USGA GREEN SECTION
RECORD

A Publication on Turf Management 
by the United States Golf Association

USGA GREEN SECTION
RECORD

A Publication on Turf Management by the United States Golf Association

© 1972 by United States Golf Association. Permission to reproduce articles or material in the USGA GREEN 
SECTION RECORD is granted to publishers of newspapers and periodicals (unless specifically noted otherwise), 
provided credit is given the USGA and copyright protection is afforded. To reprint material in other media, 
written permission must be obtained from the USGA. In any case, neither articles nor other material may be 
copied or used for any advertising, promotion or commercial purposes.

VOL. 10, NO. 6

NOVEMBER 1972

Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium — How They Relate to Plant Growth 

by Carl Schwartzkopf............................................................................................... 1

Ten Years of Research on Winter Injury on Golf Courses: Causes and Prevention 

by Dr. James B. Beard............................................................................................... 3

Turfgrass Management in the Argentine 

by James B. Moncrief............................................................................................... 9

A Golf Superintendent should be A Golf Superintendent 

by Paul N. Voykin ....................................................................................................  12

Turf Twisters

Back Cover

Published six times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November by the UNITED 
STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION, 40 EAST 38th ST., NEW YORK, N.Y. 10016. Subscription: $2 a 
year. Single copies: 35c. Subscriptions and address changes should be sent to the above address. 
Articles, photographs, and correspondence relevant to published material should be addressed to: 
United States Golf Association Green Section, P.O. Box 567, Garden Grove, Calif 92642. Second 
class postage paid at New York, N.Y. and other locations. Office of Publication 40 East 38th Street, 
New York, N.Y. 10016.

Editor: William H. Bengeyfield 

Managing Editor: Robert Sommers

Art Editor: Miss Janet Seagle
Green Section Committee Chairman: Edward L. Meister, Jr., 37841 Euclid Ave., 

Willoughby, Ohio 44094

Green Section Agronomists and Offices

EASTERN REGION 
P.O. Box 1237 
Highland Park, N. J. 08904

Alexander M. Radko, Director, Eastern Region 

and National Research Director

William G. Buchanan, Eastern Agronomist 
Stanley J. Zontek, Eastern Agronomist 

(201) 572-0440

SOUTHERN REGION 
P.O. Box 4213 
Campus Station, Athens, Ga. 30601
James B. Moncrief, Director, Southern Region 

(404) LI 8-2741

MID-CONTINENT REGION 

P.O. Box 592, Crystal Lake, III. 60014
F. Lee Record, Director, Mid-Continent Region 
Carl Schwartzkopf, Mid-Continent Agronomist 

(815) 459-3731

MID-ATLANTIC REGION
P.O. Box 5563
Barricks Road Station, Charlottesville, Va. 22903
Holman M. Griffin, Mid-Atlantic Director 

(703) 296-5353

WESTERN REGION 
P.O. Box 567

Garden Grove, Calif. 92642

William H. Bengeyfield, Director, Western Region 

and Publications Editor

(714) 638-0962

Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium—

How They Relate to Plant Growth

by CARL SCHWARTZKOPF, Mid-Continent Agronomist, USGA Green Section

Potassium, calcium and magnesium play an 

important role in soil-plant relationships. These 
elements are not only essential to the complex 
biochemistry of plant growth, but their pres­
ence in the soil in adequate amounts and in 
suitable proportions to one another and to the 
other exchangeable cations, such as aluminum, 
hydrogen and NH4+, is necessary if the soil 
is to be a suitable medium for plant-root 
development. Should one element be in excess, 
it may “tie-up” or make it unavailable to the 
plant.

POTASSIUM

Potassium is absorbed by plants in larger 
amounts than any other mineral element except 
nitrogen and possibly calcium. This element 
plays an important part in many of the vital 
physiological processes in the plant; the exact 
mechanism by which potassium functions is not 
known. It is needed for the plant cell's 
metabolic processes and apparently has a role in 
influencing the uptake of certain other mineral 
elements, in regulating the rate of respiration, 
affecting the rate of transpiration and in 
influencing the action of enzymes, as well as in 
aiding the synthesis and translocation of carbo­
hydrates. Potassium also has a counterbalancing 
effect on the results of a nitrogen excess. It 
enhances the synthesis and translocation of 
carbohydrates, thereby encouraging the cell 

walls to thicken and help the plant to remain 
upright.

