USGA GREEN SECTION Weekly Update What The 'Hail' Was That? By Bud White, director, Mid-Continent Region June 11, 2010 Oklahoma received its share of terrible weather this winter, starting with the devastating bermudagrass winter kill due to extended freezing temperatures. This spring the area was hit by tornadoes, but, through it all, superintendents were able to quickly get their golf courses back in reasonably good playing condition. Now, to add insult to injury, just as the recovery was underway, a hail storm ravaged much of the Oklahoma City area on May 16, 2010. (Photos by Craig Elms, superintendent of the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club). Mid- Continent Region Read the rest of this update Your Piece of the Revenue Pie By Robert Vavrek, senior agronomist, North-Central Region Data from reliable sources, such as Golf Datatech and the National Golf Foundation, clearly indicate that fewer and fewer rounds of golf are being played in the United States. Only twice since 2000 have golf rounds increased from the previous year, and these marginal increases were overshadowed by much more significant decreases in play the other seven years. The sluggish economy takes the lion's share of the blame for golf's decline, and poor weather has a significant effect on rounds played in specific regions of the country. Whatever the reasons, fewer rounds of golf are being played, and that tpically means less revenue generated for golf facilities, unless the price per round of golf greatly increases or a significant number of golf courses close. Read this rest of this article Mower Setup and Surface Management Strategies for Ultradwarf Bermudagrass Video recording of a webcast that took place on June 4th, 2010 by Brian Whitlark, agronomist, USGA Green Section Southwest Region and Mr. Rodney Lingle, CGCS, Memphis Country Club Brian Whitlark from the Southwest Region of the USGA and Rodney Lingle, Golf Course Superintendent at the Memphis Country Club discuss the topic: Mower setup and Surface Management Strategies for Ultradwarf Bermudagrasses. Ultradwarf bermudagrasses are known for their aggressive thatch production, tendency to produce grain and dense turf canopy. Proper mowing setup, such as bedknife orientation and thickness, roller setup, and differences in height of cut among different mowers are discussed. Pros and cons of surface management tactics such as brushing, grooming, verticutting and more aggressive strategies such as verticutting with sand injection are covered as well. You can view the recording of this webcast by clicking on the link below. No special software is required to view the recording. View the video of this presentation Green Speed Issues And Annual Bluegrass Weevils By Adam Moeller, agronomist, Northeast Region An early taste of summer brought about humid conditions that caused many golfers to complain about slower green speeds. Higher humidity and slower putting speeds go Northeast Region hand-in-hand in the summer, and are usually most noticeable after a few weeks of dry conditions. Another common issue is putting green consistency, or lack thereof. Consistent playability on putting greens from one day to the next is impossible due to fluctuations in weather patterns. Poorly-draining, native soil greens with a mixed stand of Poa annua and creeping bentgrass will have inconsistent green speeds and firmness from time to time. Even well-built, sand-based greens with a pure stand of creeping bentgrass will vary in playability at times. Annual Bluegrass Weevil Read the rest of this update Weekly Update Archive Looking for a previous issue of the Weekly Update? Did you just join our mailing list and would like to see the Weekly Update issues you missed? Or maybe you heard about an article or video in a previous update. All of the issues are stored in one convenient location - the Green Section Weekly Update Archive. Visit the archive The USGA Green Section Portal A Valuable Resource For All, And It's Free Looking for something? Be sure to take a minute to visit the Green Section's portal at http://gsportal.usga.org. There you will find information regarding upcoming live webcasts and links to recordings of more than 30 previously delivered webcasts, as well as announcements regarding upcoming USGA Green Section activities, education conferences, and meetings. Visit the USGA Green Section Portal Important Links USGA Privacy Policy USGA Green Section Home Page USGA Staff Contact Information Turf Advisory Service Information USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online (TERO) USGA Green Section P.O. Box 0708 Far Hills, NJ 07931-0708 908.234.2300