Turfnet Radio

Join Kevin Ross of On Course Turf and Dave Wilber of The Turfgrass Zealot Project for a Jam Session like no other! Call it experimental or explorational or just plan fun. Kevin and Dave sit down for a session. And no topic is off limits. With more than 60 years of combined experience in direct hands on agronomy life, there is bound to be some wisdom. And good chops to hear. This session includes riffs around Tiger Woods, Anxiety and Depression, Clipping Volume and more. The mics and recorders are on you get to enjoy The Jam.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank chats with Chris Zugel, CGCS, golf course superintendent of the Straits course at Whistling Straits in Kohler, WI. Chris relates his experience working both for the Kohler Company and at a famous resort course that has hosted various championship events, including the 2004, 2010 and 2015 PGA Championships and the 2007 U.S. Senior Open. It is also the future site of the 2020 Ryder Cup.  The Pete Dye-designed Straits course is stretched along two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, shares 500 acres of rough with the Irish Course at Whistling Straits, and has over 1000 bunkers on the Straits course alone. Spend some time with Frank and Chris to get a glimpse of managing a high end golf course facility in a challenging location.

In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, live from Rockbottum Country Club, an emergency occurs when Sheriff Sanders is spotted playing the back nine, naked. Wait, everyone on the back nine is throwing their clothes off and rolling on the ground or jumping in the pool! Must be those mushroom cheeseburgers at the turn. But Momma has gone to the store to get more. Willy talks with Brutus, Ludell’s dog who specializes in goose control, about maybe taking care of the chickens too. Augusta TV conditions at Rockbottum? Not on a "dirt greens and crabgrass fairways" budget, Momma advises. And in Storytime, "A Dark Family Secret Revealed". Randy revisits Mystery Valley Golf Course in Redan, GA, where Dad worked as superintendent but the golf pro thought he was in charge... Presented by VinylGuard Golf.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank chats with Dr. Dale Bigelow of Purdue University about rootzones, including the latest research and thinking on... maintaining optimal soil moisture on new greens, older greens, California greens the value of vacuum extraction devices (likeon new versus older greens… vacuum extraction vs oxygenating via reverse operation; regional differences surface fans, and soil biology. Presented by DryJect and Civitas.

In this episode of The Ladder, host John Reitman chats with Pete Bachman, superintendent at San Jose Country Club for the past two years. Pete describes his experiences managing a golf course in Silicon Valley, gathering experience at Pebble Beach and Winged Foot, what he learned (and didn't learn) at Penn State, and the value of a month in Mexico. Presented by STEC Equipment.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank chats with professor Dale Bremer of Kansas State University. A native of Nebraska, Bremer grew up on a farm with an interest in meteorology and wound up with an undergraduate degree in agronomy (emphasis in tallgrass prairie rather than turf) and later a PhD in Micrometeorology.  A "non-turf guy", Bremer's expertise is in micrometeorology related to turfgrass ecosystems including water conservation, turfgrass environmental stress, and exchanges of greenhouse gases between turfgrass and the atmosphere... including off-gassing of nitrous oxide from a nitrogen fertilizer application. How concerned should the turfgrass industry be with the loss of nitrogen to the atmosphere via nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas that traps heat and destroys ozone? What can turf managers do to mitigate or minimize this? Hint: Polymer-coating can reduce nitrous oxide release by 20%, compared to straight urea. Can fertilizing rates be reduced on lawns, amenity turf, and fairway turf (we'r

In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report, presented by Golf Preservations, host Anthony Pioppi chats with Len Curtin, superintendent at the city-owned George Wright Golf Course, a 1932 Donald Ross course in Boston. The task of bringing the busy course up to current standards within the fiscal and labor constraints of a city-owned facility has been a rewarding challenge for Curtin, superintendent there since 2004.

In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, the gang exposes the truth behind the GMO controversy... the most important Rockbottum tip ever... aerial marshals... robot bunker rakes... laser holographic tee markers, and why three preachers beat up Buddy. Also, Brian Nettz calls in from California under an assumed name, Spaulding Bass. In Storytime, we provide a look inside the mind of golfers.  Golfparasites.com? Tweetarrhea?

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Zach Reineking, superintendent at Erin Hills Golf Club about how the club came to host the 2017 US Open and what it was like to host it as a golf course superintendent... including the hangover that follows.

In this episode of Living Legends, presented by the Nufarm Insider, host John Reitman chats with Dr. Al Turgeon, retired professor emeritus of turfgrass management at The Pennsylvania State University. Turgeon learned a work ethic early on in his father's restaurant and then developed a love of the outdoors and turfgrass by working for his uncle, Bruno Vadala, at Metropolis Country Club in White Plains, NY. A stint in VietNam as an Army helicopter pilot gave him a new perspective on life and he turned his attention to teaching. One of his more recent accomplishments before his 2011 retirement was spearheading the development of Penn State's World Campus distance learning program. Presented by the Nufarm Insider.

