This week I spoke to a full room of turfgrass managers at Bangkok's Thana City Golf and Sport Club about an important topic: understanding data for use in turfgrass management. I've recorded this video of the presentation slides in which I discuss the two classes of data that can be collected – data about playing surface performance, or data about plant growth – and then I go into some detail about soil moisture and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), with a brief mention of salinity and soil pH at the end.
There were many questions and an active discussion in this seminar and in fact lunch time arrived before I could speak about salinity and soil pH, so this video provides the narration of what I would have talked about had there been more time.
David Lau from Spectrum Technologies, pictured with me at right, gave an interesting presentation in which he talked about a broad range of meters and software that can be used to collect and analyze information for improving turfgrass performance. This is part of what PACE Turf call Precision Turfgrass Management (PTM), which is a systematic effort to provide optimum turf performance using minimum resources. As David mentioned, we cannot manage something if we do not measure it.
This video shows how manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) is planted, grown, and harvested on Thailand's sod farms. Manilagrass is used throughout East and Southeast Asia on lawns, parks, golf courses, sports fields, roadsides, and cemeteries. What is especially remarkable about this method of production is the time it takes from planting to harvest. During the summer when the temperatures are at a maximum and the grass can grow quickly, harvestable manilagrass sod is ready 30 days after planting. During winter, when the temperatures are cooler, it takes about 40 days from planting to harvest.
I recently visited a sod farm in Tennessee and saw these sinkholes in a field of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). After the sod cutter went across the field and the individual pieces of sod were lifted, it became apparent that there was some tall fescue growing below grade.
This machine, shown here harvesting a field of hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon), was used to cut the field of tall fescue.
I asked, "Can you identify what has caused this phenomenon?" There were many responses before the correct answer was given.
Some were close to the answer -- guesses of elephant tracks, water buffalo or horse footprints, groundhog holes, bird scrapings, bear footprints, misaligned aerification holes, fox damage, hail marks, repair plug removal, holes created by worms or insects, or perhaps rock removal from the field. The correct answer was that a cow or cows escaped into this field just after planting, pressing the tall fescue seed down and it remained there, growing in the footprints, until harvesting when those below-grade footprints appeared. Correct answer from Jason Haines below:
My advice is to keep large animals off of sod production fields, although the cows on this manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) sod farm in northern Vietnam, shown below, didn't cause any problems once the turf was established.
This might be an easy one. The picture above is manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) and was taken in December 2009. If you've followed this blog, you will know that I am a big fan of manilagrass in East and Southeast Asia, as this native grass produces a fine turf with fewer problems than other grasses in this part of the world. The grass in this picture is perhaps the best example and the best-maintained large sward of manilagrass in Southeast Asia.
The simple turfgrass mystery was ... where was this photo taken? This turf is at the Manila American Cemetery.
The location was identified correctly at the same time by two people:
The turf here is not only some of the best manilagrass in Southeast Asia, it may be the best large sward of turf in all of Asia. The fine lawns at the Manila America Cemetery are spread over more than 31 hectares and are usually mown at less than 20 mm.
The grass here should be studied by whoever works in turfgrass management in Asia. For more than 50 years, the manilagrass has produced an excellent surface here, and the native manilagrass has many advantages over the Cynodon and Paspalum species that are often planted in Southeast Asia.
In the My View section I've written about grass selection for greens and fairways in Asia. My view is that when it comes to putting greens, because they occupy such a small area of the course and no matter which grass is chosen the greens will always receive intensive maintenance, a high maintenance grass is often the right choice. And my view for fairway turf, because fairways occupy such a large area of the course, is that it is best to choose a grass that won't die. When the grass won't die, then turfgrass managers are able to modify the playing conditions to create almost any type of surface. In Southeast Asia, these grasses that don't die are manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) and broadleaf carpetgrass (Axonopus compressus).
The R&A Holing Out Test is conducted by rolling 10 golf balls in a direction and at a pace so that the ball should, if the roll is not disrupted by irregularities, fall into the center of the hole. From the number of the balls that actually do fall into the hole, out of 10, one can get some idea of the smoothness, trueness, or reliability of the putting surface. This video gives an introduction to this test and shows balls being rolled from the Greenstester.
