Turfnet Radio

In this episode of the TurfNet Turfgrass Hotline, Frank Rossi chats with Dr. Lee Miller of the University of Missouri about prevention, appearance and control of early Pythium root disease... which is not a fungus, he emphasizes. With the very wet conditions this year in many parts of the country, "...all you need for Pythum to get a grip is a pond for it to swim in." He notes that preventative control applications as early as April may be necessary under these conditions. Another topic is winterkill of Zoysia which was particularly bad this past winter in the transition zone. "Dead Zoysiagrass stays dead. It doesn't come back." Brown Patch and other foliar diseases, particularly of tall fescue, have also been particularly severe this year. They wind up the conversation with etiolation of bentgrass, a bacteria that loves hot weather and appears to have a relationship with Primo use. Recent "Bentgrass Bonking": primarily physiological decline due to organic matter holding water and "boiling roots", sometim

In this episode of the TurfNet Turfgrass Hotline, Frank Rossi chats with the always "frank" Rich Buckley of the Rutgers Diagnostic Lab about what he's seeing in the lab and what he's attributing it to: disease or abiotic stresses. Presented by Intelligro/Civitas and DryJect.

In this episode of TurfNet Turfgrass Hotline with Frank Rossi, Steve McDonald of Turfgrass Disease Solutions updates us on the turf disease and cultural conditions of the mid-Atlantic area for August, 2019. Presented by DryJect and Intelligro/Civitas Turf Defense.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp and Stuart Lindsay of Edge Hill Golf Advisors. Jim is a frequent guest on Frankly Speaking, offering his refreshingly contrarian (some would say brutally realistic) view of the golf industry. Stuart Lindsay, a first-time guest, has 45 years of broad experience in golf management and measurement. The group reviews the impact of the abysmal 2018 weather on industry performance, how golf participation metrics are now including off-course activity like TopGolf and golf simulators, and the approach to growing the game by making it fun. Presented by DryJect and Intelligro/Civitas.

A year ago, Mathieu LeCompte became a first-time head superintendent when he accepted the job at Royal New Kent Golf Club in Providence Forge, Virginia, a Mike Strantz design that had become one of the many courses that had closed through the years. LeCompte talks with John Reitman about reviving the course from the ground up, including borrowing equipment from superintendents at nearby golf courses and hiring a completely new crew from the ground up.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Dr. Art DeGaetano of Cornell University about the 2018 National Climate Assessment Report and its impact on the golf industry. Presented by DryJect and Intelligro/Civitas.

In his second season at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, Steve Cook chats with host John Reitman about lessons learned through a long career spanning some of the top courses throughout the Midwest. Steve talks about tournament prep for high-level events like this year's BMW Championship at Medinah and the 2004 Ryder Cup Matches at Oakland Hills in Michigan and his time volunteering for the 2017 Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. Steve also talks about the life lessons he's learned as a superintendent and while climbing mountains around the world, like Ama Dablam in the Himalayas in 2015 and how hanging from a 22,000-foot summit has helped him finally strike a balance between work and life.

In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report, Anthony Pioppi chats with Drew White, new superintendent at The Riverton Country Club in Cinnaminson, NJ, about the Donald Ross restoration project White started one week after he was hired this spring. Follow along on the Riverton CC Agronomy Twitter feed as the project progresses  Presented by Golf Preservations and The Andersons.

In this episode of TurfNet Turfgrass Hotline, Frank Rossi chats with Rich Buckley of the Rutgers Diagnostic Lab about problems, patterns and trends he is seeing in the lab from samples sent in across the country. Recorded June 11, 2019. Presented by Civitas Turf Defense and DryJect.

Andy Magnasco, superintendent at Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel, California, discusses his path to becoming a golf courese superintendent, those who helped him along the way and what he has done to create value in his position and set himself apart from others. This includes initiatives that are not necessarily related to golf, such as keeping bees, growing grapes for wine and lavender for personal care products that help create interest in the property among golfers and non-golfers alike.

In this episode of Living Legends, Bob Zoller of Monterey Peninsula Country Club in Pebble Beach, California discusses his long career that started before the July 4, 1976 bicentennial in one of the country's top golf destinations.  He also discusses golf turf management as a family legacy as well as some of the challenges facing superintendents around the Monterey Peninsula, including drought and water issues. He also talks about the importance of mentoring others and the many superintendents who came up through the ranks working for him. He concludes by discussing his passion for vintage American muscle cars, including a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette.

In this episode of The TurfNet Renovation Report, Anthony Pioppi chats with Eric Johnson, director of agronomy at Chambers Bay, about the recent regrassing of greens from fescue to Poa annua sod. Presented by Golf Preservations -- the greens drainage specialists -- and The Andersons Plant Nutrient Group.

In this episode of the Turfgrass Hotline, Frank Rossi chats with Clint Mattox (@mattoxgolf), graduate research assistant at Oregon State Univ, about the past winter and current springtime turf conditions in the Pacific Northwest... and what to expect as Spring morphs into Summer. Recorded May 3, 2019. Timely Seasonal Snippets brought to you by DryJect and Civitas Turf Defense.

In this episode of the Turfgrass Hotline, Frank Rossi chats with Rich Buckley, director of the Plant Diagnostic Lab and Nematode Detection Service at Rutgers. Topics include pink snow mold, Pythium root rot, anthracnose and surprises that may happen in cool weather when unexpected.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Dr. Ben McGraw of Penn State University on the latest research, control methodology, new larvicide products, adulticide resistance information and BMPs in ABW management. Presented by Civitas Turf Defense and DryJect.

In this tale from The Greens of Wrath on Rockbottum Radio, young Randy relates the story from Burnt Run CC, circa 1971 when he employed certain hallucinogenic tactics to get his night waterman job back. Presented by Vinylguard Golf.

In this April 5, 2019 session of Turfgrass Hotline on TurfNet RADIO, Frank Rossi chats with Dr. Jim Kerns of NCSU about how southern turf is shaping up for the 2019 season. Presented by DryJect and Civitas Turf Defense.

In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report -- presented by The Andersons and Golf Preservations -- host Anthony Pioppi chats with golf course architect Brian Silva. Starting with Silva's "Lego-esque" career path from Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass (AS in turf management, BS in landscape architecture plus graduate work) to instructor at Lake City Community College, to doing site visits with the USGA Green Section and on to working with noted New England golf course architect Geoffrey Cornish, and ultimately his own firm, Brian Silva Design of Dover, NH. According to the humorous and self-deprecating Silva, "I should be somebody by now with my background." Spend an hour or so with Tony and Brian as they discuss some common sense but often overlooked aspects of golf course architecture and how it affects maintenance and playability.

In this episode of Living Legends, George Thompson, CGCS, talks about his lengthy career on the golf course as a superintendent. Topics of discussion include career mentors, including Joe Troll, Ph.D., at his alma mater - the University of Massachusetts, and how management standards and golfer demands have changed through the years. He also talks about his current role mentoring the next generation of golf course superintendents as an educator at Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

Conrad Pannkuk, assistant superintendent at Wynstone Golf Club in North Barrington, talks about his career, the benefits of participating in Nufarm's EXCEL career-development program for assistant superintendents and what his club is doing to address the labor crisis facing the golf turf maintenance industry.