From when he first started caddying at Muirfield Village while in high school, Phil Shoemaker has spent most of his career within a stone's throw of Jack Nicklaus. In this episode of Living Legends, host John Reitman chats with Phil about his first stint at Desert Highlands in 1982 through moves to the Loxahatchie Club in Jupiter, Florida, TPC Scottsdale and back to Desert Highlands in 1999... where he remains today. Phil attributes much of his career success to luck and timing... being in the right place at the right time, knowing what you want and being willing to embrace change when the opportunity presents itself. Spend a half hour with Phil Shoemaker and John Reitman. Presented by the Nufarm Insider.

In this episode of The TurfNet Renovation Report, host Anthony Pioppi chats with Doug DeGrood, past chairman of the grounds committee at the Minikahda Club in Minneapolis. They discuss the pros, cons and politics involved in the upcoming fairway and greens regrassing of the famed Donald Ross course. Presented by Golf Preservations, greens drainage and total renovation services.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with David Bataller, Director of Golf Operations at PGA Catalunya Resort near Barcelona, Spain. An admittedly bad student who was "fired from high school", David went on to high school and riding BMX bikes in Kansas before embarking on his career at PGA Catalunya. After serving as golf course superintendent for 15 years, he was recently promoted to Director of Golf Operations. David quips that he has never been fired from a golf course. PGA Catalunya is a GEO-certified (Golf Environment Organization) property. Listen in as Frank and David discuss it, along with David's trials with hydrogen peroxide to dissolve surface organic matter.

Broadcasting from our mountain cabin as we take a break from golf for some trout fishing, we sit around the campfire and learn why Momma decided to ban tobacco at Rockbottum CC (Something terrible happened at the US Open) Also, Brandy Chablis, noted turf expert, gets nominated for the Angry Elf Trophy, Ludell explains Toxic Masculinities and TurfNet cyclist Ty Magner wins the National Championship. Presented by VinylGuard Golf.

In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report, host Anthony Pioppi chats with Scott Ramsay, CGCS, about the ongoing restoration of the Seth Raynor-designed classic at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Ramsay has been at Yale since 2003 and was the TurfNet Superintendent of the Year in 2006. Working for an academic institution, he occasionally claims the tongue-in-cheek title of "Director of the Department of Applied Botany" at Yale. The "renovation of the renovation" at Yale -- a complete renovation was finished up in 2003 -- focuses on reclaiming lost green area and tree removal. The Yale course in the middle of a 450 urban forest owned by the university. Ramsay quips that "we don't measure greens here in square feet... we measure them in acres".  He relies on a 1934 aerial map along with poking a lot of holes to find the gravel choker layer that Raynor liked to use. Once the original green outline is determined, he uses the "scalp and pray" method to bring the turf to green height. He also d

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Dr. Frank Rossi chats again with Jim Wagner of the Hanse Design Group, this time about his current project working with Paul B. Latshaw (again) at the East Course of Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, PA. How critical is the golf course superintendent in a renovation project? Wagner says that the ultimate success of a project can be predicted by gauging the enthusiasm level of the superintendent, and that often depends on their inclusion in early conversations and later in the decision-making processes. How can superintendents leverage the current and continuing influx of investment money into golf course renovation projects? Listen and find out. The "Howard Stern of TurfNet?" Really? Presented by Civitas/Intelligro and DryJect.

In this episode of Living Legends, presented by the Nufarm Insider, host John Reitman chats with Bob Farren, director of golf course maintenance at the Pinehurst Resort. With nine courses, seven superintendents and up to 250 full and part-time staff, management of the Pinehurst courses seems a daunting task, but one which Farren takes in stride. Spend a half hour learning about how one of the most visible people in golf turf management became so, starting with his family involvement growing up in West Virginia and moving along to mentoring and developing an army of former assistants. Farren weighs in on how the industry and superintendent responsibilities have changed over the years, and if he were King for a Day, what he would do to "fix" golf. For one, he would start by eliminating out of bounds from the game.

In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, Randy explores Skeletal Golf Theory (SGT) and why it's important (think "Contingency Plan"). Also, Rockbottum gets a corporate makeover, the truth about collecting and weighing clippings, and that "new" spray out there.  Finally, a consultant story, the winner of the Turpentine Corncob Award, and in Storytime, a tale from the days when golf courses were closed on Mondays. Be sure to check out this jam-packed podcast and catch up with all the latest Reality Philosophy, Business Genius and other cut-through-the-smoke-and-mirrors Common Sense from Rockbottum Country Club... where stark reality reigns. Presented by VinylGuard Golf.

In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report, host Anthony Pioppi chats with Michael Vessely about the 2016 renovation of the long-fallow William Langford/Theodore Moreau 9-hole golf course at Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana. Vessely, now golf course superintendent at Culver Academies, explains how the "Picasso was discovered in their attic" and Bobby Weed and Chris Monti brought in to spearhead a complete recovery/restoration project. And there's a Dye connection as well! Listen in as Tony and Mike dig into how the Langford/Moreau classic was brought back to life as a rustic, classic early 20th Century golf course with 2018 conditioning. Presented by Golf Preservations, offering golf course drainage and full renovation services.

In yet another fascinating discussion, Dr. Frank Rossi chats with Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp, about the current state of the golf industry. In an era of "flat is the new 'up'", 2017 was a "solid sideways" for golf. Some metrics are indicating that the slide of recent years is abating somewhat. Spend 45 minutes for a better understanding of where golf is and where it can go... both good and bad.