The first semester is fast approaching its end. Only one week left of regularly scheduled classes and then its off to exams.

This past semester Owen Roberts, Andrew Douglas and Anne Douglas have taken the time to help us along with our blogs. This has been an interesting experience keeping up to date tabs on what’s going on in the turf industry. Not only are our blogs being recognized by industry professionals they are helping us communicate with people all across the net. I have become a more confident writer because of this. It’s nice to have a place where you can throw ideas out in the open and no one criticizes your beliefs or theories. I think this will become very important in the future with both superintendents and industry professionals alike. Sharing ideas with each other and even tossing out ideas that may seem ridiculous.

All and all I really have enjoyed this experience. And I’m sure I will continue it in the second semester. So for all my followers out there, stay connected because you will be hearing more from me in the new year.

-Josh

Well the date has come and gone and now we only have memories of a very successful day. Friday November the 27th the DTM class 1500 hosted their annual fall turf grass symposium. The event was designed to bring in industry professionals as well as former and current DTM students with the chance for them to network.

The day started off early. Speakers were set to start at 9:00 am, therefor a coffee was needed to start the day. The day was highlighted with several unique speakers that would provide guests with a chance to hear about something other than the cosmetic pesticide ban. Dr. Tom Hsiang was set to start things off at 9:00 am with a talk on organic compounds for treating brown ring patch and pink snow mold. Tom made the presentation both exciting and interactive. Next on was Ron Scheidel who is Co-owner of Green Horizons Sod Farm. Ron gave the audience a run through about his company and all the services and products they offer. Marie Thorne gave a quick presentation on about Syngenta and how they relate to the turf industry. Finally we heard from both Keith Bartlett and a group of students from our class. Keith is the Superintendent at St. Georges Golf & Country Club. Keith faces the challenge of hosting the 2010 RBC Canadian Open. He talked about some of the changes that the course needed to make in order to host the event.

The event in my opinion ran very smoothly with few if any situations arising. The food was fantastic and the room was filled with the right amount of guests. I don’t think things could have gone much smoother with the time we were provided to set this event up.

Cheers,

-Josh

 

This past week I flew back to Winnipeg to visit family and friends. While in town I stopped in at St. Charles to speak with my superintendent Kerry Watkins. I needed to discuss the up coming season and review some of the goals that we were setting for myself. Kerry also informed me of some of the changes that have taken place since I left in late August.

Kerry took me on a tour of the course and showed me some of the major changes that had taken place recently. On the 5th hole on the Ross design course there were some large oaks removed from around a green site. This has been a major problem for this hole in the past. It only receives a limited amount of light in the early morning. With these trees now removed the green site should be able to provide better growing conditions for turf. Also on the 2nd hole on the Mackenzie course some new drainage was installed in the fairway. This will be beneficial for the coming season. Last year that section of the fairway was hit hard with constant water pooling. This caused the turf to die and it was constantly roped off.

With all these new improvements to the course it should make it easier to maintain in the coming season. St. Charles has quite a year ahead of it and I can’t wait to be a part of this ever evolving golf course.

-Josh

This past Thursday we visited the Agrium Advanced Technologies slow release nitrogen blending plant in Putnam, Ontario. This was a first for us. We have been to several golf courses so far but we have never taken in anything like this. The tour was broken up into two separate mini tours. One being inside in an office and the other being a hands on tour where we got to tour the blending facilities.

Our host for the inside portion was Brian Bennett. While inside we went over the different products that Agrium Advanced Technologies and its many partners produce. We learned some of the benefits of Polymer coated Urea as well as the impact it has vs the old sulfer coated urea. We also talked briefly about a new product on the market this year called Sarritor. Sarritor is a fungus that targets weeds and destroys them. The fungus is passed onto the weeds from a barley grain, this is where the fungus makes its home until it comes in contact with the weed. The product however needs to be spot treated and it is fairly expensive. It however is a good way to combat weeds.

Todd Christo was our tour guide for the second half of the day. Todd took us on a tour of the blending facilities. Inside they also have an assembly line of workers that package product to go out to the market. The warehouses are stacked full of product waiting to go out.

I really enjoyed the tour and I took away new knowledge that will hopefully benefit me in the future. I also took away a new appreciation for what goes on behind the scenes in fertilizer manufacturing. And thats my blog for this week, stay connected!

-Josh

This past Monday we were lucky enough to have a guest speaker come in and share ideas with the class. His name you might be wondering? Tim O’Connor, President of O’Connor Golf Communications which is in fact located right here in Guelph! Tim spent a fair amount of time telling us stories of clients he works with and how to make the most of your communication experiences.

In 1998, Tim became Director of Communications for  ClubLink Corporation before starting O´Connor Media in 2000. In 2006, Tim renamed the company O´Connor Golf Communications. Tim has been involved in the writing of several books, The Feeling of Greatness : The Moe Norman Story, The Ladies’, and The Final Missing Piece of Ben Hogan’s Missing Puzzle. Tim has covered several big name tournaments including, Masters, Canadian Open, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Tim has been named International Network of Golf Reporter of the Year three straight years (1994-95-96). Tim is also a graduate of the University of Western Ontario.

I thought what Tim brought to us was unique as it was something we had never been exposed to. It was neat to hear his stories of Moe. Moe Norman is a Canadian golf legend that many people don’t know of. It was nice to know there are other Moe admirers out there other than myself. I for one will buy the movie when it comes out. Thanks again to Tim for taking the time to come in and share some new knowledge with our group.

 

-Josh

 

On the road again, this time we ventured down to Westmount Golf & Country Club in Kitchener. Cory Janzen the golf course superintendent greeted us upon arrival. We were here to see their new state of the art irrigation system as well as how they manage with excessive shade around the green sites.

