OCTOBER 1967

(bourse
ourse

Superintendent&
)upi
OF

NEW

s^AAocicition

E N G L A N D

Sponsors and administrators of the Lawrence S.
Dickenson Scholarship Fund — Awarded yearly
to deserving Turf Management Students.

Secretary
~ H J E O N V. ST. P I E R R E
51 reowood Road
Longmeadow, Mass. 01106
Phone 567-5562
Club Affiliation
Longmeadow Country C l u b
First Vice-President

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A N T H O N Y C A R A N C I JR.
22 Hillview Drive
N o . Providence, R. I. 02900
Phone 723-1688
Club Affiliation
Ledgemont Country C l u b

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Educational Committee Chairman -

THOMAS CURRAN
37 Parker Street
Fitchburg, Mass. 01420
Phone 342-9198
Club Affiliation
O a k Hill Country C l u b

LUCIEN DUVAL
9 Rose Lane
Framingham Center, Mass. 01701
Phone 872-0006
Club Affiliation
Chestnut Hill Country C l u b

ROBERT G R A N T
22 Patricia R o a d
Sudbury, Mass. 0 1 7 7 6
Phone 443-2671
Club Affiliation
Brae Burn Country C l u b

NORMAN MUCCIARONE
101 A l b a n R o a d
W a b a n , Mass. 02168
Phone 332-3056
Club f Affiliation
W o o d l a n d Country C l u b

G o l f Committee Chairman

Finance Committee Chairman ' —

Second Vice-President •—
R I C H A R D C. BLAKE
211 Sewall Street
Boylston, M a s s . 0 1 5 0 5
Phone 869-2737
Club Affiliation
M t . Pleasant C o u n t r y C l u b

WILLIAM A S H
9 Pafton Street
No. Dartmouth, M a s s . 02747
Phone 993-8767

N.J. SPERANDIO
Concord, Mass. 01742
Phone 369-4723
Club Affiliation
C o n c o r d Country C l u b

PHILIP C A S S I D Y
4 5 Grosvenor R o a d
Needham, M a s s . 02192
Phone 444-4127
Club Affiliation
Weston Golf Club
Past President

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J O S E P H BUTLER
3 Ridgewood Terrace
Beverly, Mass. 01915
Phone 922-1263
Club Affiliation
United Shoe C o u n t r y C l u b

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E D W A R D J. M U R P H Y
194 O x b o w Road
W a y l a n d , Mass. 01778
Phone 358-7410
Club Affiliation
Lexington Country C l u b
Newsletter Committee Chairman —
DEAN ROBERTSON
2 4 Riverview Drive
Newbury, Mass. 01950
Phone 462-4540
Club Affiliation
O u l d Newbury G o l f C l u b

Q J f

(Gourde

Superin

ten clen ts ^Imocia

SEPTEMBER MEETING
Congratulations to Mel Wendell for having his course
in championship condition. Everyone will agree that we
had a fine Pot Roast dinner before playing golf. There
were 71 who sat down to eat.
Phil Cassidy made a motion to vote Homer C. Darling
an Honorary Member. The motion was seconded and

%voted

unanimously by all the members at the meeting.

Welcome to new Associate members: James McDonald and AndTofTy KruckasT" ~
New Business:
Our association is thinking of hiring a Public Relations Director. The Finance committee will report at the
November meeting on their projections for 1968. This
will be an important meeting so please try to attend.

RETURN CARDS
The cards have been in the mail for a month now and
I am getting a slow response. Please return them with
your President and Greens Chairman's address so that
they can start receiving our monthly

Newsletter.

NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be the annual Pro-Superintendent golf tournament at Brae Burn Country Club, Newton, Mass. This event will be on Friday, October 13,
1967.-Ttemember-, either the-Pro—of—the Supegmtendentmust be a member of the P.G.A. or G.C.S.A. of N.E.
Host Supt.: Bob Grant. Host Pro: George Lane.

In support of President St. Pierre's article on "The
Numbers Game" in the last issue of the Newsletter, I
received the following letter from the dean of Golf
Course Suppliers in New England.
I heartily agree with Leon's article "The Numbers
Game" as we have seen some sorry results from use of
materials sold under the "high pressure" sales tactics.
One of my talks before the late Prof. Dickinson's graduating class was headed "Put your confidence in your
regular dealer's salesman." I tried to stress the point

