Behind The Turf

In todays episode I have 2 guests who I have been wanting to get onto the show. John Neylan is very well known in Australia and worldwide with his research and agronomy services. John has been lead the AGCSA (now ASTMA) for a number of years and also worked independently. He is now with SportEng in developing and designing sportsturf facilities. He also continues to conduct research in turf and lately has been doing work got the VGCSA (Victorian Golf Course Superintendents). My other guest is Shane Greenhill who is the superintendent of Sorrento golf club located on the southern part of the Mornington Peninsula. Shane is also the VGCSA president. We speak on a number of topics including the history of the industry and where both Shane and John came from as well. We continue on a topic John discussed with Dr Frank Rossi on the turfnet podcast and the expectations of golfers and how turf managers deal with this expectation. We also speak about our favourite weed poa and the research the VGCSA has undertaken.

This episode features Dr Brandon Horvath from University Tennessee. Brandon is a turf pathologist with the university and a teacher and conducts turf research.

We catch on COVID and how he has adapted with teaching and life.

This discussion really gives some great information as we dive deep into the topics of diseases and fungicides. We speak about nematicides and diseases and the work that is being taken place there. We also speak about getting the best out of your products and what you need to do to achieve those results. I speak specifically to him on Pythium and the 3 main types they see in the US and what the differences are. We also look at application methods and what works and what doesn't work as well as discuss newer chemistries on the market.

In today's episode I speak to De Ben McGraw a entomologist from Penn State University. Ben has been on the podcast before on episodes. We catch on COVID and how he has adapted.

Again I speak to him about weevils as this insect is the most troublesome insect on cool season grasses in the US as it is here in Australia particularly in NSW. Even though in Australia we have the Argentine stem Weevil the characteristics and behaviour is very similar to the Annual Bluegrass Weevil in the US.

This episode we welcome back Dr Scott McElroy from Auburn university. Scott appeared in episodes 1 and 22. We have an entertaining chat with a lot of humour and sarcasm just to lighten the mood. Scott was aware of our situation and wanted to bring some joy to the listeners. We talk about what he has been up to and the work he has done with the resist poa working group. We also dive into poa control with resistance and speak on crowsfoot (goose grass) and paspalum control.

In this episode I finally get to sit down and have a chat with john. John is a good friend and was one of the first people I met through the use of social media back 10 years ago. He was instrumental in leading the way social media could be utilised for turf. Dr. Kaminski now serves as the Director of the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program (2-Year Program) at Penn State. John continues his research which focuses on optimization of chemical and cultural management strategies for turfgrass diseases and weeds.

Today we have one of my favourite and most popular guest ls back Ben Gibson from The Toolbox Team. However this episode is a little different as Ben has just finished his first book which is being printed as we were recording this episode. The name of the book is called "People First." We speak about the idea behind it and how it came about. Ben also shares the support he received from his family but also many in the turf industry.

Welcome to the first podcast of Behind The Turf for 2021. This episode is slightly different as it is a webinar that was recorded in September 2021 on crowsfoot grass control (known also as goose grass). The webinar was run in partnership with Greenway Turf Solutions our national distributors. It was part of their online learning series they launched last year which can be viewed here.

Greenway Turf solutions website

The webinar featured Dr Jim Brosnan from university Tennessee who is an expert in weed science. Jim goes through everything you need to know about crows foot grass as well as control optiona dn getting the best out of those option. Many listeners would know Jim from our previous podcasts with him in episodes See here

Did you want a quick lesson on phosphites on what they are and how they work and how they are different? This episode is for you. I speak to Dr John Dempsey of Ireland who is a former superintendent Royal Curragh Golf Club and is now an independent turf researcher. John has recently published his work "Suppression of microdochium nivale by phosphite in cool-season amenity turfgrasses." I hope you enjoy our chat.

We take a break from the agronomy side of turf to bring you Ben Gibson. After the feedback we received from Ben's previous episode last year we thought it would be good to get him back and dive deeper this time. We speak this time on a couple of topics starting with conflict within the workplace and how to best manage it. The other topic is encouraging and attracting staff to your teams and the tools you can use to facilitate this with culture within the team. Ben again gives great precise examples and instructions what you need to do in different situations. The information Ben provides can be any organisation not just related to turf management. On a personal note its great to see Ben's business grow throughout the industry for the right reasons. The services he delivers have been helping a large number of turf facilities around Australia.

After GIS in Orlando this year I headed up towards Gainesville Florida to the turf research station in Citra Florida (there are 3 in the state). Besides the tour of the facility I sit down with Dr Harmon and talk diseases warm season grasses and turf in Florida. For those not aware Florida is one of the biggest turf markets in the world with over 1200. Many are high end private clubs as well so research as you can imagine into issues is paramount to keep memberships happy.