Turfnet Radio

Josh Lewis joins this episode of Frankly Speaking to discuss his career and the challenges and opportunities he has had from his early days at Bandon Dunes to Chambers Bay and now in Project Management as a partner in Gradoville and Hertzing Management Group. Josh reflects on his journey to becoming a golf course superintendent and the many relationships he has had and has nurtured along the way. Of course, homage is paid to Professor Tom Cook at Oregon State University who views his student as his measure of success, certainly Josh would be counted among them.

Anthony Pioppi chats with Jeff Sexton, CGCS, about the recently opened 10-1/2 month campus-wide renovation of Evansville (IN) Country Club. ECC brought in Beau Welling Design for the architecture and Heritage Links as the construction contractor. Sexton said the membership at ECC was patient and understanding throughout the project, and is ecstatic with the results. The golf course reopened on Memorial Day, with a new driving range and short-game area opening July 1. Jeff touts the contributions of his assistant and equipment manager in helping keep him and the project in line and on task. He also talks about the value of his Twitter account in documenting and communicating the progress of the project, while also serving as an outreach and marketing tool to the general public in the greater Evansville area. 

Dr. Stan Kostka joins Frank on this episode of Frankly Speaking to explore the important and timely topic of water repellent soils, the use of surfactants and the potential role of surfactants on critical soil water and rooting relationships. Stan and Frank discuss different surfactant chemistries and their potential use to mitigate localized dry spots, enhance seed establishment and manage certain soil borne diseases and insects. This is a classic “deep dive” (no pun intended) into soil water management with one of the worlds leading experts.

A long-awaited conversation with Frank and his old friend and mentor Brad Klein. Brad and Frank talk about their relationship dating back to GolfWeek's Superintendent News, caddying for Bernhard Langer, translating complicated science to golfers and a variety of opinions on golf course architecture and what it has been like to speak truth to power. Brad takes on living and dead golf architects, challenges our conventional wisdom about the golf industry , best ways to help superintendents work with PGA pros and shares his thoughts on golf’s biggest challenges. No opinions here.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank chats with Josh Smith, the golf course superintendent of Orinda CC in Northern CA. As usual, Frank and Josh cover a lot of ground from his early days in golf course construction and having his paintings commissioned by the likes of Weiskopf and Doak, to his current role as GC Superintendent and the founding and operation of Flag Bag Inc., specializing in custom golf bags made from used golf flags. Josh might be one of the most interesting people in golf course management. This is a good listen!

In this episode, the Rockbottum CC gang gets tangled up in AI golf, but Momma figures out how to neutralize the situation.

Frank has a conversation with Tyler Bloom about the current and future labor issues facing the golf industry. Tyler outlines the value of investing in recruiting and retaining talent at every level of your organization. As usual Frank and Tyler cover a lot of ground in a short period of time, but still have time to talk about the impact of automation and technology on the workforce of tomorrow. Always an interesting conversation.

In this episode, Willy and the gang struggle to complete the radio show while running the golf course and finally just give up and go straight to Storytime for a tale about an Alphabetic Turf Consultationist . . . who hated Rockbottum CC.

Frank had a chance to catch up with an old friend and renowned turfgrass scientist Dr. Roch Gaussoin on the eve of his recent USGA Green Section Award. Roch and Frank catch up about his storied career that led to him receiving the USGA award. The conversation eventually leads to some fascinating information about organic matter testing and development, precision agriculture and the field of turfgrass science at the national and international level.

Frank reconnects with Paul MacCormack, The Mindful Superintendent, to reflect on 10 years of mindfulness practice and living life in a more intentional way. Frank and Paul discuss unlearning, and letting things go as means for offering yourself permission to be present and be human. This wonderful conversation ranges from vulnerability and failure, to how to navigate the path out of the pandemic using mindfulness skills with practice. Paul ends the program guiding us through some box breathing. Take a minute and give this one a listen!

In this episode, Ludell is accused of embarrassing behavior at BIGGA, Boof tries to win a women's golf tournament and RW discusses modern tournament cup-changing methods. Presented by DryJect

In this episode of the TurfNet Renovation Report, host Anthony Pioppi chats with Matthew Staffieri of MAS Golf Construction (Hopkinton, MA) about building a successful golf course construction business from scratch. Staffieri graduated from UCONN with a degree in agronomy and then worked at The Country Club for the 1999 Ryder Cup, where he became intrigued with the idea of shifting careers from golf course maintenance to construction. Teaming up with golf course architects is part of the process.

