Industry News

Study to evaluate environment
Lawrence, Kan. – This spring, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America is starting a project that will evaluate golf course environmental performance. The multi-year project – the Golf Course Environmental Profile – will collect information to allow superintendents and other facility personnel to become better managers, help facilities operate more efficiently and lead to the GCSAA developing more valuable programs and services. Information will include details about playing surfaces, natural resources, environmental stewardship efforts and maintenance practices.

The Environmental Institute for Golf and The Toro Foundation are funding the project.

The project will consist of several cycles of surveys conducted over many years. Each survey cycle will collect information about the physical features of a golf course, water use and quality, wildlife and habitat management, energy use, and nutrient and pesticide use. The first cycle of surveys will establish a baseline of information from which environmental progress can be measured. The second cycle will begin five years after the start of first cycle and will be used to document environmental change and progress.

Beginning this month, the GCSAA and nonmember superintendents will receive questionnaires regarding their facilities and golf course management activities.

Committee looks for innovation
Sylacauga, Ala. – FarmLinks introduced an innovations committee. The brainchild of Mark Langner, director of agronomy and applied research, and Dave Heegard, vice president of sales and marketing, the committee was formed to fill a need to be informed about new technology and products in the market.

The innovations committee is comprised of 10 golf course superintendents with more than 100 years of golf course knowledge and experience. They are: Mark Clark of Troon Golf & Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Sandy Clark of Barona Creek Golf Club in San Diego; Jeff Corcoran of Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.; Todd Daniel of Riverchase Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.; Pat Finlen of The Olympic Club in San Francisco; David Gourlay of Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kan.; Tim Kennelly of Baltimore Country Club in Baldwin, Md.; Rick Tegtmeier of Elmcrest Country Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Tom Vlach of Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.; and Bruce Williams of The Los Angeles Country Club.

The committee is scheduled to meet at FarmLinks Golf Club this month.
“Our goal with this committee is to identify the most significant finds and come together as a group to discuss and compile a list of the top innovations in the industry,” Langner says. “Based on these recommendations, our internal team will seek the involvement of sponsoring companies for our innovative solutions pavilion at FarmLinks.”

Study examines ball-mark repair
Manhattan, Kan. – Kansas State University researchers concluded golfers should learn how to use their traditional ball-mark repair tool correctly or consider switching to a new tool.

Ball marks can kill grass and wipe out the possibility of a straight-rolling putt. Yet a large number of golfers have never understood the correct way to apply the tool. They use two-inch prongs topped by a thumb-size grip to dig in and lever up the smashed grass and compacted soil. This method often tears plant roots.

“Levering seems logical, but it’s not the way the tool was meant to be used,” says Kansas State Research and Extension horticulturist Jack Fry. “We found the digging and lifting has a more long-lasting effect than leaving the mark unrepaired.”

The new tool used in the study is called a GreenFix, and it abandons the long prongs common to the traditional shape. Looking somewhat like blades from tiny pruning shears, it’s too stubby to create the kind of damage an improperly used traditional tool can.

“You insert the blades at a 45-degree angle into the turf around the edge of the ball mark, and gently push in toward the center,” says Kansas State Research and Extension horticulturist Steve Keeley.

The traditional divot-repair tool requires golfers to insert it into the edges of a mark and use a gentle twisting motion to bring those edges back together.
Researchers assessed their four treatments’ results weekly on the basis of scar size, surface smoothness and turf quality. They found:
• Every ball mark leaves a scar.
• Initially, unrepaired marks cause the poorest surface quality. After healing, they retain a cavity shape that impairs the trueness of ball roll.
• For the first few days, surface quality is better on a well-handled traditional repair than on a GreenFix repair.
• Properly used, both repair tools can help make complete ball-mark recovery in two to three weeks.
• On greens with firmer surfaces, the scar shrinks faster, and recovery takes four days less with a GreenFix than with a traditional tool repair.
• Improper use of the traditional tool doubles the time ball marks need to recover. After healing, surface quality remains reduced, and the mark leaves the largest scar.

Course condition is primary driver for satisfaction
St. Augustine, Fla. – During the 2005 Golf 20/20 conference, results were released from a study conducted about golf’s best customers. The survey, conducted by Golf Digest, looked at core golfers – adults who play eight to 24 rounds a year – and avid golfers – adults who play more than 25 rounds a year. Asked to identify the principle drivers of their satisfaction with a round of golf, respondents overwhelmingly indicated the condition of the golf course has the most influence on a golfer’s enjoyment of the game. Golfers also were asked if they generally prefer to play a course that’s very challenging but not in top condition or one not as challenging but in very good condition. Eighty-eight percent of respondents say they would rather play a course that wasn’t as challenging but in very good condition versus 12 percent who preferred a very challenging venue not in top condition.

RISE launches grassroots effort
Atlanta – RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) created a new grassroots program for managing local pesticide and fertilizer issues.

“Our goal is to strengthen and build alliances in towns and cities across the country and to increase public awareness of the benefits of our industry’s products,” says RISE president Allen James. “Pesticides go beyond beautifying our surroundings – they play a vital role in protecting people, animals and the environment. This grassroots program will help us tell our story in hundreds of communities across the nation, ensuring an informed public and a balanced public-policy debate about the use of specialty products.”

RISE is hiring a grassroots manager and is encouraging industry associations, state and local chapters, individual members and distributors to get involved.

“Everyone working in the specialty industry has an obligation to educate their neighbors, friends and local policy makers about the products they make, sell and use,” James says. “The program will help us speak with one voice and communicate one message: Our products are safe and necessary to sustaining public health and the environment.”