Potassium plays a vital role in the winter 
survival of turfgrass, disease resistance, and in 
increasing the overall hardiness of the grass 
plant. Deficiency symptoms of potassium on 
turfgrass are yellow-streaked leaves, followed 
by browning and dying at tips and margins.

SOURCES OF POTASSIUM

Hardwood ashes supplied much of the 
potassium in the United States through the first 
part of the 19th Century. A decline in the 
potash industry resulted after the hardwood 
forests along the Atlantic Coast were depleted. 
The first factory that processed KCL (murate 
of potash) was in Germany, and the Germans 
monopolized the potassium market until World 
War I. The embargo placed on potassium 
exports forced development of the resources of 
the United States and of other countries as 
well. Most potassium today comes from New 
Mexico, California, and Utah.

CALCIUM

Calcium, as potassium, is absorbed by the 
turfgrass plant in the ionic form. The calcium in 
the soil other than what was added as lime or in 
fertilizer material originated in the rocks and 
minerals from which the soil was formed. 
Calcium is a part of many minerals, such as 

Injury to turf from 
the misapplication 
of plant nutrients.

NOVEMBER 1972

dolomite, calcite and calcium feldspars. Upon 
their disintegration and decomposition, calcium 
is released.

Calcium is an extremely important mineral 
in plant nutrition. Many soils, particularly in 
humid regions, contain this element in amounts 
so small that plant growth is limited. Turf­
grasses as a group are able to tolerate low levels 
of calcium; however, abnormal growth has been 
observed with extremely low levels. One of the 
primary roles assigned to calcium in the plant is 
the key role it plays in the cell walls. Calcium is 
also important in root development, since short 
roots are observed on calcium deficient plants.
The first sign of calcium deficiency in older 
plants is the appearance of a reddish-brown 
discoloration in the tissue between the veins, 
along the margin of the blade. The most 
obvious method of correcting this deficiency is 
by the application of calcitic or dolomitic lime. 
Should calcium be required without changing 
the pH that would result from the use of lime, 
gypsum may be used.

Liming is the addition to the soil of any 
calcium-containing compound that is capable of 
reducing acidity. The correct use of lime refers 
only to calcium oxide (CaO), but the term 
almost universally includes such materials as 
calcium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, cal- 
cium-magnesium carbonate and calcium silicate 
slags.

A description of various liming materials 
describing their availability and manufacture 
follows:

Calcium Oxide — Calcium oxide (CaO), 
also known as unslaked lime, burned lime, or 
quicklime, is a white powder that is quite 
disagreeable to handle. It is manufactured by 
heating calcite limestone in an oven or furnace. 
The carbon dioxide is driven off, with calcium 
oxide remaining. This product is most fre­
quently handled in paper bags because of its 
powdery and caustic nature. This material 
reacts quickly when added to the soil. When 
unusually rapid results are desired, either 
calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide should be 
used.

Calcium Hydroxide — Calcium hydroxide 
(Ca(OH)2) is commonly referred to as slaked 
lime, hydrated lime or builder’s lime. It is 
similar to calcium oxide in that it is a white 
powdery substance, difficult and unpleasant to 
handle. Slaked lime is prepared by the hydra­
tion of calcium oxide. A large amount of heat is 
generated; upon completion of the reaction, the 
material is dried and packaged.

Calcium and Mixed Calcium-Magnesium 
Carbonates — The carbonates of calcium and 
magnesium occur widely in nature and in many 

different forms. Crystalline calcium carbonates 
are referred to as calcite or calcitic limestone. 
Crystalline calcium-magnesium is known com­
monly as dolomite.

MAGNESIUM

Magnesium is also absorbed by plants in 
the ionic forms. This absorption takes place 
from the soil solution or possibly by contact 
exchange.

Magnesium plays a vital role in photosyn­
thesis, as it is. the central atom in the 
chlorophyll molecule. It is involved in many 
enzyme reactions. It reacts with phosphorus in 
uptake and transport. Magnesium is also quite 
mobile in the plant, and yellow deficiency 
symptoms first appear on the older leaves, as it 
moves to the younger plants.

