THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE True Champions! 3

FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY Valderrama Club and the 1999 World Golf Championship . 5

GAZING IN THE GRASS Fairway Grass Selection 9

PERSONALITY PROFILE He Just Never Stopped 15

TALES FROM THE BACK NINE It's a lie! . 20

GREEN SECTION SO Far, So Good. 26

NOTES FROM THE NOER FACILITY Even The Weather Was Perfect This Year 29

TDDL A Day in the life of a Diagnostician. 37

MISCELLANY Value of University Research and Extension. 43

GOLF IN THE FLATLANDS In Pursuit of a 44 GCSAA From Start to Finish, 2000 GCSAA Conference Was Tops!. 47 THE EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK A Pathetic Winter . . . . . 55

WISCONSIN SOILS REPORT Soil Cation Balance. . . . 58

JOTTINGS FROM THE GOLF COURSE JOURNAL Made In Wisconsin ...... 62

POA TRIVIA .... 64

ABOUT THE COVER . AB a way of introducing the Wisconsin "Live with intention. Agricultural Statistics Service survey of the Walk to the edge ... Wisconsin turfgrass industry, we take note Listen hard. of those many manufacturers who add so Practice wellness. much to our businesses and to our State's Play with abandon .. economy. They are discussed in a little Laugh! PAST PRESIDENT more detail in Jottings From The Golf Choose with no regret. Scott Scholler Course Journal. We salute Dr. John Stier Continue to learn ... North Shore Golf Club and his role in getting the survey initiated, Appreciate your friends. W6788 Windward Drive and we compliment Jen Sarnerdyke for yet Do what you love. Greenville, WI 54942 another wonderful cover. Live as if this is all there is. ]) - Author unknown THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

True Champions! , By Kris Pinkerton, Golf Course Superintendent, Oshkosh Country Club

was glad to be as if life had not dealt them the rotten hand that had Ion the road come their way. First I glanced at a couple, then read again. Even at each one more intently. The following are some 65 mph, Orlando excerpts of their situation: could not fade into A five-year old from Utah had leukemia which led to the background "pokes" and "yucky'' medicine. But she endured them fast enough. As my with courage and acceptance, and has been cancer first Amateur Tour free for a year. experience out of An eight-year old boy from West Virginia had "cystic state, it was not a fibrosis, but that has not kept him from earning the good one. In fact, President's Physical Fitness Award." An accomplish- to remove any ment I once also tried to achieve. doubt, I played In , a seven-year old had an "aneurysm and badly. stroke. She had to re-learn to sit-up, walk, talk and As our truck even swallow. Now she dances, sings and tells jokes." rolled onto the Finally a courageous young man of nine whose com- interstate, I set- bination of "chemotherapy and determination helped tled back and him beat undifferentiated abdominal sarcoma. Now began to read the he's overcoming another type of cancer, t-cell lym- newspaper that I phoma." had specifically Each child's situation brought me back to earlier in saved to pass time the day. While we were preparing to leave the hotel, a on the way home. new friend stopped to say good-bye. In a positive way, While reading, I without chuckling, he mentioned that I must surely be tried to let the weekend pass into a bad memory. Yet disappointed with the weekend. I was! But I also having shanked at the first tee, almost hitting the tent responded that I was going to take inspiration from a where the gal was seated finalizing registration, was Vince Lombardi quote, which stated that it's not if you too much! I scanned the front page, then flipped to the get knocked down, but whether or not you get up financial section. The market seemed as unpredictable again. as my swing. I continued on reading the paper, looking The children whose stories that I read epitomize for people who were more miserable than 1. Maybe that quote. During the weekend in Orlando, I had Dennis Rodman or Mike Tyson had done something effectively erased all hopes of being invited back next else stupid that would make me feel better about year. Compounded with the fact that I basically myself after my dismal performance in the tourna- shanked my confidence all the way to hell and back. ment. However these kids who are real champions made my As I read through the paper, reacquainting myself problems seem minuscule. In fact, after some thought, with the events of the world that exist outside of golf, I felt a little embarrassed about my own self-pity. I came upon a double full page ad, something about These kids made me want to get back up again. kids being true champions. I scanned the ad quickly I looked at those pictures for a long time that day in and continued on. However, I returned to the ad and the truck. When we stopped for the evening, I had a read it more thoroughly, passing time and avoiding new perspective on the hierarchy of what life throws at conversation with Todd. I did not feel like talking, but us. I could not have held a greater admiration for those more importantly, he might ask me how I shot ...for the who face infinitely more difficult challenges than I, twenty ninth time that day. each and every day. I am also much more grateful for The advertisement honored children who have over- my family, friends and our collective health. These true come or continue to face monumental health prob- champions have admirable spirit. As the sun rises lems, every day of their lives. Along with short details every day, their battle is not for recognition or acco- of their ordeals, were pictures of each child, all smiling lades, but for life itself. *

