Editor: Al Bathum President's Message _ Well, it has certainly been a water wonderland this spring in Western Michigan !!! I’m fairly confident though the weather will become pleasant soon. On May 2 2 ,1 9 9 5 ,1 attended a Groundwater and Fresh Water Protection Act meeting at M.S.U., sponsored by the M.D.A. The jest of the meeting was for the golf course industry to voice their concerns on the guidelines for site assessm ent, existing rules and regulations, etc. The M.D.A. did not want to write guidelines for all the commodities. That is why we have the opportunity to write our own. When the final draft is drawn up, there will be a stewardship program with incentives for golf courses to p articip ate in this program. If anyone would like inform ation about this please contact Greg Lyman at 517-353- 0860. The next meeting is at the C attails. It is the annual joint meeting held with the Michigan and Border Cities. Remember, you must play in two monthly meeting events to qualify for the Western Michigan Championship. See you there! Respectfully, Harry Schuemann,CGCS Joint Meeting Held The June meeting will be held at The Cattails Golf Club in South Lyon,Michigan on June 12th. This is a joint meeting with the Michigan and Bor­ der Cities Golf Course Superintendents Association and the Western. This event is set up like a Ryder Cup Match with Players of all caliber welcome. The speaker at the meeting will be Julie Stachecki, and she will give a insect update. Please plan to attend it should be a fun day. 1995 W.M.G.C.S.A. Meeting Schedule June 12........... Joint Meeting W.M.G.C.S.A. & M.B.G.C.S.A. Cattails July 18.............Meeting W.M.G.C.S.A., & M.B.G.C.S.A. The Majestic M August.............Round Tables August 3 Kalamazoo Country Club August 8 North Kent Golf Club Sept. 1 1 .......... Golf Day Kent Country Club Oct. 3 ..............Annual Meeting Cascade Hills Country Club Nov. 3 ..............Fall Party Blythfield Country Club Editor's Note: Please write me if you have any corrections or if you are interested in doing an article for us at: Western Views 3725 Cascade Rd„ S.E. Grand Rcl oct i o ?noT Railside and Grand Haven Meeting Update! The early spring and summer meetings have been well attended this year. Each meeting had over 50 participants for golf and lunch. At the Railside meeting Troy Rogers gave a brief update on the future research projects. Danny Q uast d iscu ssed m ain tain in g quality conditions on the golf course. In a recent discussion with Kieth Paterson he commented on the thoroughness of Dannys tree care program. Steve Tedhams also outlined the format for the Chapter Championship to be held at this years Annual Meeting. The lunch I understand was great, and the golf course was also said to be in fine shape. We thank Jeff Hopkins and his staff for a job well done. Along those same lines, I understand that the meeting and golf at the Grand Haven Golf Club were every bit as nice. It was great that our F irst A nnual B ruce M atthew s S cholarship Award winner was present and that Bruce was also there to share in the event. Our congratulations go out to the recipient S tephanie Fochm an, Bruce Matthews Sr. for whom the scholarship is nam ed, and our education director Doug Boyle and his com m ittee who pulled the whole thing together. We would also like to thank Charlie and the staff at Grand Haven for the fine reception. I understand they’ve made many great changes at the golf course with more to follow. Keep up the good work !!! We Don’t Sell What You Need Most I have now completed my first full season as a fertilizer and chemical sales representative after being a gold course superintendent for 22 years. I have learned as much as I can about our product lines and have also expanded my know ledge about w hat my competitors have to offer. Regardless of what is on the market these days, there is no substitute for good and timely cultural practices. Your cultural practices are the foundation of your entire tu rf management program. Without the alleviation of com paction through aerification, you can't possibly maintain dense, healthy turf. Will "Banner" or "Sentinel" alone do an excellent job on summer patch or is it critical to have adequate soil aeration to lessen its severity and get you away from that saturated soil condition that seems to bring on summer patch? Is the application of "Manzate" or "Dithane" to be the sole method of dealing with algae on a green or would the removal of a few early morning shade producing trees in conjunction with the algaecide create a quality putting surface? Besides the tree removal will most likely result in the elim ination o f future algaecide applications. To me, it seems more feasible to control thatch with timely topdressing than to eventually develop a hydrophobic soil which requires the use of wetting agents. Also, the heavier thatch conditions can lead to limited effectiveness of your pesticides resulting in higher rates to achieve the desired i control. What about water management? Does it make sense in the months of July and August to apply a granular fertilizer, which requires watering in, to an over­ watered green with an already stressed and poorly functioning root system? Or would it be more practical to use a soluble form of fertilizer, tank mixed with a fungicide application, and have these nutrients taken into the plant through the leaves and the crown? When the root system stretches down three inches and more, you can expect an effective nutrient uptake, but during July and August, sometimes an inch of root depth is more typical; therefore, foliar applications have proven to be very effective at this time. So not only does soluble fertilization eliminate over­ watering, but it also combines two jobs into one. Deep tine aerification is probably the "hottest" new cultural practice to come down the pike in a long time. I've talked to more superintendents who have converted poor greens into good ones by implementing this practice and have thrown away their plant to rebuild that "problem green". T his obviously provides aeration to the soil, but more importantly allows surface water to penetrate into the soil. Hydro-ject aerification,, rolling, verticutting and spiking must all be done in a timely fashion with the end result being good, healthy golf turf. The proper tu rf