USGA Note: If the video does not display properly after it is launched, close the page, return to the mailing, and copy and paste the link URL to your browser. The most important issue facing the golf industry worldwide is water, or lack of it. Population increases and drought have resulted in golf courses successfully converting from potable to recycled water for irrigation. The golf industry has already overcome, through excellent educational outreach, the negative stereotype of irrigation with recycled water, and consequently, golf courses increasingly turn to the use of recycled water. The primary question has become not whether to switch to recycled water irrigation, or even how to manage irrigation with this new source, but how soon an individual course can access a recycled water source. Read The Written Article View The Presentation Visit The USGA Water Summit Page ALL THINGS CONSIDERED – A USGA STAFF OPINION IF YOU CAN’T FIX IT, FEATURE IT Advertisement campaigns for products that are guilty pleasures or embarrassing to talk about are often more successful when the slogan emphasizes, not hides, the most glaring feature. Good campaigns that market products such as sugary cereals or bathroom tissue emphasize their glaring features in a way that embraces the best qualities of the Slow play is one glaring issue facing the golf industry. Rather than hiding from this challenge, golf facilities are better served product through the eyes of the to advertise the reasons why golfers enjoy consumer. their experience and get a break from their busy schedules. The golf industry is faced with features of its own, including the difficulty to play golf courses and slow play. How can the golf industry “feature” such issues rather than hide them? As an agronomist, my marketing background is essentially nil, but with the help of a family member who is a marketing consultant (and core golfer) we came up with a few ideas to feature golf’s most glaring issues. Read More A FICTIONAL STORY BASED ON MY MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE MAINTAINING PUBLIC GOLF FACILITIES SOMETIMES SUPERINTENDENTS CAN’T SEE THE GOLF COURSE FOR THE GRASS It took me many years in the golf industry MID-ATLANTIC On recent Turf Advisory Service visits, the height, thickness and ultimately the difficulty of cool- season rough has been the most prominent topic of conversation. It is easy to understand the golfer’s frustration with the rough. It may be more difficult to understand that superintendents are frustrated as well. However, there are options for addressing this problem. Read More SOUTHEAST Dr. Brian Schwartz of the University of Georgia has spent the last five years refining the direction of the bermudagrass breeding program. A question and answer session with Patrick O’Brien of the Green Section outlines Dr. Schwartz’s goals for the program and the industry. Read More NORTH-CENTRAL Frost and cool temperatures are still limiting turf growth at courses throughout the states of the North-Central Region. As a result, dandelions and knotweed find little competition in slow growing fairways and roughs, especially in areas that were already thin due to winterkill. Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to help both problems. Read More NORTHEAST Bumpy greens, seedheads, and a slow spring are challenging golfers and superintendents. Add to this the first sightings of annual bluegrass weevils and you have a combination that can test the best turfgrass managers. to realize my job as a superintendent was What can be done? not simply about growing grass; rather, it is about providing great playing surfaces. The grass and other plants we grow are simply tools to help provide the conditions golfers expect and need in order to play and enjoy the game. A round of golf on a beautiful course with poor playing conditions is like spending a beautiful Dennis Lyon is a retired superintendent with 37 years of experience in public golf facility management. He is a past president of the GCSAA, the 2011 recipient afternoon with a gorgeous person who of the USGA Green Section Award and an has bad habits, bad manners and a bad active member of the USGA Green Section attitude. Substance matters, doesn’t it? Committee. Read More Read More FLORIDA While winter overseeding of bermudagrass greens, tees, and fairways has declined in recent years, the practice is still employed at many courses. The prolonged spring has delayed the process of transitioning from the overseeded grasses (typically ryegrass and Poa trivialis) back to the permanent base of bermudagrass. This could have season-long ramifications. Read More SOUTHWEST Visits to golf courses in recent weeks have revealed some interesting problems with golf course trees, particularly with prominent California specimens such as coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) and coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). Whether it’s the limited rainfall or the temperature fluctuations this spring – nobody knows, but these species are having a tough time in some locations. What steps, if any, should be taken? Read More NORTHWEST Encouraging deeper rooting early in the spring is a good way to help turfgrass plants survive when temperatures get hot, as they surely will in the upcoming months. While golf course superintendents have many options to promote rooting, one of the best needs to be employed more often. Read More MID-CONTINENT USGA agronomists conduct a simulated Turf Advisory Service (TAS) visit to the golf course and its maintenance facility for CMAA members. Read More USGA Green Section Home Page USGA Staff Contact Information Turf Advisory Service Information USGA Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online (TERO) USGA Privacy Policy Policies for the Reuse of USGA Green Section Publications ©2013 by United States Golf Association® Be sure to add usgagreensectionrecord@usga.chtah.com to your address book so we'll be sure to land in your inbox! To unsubscribe from these mailings click here Policies for the Reuse of USGA Green Section Publications USGA Green Section publications are made available through the courtesy of the United States Golf Association (USGA®). The reuse of these materials is authorized only if the following conditions are met in their entirely. 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