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SOIL AND SAND PRODUCERS SINCE 1966. FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY Valderrama Golf Club and the 1999 World Golf Championship By Charles Oeepek, Grounds Superintendent, GE/Marquette Medical Systems

Editor's Note: This feature ways, green, tees and roughs. The mowed. He had banned all golf carts should be entitled "From Across greens and approaches are from the course after October 4th, the Atlantic" since Charlie Penncross. The fairways and tees are and all play after the 21st. On day 1, Ocepek's story took place in . Bermuda. The bunkers were filled October 25th, we were unable to roll Charlie experienced a dream with white crushed marble. the greens because of the excessive come true, as this interesting arti- On Monday,October 25th, at 5:30 moisture. Due to the rain, we had to cle demonstrates. A self-described a.m. Mr. Patino held a meeting with edge and shovel up all 98 bunkers. golf nut, Charlie, a 1972 Penn all of the course maintenance crew When the rain stopped, the greens State grad, recently has worked members to discuss the plans for the began to dry out. We began cutting part-time for Wayne Otto for the day's activities and to layout the the greens with the Toro 1000 privilege of playing golf at schedule of activities leading up to machines in a double cut pattern. Ozaukee on Mondays. He was and during the tournament. Green This was followedwith a cleanup cut Wayne's assistant for couple of cutting was scheduled for 5:30 a.m., with the Toro 500 mower. The years in the late 1960s. Danny well before dawn. Lights had been greens were checked with a stimp- Quast got Charlie to roll Medina's installed in the trees surrounding the meter. They read from 10.0 to 10.8 greens for the PGA last summer. greens. The cutting heights for the feet before we started rolling. The That led to a trip to Spain you will tournament were 0.145 inches for mowing crews cut twice around the want to read about here. the greens, 9 millimeters for the fair- perimeter of the fairways and then Thanks to Charlie for writing it. ways and 8 millimeters for the tees. double cut the fairways to avoid tak- And special thanks to Jake Renner The plan was to cut the greens and ing the mowers into the rough. All for suggesting that he do so!It close- approaches with the Toro 1000 clippings were dumped into contain- ly resemhles a journal of tourney machines. The fairways were to be ers placed on patios, strategically activities from the golf course shop. cut with the Toro 3200Dmachines in located alongside the cart paths to In addition to Ozaukee, Charlie a double cut pattern. The tempera- prevent any traffic in the rough by has worked at The Springs and at ture was from 70 to 75 degrees F. It the equipment. The early shift ended Scotsland GolfCourse, in both cases rained over five inches during the without the roller being used. as the golf course superintendent. first three days after my arrival. Mr. Patino asked me to bring out In August, I had the chance to roll Mr. Patino followed this routine the roller and to roll the practice the greens at Medina Country Club each day, starting with the 5:30 a.m. green during the afternoon shift. for Danny Quast during the PGA meeting and then going out to the Everybody was very curious about Championship. I used the Salsco number 10green to whip the dew off the roller and its performance. Model 09010 gas powered Greens the grass as his way of checking the On day 3, October 27th, we fol- Roller.Mr. Jamie Patino, superinten- condition of the course, before it was lowed the previously set routine of dent and owner of the Valderrama Golf Club in Costa Del Sol, Spain, saw the roller in action and asked me about it. Followinga brief discussion, after the PGA tournament, he invit- ed me to come to Spain to demon- strate the roller on his course before and during the World Golf This photo was taken at the 8th Championship in early November. green. The Valderrama golf course has mostly cork oak trees lining the fair- ways and the greens. Its pumphouse is equipped with three 75-horsepow- er turbine pumps which feed 3,700 sprinkler heads that water the fair-