SOURCE OF MAGNESIUM

Magnesium in the soil originates in the 
decomposition of rocks containing minerals 
such as brotite, dolomite and olivine. Upon 
decomposition, these minerals set magnesium 
into the surrounding soil solution. Once in the 
soil solution, magnesium may be 1) leached, 2) 
absorbed by living organisms, and 3) adsorbed 
by surrounding particles.

MAGNESIUM IN THE SOIL

The coarse-textured soils of the humid 
region are those in which a magnesium defi­
ciency is generally manifested. These soil types 
usually contain small amounts of exchangeable 
magnesium. This condition is aggravated by the 
addition of large quantities of fertilizer salts 
which contain little or no magnesium. The 
magnesium in the soil is released by ion 
exchange when these fertilizers are added; the 
larger quantities of chlorides and sulphates 
speeds its removal by leaching. Magnesium can 
be supplied in dolomitic limestone, or as 
magnesium sulphate, if soil pH is to remain the 
same. A deficiency of magnesium is less of a 
problem on finer-textured soils and on soils 
found in the arid regions. In some semi-arid 
locations, magnesium compounds may actually 
be precipitated in the soil profile.

When the appearance of a plant and 
environmental factors indicate a nutritional 
disorder, steps should be taken to verify the 
problem before attempting to correct it hap­
hazardly with nutrients that are not needed. 
Since nutrient deficiencies on turfgrasses are 
difficult to visually diagnose, a suspected 
deficiency should be verified with soil or tissue 
tests before trying to correct the problem. A 
most important criterion for a soil test is that it 
should measure the nutrient in the soil that is 
available to the plant. Many times nutrients in 
the soil are held tightly and are unavailable.

2

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

Complete kill of the leaves, crowns, and rhizomes of a Kentucky bluegrass turf resulting from a 
160-pound man shuffling uniformly over the wet, slushy area just prior to a severe freeze to 
below 20°F.

Ten Years of Research on Winter Injury on 

Golf Courses: Causes and Prevention

by DR. JAMES B. BEARD, Michigan State University

VVnter injury of turf is difficult to under­

stand because it results from the interaction of 
a number of environmental, soil, and cultural 
factors. Before a golf course superintendent can 
initiate the appropriate cultural program to 
prevent winter injury, he must determine the 
particular type or types of winter injury that 
occur most frequently at various locations on 
the golf course. This involves a study of the 
particular symptoms, including time of occur­
rence, soil type, topography, drainage charac­
teristics, traffic patterns, and the probability of 
environmental stress. Such information is as­
sembled over a period of years, and a specific 
program is established on the golf course in 
order to minimize the probability of winter 
injury.

CAUSES OF WINTER INJURY

The four major types of turfgrass winter 
injury that most commonly occur are presented 
in Table 1, along with the symptoms and causes 
of injury. This information has been assembled 
over a 10-year period of extensive research at 

Michigan State University. The major types of 
winter injury are:

Desiccation
Direct low temperature kill 
Low temperature diseases 
Traffic effects.

Note that ice sheet damage caused by 
oxygen suffocation or toxic gas accumulations 
underneath an ice cover are not listed. Detailed 
investigations at Michigan State . University 
indicate that this type of winter injury rarely 
occurs. This is in contrast to the many articles 
by individuals indicating that this is a serious 
problem. Unfortunately, these earlier writers 
had essentially no information on which to base 
their comments other than data from research 
with alfalfa. The winter injury most commonly 
associated with extended periods of ice cover­
age occurs during freezing or thawing periods 
when standing water increases the crown tissue 
hydration and subsequent injury of the turf­
grass plants when temperatures drop rapidly 
below 20°F.

NOVEMBER 1972

3

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USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOVEMBER 1972

7

fall period. Practices to prevent or at least 
minimize the potential for turfgrass winter 
injury can be divided into cultural practices, 
soil management, and specific winter 
protectants.

The specific practices utilized in each of 
these categories are summarized in Table 2. It 
should be noted that a number of them apply 
to more than one type of winter injury. In 
some cases, the practice that is effective in 
preventing one type of winter injury will 
actually increase the probability of damage 
from another type. For example, snow covers 
or winter protection covers used to prevent 
winter desiccation will also maintain tempera­
tures near 32°F which will enhance the 
probability of snow mold disease activity. This 
means that when such a practice is in use, steps 
should also be taken to apply a preventive snow 
mold fungicide application to the turfgrass area 
prior to installing the winter protection cover.
From a cultural standpoint, the proper 
control of plant and soil water relations is the 
most critical factor affecting all phases of 
turfgrass winter injury. Techniques to adjust 
the soil-water status must be achieved during 
the summer period.