nutrients at the at the appropriate tim e will enhance your effort and resu lt in a dim inished chemical use. There is a plethora of chemicals and fertilizers available to you, some with remarkable claims, but non of these can replace the superintendent's sound judgement and common sense based on years of experience and education and his cultural practices, which are the foundation to his entire turf management program. Chris Fochtman Audubon Sanctuary - Egypt Valley Country Club started the w ildlife For only one hundred dollars, you can get in an environmental program that helps enhance and environment at your club. This small fee w ill reg ister you the Cooperative Sanctuary System for Golf Courses offered by the New York Audubon Society. You will find, as we have, that this is the best $100 your club will spend. in Egypt Valley Country Club joined this program and started the process of certification in 1994. We found the New York A udubon Society to be a valuable source of information and a strong ally without being judgemental or unsympathetic to our organization. Egypt Valley Country Club's goal is to not only become registered in the Sanctuary System, but to become a Certified Sanctuary G o lf C ourse. This golf course and subsequent analysis by a certified laboratory (Michigan State University). Results of the testing are expected in 3-4 weeks. As the bird species begin returning to the area, we have enlisted volunteers (club m em bers and members of the local Audubon chapter) to m onitor our nesting boxes. This will help us become certified in the M ember/Public Involvement category. We found certification in the rem aining categories easy to achieve because most practices required were already implemented in our management practices. Documentation of these practices was all that was needed to comply. Continued on back page process is done by obtaining certification in the following six categories: • Environmental Planning • Wildlife and Habitat Management • Member/Public Involvement • Integrated Pest Management • Water Conservation • Water Quality Management Egypt Valley became certified in four of the six categories over the last winter. M em ber/Public Involvem ent & W ater Q uality Management certification should be achieved by the time this reaches you in the mail. These categories were not com pleted until favorable weather finally arrived in Western Michigan. Part of Water Quality Management certification involves sampling of water sources on the Advertisers Please patronize our advertisers as they have made this newsletter possible. A grEvo................................................ (614) 726-2857 A m turf..................................................(616) 792-2241 Benham Chemical.............................. 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Inc................................... 1-800-223-7645 Lebanon F ertilizers............................(313) 673-7146 Lesco...................................................(616) 784-4929 Michigan Sand Co.............................. (517) 773-2030 Michigan Turf Equipment.................. (616) 554-3310 J. Mollema & Sons.............................(616) 940-1441 O.M. Scott......................................... (616)361-2106 Osburn Industries.............................(313) 292-4140 Parmenter & Andre...........................(616) 458-1546 Peerless-Midwest.............................(616) 527-0050 R.A. Manley Irrigation Consultants.. (810) 651-5729 Spartan Distributors......... ............... (616) 887-7301 Standard Sand.................................. (616) 842-5180 Superior Uniform Sales.................... 1-800-536-0718 T.C.I.................................................... (517)725-7145 Terra International Inc....................... 1-800-321-9347 Tire Wholesalers Company, Inc.......(616) 775-6666 TriTurf.................................................(616) 943-8343 Turf Drain Inc..................................... (810) 471-6750 Turfgrass, Inc.....................................(616) 866-9389 Turf Services..................................... (616) 842-4975 United Horticultural S upply..............(810) 852-2838 Valley T u rf......................................... (616) 532-2885 Van Manen O il.................................. (616) 453-6344 Water Tronics.................................... 1-800-356-6686 W.F. Miller Co.................................... (313) 349-4100 W ilbur-Ellis........................................ 1-800-873-5599 tea Audubon Sanctuary, continued As of May 1, there are 1500 courses registered with the New York Audubon Society in the United States. Thirty-six (36) of these courses are fully certified. Michigan Gold Course Superintendents have represented this program well as evidenced by the fact that Michigan is fourth in the United States, trailing only Florida, Illinois and New York with regard to certification. Michigan has 81 courses registered. Three courses are certified: Tournament Players Club, Dearborn TreeTops Sylvan Resort, Gaylord Fox Hills, Plymouth Egypt Valley Country Club is on track to become the fourth golf course in M ichigan to become certified. If you need m ore information, give us a call at (616) 676-2280 or call the New York Audubon Society at (518) 767-9051 Classifieds For Sale: Call AI at Cascade Hills County Club (616) 949-1420. 1 Walk behind Rotary Mower, 22" Meijer. $60. 1 Roseman Hydragang and Powerpack. $600. Classifieds For Sale or W ill Trade for walking greens mower. Call Brian Murphy (616)673-8261 work or 521 -6108 home Eagle Creek Golf Course 1. Three Toro cutting units G.M.3 2. One G.M.3 frame with hydraulics and extra parts 3. Two Toro G.M.3 pull frames with rollers 4. Jacobsen gang mower parts, gears,covers,axles bedplates, tires etc. 5. Jac. push mower 21” comercial and parts $100.00 6. Toro push mower 21“ comercial $50.00 7. Cushman 110 gal. spray tank with pump $400.00 or best offer. 8. Foley reel grinder 9. Three Toro center point adj. cutting units (frame only). BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID GRAND RAPIDS, Ml PERMIT NO. 582 ESTERN M iEWS Official Publication of m e West Michigan Golf Course SuDelntenaents Association 3725 Cascade Rd., S.E. • Grand Rapids, Ml 49546 P e te Cooki n g h am MSU Main L i b r a r y W — 2 1 . E a st L a n s in g MI 48824