THE GRASS ROOTS MARCH/APRIL 2000 FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY

some hints of approval after the the greens. There was no rain in the day's performance. forecast, but no irrigation was need- On day 5, October 29th, the morn- ed. Following the raking of the ing shift carried out the usual routine bunkers, the surface was smoothed of cutting the fairways, approaches, with a push broom. greens and tees in the same pat- On day 7, October 31st, the crews terns. Mr. Patino asked me to roll the followed the usual routine of morn- greens on the front nine during the ing cuttings. I met Dr. Joe Duich and morning shift and the greens on the Mr. Bill Bengeyfield. They were back nine during the afternoon shift. there as consultants to Mr. Patino. He said he wanted to have the The afternoon shift followed the greens up to 11.6 to 12.0 feet on the usual routine. The course was ready stimpmeter by the start of the tour- for the players to practice on The author, on the right, with Valderrama nament. During the afternoon shift, Monday morning. Golf Club owner Jamie Patino. Mr. Patino decided to cut all the cutting the fairways, approaches, greens to the same height with greens and tees. We did no rolling on groomers. He felt this action would the greens during the morning shift reduce the amount of grass on the Well make because of the recent rains. The sun greens and minimize the spiking by came out after lunch and Mr. Patino the players. Each day,the mechanics you see asked me to bring out the roller. We backlapped the reels on all the rolled four of the greens at random. greens mowers at the end of the green. According to the stimpmeter, the morning shift. green speed increased by eight to 12 On day 6, October 30th, the crews inches. Mr. Patino appeared to be followed the usual routine of morn- pleased with the results. ing cuttings. After all the sand traps On day 4, October 28th, the had been raked, it was decided they morning shift ran the same routine should be watered. I was asked to with the fairways, approaches, double roll all the greens except greens and tees being cut in the numbers one and six. The first green same patterns. Mr. Patino requested was tucked in the trees and its grass that I roll greens two, three, four and was thinner due to the lack of morn- five. Though the assistant superin- ing sun. The sixth green was left out tendents appeared somewhat hesi- because it was a newer green. On the tant about the roller, there were afternoon shift, the crews single cut

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• THE GRASS ROOTS MARCH/APRIL 2000 FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY

On day 8, Monday,November 1st, and the scores showed it. We experi- seemed to please the management of the crews followedthe usual routine enced no rain but there was still no the course since its use made it pos- of morning cuttings. There was no watering of the greens. sible to tailor the green speed to rolling during the morning shift. Mr. Day 14, November 7th, was the allow the scores to fall within the Patino asked me to roll all the greens final round of the tournament. There desired range. except one and sixafter playwas con- was no rolling of the greens. Mr. On day 15, November 8th - a cluded for the day. Numbers 17, 18 Patino decided to triple cut all the Monday - a party was held. and the practice green were rolled in greens during the morning shift. All Everyone acknowledged that the the dark since the lights were not the greens rolled from 12.0 to 12.5 roller had contributed to the success scheduled to be on at night. Ifollowed on the stimpmeter. The roller of the tournament. * my line in the dew on the green. On day 9, November 2nd, the usual routine was followed on the morning shift. The greens began to approach the speed sought by Mr. Patino. The stimpmeter readings EVEN WHEN came out from 11.5to 12.4.The play- ers let us know that the greens were plenty fast. Mr. Patino decided to IT'S EMPTY, refrain from rolling the greens today. Discoloration of the greens had led to the decision to spray iron on them to bring back some of their color. IT'S LOADED. On day 10, November 3rd, I was able to stimp the greens with Juan, the superintendent/pro. The speed was getting very close to that sought for the tournament. On the fifth tee, I talked with Tiger Woods about the speed of the greens. He asked me about the roller we were using. Wow! On day 11, November 4th, the tournament began. We followed the usual cutting routine. Mr. Patino appeared to be happy with the speed of the greens. I only rolled the practice green and the fifth green. During the afternoon shift I single cut the greens. On day 12, November 5th, I rolled the greens according to the stimp- meter readings. If they read less than Our new Turf II is loaded with a great 11.5 feet, then I rolled them. Only a package of standard features. All of which makes a great vehicle an even greater value. few needed rolling. The afternoon Turf II is part of Carryall's complete line (~ shift was spent single cutting the of versatile, dependable vehicles. greens. Mr. Patino asked me to roll the entire slope between the water and the 17th green so that any shots Club Car, Inc. hit short would feed into the water. Club Car Wisconsin Branch On day 13,November 6th, I rolled seven greens that were less than CLUB CAR 4485 South Racine Avenue 11.5 on the stimpmeter. The winds INGERSOLL4tAND New Berlin, Wisconsin 53146 switched around to the southeast Phone: 414-896-9570 and blew warmer and drier. As the Fax: 414-896-9578 day progressed, the greens sped up

