UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION GREEN SECTION M i d - C o n t i n e nt T u r f l e t t er No. 4 August - 1960 DR. MARVIN H. FERGUSON M I D - C O N T I N E NT D I R E C T OR N A T I O N AL R E S E A R CH C O O R D I N A T OR JAMES L. HOLMES M I D - W E S T E RN A G R O N O M I ST W. WAYNE ALLEN S O U T H W E S T E RN A G R O N O M I ST MID-WESTERN DISTRICT R O OM 2 4 1, L A S A L LE H O T EL C H I C A GO 2, I L L I N O IS T E L E P H O N E: S T A TE 2 - 7 4 88 SOUTHWESTERN DISTRICT T E X AS A & M C O L L E GE C O L L E GE S T A T I O N, T E X AS T E L E P H O N E: V I C T OR 6 - 5 2 10 THE VALUE OF A NURSERY From time to time clubs have been urged to provide a nursery of putting green turf for emergency use. It frequently becomes necessary to patch greens for one reason or another. In recent months the value of a nursery has been forcefully impressed upon the Green Section agronomists in two different situations. The first was at the Paradise Valley Country Club in Phoenix. In early morning of the day when a ladies tournament was scheduled, Superintendent Art Snyder found that vandals had damaged one of his greens by cutting obscene words into the turf in the back part of the green. Patching the damage would not do because the words remained. Art's only solution was to strip off the sod and replace it with sod from the nursery. Art's supply of sod and his prompt action in repairing the damage relieved an unpleasant situation. The other incident occurred at The Oaks Country Club in Tulsa. A v/indstorm uprooted5 broke, and twisted some 50 odd of the nice trees on the golf course. Falling trees and flying branches gouged holes in a great many of the putting greens. Superintendent Les Snyder (no relation to Art) cleaned up the damaged trees and then repaired the damaged greens by using sod from his nursery. Thus the course was ready for play much sooner than would otherwise be possible. It is an interesting fact that nobody cares to know why a job cannot be done5 they simply want it done. These two superintendents had the foresight to provide themselves with insurance against possible damage. Thus they had no need to explain to the membership that factors beyond their control caused the greens to be in poor condition. S PECIFICATICNS FCR CONSTRUCTION OF GREENS Specifications for a method of constructing a golf green will appear in the September issue of the USGA Journal. soil-air-water relationships and water movement in soils are the foundation of the specifications. Basic research in soil physics, RECORDS It is a strongly held feeling among members of the Green Section staff that keeping adequate records is one of the prime responsibilities of a golf course superintendent. How else can one analyze his work, plan for maximum efficiency, and predict his labor and monetary needs for the future? Yet there are a surprising number of superintendents who are satisfied to keep very fragmentary records of activities. Recently, a sort of unofficial "poll" has been made to determine the feelings of superintendents about records« It was found that superintendents who did not engage in a thorough and systematic job of record keeping think that records require too much time« Those who do keep adequate records feel that the time they spend on records is repaid many times over and that it does not require much time. As a matter of fact the highest estimates made by the superintendents questioned were that records required thirty minutes a day. Some said that 10 or 15 minutes daily and a couple of extra hours at the end of the month was a sufficient amount of time. Surely, good records are worth this amount of effort on the part of the superintendent. Ball Washer Mounts Ted Rupel, superintendent of Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, has devised an unusual holder for ball washers. Ted constructed a frame of angle iron which is movable. Thus the ball washer may be always placed convenient to the tee markers. The frame is made to serve additional purposes. A foot scraper is mounted on the base and a waste container of expanded metal is enclosed by the four legs of the frame. Ball washers may be easily removed for cleaning5 the frame may be moved when mowing is done and the frequent changes in location prevent the wearing out of turf around the washer. Eight Miles of Strip-Sodding at Westwood The fairways at Westwood Country Club in St. Louis are covered with an excellent stand of U-3 bermuda. Cn fairway No. 8, however, there is difficulty in watering, and consequently sprigs have not been successful in providing a start for complete coverage. Ralph Sehrt, superintendent at Westwood, has just finished strip sodding this fairway« He placed 2-inch strips of sod on 16-inch centers. Ralph estimates that eight miles of sod were required to do the job. If you are surprised at the amount of sod needed, you are not alone. So were the members at Westwood! Superintendent1s Ingenuity Saves Large Tree Jim Haines, superintendent at the Denver Country Club,, used his ingenuity to save a large tree close to the clubhouse and swimming pool for the Denver Country Clubo A great deal of filling and paving was done around the tree when the swimming pool was constructed. Then after a severe and early freeze the tree had to be pruned considerably. This spring and summer it appeared that the tree would not survive because of the heat and loss of so many of its branches and foliage. Jim placed a spray nozzle on the end of a pipe and fastened it in the tree so that it extended a little above the tree top. A hose was run up the tree to the pipe and at intervals throughout the heat of the day the tree was sprayed and after each spraying it seemed to perk up. The feeling at that country club is that Jim saved the tree. FIELD DAYS AND TURF CONFERENCES September 1 5 - 1 6 .• Midwest Turf Field Days Purdue University Lafayette, Indiana September 20-21«.........Ohio Lawn Clinic Chio Agricultural Experiment Station Wooster, Ohio September 27.............St. Louis Field Day Westwood Country Club Clayton, Missouri October 3-4..............New Mexico Turfgrass Conference New Mexico State University University Park, N. M. October 6-7 ... ....Colorado Turf Conference Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado October 19-20-21........oCentral Plains Turfgrass Conference Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas Mid-Continent Turf letter USGA GREEN SECTION BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE P A ID College Station, Texas Permit No. 80 DrfJ* Watson, Jr. Chief Agronomist Toro Mfg# Corporation Minneapolis 6, Minn.