tlon

that many firms, such as ours which has been some 40
years in the golf course supply business at its main enterprise, could not afford to use "pressure" sales tactics
as we live with our customers year round and their
success is ours just as their failures can be our problems too ;— that we fight shy of these many "miracle"
products offered us for sale — that we are quite close
to the industry, countrywide, by reason of our many
contacts with manufacturers, experimental stations and
other dealers, hence we often learn of these new gimmicks quite early — that we urge all manufacturers,
e^ecially^ those in the chemical and fertilizer business,
to have tests run at our State experiment stations .ind
they can stand or fall on what these dedicated men find.
Your reliable dealer is just as interested as you are
in finding materials that will ease your problems, solve
some puzzling situations, as this is part of the reasons
he can justify his existence. His bread and butter is
earned by the profits on his sales and he therefore cannot afford to jeopardize his good relations with some
"quick buck" sale.
It is discouraging to us old timer, full line dealers, to
see some Johnny-come-lately salesman invade the area
and scoop up a lot of "quick buck" money, then move
to areas where he and his operations are not known.
These men not only dissipate the club budgets with unreliable products but they cast a reflection on the reliable
dealers.
There is only one way to drive these men and their
products outside and that is to not buy from them -—
not even some reliable products which they usually carry
as a "blind" or use as a door opener. The younger and__
less experienced superintendents look to you older men
for leadership and thru exercising your judgment you
can lead these men away from these pitfalls.
I recently cleaned out my office, sending to the dump
nearly 50 samples of special mixed fertilizers, chemicals
for insect and fungus control, as well as gadgets and
gimmicks, for the reason that none of these met with the
critical examination of the product, its uses, abilities and
the methods of distribution, that we feel we could reliably endorse.
Leon has been very frank and factual in his messages
which should have helped many men who were a bit undecided. This is the kind of leadership we all need and
should support.
0 . 0 . Clapper

OF

NEW

E N G L A N D

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

CULTURAL PRACTICES OR CHEMICALS?

Perpetuating Poa Annua Is a Fraud

Should chemicals be put ahead of good cultural practices? No, too many superintendents use chemicals improperly and this is directed with the hopes that it may
help them in some way. Chemicals are marvelous in
that they can control diseases effectively and prevent
extensive damage to valuable turf. Good cultural practices will prevent many of these diseases from ever
starting and create a great need for less chemicals. I feel
that an over use of chemicals weakens the turf extremely
and thus shortens the life of what should be healthy turf.
By weakening the turf grasses, poa annua will have a
chance to take over and then, in most cases, you might
as well have the disease.

September 7, 1967
The superintendent has no aides standing around with
atomizers so that he can come up smelling like a rose.
When he and the Green Committee and the U.S.G.A.
Green Section Agronomist agree on plans and recommendations for the future benefit of the golf course,
you may rest assured that it is a well-calculated and coordinated plan.
The year of 1966 can be classified as the year of the
Poa Annua explosion. It was also the year that several
older golf courses came to grips with the realities of
Poa Annua — a year when a definite Poa Annua restriction program had to be motivated.
Living with Poa Annua was just faking it.
After it has been ascertained by you and the Green
Committee that war has been declared on Poa, the proper
steps should be taken.
As you know there are four different kinds of warfare. They are, psychological, mechanical, chemical and
bacterial.
A. The Psychological
Warfare is preparing the memberships' mind on the conditions that will exist on
the treated areas, once you commence firing. Prepare them well in advance of the wholesale loss of
Poa. Warn them of the possibility of having bare
ground. Even with your best efforts in alerting your
membership on your program, some will want to
know what has happened. They will ask you if you
have applied too much fertilizer; over watered; have
been hit by a fungus; chinch bugs or have gone on
vacation.
B. Mechanical
Warjare is the aerification and verticutting the preparation of the seed bed and the over
seeding.
C. The Chemical Warfare is application of the Poa retriction chemicals, such as the Arsenicals, Betesan
and Presan.
D. Bacterial Warfare is the changing of soil ecology —
making your soils more favorable for the growth of
bent grasses. This in my opinion is the key to the
success or failure of the whole operation.
The most important ingredient of them all for the
superintendent
is to take his "cue from the lead song in
the popular Broadway musical, "Damn Yankee," . . .
You Gotta Have
Heart!
Leon V. St. Pierre
President