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Fairway Grass Selection By Dr. John Stier, Department of Horticulture, University of Wisconsin-Madison

nderneath the melting snows of ways in many areas of the Midwest bentgrass. The stoloniferous growth Uspring the new grass thrives - or because new varieties had greatly habit of creeping bentgrass results in doesn't, if it didn't survive the winter. improved characteristics over older, rapid thatch buildup which must be Snow molds, freezing injury, desicca- coarser varieties. The recent scourge routinely managed, primarily tion, and other injuries damage turf, of gray leaf spot, however, has through core aeration. The lower causing some superintendents (and quenched the enthusiasm for rye- mowing height requirement of sometimes club members) to won- grass fairways. It's probably a good creeping bentgrass has implicitly der if this is the year to replace the thing the lack of cold tolerance pre- greater costs for labor and equip- fairways. But don't get caught mak- vented perennial ryegrass from ment upkeep. Creeping bentgrass ing a poor selection, because a poor becoming a favorite in Wisconsin. requires more frequent irrigation choice is worse than no choice at all. Kentucky bluegrass is the pre- than Kentucky bluegrass. Most The primary turfgrass choices for ferred fairway turf for many low to importantly, creeping bentgrass fairways in Wisconsin are either medium-budget facilities. The pri- requires more routine fungicide Kentucky bluegrass or creeping mary reason for using Kentucky applications compared to Kentucky bentgrass. Ten years ago perermial bluegrass is the reduced mainte- bluegrass. Snow molds, dollar spot, ryegrass became the rage for fair- nance costs compared to creeping take-all patch, and Pythium blight f!slJo!!~!'!J?'u5-ftc

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THE GRASS ROOTS MARCH/APRIL 2000 • GAZING IN THE GRASS

can devastate the appearance of create a turf composed of at least Common types generally have not creeping bentgrass fairways. The three or more genetically distinct gone through an extensive breeding major drawback to a monostand of cultivars to help ensure the surviv- program but are often merely selec- Kentucky bluegrass is necrotic ring ability of the turf in any given situa- tions collected from a natural setting, spot disease, although some cultivars tion. evaluated for a period of time, then are less susceptible than others and Common types. increased for seed production. these should be chosen when a Common types perform better in low The common types are the most monostand is to be grown. maintenance situations compared to reasonable choice for low mainte- One of the drawbacks to the improved varieties because they Kentucky bluegrass fairways has nance situations such as roughs. been their inability to accept the lower mowing heights which are becoming increasingly favored at many golf courses. Recent advance- ments in breeding have spawned a new group of Kentucky bluegrass varieties which perform well at heights of one-half inch. In order to understand where these new vari- eties fit in, though, it's important to realize the scope of differences among Kentucky bluegrass varieties which already existed. Research at Rutgers University allowed existing Kentucky bluegrass cultivars to be classified into one of three main groups based on their growth characteristics: Elite, BVMG, and common. The elite group con- tains several subgroups of varieties with different characteristics. The differences are the result of genetic differences which are similar (con- served) within a subgroup. This knowledge can be used to select a blend of Kentucky bluegrass culti- vars for specific uses or conditions. Proper blending of Kentucky We Drive The World bluegrasses is important because Kentucky bluegrasses are highly apomictic. Apomixis occurs when ToWork And Pla~ the plant produces a viable embryo You may know Club Car' as the most prestigious name on in the seed without the occurrence the golf course. But our Carryall Utility Vehicles are powerful of sexual reproduction. enough to take on the toughest jobs at any work site, any day Consequently, most offspring, and of the week. So no matter how hard you work or play, count most plants within a variety, are on Club Car for world-elass performance and d genetically identical to the parent the power to drive you there. ~ Club Car plant. While this provides a high degree of uniformity in the turf stand from an an aesthetic or playability perspective, the lack of differences among plants within the variety can make a monostand of turf quite sus- N57 W13566'Carmen Avenue. Menomonee Falls, WI 53051 ceptible to a pest, disease, or envi- 1-800-255-4380 rorunental stress. Blends are used to YOUR LOCAL CLUB CAR CONTACT

• THE GRASS ROOTS MARCH/APRIL 2000