Our tour began with a brief overview of the courses history. Westmount was opened in 1931. Stanley Thompson was the course architect, Mr. Thompson has designed many other world-renowned courses throughout Canada and the United States. Westmount had a serious problem with their irrigation system. It was out of date and it didn’t put out as much water as was needed. At the time they were drawing water from an old well that provides the city of Kitchener with its drinking water. In 2002 they put in a new irrigation system along with a water holding reservoir. This meant that they had more freedom while they watered. The new system allowed them to operate more heads and put out more water thanks to the new pumps. Janzen seems to be quite happy with the new system and suggested it was necessary for the well-being of the clubs future.

The course was in fantastic shape. I loved the old course design and the constant elevation changes. Although subtle they are still game impacting. I look forward to seeing this property in the summer at its very best.

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On a second note, the class of 2011 is holding a symposium at the Cutten Club in Guelph. At this event we will be showcasing several exciting speakers, trouble shooting new problems and networking. If you are interested in the well-being of the turf grass industry this would be a great chance to get out and listen to new ideas as well as suggest solutions to current problems.

-Josh

Another week has come and gone, and the DTM class of 2011 has seen another bus ride. This time we were off to the Islington Golf Club in Toronto. Our tour guides for thursday were superintendent Robin Stafford and second assistant Aaron Weinberg. Aaron also happens to be a recent Guelph graduate. The reason we ventured on down to Islington was to observe some interesting course renovations. Islington had a terribly old irrigation system and it was time for a new one!

The golf course has seen many superintendents over the years and they have all had different methods to maintaining the property. Islington had several serious problems. A gentleman built his house within firing range of the third tee, therefor Islington was given no choice but to put up a large barrier fence. Also many of the greens had large deciduous trees around them that cast shade upon the green. As we all know grass needs light to grow and many of these trees needed to be removed. While in the process of putting in the new irrigation system Islington put in a reservoir to hold and treat water. The Mimico creek water is very salty and it is not the best to be watering with.

Islington was a neat experience. It was nice to hear Robins opinions on how to go about installing a new irrigation system. I can see that in the next couple years becoming a must at my home course, so it was nice to actually see a project like that going on first hand. That does it for my blog this week, stay connected!

-Josh

This past week the class ventured down to Glen Abbey Golf & Country Club. Glen Abbey was the host of the 2008 Canadian Open. It has also hosted the Open 24 previous times. Scott Bowman was our tour guide who also happened to be the Superintendent. He spoke primarily about preparing for the 2009 open. But he also touched base on course infrastructure, and the importance of airification.

Glen Abbey was designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1976. It has hosted the Canadian Open more times than any other  course. Glen Abbey is home to the RCGA and the ClubLink Academy. Holes 11 through 15 are all located in the valley while the remainder of the holes are located outside of the valley. Hole 15 is a short par 3, this year it yielded 8 hole in ones…….all in one day! Mark Calcavecchia also set a new PGA tour record when he went on a tear from holes 12-2. In that stretch he birdied every hole.

I thought the experience was one of a lifetime. It’s not every day a guy from the prairies gets to visit the home of the Canadian Open. Scott was eager to answer all my questions and even took the interest in asking where I was from and where I worked. All in all I took away a new respect for what it takes to host a PGA tour event. I can’t wait to go back and see what the course looks like in the summer!

-Josh

Lambton Golf & Country Club has a rich history when it comes to both golf and tennis. However the golf course was in need of a dire makeover. Lambton needed to pull massive amounts of water from the Humber river to water the property. But they were told they were no longer allowed to pull those quantities. They needed a solution, they needed a reservoir  to hold the water.

Lambton set out to find an architect to take over the project, they had a few in mind but they decided on Rees Jones. Rees is known for working with older championship clubs. It was quite obvious they wanted to do it right this time. Earlier this fall they began demolition on the course. This included tearing up existing greens, fairways, tees and trees. Lambton’s crew was responsible for removing 400 existing tree’s. The rough was done in big roll bluegrass, while the greens and fairways were seeded. The surrounds were done with bluegrass small roll. All the existing trees they wanted to protect were placed under TPZ (tree protection zones) where they received orange snow fence and signs from the city. Completion for the project is set for mid august 2010.

I thought that this trip was amazing. Lambton is very similar to the club I work at now. It has many of the problems that my course has and it’s nice to see someone willing to get up and deal with the problems properly rather than making lots of quick fix’s that never seem to work long term. I can’t wait to come back and see what the course looks like once it is all filled in. It should be one of Canada’s premier clubs.

-Josh

Sod is a major player in our industry. Not only is it faster and practically weed free, it is more convenient. Golfers don’t want to be waiting an entire year to be playing on turf, they want it now! Seeding takes months to grow in to full potential, sodding takes a matter of weeks. It is already established and ready to play. Where are you getting your sod?

Greenhorizon sod farm has been in business since 1975, focusing primarily on kentucky bluegrass. It was founded by Richard Schiedel and is now run by his two sons Ron and Steve Schiedel. Ron runs the operation out of Cambridge Ontario and Steve runs the business from Hamilton Ontario. Greenhorizon also dabbles in other areas. They were the first ones in North America to offer bulk bag black topsoil in a cubic yard bag. This is convenient for a residential homeowner who wants to add sod to their property. After construction you’re yard is usually a mess. It then makes sense to add the topsoil before you add your sod. Also if you have a garage that is in dire need of a clean up, Greenhorizon can also help you there. They offer a climate controlled public storage program. They bring a storage unit to your house, and then take it away once our done with it.

After visiting the sod farm I took away a new appreciation for where this stuff comes from. If you are re-sodding an area on your golf course or simply adding turf to your front lawn, you should definitely take a tour of the facilities. I know you won’t think twice about buying once you see the quality of product Greenhorizon offers.

-Josh