February 1979 ourAe Superin ten den td OF NEW E N G L A N D , ^lidociation INC. Sponsors a n d a d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f the Lawrence S. Dickinson Scholarship Fund — A w a r d e d y e a r l y to deserving Turf M a n a g e m e n t Students. Headed For Four Seasons What's your country club doing this winter? If it is like a number of enterprising clubs - making tracks toward the utilization of facilities for the complete four seasons, you're probably caught up in the cross-country skiing craze. All of a sudden, the golf course has become a popular setting for those enthusiasts of the strapped boards who prefer to mosey over a trail rather than taking it by storm with a full schuss. Just in Western Massachusetts alone - or rather that corner which packs Greater Springfield into it, there are at least five golf courses which have opened their grounds to crosscountry skiers. The idea is to take advantage of the natural terrain of the course, topography which usually blends into the ideal track for lovers of the Nordic sport. Obviously, the first question of the golfer concerns the effects of such a heavy thrust on his sacred grounds. Does cross-country skiing lend itself to laying the groundwork for severe damage to the turf and where does the country club draw the line in exposing its golf course to unscheduled threats of harming its grasses? According to Roy Mackintosh, general manager of the Twin Hills Country Club in Longmeadow, the cross-country skiing push creates no more of a turf problem than a course can expect without such a program. "We set up a course, which keeps the skiers off greens and tees," he explained. "If they stay on course, they can do no harm to the turf. We don't anticipate any problems, either. The course at Twin Hills is well-marked and we'll have a ranger system just to make sure no one gets ideas of straying where he doesn't belong.'' Cross-country skiing should serve as another form of motivation for country club members to use facilities on a year-round basis. Unfortunately, many members picture the country club as a boarded-up summer place once the golf season ends. Therefore, the traffic at the club hits a snag and it goes to sleep for the winter. "I don't think we look at the ski program as one which will bring in a ton of revenue," Mackintosh emphasized. "We are one of the first private clubs to set up the sport for our members as a facility inclusive in their regular membership fee. We have skis, boots and poles available on a rental basis. But if our members have their own equipment, all they have to do is come out and give it a run." Twin Hills has reconverted an area adjacent to its swimming pool as the site of a warming hut and snack bar. The skiers gather there for a bowl of soup, sandwich, coffee or whatever and spend many happy hours enjoying winter rather than praying for its demise. To be voted on Next Meeting Thomas F. Ohlson, Jr. Associate Member "This is only part of our plan to accommodate a multiinterested membership and perhaps to attract new members," Mackintosh revealed. "We do offer a separate winter package for nonmembers and we're going to make another push for more activity when we expand our tennis facilities in the spring." What Twin Hills would like to do eventually is to offer a complete program around the calendar for members. "We have to keep this place alive 12 months of the year," Mackintosh added. "We have a beautiful clubhouse and it's a shame to see it dark on nights when it could be humming. All of our special membership offerings - like the cross-country and tennis-swim packages - also include a social membership for that particular sports season, the ideal situation would be to have a full membership which takes part in all of our sports programs." Oh, does this venture mean more work for the superintendent? "Well, as far as the cross-country skiing goes, all I've done is to help set the course and make sure the tees and greens are protected," Mackintosh told. "I've hired a ski shop manager and will add other people as the traffic dictates. The investment in skis is a small one. The investment of my time is likewise. Naturally, I'm interested in the progress of cross-country skiing. But it doesn't detract one bit from my main concern of course conditioning." In order to round out the winter outdoor offerings at Twin Hills, a couple of ponds have been cleared for skating and a sleigh has been rigged for expanding the opportunities to attract more members to the club. With the influx of cross-country skiing added to the spiraling popularity of platform tennis at many clubs, it looks as though there will be no separation or mark of seasons in the future. Those clubs with the foresight to envision the expansion of facilities, which touch their memberships from one end of the calendar to the other, figure to prosper in the end because there seems to be no end to the needs of a recreation-intoxicated populace. Gerry Finn Next Meeting March 12,1979 Franklin C.C. Directors Meeting 9:30 A.M. Regular Meeting 11:00 A.M. Speaker on Pesticides 1:30 P.M. Qotf CourAe Superintendents ~^4d5ociati on It's Happening, Dad Burn It! It won't come for several weeks. . . maybe more. But once the snow disappears from the golf course (for the final time, yet), the ravages of winter