This week brings the season-opening event on the LPGA Tour to Thailand's Siam Country Club. Defending champion Ai Miyazato and #1-ranked Yani Tseng headline the stellar field. The tournament is being contested over seashore paspalum fairways (Salam variety) and hybrid bermudagrass greens (Novotek variety).

Sittichai Dusadeeporn is the Director of Golf Course Maintenance at Siam CC and will be speaking at the Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2011 conference about how he prepares the course for an LPGA tournament. And our first stop on the Asian Turfgrass Field Day will be Siam CC where we will see these grasses and just a few weeks after the tournament.

From Siam CC, we will proceed to other area golf courses to look at test plots of products and maintenance techniques applied to different grasses. Some of the highlights include:

• Control of zoysiagrass seedheads with imazapic
• Conversion to new grass using glyphosate or dazomet
• Playability of different grass types and practical use of measuring equipment
• Are pre-emergent herbicides useful in the management of turfgrass in SE Asia?
• Control of bermudagrass in seashore paspalum
• Control of seashore paspalum in bermudagrass
• Evaluation of new herbicides for weed control
• Comparison of different types of zoysiagrass
• Organic matter management in sand rootzoones

The field day will conclude at Laem Chabang International CC with a look at different nozzle types for effective spraying and the use of water-sensitive paper (always interesting!) to demonstrate that, along with a few other turfgrass equipment demonstrations and then a fun golf game around the chipping course. Michelle Wie is in Thailand now for the LPGA tournament and said "Everyone is so nice and welcoming in Thailand. I love it!" You will too, so if you are planning to attend this fun and educational conference, get your registration form submitted now to hold your place.