The Whiteboard

[ Reporter’s notebook ]

BASF introduces new fungicide chemistry

Xzemplar and Lexicon will feature fluxapyroxad, available to the turf market in April 2014.

BASF held a media debut in early October at Pinehurst Resort, site of the 2014 U.S. Open, to introduce fluxapyroxad, its new fungicide active ingredient.

Fluxapyroxad, a member of the carboxamide family, will be at the core of two new BASF products: Xzemplar, a solo high-end boutique fungicide, and Lexicon Intrinsic, which teams the AI up with the company’s plant health chemistry, pyraclostrobin.

In a nutshell, BASF’s new chemistry – pronounced “flux-a-py-rox-ad” – disrupts the energy supply and biosynthesis of essential building blocks within a number of fungal diseases that attack turf, primarily dollar spot and brown patch. The chemistry is absorbed into the grass leaf’s waxy layer and transported throughout the plant. According to trial results, fluxapyroxad has shown 14-28 day control against dollar spot and brown patch, and it showed excellent results as both a preventative and curative measure against various turf fungal diseases and with better overall and residual control. In addition, the chemistry showed impressive results again large patch, gray and pink snow molds, summer patch and even algae. In total, trials have shown fluxapyroxad effective against at least 26 fungal diseases.

Clemson’s Dr. S. Bruce Martin, who conducted many of the initial field trials, says it’s exciting to see some new chemistry effective against dollar spot and brown patch. “It gets dollar spot under control real fast,” he says, “and I test on Crenshaw Bent, which is a dollar spot magnet.”

BASF expects to officially launch the product in Orlando at the 2014 Golf Industry Show, and it’s expected to be available for sale in April 2014. Pricing is not yet available. – Mike Zawacki

New Kids on the Block

Trump National's Tyler Otero recently tweeted the new additions to this weed-munching herd of goats. He celebrated the birth of a pair of cute kids. As of deadline there were no names yet, but the new kids are doing fine and should be out munching weeds in no time.

Green Start Academy 2013

GCI’s Katie Tuttle headed down to North Carolina for this year’s Green Start Academy. Here are a few things Katie took away from the event:

–Assistants want to be mentored. Don’t keep the business side under wraps. Assistants are the future of the industry, and if none of them know how to create a budget and run a business, what’s that going to mean for the future of golf courses?

–Network. A lot of assistants attending the event said it was an experience they didn’t get to have often. They spend long hours on the course, meaning little time for them to get out and meet other assistants and superintendents.

–Everyone’s different. At almost every panel and discussion, one of the speakers had a different opinion on something. At one of the panel discussions, the speaker said he would hire an assistant with a turf degree over an assistant with a business degree and turf experience. At the very next panel, the second speaker said he would hire the business degree. A common occurrence throughout the week was realizing there’s no one way to get a superintendent job. Everyone has a different story.

–Sometimes it’s hard for an assistant superintendent to follow and not lead. They may have different ideas than their superintendent, but are they’re unable to implement them. It doesn’t mean the superintendent is wrong, but the next time you’re working on something, check in on your assistant to see if they have a suggestion.

–Learn to be uncomfortable. The more uncomfortable situations you put yourself in, the more you’ll learn. If you hate public speaking, speak more. If you hate meeting new people, go to more networking events. You’ll learn to make yourself better, and over time your fears and discomfort will diminish.
 

Podcast pick of the month

It’s tough – but important – to keep a cool head under pressure and lead the crew when trouble hits on the golf course. Tom Vlach, superintendent at TPC Sawgrass, faced a rough situation when severe weather tore through his course just before the Players’ Tournament this year. In August, he shared his story, and how he led his crew and his course through a disaster. Head to http://bit.ly/GIQQTI to hear it.
 

From the Feed

The GCI crew is always active via social media, but we’ve been riding the top of the update feed even more recently. October is a busy time in the golf industry, and we checked in from all over the map!

GCI Magazine@GCIMagazine
Hey GCI fans...many Tweeters today. Katie Tuttle is at Green Start Acad, @TurfRepublic at Hilton Head and Pat tweeting from HQ #confusedyet?

Jacobsen Turf@Jacobsenturf
Who’s on first?

Ciara Ahern@callincliste
Busting out the heavy artillery @JohnDeere.

GCI Magazine@GCIMagazine
What a nice way to end the day #GreenStartAcademy @BayerGolf

Turf Republic@TurfRepublic
Josh Heptig up next….did you know his property is a ZERO waste golf facility. #sustainablegolf13

Turf Republic@TurfRepublic
Small group discussions. Gotta show some love to the Supers. #sustainablegolf13

Join the conversation on Twitter @GCIMagazine!