Finally, it is quite obvious that selection 
and planting of the appropriate turfgrass species 
and cultivar can be critical in minimizing the 
degree of turfgrass injury that may occur. 
Annual bluegrass is very prone to all types of 
winter injury. The bentgrasses are considerably 
less susceptible to injury, and also have a 
greater recuperative potential from existing 
vegetative plant parts.

IN SUMMARY: This article gives a brief 
summary of a great deal of research conducted 
at Michigan State University over the past 10 
years. Portions of it were supported by the 
U.S.G.A. Green Section Research and Education 
Fund.

White mycelium of the Typhula species 
occurring in numerous irregular circular 
patches on an annual bluegrass fairway.

PREVENTING WINTER INJURY

Cultural steps can be taken to minimize the 
potential for injury in the future once the cause 
or causes of winter injury on specific turfgrass 
areas on the golf course have been established. 
The first prerequisite in minimizing all types of 
winter injury is a healthy turf with adequate 
carbohydrate reserves and recuperative po­
tential. This phase of winter injury prevention 
is accomplished during the normal growing 
season, particularly in the late summer—early 

THE AUTHOR

Dr. James B. Beard is a Professor of 
Turfgrass Science in the department of crop 
and soil sciences at Michigan State University, 
East Lansing, Mich. 48823. He has conducted 
pioneering research in all phases of turfgrass 
winter injury. In 1971 he was the youngest 
recipient ever selected to receive the highest 
honor of Fellow in the American Society of 
Agronomy. He has authored a new textbook 
entitled “Turfgrass: Science and Culture” pub­
lished by Prentice-Hall of Englewood Cliffs, 
N.J.

8

There has not been very much aerification in the past; however, the purchase of a new punch 
machine by the Argentine Golf Association will change this trend.

Turf grass Management in the Argentine

by JAMES B. MONCRIEF, Director, Southern Region, USGA Green Section, Athens, Georgia

l\l o fumar, abroche el cinturon, por favor. 

Fasten your seat belts, we are approaching 
Buenos Aires! This was good news, because we 
had been on Aerolineas Argentinas for 12 hours 
and we were eager to have our feet on the 
ground again. We had left Miami about 2 a.m. 
one day last fall and made intermediate stops in 
Lima, Peru, and Santiago, Chile, before flying 
over the tall and rough Andes to Buenos Aires.
The flight was very smooth, but the cabin 
crew was different from what we are accus­
tomed to in the United States. The stewardesses 
were much older than their American counter­
parts and a steward was in charge of the cabin.
The immigration facilities were very effi­
cient and we were given the VIP treatment. No 
doubt this was because I was invited to 
Argentina by the Associacion Argentina de Golf 
to visit member clubs during a 2-week stay and 
to take special note of the site of the World 
Amateur Team Championship at Olivos 
Country Club near Buenos Aires. My wife 

accompanied me and we thoroughly enjoyed 
the two weeks. We learned a great many things 
about a beautiful country we had never seen 
before.

The climate in Buenos Aires is very similar 
to the southern part of our country along the 
34th parallel. The population of Buenos Aires is 
about 4V2 million; the population of the entire 
metropolitan area is about 8V2 million. The 
language is Spanish and much of the early 
Spanish influence can still be seen in the 
interior of the country, such as at Cordoba and 
Rosario. Since we did not speak Spanish, we 
had an interpreter at every golf course visit. In 
this manner, we conversed with the golf course 
representatives and answered their many ques­
tions. We visited 17 golf courses in all with 
many other side trips.

The design of Argentine golf courses is very 
striking, and they are quite similar to our own. 
Most were built 50 to 70 years ago when 
Argentina was a European resort area. Many of

NOVEMBER 1972

9

Design and strategy of play equal to most courses even though many were built 50 to 70 years ago.

the courses were built near railroads, since the 
people would leave town to spend the weekend 
at the Country Club. Many members still have a 
home in town and another in the country.

