jM (bourse Superintendents ^^Adociation OF President— JOSEPH BUTLER United Shoe Country Club 3 Ridgewood Terrace Beverly, Mass. Phone WA 2-1263 First Vice-President— LEON V. ST. PIERRE Longmeadow Country Club 51 Fenwood Road Longmeadow 6, Mass. Phone LO 7-5562 Second Vice-President— ANTHONY D. CARANCI, JR. Ledgemont Country Club 22 Hillview Drive North Providence 4, R.I. Phone PA 3-1688 Secretary— JOHN CALLAHAN Spring Vailey Country Club 146 Edgehili Road Sharon, Mass. Phone SU 4-6370 Treasurer— ARTHUR L. CODY Wollaston Golf Club Phone Supt. Office at club GRanite 2-3535 Home GRanite 2-7913 19 Ardell Street North Quincy, Mass. Trustee— ALBERT L. ALLEN Kernwood Country Club Phone PI 4-7783 Kernwood Country Club Salem, Mass. Trustee— HOWARD FARRANT Pinebrook Country Club Phone OL 3-5296 Wheeler Lane Natick, Mass. Trustee— JOHN KEALTY The Country Club 209 W. Plain Street Cochituate, Mass. Phone OL 3-1408 Finance Committee Chairman— PHILIP i. CASSIDY Weston Golf Club Phone HI 4-4127 45 Grosvenor Road Needham 92, Mass. Educational Committee Chairman— ROBERT GRANT Supernault National Country Club Phone EM 5-5538 Deershorn Road Lancaster, Mass. Golf Committee Chairman— EDWARD J. MURPHY Lexington Country Club 194 Oxbow Road Wayland, Mass. Newsletter Committee Chairman— RICHARD C. BLAKE Mt. Pleasant Country Club Phone 869-2737 211 Sewall Street Boylston, Mass. Past President— N. J. SPERANDIO Concord Country Club Concord, Mass. Phone EM 9-4723 NEW ENGLAND NEWSLETTER. December 1963 The December and annual meeting was Waltham Field Station. The 1964 ,slate of officers is as follows: President First Vice President Second Vice President Secretary Treasurer Trustee for Three Years Trustee for Two Years Trustee for One Year Finance Committee Chairman Educational Committee Chairman Golf Committee Chairman News Letter Committee Chairman Auditors held Dec. 2, 1963 at the Joseph Butler Leon V. St. Pierre Anthony D. Caranci, Jr. John Callahan Arthur Cody William Ash Albert Allen Howard Farrant George Rommell Thomas Curran Edward Murphy Richard Blake Albert Allen N. J. Sperandio Tony Caranci, Jr. was named to the policy committee replacing Bob Grant. Next Meeting Jan. 6, 1964 - Waltham Field Station Directors Meeting 10:00 A.M. Lunch 12:30 Business Meeting 11:00 A.M. Educational Program 1:30 Guest Speaker - Don Waddington, University of Mass. "Root Growth as Effected by Oxygen Diffusion." $ $ $ * * * A Directors meeting was held Dec. 9, 1963 at which time recommendations for Article and Bylaw changes were discussedJohn Latvis was •appointed a life member. All members are requested to read the Constitution and By-laws before attending the next meeting and it would be appreciated if all recommendations for changes or corrections be presented in writing. Only Members of the N.E.G.C-S.A. are allowed at business meetings and only Regular and Life members are entitled to vote. (Article 4 Sect. 3 & 7) Blood Donation for Howard Farrant at any Red Cross Blood Bank would greatly be appreciated. Our sympathy is extended to the family of James Fallon, Power Lawn Mower Co., Pawtucket, R. I., who died Dec. 2, 1963. Also to Les Allan and family on the recent death of their son serving in the Armed Forces. MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL The editor ^laJte Again quoting from the U. S. G. A. Green Section Record - toy Jiames B. Beard, Michigan State University: "Winter kill is a term encompassing a large number of types and causes of injury. It is used loosely to include any type of injury that occurs during the fall, winter, or spring period, including dessication, ice coverings, heaving, flooding, disease, and direct low temperature injury." Just preventing snow mold with fungicide treatments, does not get us out of the woods. As the snow and ice receded this past spring - many of us were disheartened to see what had occured' or was occurring. Some correlation of injury to soil conditions - such as compaction, soil moisture, rapid drying out of surface by winds, or a combination of them has been made. Suggestions for consideration would be as follows; 1. Thoroughly aerify and fertilize early in the fall to lessen compaction and to encourage deeper root growth. 2. Allow turf to "harder off" before snow falls. 