So who graduates from UMass in 1971 with a BS in Plant and Soil Science, takes an assistant job at a very private/secretive 500 acre facility on the NY/CT border, gets promoted to superintendent three months later, grows in a new back nine... and then stays for 51 years? We'll tell you who: Mike Maffei, CGCS, recently retired golf course superintendent at Morefar in Brewster, NY. Google "Morefar" and you won't come up with much. "A lot of newcomers to Brewster don't even know it's there," quipped Maffei. "We keep a low profile." Only two months into retirement, Maffei still says "we" rather than "them". 51-year habits are hard to break. This is a fascinating story of managing a corporation-owned property that intentionally flew under the radar, and existed solely for the entertainment of corporate guests. "I think we had 350 rounds on 9 holes the first year I was here," Mike recalled. "That grew to maybe 7,000 in our heyday in the late '80s/early '90s, but settled down to the 2500 or so we do today." Mike

In this episode, Frank has an in-depth conversation with Dr. Adam Thoms at Iowa State University about his research on soil management for putting surfaces, use of waste products like amino acids, and other potential biostimulants effects on golf turfgrass performance. Expect some deep dives on how amino acids and glycerin from bio-diesel can improve turfgrass performance. Dr. Thoms is exploring some fascinating nutrient and biostimulant compounds. This is a great listen for a general overview!

Our latest All Star of Turf is Michael Morris, CGCS, 36-year Director of Buildings and Grounds at Crystal Downs Country Club in Frankfort, Michigan. A native of Frankfort,  Mike is one of the few golf course property managers who has spent his entire career at one course, in his hometown. He is also a rarity in obtaining a BA and MS in English and film studies at Michigan State before realizing that life on the golf course spoke to him more than a future in academia. He is known internationally for his work with Dr. Thom Nikolai in quantifying the effects of lightweight rolling and other greens maintenance practices on ball roll distance and putting green consistency.  They took that a step further by correlating that data with golfer satisfaction in order to determine the ideal or proper green speed range for a particular golfing clientele. Together, Mike and Thom presented seminars for GCSAA for over 10 years, around the world. Mike also researched the effects of cutting unit sharpness and adjustment on p

In this episode, RW gets tangled up in AI when he tries to use Chat-GBB to write the radio show and that failure results in a spirited rant aimed at those we entrusted with getting out the water conservation message. Just as the way forward is revealed, Count Noomskool of the World Globalar Golf Forum arrives and waves huge sums of money at Momma, in order to subjugate Rockbottum CC's verboten individualist attitude.

Frank has an in-depth chat with GCSAA’s Director of Government Affairs, and the smartest person in Lawrence, KS, Chava McKeel. Frank and Chava explore the new Memoradum of Understanding between the GCSAA and the EPA, what it means for members, the industry and how it could unlock opportunities for increasing recognition of the value of golf courses as green space. They even manage to get in some conversation on labor issues and communicating to all golf courses about the value of BMPs.  Don’t miss a minute of this chat!

In this episode of Renovation Report, Bradley S. Klein, Ph.D., talks with former superintendent Tom Feller, general manager at Cedar Rapids Country Club in Iowa. A superintendent at Cedar Rapids for nearly 20 years, Feller discusses overseeing a Ron Prichard-led restoration of the 1915 Donald Ross classic, outlasting a half-dozen general managers before finally filling the role himself and the importance of having the right people in place in every phase of the operation.

In this first "It's not just about growing grass" segment of TurfNet All Stars of Turf, we recognize Scott Dodson, CGCS, and John Taylor. Both career superintendents but perhaps better known as the founders of the Golf Course Hockey Challenge, an annual 2-day/4-game tournament that attracted as many as 16 teams of hockey playing superintendents, assistants and suppliers over a 25+ year run. Dodson has been at the Park Country Club in Williamsville (Buffalo) NY for 30 years. Taylor is the property manager at the Grand Niagara Golf Club near Niagara Falls, Ontario. TurfNet fielded a team in the Hockey Challenge for 22 years, providing offseason fun and friendships for many who wore the Team TurfNet jersey. Peter McCormick reminisces with Dodson and Taylor about the memorable exploits, characters and shenanigans that emerged from the event.

Jordon Bowling found his calling into turfgrass management a little later than most, at 22 with a six-month old son to boot. His brother-in-law, Chad Kuzawa, was an NC State turf grad making the rounds of some clubs in the southeast and convinced Jordon to visit from his home in Michigan and shadow him for a couple of days. That set things in motion. He enrolled in the turf management program at Wayne Community College in NC and worked at Wedgewood GC, then Country Club of Virginia, Carolina Country Club and Wade Hampton Golf Club before signing on as the first assistant at Biltmore Forest Country Club in Asheville, NC. Jordon tells us about his journey to date, his experiences and mentors, and what hopefully lies ahead for him. Complete disclosure: Chad Kuzawa is an agronomist for EarthWorks (one of our sponsors) and recommended Jordon, among others. That's OK... he qualifies as a Rising Star in our book.