Just prior to our arrival, revolutionists had 
tried to destroy two of the country clubs in the 
belief that they were a symbol of capitalism. 
They were successful in blowing the top out of 
one clubhouse, and a large hole in another. 
Earlier they had completely demolished another 
club. Many of the clubhouses are built in an 
English style of architecture, while others have 
attractive Spanish design, with adobe walls and 
tile roofs.

We observed bunkers where railroad ties or 
some sort of piling created a very abrupt wall. 
One bunker at Mar del Plata had been built 70 
years ago and still exists, with the wall six to 
eight feet high. Of all the clubs we visited, the 
Jockey Club was the largest with 36 holes. It 
was designed about 65 to 70 years ago. It is 
very similar to the golf courses built here 40 to 
50 years ago.

Monetary inflation exists in Argentina, and 
it seems to be more critical than our own. The 
Argentinians have not been able to use chemi­
cals to maintain their courses on the same level 
as ours, but interest is building and no doubt 
chemicals will be used to control grassy weeds, 

such as crabgrass and dallisgrass. Their golfers 
enjoy the game as much as any we have and 
good turf is important to them.

Olivos Country Club, the site of the World 
Team Championship, is about 20 to 30 miles 
from Buenos Aires. The basic grass on the 
greens is bent, consisting of Coos or Penncross. 
Other clubs have common bermuda on their 
greens, or Tifgreen, or a bermuda selection 
from Brazil. The fairway grass is usually 
common bermudagrass, but Tifgreen is being 
increased rapidly, and no doubt some fairways 
will soon be Tifgreen. We observed Tifdwarf 
being increased in a nursery, and only time will 
tell if it will be satisfactory. Tifway is not in 
Argentina as yet, but I am sure it will be 
eventually.

During our visit to the Olivos Country 
Club, the greens were being aerified by an 
American-made machine which the Argentina 
Golf Association had purchased for its mem­
bers. In our country, this aerifier costs about 
$2,000, but in Argentina its price is close to 
$6,000. Since the Association purchased the 
machine, member clubs will be able to use it for 
thorough putting green aerification, which is 
badly needed. They have not been able to 
aerify or cultivate in the past except with solid 

10

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

punch aerators.

Equipment from the United States is so 
expensive that most of their turf maintenance 
machinery is purchased from Europe. At 
present, no equipment for golf courses is being 
manufactured in Argentina, and there is maxi­
mum use of all equipment since replacement is 
so difficult.

We saw two greens being constructed 
according to USGA Green Section Specifica­
tions, and no doubt others will be in the future. 
In the past, the soil media for the greens was 
usually of very high clay content, but a sandy 
soil mixture will be used in the future where 
water is plentiful.

We saw new mower blades being placed in 
reels by mechanics and then ground and 
sharpened by the maintenance men. This 
indicates know-how and ingenuity is available, 
and, it allows them to cope with equipment 
supply difficulties. How would our clubs fare 
under such restrictions? I’m sure we could do it 
if we had to! I did not See any hydraulic- 
operated fairway units; however, I did see 11 
fairway units being operated at one time, but 
this was limited to a flat, open golf course.

Buenos Aires is on the 34th latitude South 
of the equator and our 34th latitude is just 
North of Atlanta, Georgia. I observed many 
species of grasses very similar or the same as 
seen on golf courses in this area. If you check a 
map, you will find that Argentina extends over 
3,000 miles north and south from almost the 
tropics to the tundra.

Two weeds observed throughout the trip 
were white clover and Poa annua. I did not see 
goosegrass or crowfoot, however Poa annua was 
on practically every course. Other weeds were 
white clover, dallisgrass, carpetweed, and vari­
ous sedge-like plants. One I recall was a pest 
called “hog’s hair”; it belonged to the Juncus. 
It was a very aggressive sort, and in some 

instances greens were renovated to get rid of it. 
However, herbicides should eliminate it in 
bermudagrass greens.

Fertilization of fairways is minimal, with 
some receiving no more than one pound of 
nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year consist­
ing of a complete fertilizer or nitrogen alone. 
The soils near Buenos Aires are naturally fertile, 
and therefore they do not follow fertilization 
practices similar to ours. Some of the best 
fairways were on a municipal course near 
downtown Buenos Aires where play was the 
heaviest of any course we visited.