This is an exciting new measuring tool that I just started using this week. The stimpmeter is one thing, and it is interesting to know the green speed. A Clegg Hammer or Tru-firm or Yamanaka Tester is interesting also, to get a measure of green hardness. The R&A Holing Out Test is an important addition to the evaluation of putting green performance, because it allows us to measure something that is very related to the game.
If we make a perfect stroke, is the green reliable enough that the ball will go in in the hole? The stimpmeter reading and the green firmness reading don't even attempt to answer that, but The R&A Holing Out Test does.
Putting greens that are reliable, meaning that the ball goes where it is intended, are sure to reward good putters with more birdies. I, for one, am excited about that prospect.
The Japan Turf Show is one of my favorite industry events, but I wasn't able to attend this year. Fortunately, some friends did attend, and I got updates about the show at Osaka's Banpaku Koen, which appears to have gone off very well.
The weather was sunny for the show, where distributors and manufacturers display their wares in the open air of Kansai in Autumn. The Japan turf industry is big, and there are a mix of imported and domestic machines and products used on golf courses.
And we can also find some unique machinery, such as this dropseeder with a sponge roller that allows creeping bentgrass seed to be spread at rates as low as 1 g/m2 - on a new putting green we would use rates 7 to 10 times that high!
I especially like the Japan Turf Show for all the unique machinery that I see there, machinery that is put to good use on hundreds or thousands of golf courses in Japan, but that we do not always see in other countries. Take the Hatsuta company, for example. It seems that every golf course in Japan has one of their core sweepers.
At the Japan Turf Show this year, Hatsuta showed their new TS-1000 sprayer which will be able to work as either a typical riding sprayer, although I expect with the option for a wide range of water volumes, and also can be used as a tanksha.
More than 1,500 people attended the first day of the show, and I don't have full attendance numbers, but I hope to add my name to the attendee list next year.
The Indian Golf Union's greenkeeper education programme was conducted for four consecutive weeks in the four zones of India, beginning on 24 September in the South and ending on 19 October in the East.
The South Zone saw 20 delegates gather for five days at host Kodaikanal Golf Club in Tamil Nadu. This is India's only organic golf course, and the summary video from the South Zone programme shows some of the wildlife that can be found on this natural course high in the Palni Hills.
We then moved to Pune in Maharashtra for the West Zone programme, where we were hosted by Poona Club (Golf) and also made visits to Oxford Golf and Country Club and the Army's RSI GC. In each zone, we conducted a five day course on the theme of Improving Course Conditions, with content tailored to the grasses, climate, water supply, and course types in each region.
In the North Zone we were hosted by the Army Environmental Park and Training Area (AEPTA, or simply Army GC) in New Delhi, and we also made a visit to the first public golf course in India, the Delhi Development Authority's Qutub Golf Course. We learned about management of water and soil organic matter to optimize course conditions, weed management, equipment maintenance and mowing quality, and turfgrass nutrient requirements. The presentation notes, slides, and links to additional reading are available for download at the programme website, www.in.asianturfgrass.com.
Our hosts in the East were Royal Calcutta Golf Club, where we enjoyed a week of fine weather, ate excellent food from West Bengal, visited the Tollygunge Club, and learned about effective turfgrass management techniques.
A selection of photos from each of the four zones have been assembled in this gallery.
This greenkeeper education programme is organized and delivered by the Indian Golf Union. It is supported by The R&A, and the educational materials are prepared and taught by Dr. Micah Woods of the Asian Turfgrass Center with support from the Asian Golf Industry Federation (AGIF). Our objective with this programme is simple: to share practical and technical information related to greenkeeping that will lead to improved playing conditions on golf courses in India.
I would like to thank each of the host clubs for this year's programme for providing such a great venue and excellent food, all of the delegates who participated in the programme, the AGIF for their support, and the IGU and The R&A for making this programme possible. Thanks are also due to Dr. Jim Brosnan from the University of Tennessee and Dr. Doug Soldat from the University of Wisconsin, for their assistance in developing the teaching materials used for the weed management and water management topics, respectively. For more information about the topics, more photos, and more downloads of educational materials, please visit the programme website.
The Indian Golf Union's Greenkeeper Education Programme for the South Zone was held at Kodaikanal Golf Club in Tamil Nadu from 24 to 28 September. This video shows some of the highlights from the week, showing the scenery of Kodaikanal, the wildlife there, and feedback from the programme participants. You'll also see how to get a great workout on the golf course core aerifying a green – by hand!