3. Lift sod and eliminate pockets where greens may have settled iso tJi'a,t water will not puddle and form. ice. 4. On greens where surface grades are marginal, lift a strip of sod and trench 4 to 6 inches deep off to outside of collar to expedite water runoff. Professor Dickinson adlvocated this practice years ago. Where greens have a gravel or crushed stone base under the top-soil, a series of vertical drains can be made in low areas using a standard oup cutter and filling holes with pea gravel. 5. Raise height of cut in late fall. 6. On exposed, windswept greens, use tree boughs o,r snow fence to help hold snow cover and reduce wind burn. An application of top-dressing late in the fall may also offer some protection and help to attract heat in the spring. Organic fertilizers can also be used for this effect. 7. Apply fungicides for snow mold prevention either as a spray or mixed dry with siand or fertilizer as a carrier. First application should be timed to precede first snow and subsequent treatment will depend on whether a mid-winter thaw occurs to enable application. 8. Make inspection tour of course at intervals during winter to see what conditions are. 9. If weather conditions are such, ice may form regardless of our precautions. Be prepared with manpower and equipment to remove snow early in the spring if under laid with ice. It may be necessary to hire a small bulldozer if snow is deep. 10. Make plans to be able to provide water to greens in early spring either through use of the irrigation system, power sprayer or tank truck if necessary. A windy, dry spring such as this past spring can be very damaging to turf that has just emerged from a protective snow cover. 11. Above all have a Sod Nursery. GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE MEMO UNIVERSITY OF R. I. Turf oil green® subjected to pilay during the northern winter will moist likely be injured. Grasses are living organisms that have rather specific characteristics. For turfgrass purposes, we make uise of certain of their inherent strengths and try to compensate for their weaknesses by regulating the management program. Grasses subjected to putting-green conditions, with the required close mowing and normally "heavy traffic, are very definitely placed under strain. Even under favorable soil and climate conditions, the roots of these grasses are restricted in depth and extent. On normal soils it i s possible, through good management, to live with this restricted root system. On frozen soils or on those that are wet and sticky because of daily freezing and thawing, it is not possible to regulate or adjust the soil envir onment. Management can do very little to affect the grass under these conditions. One of the few things that can be done to reduce turf injury is to eliminate play while these frost conditions exist. Putting greens subjected to winter play will be slow recovering in the spring and will probably be thinned!. This mil open up an avenue for the increase of annual bluegtfass. Soil structure may also be damaged with a resulting compaction problem. Greens are not usually level, uniform of surface or generally in good conditions for play at any rate once the soil starts to freeze. They will! not reflect a golfer's ability or potential. It would seem questionable to cause peimanont injury to greens by keeping them open for play when they are not truly testing the golfer. The use of temporary greens may provide an adequate target and surface for those golfers who enjoy winter play. C. R. Skogley, Associate Professor of Agronomy Cooperative Extension Work in Agricultural and Home Economics, University of Rhode Island and U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. Issued in Furtherance of Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914. J. L. Rego, Associate Director. "PREPARING FOR WINTER" by Paul J. O'Leary Supt. Ekwanak C.C. Vt. Gentlemen, time wag when after coping with a busy season of play, summer diseases, drought, and insect pests - we, Superintendents in the northern states looked forward to a less hectic pace with the advent of winter approaching. However, as stated in the September issue of the U. S. G. A. Green Section Record, by our respected friend A1 Radko, turf managers now fear winter-spring problem® as much or more than summer problems. The damaging winters of 1959, 1962, and 1963 are still fresh in our minds and we cannot help but wonder what 1964 will bring. Certainly, we hope it will be kinder than 1963, when many times it seemed that there were better way® to earn a living.