There are five factors which favor the development
of the fungi which can cause extensive damage to the
turf. The first being the soil acidity. Soil samples should
be taken at least yearly and in many cases bi-yearly to
assure the healthiest possible turf to withstand the fungi
which is ever present in the soil. Fungi grow and develop
best when the soil is highly acid and the grass is at its
weakest point. The second factor is matted turf. When
the turf is allowed to mat the disease fungi has a place
to start because it usually starts on dead grass or organic matter at the top of the soil. This matted grass
holds the moisture for long periods of time between
watering and rains and thus rasiea the chances for the
development for the fungi. Cultural practices to control
matting are: (1) thorough aerification, (2) brushing,
(3) close clipping, and (4) top dressing frequently. The
third factor is the fertility of the soil. Over fertilization
produces a lush heavy top growth which is highly susceptible to disease. Fertilizer should not be applied in
amounts which will break down rapidly and make the
turf too lush. A fertilizer high in organic content applied
t 0 V2 pound of actual nitrogen per
in amounts of
1,000 sq. ft. will keep the grass at its healthiest point
and the growth will be even throughout the summer. The
fourth factor is moisture which is the most aBused cultural practice of all. The majority of the superintendents,
including myself, have a tendency to over water. The
golfers want the turf soft so their shots will hold and
this is the way it is usually accomplished along with
spiking. Although sprinklers are faster than hand watering, they can be very damaging 011 poorly drained greens
which are built with many rolls to them. During the hot
summer months hand watering will produce a more even
watering and can be better controlled than a manually
operated sprinkler. Automatic systems are a different

story. There you can control the amount for each green
by the clock. Without liberal amounts of water the fungi
cannot develop and cause damage. The fifth factor is the
temperature and as yet there is no control over this.
Even though it does affect the fungi it will be less harmful if the other cultural practices are followed. With the
constant checking of these practices chemicals can almost be eliminated; however, they should be kept on

hand for emergency conditions, but should only be used
as a last resort not as the first choice. All the chemicals
in the world will not control effectively when these management practices are not followed.
George E. Gorton, Jr.
Superintendent
Furnace Brook Golf Club
Quincy, Mass.

FRIENDS OF THE ASSOCIATION
Abbott Spray and Farm Equipment Co.
Waltham Street
Lexington, Massachusetts

John P. Simon, Asst. Mgr.
Springfield Rendering Company
P. O. Box 379
Springfield, M a r ' tft

Sawtelle Brothers
Jet. Routes 128 and 62
Danvers, Massachusetts

\

Dr. Burton R. Anderson
Golf Course Architect
Turf and Golf Course Consultant
Route 5
Augusta, Maine

Richey & Clapper, Inc.
28 Rutledge Road
Natick, Massachusetts

Irrigation Consulta
251 Harvard Street
Brookline, Massachusetts

Philip A. Wogan
Golf Course Architect
21 Budleigh Avenue
Beverly, Massachusetts

Tom Irwin Co.
Bennett Hill Road
Rowley, Massachusetts

The Clapper Co.
1121 Washington Street
West Newton, Massachusetts

Wyandotte Chemical Co.
709 Salada Building
Boston, Massachusetts

Karandrew Turf Farms, Inc.
Sam Mitchell, Sales Representative
18 Old Randolph Street
Canton, Massachusetts

Geoffrey S. Cornish
Golf Course Architect
Fiddler's Green
Amherst, Massachusetts

D. L. Maher Co.
Water Supply Contractors
Testwells — Gravel packed wells
Byron Jackson Pumps
P. O. Box 274
Woburn, Massachusetts

Johns-Manville Sales Corp.
150 Causeway Street
Boston, Massachusetts

The Charles C. Hart Seed Co.
Weihersfield, Connecticut

Larchmont Irrigation Co.
Larchmont Lane
Lexington, Massachusetts

Fuel Activator Chemical Corp.
C. F. Barbour — Regional Director
43000 Prudential Tower
Boston, Massachusetts

Alfco Rokeby Co., Inc.
Fertilizers and Chemical Specialties
P. O. Box 267
Marietta, Ohio

J . F. Aveni
Lu Soil — Soil Conditioner
Minerals & Chemicals Philipp Corp.
25 Concord Street
Belmont, Massachusetts

Gaffny Enterprises, Inc.
Irrigation Specialists
North Main Street
Middleton, Massachusetts

Ken Minasian
Scotts
6 Amelia Court
N. Providence, R. I.

Magovern Company, Inc.
Lawn Acre Road
Windsor Lock, Connecticut

Grounds Equipment Co., Inc.
?83 Boylston Street
Newton Centre, Massachusetts

The Kenneth Barrie Company
375 Centre Street
Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

Stanley S. Philipkoski
Sales Representative
Stauffer Chemical Co.
380 Madison Avenue
New York, New- York

Kerr McGee Chemical Corporation
P. 0 . Box 790
~ Watcrbury, ConriectlCTTt

A. C. Lawn, Inc.
P. O. Box 436
Wakefield, Mass.

O'
-J o
OCT
Newsletter C o m m i t t e e C h a i r m a n

Z'il

.JJs&dSi 5 '01

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/'v r 7/ r 1 C- a j
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DEAN ROBERTSON
2 4 Riverview Drive
Newbury, Mass. 01950
Phone 4 6 2 - 4 5 4 0
Club Affiliation
Ould Newbury Golf Club

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