please visit the state government website. Please explain why we oppose this tax, what impact it could have on our industry, and the positive aspects of our economic impact in Pennsylvania. Furthermore, it is always beneficial to drive your point home by bringing it local – share how many individuals your course employs and other pertinent information that could highlight the impact of this change to that representative's district. As the old saying goes, "all poli- tics are local." Page 5 Page 6 The Dose Makes the Poison: Selecting the Right Fungicide Rate is Critical! By Richard Latin via turfdiseases.org, November 2015 Sola dosis facit venenum—that’s the Latin phrase (no pun intended) representing the basic principle of toxicolo- gy. It means that a substance will produce a harmful effect on a biological system only if it accumulates above a certain concentration within the biological system. From the turf pathology perspective, the appropriate inter- pretation is that in order to stop growth of pathogenic fungi, sufficient concentrations of active ingredient must accumulate in fungal cells. So, you need to be accurate with your application rates—even now when you are developing your 2016 program and budget. Continued on page 7…... Page 7 …..Continued from page 6 The dose/effect relationship is complicated. It is usually a non-linear function that shows a steep response as the dose becomes effective, and then a plateau, beyond which the effect is smaller as dosage is increased. In Figure 1, the red line repre- sents the dose/response curve for a hypothetical fungicide against a hypothetical turf pathogen. Ex- cellent efficacy (control) is expected (given reason- able disease pressure conditions) at the label rate of 0.5 fl oz/M (blue dashed line). As the rate is re- duced, efficacy suffers. In this example, decreasing the rate to 0.4 fl oz/M reduces efficacy to 80%. Because of the severe slope on the low (left) side of the response curve, applying half the rate (0.25 fl oz) reduces efficacy to about 10%. That’s not enough to slow disease progress, even under barely favorable environmental conditions. From a decision-making perspective, the issue is further confounded by two key factors– Figure 1. The dose/response relationship describes how small changes in application rate can have large 1. Dose/response curves differ for each fungicide effects on disease control. The relationship differs and each pathogen. with each fungicide and turf disease! 2. Most labels specify a range of application rates. Despite your experience, there is always some un- About the Author: certainty in selecting the best fungicide and appli- cation rate, especially under conditions of high dis- Dr. Rick Latin is a professor of plant pathology at ease pressure. Purdue University and has been a member of the faculty since 1981. He earned is MS and Ph.D. de- The only decision tool currently available that ac- grees in plant pathology at Penn State University. counts for fungicide rates is the Turfmetrics Pro- Rick has research, teaching, and extension responsi- gram Builder app (www.turfmetrics.com). It in- bilities in the area of turfgrass disease management cludes a fungicide selection tool with efficacy and recently authored the best selling textbook-- A ratings for the full range of application rates for all Practical Guide to Turfgrass Fungicides. His current fungicides against over 35 diseases, and a reporting research activities focus on turf fungicides and fac- feature that allows you to estimate costs as rates tors that influence their performance. change. Page 8 October Meeting Results Fox Hill Country Club Superintendents Affiliates Closest to the Pin #7 Duane Schell 33’9” 1st Place 1st Place Jason Brown 82 T.J. Hart 80 Closest to the Pin #11 Murphy 5’ 5” 2nd Place 2nd Place Ryan Fogel 82 Steve Chirip 83 Longest Drive Zac Breck 3rd Place 3rd Place Ian Kunesch 82 Skins Dave Schell 90 Jerry Decker #9 4th Place Jason Brown #14 4th Place Ron Garrison 83 Les Lear #18 Les Lear 90 The Pocono Turfgrass Association Board of Directors would like to wish all our Members and their Families a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Happy Holidays Page 9 Photo of the Month We all see interesting things every day….wildlife (like bald eagles and bears), strange turf problems (like a lightning strike), an employee who stayed out too late the night before, etc. So if you have a great photo, send it to me (bbachman@genesisturfgrassinc.com) and share it for everyone to enjoy (or laugh at). Nov/Dec Photo of the Month A good fit for “what the heck caused this” section of the newsletter. I’m sure you can all figure out what lead to this dam- aged area of turf on this tee. Thanks to Chris Snopkowski for sharing!! Chips & Putts PATRON SPONSORS AERIFICATION AND OVERSEEDING Aer-Core Stephen Thompson 610-972-5933 IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE William Mast 610.327.3390 John Deere Brent Wood 570.499.1441 Air2G2 Saturated John Downer 570-840-0078 Turf Equip. & Supply George Skawski 610.554.9366 Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Les Lear 570.903.8412 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 Lawn & Golf Matthew Brown 610.933.5801 PLANT PROTECTANTS Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Rich Gdovin 570-278-1131 EQUIPMENT Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 Aer-Core Stephen Thompson 610-972-5933 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 William Mast 610.327.3390 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 Air2G2 Saturated John Downer 570-840-0078 John Deere Brent Wood 570.499.1441 Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Growth Products Craig Lambert 973-601-3303 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 Lawn & Golf Matthew Brown 610.933.5801 Lawn & Golf Matthew Brown 610.933.5801 Syngenta Lee A. Kozsey 610.861.8174 Turf Equip. & Supply George Skawski 610.554.9366 Les Lear 570.903.8412 Finch Services Ted Zabrenski 484.614.6436 SEED & SOD Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 Finch Services Ted Zabrenski 484.614.6436 FERTILIZER Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 Lawn & Golf Matthew Brown 610.933.5801 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 Growth Products Craig Lambert 973-601-3303 Lawn & Golf Matthew Brown 610.933.5801 Plant Food Co., Inc. Tom Weinert 914.262.0111 TOPDRESSING / SOIL AMENDMENTS Andre & Son, Inc. John Vojick 607.768.0575 Rich Gdovin 570.278.1131 Blue Ridge Peat Farms Gene Evans 570.443.9596 Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 GREEN AND TEE SUPPLIES 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 Lawn & Golf Matthew Brown 610.933.5801 Fisher & Son Bob Seltzer 610.704.4756 Genesis Turfgrass Brian Bachman 484.661.6105 Grass Roots, Inc. Steve Chirip 973.418.3468 John Deere Brent Wood 570.499.1441 Lawn & Golf Matthew Brown 610.933.5801 Support our Sponsors - They support us! PTGA SCHEDULE POCONO ROUNDUP Jan 5-6 Eastern PA Turf Conference Condolences Jan 28 NEPA Turf Conference Woodlands Feb 6-11 GSCAA National The PTGA sends our deepest condolences to the fam- ily of Keith Happ who passed away this year. A true Irrigation Products - Lester Lear leslear@turf-equipment.com legend in the business, he will be missed. 570-903-8412 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.