We saw some bermudagrass greens in the 
Rosario area that had small, round, dead areas 
in undecomposed organic material. On examin­
ing them with a soil prober, layers of organic 
material and dead, black rhizomes and under­
ground parts of bermudagrass were prevalent. 
In the upper South, we would consider this a 
typical Spring Deadspot area. Weeds had grown 
back into these typical areas. A thorough 
aerification would be quite helpful since these 
greens have not been aerified. We observed 
some hand spiking equipment, but it is used 
only in problem areas where the ground 
becomes extremely hard and the grass is 
thinned out or dies.

Interest in golf seems to be increasing in 
Argentina, and no doubt the World Amateur 
Team Championships has been an influence. The 
people we met were very friendly and helpful at 
all times. It was unfortunate that we could not 
speak their language; however, we always found 
someone who could understand some English. 
We felt very uneducated to be confined to only 
one language. Would I go again? Indeed I 
would! I have always wanted to visit South 
America, but never dreamed that golf would 
make it a reality. We met many very interesting 
people and enjoyed the excellent hospitality of 
the Argentine.

Bunkers with walls 
made from piling or 
other material are 
not new as this 6 to 
8 foot wall was built 
about 70 years ago.

NOVEMBER 1972

A Golf Superintendent

should be A Golf Superintendent

should be A Golf Superintendent

should be A Golf Superintendent

by PAUL N. VOYKIN, Golf Super)

ntendent, Briarwood C.C., Illinois

rx trend in our golf course profession is 
perturbing me; this month I would like to 
expound on it. I may be mistaken, but I think I 
see our golf course superintendent’s profession 
turning from its true direction. I am speaking of 
the recent trend of green superintendents 
slowly encroaching on the field of managership 
and away from our true profession of green­
keeping. This situation, I believe, has developed 
from the managers becoming general managers 
and taking charge of the whole clubhouse-and- 
grounds operation. As a result of their yet 
unproven venture, we have become panicky and 
think that by acquiring new titles and certifi­
cates, by attending bookkeeping and finance 
seminars, and urgently seeking further club­
house property responsibilities, the situation 
will change.

I don’t think so. A Golf Course Superin­
tendent is a Golf Course Superintendent, and a 
Manager is a Manager, and the only way this 
fact will change is if you wish to change your 
profession completely. If that’s what you want, 
go ahead, but do it full turn, please. Do not 
play games—you're only fooling yourself.

In my case there is no conflict. I know 
what I want to be—a good greenkeeper and 
nothing else. I’ll be happy with that title, 
because, you see, I know something else—call it 
a basic managerial premise, if you wish. That is, 
unless the golf course superintendent is in 
complete charge of all and total bookkeeping, 
and unless all money passes through his office, 
he can never be top dog or in full control at the 
club: at least not in the eyes of the board 
members. This fact is as sure and true as the 
fact that the golf professional will always be the 
glamour man at the country club no matter 
how many double knits you own or how well 
you groom the grass.

Clouding up our true identity by seeking 
out extra jobs and taking more responsibility 
for a little more money, has nothing to do with 
our real profession and skill of growing and 
manicuring grass. This is futile hypocrisy.

General managership is not our business. The 
managers who have taken over completely and 
are now total general managers have sold down 
the river their true responsibility to the club. 
They have taken on too many responsibilities 
and have gone into fields that they know 
nothing about. Let’s not play their ambitious 
game. As in the past top clubs will learn that 
it’s not going to work, and there really is no 
money saved.

Let me be absolutely blunt. Become a 
manager or stay a golf course superintendent, 
but whatever, be true to yourself—you can’t be 
superb at both jobs. Declare your hand. Don’t 
get into a mixed-up ball game unless you want 
to change jobs every few years as some general 
managers are doing. The wise ones (and we have 
a few outstanding ones in the Chicago area) 
work with us, cooperate with us, communicate 
and coordinate with us, and they are smart 
enough to keep out of our areas of responsi­
bility-something they know nothing about. 
That’s the way it should be.

