Build up buzz

Coming out of the winter months, the superintendent’s top goal is to return to appealing green fairways versus the winter brown look as quickly as possible. Superintendent John Newton of Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames, Iowa, has turned to turf colorants to help the green come back to his turf faster.

“We saw earlier season green up (last year),” Newtown said. “I’d say two weeks or so.”

Newton said a Becker Underwood rep came out last year and to demonstrate how Green Lawnger would work on their course. The golf course did not previously use anything like colorant during the winter months, nor did they overseed. So Newton had them spray it on one green at first to see what would happen.

Newton liked what he saw, and as time went on so did the golfers playing at Veenker Memorial.

“We get questions of why our course is green and the others around us are not,” he said. “I take that as a positive comment.”

The look of the course might not have directly translated into more rounds played, but it certainly kept the local buzz around his course. As for the cost of colorants versus extra income seen coming last year, Newtown wasn’t sure how much of an impact it made to the bottom line.

“That is difficult to say,” he said. “It’s always exciting when it’s green out here compared to brown. But it’s hard to say how much a difference on income it made for us last year.”

In the case of Green Lawnger, the colorant will last about three months depending on the application rate and mowing frequency, according to Dr. Mark Howieson, technical team leader at Becker Underwood.

Newton will be using colorants again this year to support his turf after all the positive reactions around the course. Giving colorants a chance works best with some testing, he said.

“I would always try an area, split a green or split tees,” Newtown said. “At least try it, see if it helps.”