What’s Your Best Modification?

Those of you familiar with the 1999 film “Office Space” can recall the infamous “Jump to Conclusions” mat. The mat was the brilliant idea of Tom Smykowski, the disgruntled and paranoid Initech employee. Tom came up with his own invention after being inspired by the creator of the pet rock. After all, that guy made like a million dollars.

The GCSAA trade show is a great place to see the latest and greatest in turf equipment and tools. And while there were many new products, some of the best inventions come from turf managers themselves. Inventions can be as simple as improving an existing product through modification. For example, a Superintendent in California modified his Buffalo blower in order to create a misting system which he could use to syringe greens. The full article with a list of the parts used for the modification can be read here.

I want to hear about your best invention or tool/equipment modification. Images with a description can be e-mailed to iaturfblog@gmail.com. Comments are also welcome.

A Big Finish to a Big Week

Conference season is always a whirlwind of meetings, educational seminars, and trade shows as far as the eye can see. Last week I was in San Diego attending the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show. I participated in the Golf Course Irrigation Auditor program which kept me busy the first two days of the conference. We performed an actual audit at a local golf course and learned how auditing can be a useful tool to fine tune an irrigation system for peak performance.



Wednesday night the Iowa/Nebraska GCSA reception was hosted at Zagarella, a great Italian restaurant in Little Italy. Jon Christenson (Superintendent, Monarch Bay Golf Club, Santa Clara, CA) was presented with the 2009 Iowa GCSA Distinguished Service Award.



Thursday morning brought the much anticipated event for the students who made the trip as they were preparing for the 2010 Collegiate Turf Bowl Competition. This year’s competition consisted of 67 teams from 31 colleges and universities. John Deere sponsored the competition and awarded cash prizes to teams who placed in the top 10. A team from Iowa State University which included Nick Dunlap (Iowa City, IA), Tyler Dykstra (Sibley, IA), Bryan Huinker, (Lakeville, MN), and Caleb Swanson (Nevada, IA) took first place and the $4,000 cash prize.

What a Difference a Day Makes

Some people say that experiencing winter makes you appreciate the summer months more. While Iowa is recieving yet more snow, I am in San Diego to attend the GCSAA Education Conference and the Golf Industry Show. The weather here is spectacular and it's hard not to have a smile on your face. While I am here, items on the agenda include participating in a Certified Golf Course Irrigation Auditor course and assisting a group of Iowa State students who will be participating in the Collegiate Turf Bowl.

ISU will be trying to recapture the title after finishing second to Purdue University last year. Updates will follow later in the week.

Marcus Jones
Graduate Research Assistant

Japanese Beetle - Reported Distribution

By the end of 2009 the Japanese beetle had been reported in 46 counties within the state of Iowa. The beetle is still primarily an eastern Iowa pest with a smattering of reports in the western half of the state. The updated distribution map is above.

Please keep us in mind next summer and send specimens or photographs from counties with no reports.

Thanks. Donald Lewis, Extension Entomologist

GREEN GRASS AND HIGH MARKS: Kirkwood students place well in national turfgrass competition

A group of Kirkwood Community College Ag Science students made a good “first impression” during a recent national competition. The students in Kirkwood’s Golf Course and Athletic Turfgrass Management competed in the National STMA Challenge in Orlando, Fla. The mid-January events gave students in both two- and four-year college programs a chance to prove their knowledge and skills in a variety of competitive events.

A group of six students and Ag Science Instructor Troy McQuillen competed in the competition at the Sports Turf Management Association Conference in Orlando. This was the inaugural year for Kirkwood’s involvement in the competition.

A total of 125 students from around the nation participated in the event, with six students and McQuillen representing Kirkwood. McQuillen called the students’ work “terrific, especially for their first year” in the contests.

“We had had two teams out of 36 competing in the competition. We were pretty proud of their performance, plus it gave the students a bigger view of the industry and their job prospects,” McQuillen said.