will reveal themselves. And the first catcalls from the golf world will rise in damnation of that unwelcome spring and summer visitor - winterkill. It's happening right now, dad burn it. Can you feel it? Right under that cover of ice or that compacted drift of snow. . . winterkill is at work and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Nothing to do except hope that it doesn't hang on and make life a prolonged stage of the miserable for the golf course superintendent. Maybe this should be construed as a warning, not to the supers who know too well they can't escape its touch, but to the uneducated golfers who believe that winterkill is the result of a malfunction in the brain of the man conditioning their courses. And it's timely, too, because one of the biggest bum raps of all the accusations tossed at the superintendent is his part in the contracting of winterkill. If you can picture the turf underneath that cover of snow or that sheet of ice, you must realize that damage is bound to happen because of the lack of an oxygen route to the afflicted plant. And the longer that plant suffocates, the longer it will take to recover when the sun and rains attempt to perk it up in the spring. Unfortunately for the superintendent, the treacherous hand of winterkill is such that its cause can result from a number of weather conditions. For the most part, it occurs when the oxygen is cut off from the plant roots for longer periods of time than usual. There have been occasions when it was thought that an early snowfall - one that could survive January thaws and the like - was the best form of winterkill prevention. The idea here was that the snow would serve as a protective cover from the cold and wind while still being porous enough to keep the flow of oxygen going without interruption. This is reasonable enough in theory. However, an overabundance of snow often accompanies the early drop, compaction forms that breathstopping lid and winterkill sets up shop in the plants below the white stuff. So, it would serve the super well to keep the snowfall explanation in his hat because it usually comes back to haunt him. There is no guarantee a course will escape winterkill, even if it can afford to spread a plastic cover over its full 18 holes. And the most perplexing aside to the problem is the fact that winterkill often strikes fiercest on those courses where timeand money have been purposely allocated to combat it. One of the strange behavioral patterns of winterkill is its personal choice of sites to attack, it is a matter of record that winterkill may wipe out several greens on one side of the street and not even leave a trace of damage on the other. For reasons beyond the comprehension of the experts, winterkill just seems to hit where it feels like it. . . and spare other areas closeby. This selectivity has been the basis of much criticism for the affected superintendent. The golfer only can see what the winter has wrought and is blinded by the inexplicable part nature plays in this bizarre selection process. There have been examples of one course going several years without winterkill problems and then being bombarded in one single attacking season. Such action is baffling to turf doctors and experimental workers trying to pinpoint a uniform strain of behavior in winterkill. So far their efforts have been discouraging. In the spring of 1978, evidence of winterkill's sporadic incidence was widespread in the Northeast. Where certain courses were overrun with it, others escaped without a hint of damage. And the search for an answer goes on. So, whatever you do between now and the first signs of golfing weather, do not raise your hopes to avoid winterkill high. Don't look upon loose snow cover as a sign that your course will come out of the cold season fit as a fiddle. And don't perceive that a mild winter is reason to expect a mild case of winterkill. What superintendents and golfers, alike, should expect. . . sad to suggest... is the worst. All you have to do is look down and envision that pesty whatever at work meaning to spoil things when winter's wrapper is~tom_flffyour course. Winterkill's there and won't quit till he's doneTTts-daiQage. It's frightening; that's wTTalins. Gerry Finn University of Massachusetts Turf Conference and Industrial Show Forty-eighth Annual Turf Conference and Third Industrial Show "Better Turf through Research and Education" February 275 28 and March 1,1979 Civic Center Springfield, Massachusetts (1-91, Exit 6 from South Columbus Avenue Exit from North) Sponsored by Massachusetts Cooperative Extension Service Massachusetts Turf and Lawn Grass Council Golf Course Superintendents Association of New England REGISTRATION Lobby - Plaza Entrance 8:30 AM-4:00 PM Tuesday, February 27 8:00 AM-4:00 PM Wednesday, February 28— TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27 Morning 9:00 AM-12:45 PM Industrial Show open. Exhibition Hall Snack Bar available Afternoon GENERAL SESSION Banquet Room Chairman: Dr. Joseph Troll University of Massachusetts 1:00 Welcome Dean John Denison Stockbridge School of Agriculture University of Massachusetts PRESIDENT FIRST VICE PRESIDENT SECOND VICE PRESIDENT SECRETARY TREASURER DEAN ROBERTSON 2 4 Riverview Drive Newbury, Mass. 01950 Home phone 462-4540 Office phone 745-7289 Club Affiliation