The Doublecut with Micah Woods

I've updated my recommendation for the sand quantity to apply for every unit of clipping volume harvested, if your goal is to keep surface organic material constant. Bjarni and I discussed topdressing by this method and the new equation that finds this sand amount.

• We discussed this post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/sand-topdressing-ratios-clipping-volume/
• The PACE Turf table of sand rates based on surface organic material is at https://www.paceturf.org/public/sand-and-clipping-volume
• Bjarni and I discussed the spring green-up and growth from adding sand: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/turfgrass-mystery-the-case-of-the-greener-grass/
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

This is about partitioning the growth flush after a rain. What's causing that growth flush? I made some calculations, using New Forest GC in the UK as an example. The increased soil water content from a 20 mm rain, in this example, would increase daily clipping volume from 10 mL/m2 to 22 mL/m2, a 12 mL increase.

• The blog post discussed is https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/nitrogen-in-rain-or-nitrogen-from-the-soil/
• See also https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/how-much-n-is-in-rain-and-snow/ for information on atmospheric deposition of N
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

It sounds counterintuitive at first, that you can maintain a lower average water content in the soil, and a higher air content in the soil, by applying irrigation every day. Once upon a time, I thought the way to keep soils drier and with more air was to implement deep and infrequent irrigation. 

• The blog post discussed is: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/deep-and-infrequent-or-light-and-frequent-irrigation-which-is-better/
• I also mentioned John Jordan's research, see: https://tic.msu.edu/tgif/flink/RECNO/59354
• Paul Johnson article about irrigation frequency: https://usgatero.lib.msu.edu/v02/n06.pdf
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Brian Whitlark joined me to talk about sand topdressing of putting greens and especially about sand amounts.

• The blog post we discussed is: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/standard-sand-amounts/
• Listen to Brian's recent appearance on the Frankly Speaking podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/lt/podcast/firm-fast-desert-with-brian-whitlark/id1793571091?i=1000743219832
• OM246 calculator web app with sand quantity conversion calculator: https://asianturfgrass.shinyapps.io/om246/
• How to measure topdressing rates: https://youtu.be/6LurONpyg5M?si=LW4IPwzzXbVAOn-m
• Managing salinity in putting greens article by Brian: https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/green-section-record/64/issue-08/managing-salinity-in-putting-greens.html
• Terminology of turfgrass organic matter: https://youtu.be/tMfby5xR2IM?si=8aOQ-Ju6A_cLib8M
• Whitlark and Thompson article from 2019 on topdressing: http://gsrpdf.lib.msu.edu/ticpdf.py?file=/article/whitlark-thompson-light-5-3-19.pdf
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

High maintenance turf often requires a high disturbance and high stress environment. Grime's CSR theory says there are "no viable strategies" for plants in such an environment. I discuss the implications of this.

Blog post discussed is https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/competition-stress-disturbance/

• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

T-Jay Creamer is the golf course superintendent at Olympic View Golf Club on Vancouver Island. He's seen a steady decrease in OM2 in response to his N and sand rates, along with substantially more consistent OM2 values green to green. We discussed the results and what he does to accomplish this.

• The blog post we discussed is https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/gvx-and-sand/
• The OM246 calculator Shiny app is https://asianturfgrass.shinyapps.io/om246/
• Exact sand topdressing rates https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/sand-topdressing-measurement-by-exact-methods/
• Three ways to measure sand https://youtu.be/6LurONpyg5M
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Jason Haines is the Links Superintendent at Cabot Cape Breton. We had a wide ranging conversation about blog posts from 2025, a new #MLSN article,  controlling snow mold, things that look easy but aren't easy, and more.

• The blog post we discussed is https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/ten-posts-no-one-read-in-2025/
• The spring 2026 article in GreenMaster about MLSN: https://online.flipbuilder.com/gbcmagazine/rpae/#p=16
• Video with Jason that shows the control of snow mold on greens in BC with minimal pesticides: https://youtu.be/L8Q8v5SAzSo?si=Jm8Vinz6fKZImH3P
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Stewart Naugler is the Director of Agronomy at Loraloma in Texas. We talked about zoysiagrass as a golfing surface, playability, and maintenance requirements.

We started by discussion my "Achieving the warm-season links" article, available here: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/publication/woods-2013-gca/

Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

Thatch and mat at the top of turfgrass rootzones are removed from soils prior to testing for soil organic matter. Total organic material (OM246) testing is designed to measure the soil organic matter plus the thatch and mat.

The blog post discussed is https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/organic-matter-and-screens/

Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/

This gives an overview of the seminars I presented at the GCSAA Conference in 2026 and discusses updated PACE Turf site analyses of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).

• Seminar handout page: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/seminar/gcsaa-2026/
• Example PAR site analysis in the PACE Turf gallery: https://www.paceturf.org/gallery/detail/site-par-analysis
• Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/
• Find a suite of decision-making tools at https://www.paceturf.org/
• Get free ATC newsletters at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/newsletter/