All Episodes
Displaying episodes 1 - 30 of 135 in total
Optimal and practical overseeding windows with Jim Huntoon
Jim Huntoon joined me from Horry-Georgetown Technical College to discuss overseeding and the hows and whys of this common practice on warm-season turf that goes dorman...
Botanical walks, ecoregions, and MLSN for lawns with Maggie Reiter
Maggie Reiter joined me to reminisce about the grasses one can find at the back of the 7th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links, to consider soil test results for lawns, w...
An example of ample light when temperature limits growth
This is a follow-up to the episode last week when I mentioned that I was looking at snow outside, that the light would be ample for growth, but the temperatures were b...
The combination of light (DLI) and temperature (GP)
The growth potential converts air temperature to a 0 to 1 (or 0 to 100%) scale. Of course, there are a lot more things that affect actual growth, including light, nitr...
Leaf N normals from PACE, plus #OM246 video, #MLSN testing, #TurfMath, and soil test frequency
This episode goes through a lot of updates from both the ATC and the PACE Turf websites. Topics discussed include OM246, the problem with frequent soil testing, the pr...
Adam Moeller on sand, #OM246, #ClipVol, and putting green management in 2024
Adam Moeller joined me to discuss how to manage greens in 2024. We talked about his research at Purdue University on sand and bentgrass and coring and N rates, and abo...
Physical testing of golf putting green rootzones & soil nutrient sampling with Brian Mavis
Brian joined me to discuss his recommended soil sampling strategy for an 18 hole golf course. We also discussed what he teaches in a 2 hour GCSAA seminar on physical t...
Forget about fertilizing with carbon, with Dr. Bryan Hopkins
The 2018 article by Bryan and Tyler Hopkins, "Carbon: the next frontier in fertilization?" concludes that we "should not be fertilizing with carbon." Bryan joined me t...
Annual sand topdressing quantities, zoysia seeds, and a measuring laser
Zoysiagrass can seed year round when the conditions are right. In this episode, I discuss what those conditions are, share some tools for getting a site-specific sand ...
Blog post bombs of 2023 with Joe Gulotti
Joe Gulotti, The Talking Greenkeeper, joined me to discuss the ATC blog posts that received the fewest views in 2023. We give these topics one more chance, while talki...
Nitrogen, coring, the pH chart, hourly ET, growth rate, and surface hardness: top posts of the year
With Google Analytics I can check the pages on the ATC website that get the most views. These were the ten posts from 2023 that got the most pageviews.These posts are ...
Photos remind me of what I learned last year
I looked through my "Flights and favorite turf photos" post to see what I learned, or what I was reminded of, through these photos. I discuss N rate, grass species, do...
How a conference education program gets put together with Deb Burnett & Sami Strutt
In 2018, I delivered four presentations/classes at the Continue to Learn education conference in Harrogate, England. Deb Burnett and Sami Strutt from BIGGA joined me t...
Topdressing by rote isn't the best way to do it, with Chris Tritabaugh
Chris Tritabaugh joined me to discuss sand topdressing, a long-running conversation we've been having with Dr. John Kaminski, the quantities of sand and N that are rec...
Robotic automowers for golf course (and all kinds of) turf with Janne Lehto, MG
Janne Lehto from Hirsala Golf joined me to discuss robotic automowers. Hirsala Golf currently has a fleet of 36 machines, mowing all fairways and 75% of the rough with...
Updated OM246 sampling guide, GP is not MLSN, and soil samples don't dry too much
I talked about some recent blog posts, including updated #OM246 sampling instructions, there is no such thing as an MLSN nitrogen rate, soil samples cannot dry too muc...
Wetting agent re-application intervals by growing degree days (GDD) with Bill Kreuser
Can soil surfactant (wetting agent) applications be scheduled based on site temperatures? Can a growing degree day model work for this? Dr. Bill Kreuser, president of ...
Bentgrass greens in Perth summer temperatures with Fraser Brown
Lake Karrinyup Country Club in Perth, Western Australia has creeping bentgrass greens and sometimes sees high temperatures over 40 °C. Course superintendent Fraser Bro...
Maximum N rates that work when linked to growth potential (GP) with Dr. Michael Bekken
I spoke with Michael Bekken about normal nitrogen rates, why they vary so much, why that matters, what a normal N rate linked to growth potential (GP) might be, and gr...
Sand topdressing rates, soil organic matter/material, cultivation, and K with Chas Schmid
Dr. Chas Schmid has been involved with many of the same topics I often study and consider---sand topdressing, potassium fertilization, soil organic matter, putting gre...
Fertilizer by "program" vs. application by a flexible system
This considers fertilizer programs, whether research can be misleading when fertilizer is applied at fixed rates on calendar schedules, and why I'm excited about the u...
Documenting progress by comparing totals from one year to the next with Jon Wall
I was a co-author, in 2013, of an article with the title "Documenting your progress toward sustainability." Jon Wall joined me to discuss this topic, and to consider w...
How much soil organic matter is too much? Plus Zoysia, circle mows, botany, and ecology
I flipped through four recent blog posts, about zoysia seedheads on putting greens, the practical question of how much organic matter (or total organic material is too...
The bobble test scoring scale and what the test is used for with Chris Tritabaugh
Chris Tritabaugh joined me to discuss the #bobbletest scoring scale and the overall utility of this test. It is used for assessing the smoothness and trueness of ball ...
Total organic material testing and reacting to soil test results with John Rowland
Dr. John Rowland from the USGA Green Section Florida region joined me to discuss soil sampling, seasonal soil pH changes, plus sampling and testing methodology for tot...
Change in ball roll on putting greens from morning to afternoon
Everyone knows a golf green is smoothest right after the morning work, with some decrease in smoothness as the day goes on. How much does the smoothness and trueness o...
Using turf math, mg/kg, ppm, and fertilizer rates, with Bjarni Hannesson
Bjarni Hannesson joined me to discuss parts per million (ppm) and how that measure of nutrients in the soil can be expressed as a fertilizer rate, and vice versa. This...
Does a location exist with 365 days a year of high GP for cool-season grass?
The temperature-based growth potential, developed by PACE Turf, transforms the average air temperature to a growth potential (GP). The GP is conveniently scaled from 0...
"Blown away by the quality" of turfgrass by a simple method of adjusting N fertilizer
An anonymous golf course superintendent wrote that they were "blown away by the quality of these surfaces with an amount of nitrogen I would’ve thought was far too sma...
A daily tournament diary from the 2023 KBC Augusta golf tournament in Japan
I spent nine days at the KBC Augusta golf tournament in 2023. In this episode, I introduce the blog post with the daily diary of my observations and measurements durin...