I would like to say something else. I am 
not, nor is anybody else, impressed by green­
keepers calling themselves property managers, 
golf engineers, turf managers and other non­
sensical names. Golf or green superintendents— 
yes, greenkeepers—lovely, “grass growers” or 
“grass farmers” is fine with me. I know what I 
am and I make good money at it. I don't need 
to seek extra “janitorial” jobs around the 
clubhouse to tarnish my true professional 
image. My direct responsibility is the golf 
course and that load is heavy enough for me. 
And please don’t give me that old business 
about shrinking my duty as a breadwinner, or 
not being able to take on extra responsibility, 
or not trying to uplift our profession. I take on 
more responsibility and I am more involved 
with exciting things than I know what to do 
with—for my family and for the image of my 
profession. And I know many of you are the 
same. Long ago I could have become manager, 
but that’s not my forte. I am a GREEN-

12

USGA GREEN SECTION RECORD

KEEPER, and in this field of endeavor I strive 
for perfection.

There is something else I must tell you that 
is in me (and unless you have a touch of the 
same, you might as well become a manager or 
go into something else). I would miss the soft 
warm rains that fall on the turf that I grow. I 
would miss the white snow that covers the golf 
course in late fall for the first time, melts, and 
then softly comes again. I would truly miss all 
the challenges of nature that go with my 
profession. The hot sun of summer heat and the 
salty sweat of humidity on my brow. I would 
miss the pleasure of admiring turf manicured 
and maintained under both good and adverse 
conditions and knowing that I had a hand in 
keeping the verdant picture that way. But of 
course there would be other things, also, 
soothing the frustrations of working with 
nature. I would miss her many gifts to us 

greenkeepers, the trees changing in the seasons 
and the flowering shrubs in spring. I would miss 
the daisies and other wild flowers hiding from 
our mowers next to the majestic elms, and I 
would miss the pheasants calling to their mates 
in early morning. I know I would miss the 
honest faces of commercial friends calling on 
me and old greenkeepers advising me. But most 
of all I would miss getting up each early 
morning and playing the endless chess game of 
man against nature, or perhaps more truthfully, 
trying to work with her and relishing the 
achievement and, oh, the satisfaction and the 
pleasure that comes once in a while each season 
when just for a short time I have won the 
battle.

Reprinted with the author’s permission from the 
September, 1972, issue of The Bull Sheet (Official 
Bulletin, Midwest Association of Golf Course Superin­
tendents). Voykin is President of that Association.

A TURF TIP FROM DAVE

Dave Miller, Superintendent at Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem, Pa., has 
devised this ingenious idea for directing golf cars to rough areas on inclement days. The 
sign is made of plastic, it’s attractive, it’s easily attached and removed with one turn of 
the alien wrench. On days when not attached to the golf car, members know they can use 
the fairways. This is far more effective than a rule or regulation sign permanently 
attached to the golf car—no one pays any attention to it after the first reading.

NOVEMBER 1972

13

GREEN SECTION RECORD 
NOVEMBER 1972

TURF TWISTERS

TIME TO SHOOT

Question: When is the best time to aerate greens without encouraging Poa annua 
invasion? (Ohio)

Answer: Green aerification should take place only when your bentgrass is 
actively growing and will compete against any Poa annua invasion. Late spring 
and summer is preferred to early spring or fall.

THE FOWL COOT

Statement: Your readers may be interested in knowing of our success in ridding our golf 
course of coots. Over the years, we have tried everything imaginable—including a “coot 
drive cage” at the end of a fairway—it didn’t work. Recently, a falconer hobbiest brought 
his trained hawk and one falcon. It wasn’t long after his predators were released that the 
coots got the message. The entire flock left the area and we’ve seen only a few stragglers 
since. (California)

Comment: It’s a fowl story, but some hobbies pay!

WITH THE STORED LOOT

Question: What is the average shelf life of the various types of chemical pesticides? Are 
there any tests I can perform to check their condition? (Rhode Island)

Answer: With proper storage, pesticides can generally last one to two years. 
They should be stored dry and warm, not frozen. Here are some tests you can 
perform to determine if the chemicals have deteriorated.

A) Emulsifiable Concentrates — When milky coloration does not occur by 
adding water, when sludge is present, and when any of the components 
separate, the product has deteriorated.

B) Oil Sprays — When milky coloration does not occur by adding water.
C) Wettable Powders — When excessive lumping occurs and the product 

will not suspend in water.

D) Dusts — Excessive lumping.
E) Granulars — Excessive lumping.
F) Aerosols — These are generally effective until the dispenser no longer 

sprays.