The teams were divided between two-year degree and four-year degrees. The Iowa competitors were divided into three-man teams: Kirkwood Team 205 included Michael Burkle of Monona; Brandon Cooper, Tama; and Brandon Vogt, Marion. Team 204 was made up of Paul Swafford, Fairfield; Tyler Janssen, Ackley; and Adrain Rubey of Danville.

Team 205 placed third out of 15 two-year teams and Team 204 placed eighth. The students competed at the Disney Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando. Each student had two and a half hours to complete a 100-question, multiple-choice test, then conduct 40 live-sample identifications of grasses, weeds, diseases, and insects. Finally, students had a write an essay on a turf-related topic.

“It is notable that first place honors went to Penn State University’s diploma program, second place was Virginia Tech University’s diploma program, and third place was our own Kirkwood Community College Team 205. Another truly successful thing about the event is that we placed first against all other community colleges,” McQuillen observed.

In order to attend the competition, the Kirkwood students conducted fund-raisers over the last year to pay for travel expenses.

Waste Reduction through Repurposing

I recently read an article in GOLF Magazine called, “The Guilded Age of Golf Course Design is Dead.” The article discusses how the economic downturn has affected the golf course architecture and construction business and speculates how the industry will move forward in the future. In the article, one golf course architect points out the excess inventory that currently exists. He predicts that the new trend in construction will be renovating existing golf courses rather than starting new projects. Part of the renovation would include reevaluating all of the components of the business in hopes of creating a successful facility, a philosophy he calls “repurposing.” Part of the reevaluation would include such key strategies such as incorporating sustainable principles that help lower the operating costs of the facility. One thing that most architects agreed upon was that the days of lavish spending and unlimited resources were gone.

The maintenance side of golf is experiencing the same concerns. Superintendents are rethinking and reevaluating how they conduct business, or repurposing. An easy way to get started repurposing is to evaluate the waste generated from your maintenance facility. A guide for golf courses designed to help them identify and employ pollution prevention techniques can be viewed below. The guide discusses various wastes common to golf courses and provides pollution prevention recommendations for each.

Golf Course Waste Reduction

View more documents from iaturfblog.

Marcus Jones
Graduate Research Assistant

Iowa Turfgrass Conference & Trade Show Recap: Jeff Wendel, CGCS

First, I want to thank ALL our Exhibitors, Attendees, Speakers and Staff for making the 2010 ‘show’ a success despite the incredible challenge presented by our delightful Iowa weather. It is no surprise to me this group was able to deal with inclement weather, as they do so all the time. Our show works because Turfgrass Managers work. I could not possibly imagine a better group of people to work for!

I also want to thank Marcus Jones for his numerous contributions to the 76th Annual Iowa Turfgrass Conference & Trade Show. All of Marcus’ presentations were excellent and everyone appreciates his enthusiasm and dedication to Turfgrass Management.

Very Special thanks to the management and staff at the Downtown Marriott for their expert handling of our Reception. I think they proved that electric power is a luxury that is needed but not a ‘deal breaker.’ The Reception was perfect and the attendees and Marriott staff deserve another ‘whoo- hoo.’

While Conference is fresh in people’s mind I would encourage them to contact the Iowa Turfgrass Office with ideas for the 2011 event. Anyone who is interested is moderating a session, speaking, or who has a topic or speaker idea can contact me: jeff@iowaturfgrass.org or 515-232-8222.

Finally, I must thank our Keynote, Tim Gard, CSP, CPAE for his contribution. The ‘bummer’/’whoo-hoo’ theme fit perfectly for the ‘hills and valleys’ that constituted the 2010 Iowa Turfgrass Conference & Trade Show. I cannot possibly count the number of times someone told me, “Best Keynote Ever.”

Jeff R. Wendel, CGCS
Iowa Turfgrass Institute
17017 US Hwy 69
Ames, IA 50010-9294
www.iowaturfgrass.org