Nearly two and a half years after she first appeared on the podcast, Sue Spahr returned to Wonderful Women of Golf this month to discuss her approach on the course, her work the last three years with the GCSAA’s Research Committee, the relationships she has developed through the burgeoning Women in Turf movement, and more. “You have to really approach the job every day with blinders on and try and figure out exactly what the golfer is going to notice, what they’re going to appreciate, and what they’re going to be discouraged by,” the longtime Swanhills Golf Club (Belvidere, Illinois) superintendent tells Rick Woelfel. “You try to eliminate any negative factors that golfer that’s playing your course today is going to see. I kind of pride myself on that, knowing what the golfer really needs in his experience on our course.”
Disease Discussion returned for its first episode of the spring and summer, with Rutgers University professor emeritus Dr. Bruce Clark and BASF senior technical specialist Kyle Miller joining Guy Cipriano for a dive into developing a successful cool-season disease program, the value of getting ahead (when is there not value to getting ahead?!) and, the bane of so many turf pros, anthracnose. Because anthracnose is a stress-related disease, Bruce says, “When planning a good disease control program for anthracnose, you have to think about your BMPs for anthracnose and make sure fungicides are provided at the proper time and proper amounts.”
Spring is in full bloom and so are our travel schedules. Guy recently visited eight New England courses during a recent swing through Massachusetts and Maine — public and private, small and large, old and … well, most New England courses are at least sort of old. He shares what he learned from so many great course visits on the new episode of Greens with Envy. “I learned a lot about golf, and golf course maintenance, and people management in that really special region,” he says. As for trekking to eight courses across parts of three days, well, “I got a little carried away.”
How did greens overseeding start in the Coachella Valley? And how is the practice still so successful? Our California correspondent Judd Spicer returned to Beyond the Page to discuss his recent magazine feature Overseed Ovation about just that topic. Judd talked with desert superintendents Rick Sall, who launched an annual overseed roundtable back in 1986 (and who might now be more likely to discuss his birding endeavors than his turf career), Tim Putnam, Gerad Nelson, and Jonas Conlan for a must-read story. “There is a brotherhood and there is a fellowship,” Judd says. “These guys and gals, they like to share ideas. They’re friends. They know what’s good for one is good for all.”
Mitch Hunt retired early after his first career as a Yamaha marine dealership owner and, at least for a little while, headed down from Michigan to Florida six or seven months every year. But he was too young for that lifestyle, he tells Trent Manning on the latest episode of Reel Turf Techs, so he applied at Traverse City Country Club, where he is now the equipment manager. “The old equipment manager had been there 22 years,” he says. “There’s something there if he stayed that long.” Just like every episode of the podcast, there are plenty of great equipment tips and tricks, too.
Want to give yourself nightmares? Imagine your course (or your lawn) infested with Virginia buttonweed. Corteva Agriscience turf and ornamental territory manager Phil Bruner made his Talking Turf Weeds debut to discuss the perennial broadleaf weed, which could soon spread well beyond the Southeast. “It does cover a good section of the country,” Bruner says. “It’s a problem every single summer and it’s a bear to deal with, and it kind of slips through a lot of program cracks for turf managers. … You can spread it with mowing, you can spread it culturally, and you really can’t put a barrier down to stop it.”
Golf course architect Rick Phelps wraps up the month with an entertaining Tartan Talks conversation with Guy. Phelps is the son of prolific Colorado designer Dick Phelps but originally wanted to forge his own path — as a broadcaster. He called Colorado Buffaloes games during his years on campus and later worked professionally in that industry. But golf called and he answered. “Now in my mid-50s, I’m probably more enthusiastic about it than in my 20s and early 30s,” he says. “Like everybody in the 1990s, we were so busy that you didn’t have time to wax poetic about anything that you were doing, you were grinding and cranking out work as quickly as you could and chasing down new work and going from there. Now, maybe it’s my age, too, I appreciate my projects a lot more than I ever did, I appreciate my clients a lot more than I ever did, and I’m able to set my pace a little more easily. The enthusiasm and passion is just as strong as it has ever been.”
