The Turf Zone Podcast

A superintendent discusses collaborating with professionals in other sectors of turf management and offers steps fellow supers can take to promote a united front.

North Carolina Turfgrass – Casey Reynolds, Ph.D., Executive Director, Turfgrass Producers International

College and professional football season are upon us, and sports fans can feel the excitement in the air. As always, preseason polls, national championship predictions, and other team chatter is in the news, but also making headlines this year are several recent retirements of prominent football players citing in part, concerns over their long-term safety and health. The safety and health of athletes is and should be a top priority for leagues, coaches, parents, and others. However, what other factors are considered when installing new athletic fields? Is it maintenance, costs, environment, or other factors? Is it all of the above? If so, which factors play most heavily in these decisions? This was the topic of research targeted in recent market research conducted in 2018 in the United States and Canada.

Six companies submitted proposals for this market research and FleishmanHillard, a global PR firm and digital marketing agency based in St. Louis, MO was selected as the winning proposal. FleishmanHillard is an internationally recognized PR firm that was founded in 1946 that represents businesses including Barnes & Noble, Proctor & Gamble, General Motors, Energizer, EA Sports, and more. They have over 80 offices in 30 countries and as such are able to reach audiences domestically and internationally.

First, FleishmanHillard analyzed the current state of affairs in print and social media with regard to natural grass and synthetic turf. Natural grass proponents and synthetic turf companies tout many of the same benefits including cost, environmental impact, durability and safety — many of consumers’ major concerns. They also analyzed the share of each group’s voice in digital media as well as the positive, neutral, and negative perceptions by subject for natural grass and artificial turf. One of the key items that jumped out was that it appears natural grass fields are taken for granted. There are fewer arguments for natural grass, rather than against artificial turf, because natural grass is in the default position. Artificial turf often gets more coverage and has non-neutral articles, in part simply because it is new and debated.

In addition to an analysis of print and digital media, FleishmanHillard surveyed 141 decision-makers (coaches, athletic directors, city employees, etc.) in the United States and Canada (Figure 1) to get an idea of what they determined as motivating factors when selecting new playing surfaces for their communities. These respondents were presented with a series of statements revolving around considerations of various playing surfaces and asked for their feedback. Their knowledge and responses to these statements were then compiled for analysis to determine the many factors that go into deciding between natural grass or synthetic turf athletic fields, mulch or rubber playground surfaces, and more.

As you can imagine, the safety and health of users was a top response. There are many factors that contribute to the safety of various types of playing surfaces, including but not limited to, construction and management practices, heat, surface hardness, consistency, others, and even footwear. There are many types of playing surfaces that each have a role in communities everywhere. For example, a playground at a child’s daycare center in the southern U.S. may be more concerned about heat loading than a multi-use event complex in the pacific northwest. Inversely, a collegiate or professional soccer or football complex may be more concerned about traction/footing than an outdoor concert venue. As you can imagine, each of these types of venues lend themselves to different playing surfaces and management techniques but a common theme throughout each of them is user safety.

Field safety has long been a research topic among the scientific and medical professions...

Arkansas Turfgrass – Logan Freeman

A superintendent discusses collaborating with professionals in other sectors of turf management and offers steps fellow supers can take to promote a united front.

The following story was originally published in the June 2019 issue of GCM and is reprinted with permission.

While there is no debating that the turf industry has come under increased attacks from activist groups and one-sided legislation in the past few years, I believe there is a potentially dangerous gap in our defense.

Though not often talked about, a lack of cohesion among the different professions within turfgrass management has left us isolated and separated.

In the specific world of golf course management, we often discuss the importance of communication between the superintendent and golf shop staff, golfers, boards and committees. We also recognize the benefit of camaraderie and shared knowledge among golf course superintendents. Although the collaboration and community in golf is critical to the success of our work, the lack of communication and support across the various sectors of turfgrass management — golf, sports turf, home lawn care, university professionals, distributors, sales representatives — is rarely addressed. (Photo 1)

The origin of this divide is difficult to pinpoint. Perhaps we superintendents felt that cultivating this long-term supportive relationship would have taken too much time and effort away from our immediate day-to-day operations. Or maybe we just saw no value in immersing ourselves in its complexities. Whatever the history, this disconnect now seriously undermines the future of our industry as a whole.

An eye-opening gathering

Like so many in our profession, I used to think that sports turf and lawn care just did their thing, and we as golf course turfgrass managers did ours. That’s the way it had always been and likely would remain. Then I went to a meeting for the formation of a local chapter of the Sports Turf Managers Association. This organic creation of the Mid-Atlantic STMA (https://mastma.org) opened my eyes to an entirely different approach to my profession.

Of the hundred or so in attendance, I was the only golf course superintendent in the room. Yet instead of feeling alone and territorial, I felt a sense of connection and an appreciation for my presence. I also felt the support of what the people attending the meeting were trying to achieve.

I discovered a side of turfgrass management I had never before experienced, and I formed bonds with local sports turf managers I likely never would have met had I not attended as a sign of support for the new organization. (Photo 2)

Immediately following that meeting, I couldn’t stop wondering why the golf and sports sides of the industry were not more jointly associated. After all, we have far more commonalities than differences. We all manage turfgrass for its playability, in addition to juggling the management of people, budgets and the environment.

I also began to question why lawn care and other sectors were not a part of this supportive mix. If we are looking to move the turfgrass industry forward and address all the adversity facing us, we must come together in support and appreciation.

No matter our titles — golf course superintendent, head groundskeeper, lawn care provider, researcher, distributor — we all have a passion for this industry as well as a part to play in the narrative of its future.

The future of the turf industry

Our industry is increasingly challenged.

Part of this growing tension is positive, as ever-restrictive pesticide- and nutrient-management laws lead to innovation, ingenuity and leadership.

The downside, however, is equally present, as lawmakers who view the turfgrass industry as an easy target issue uninformed, blanket statements with little regard for repercussions.

A superintendent discusses collaborating with professionals in other sectors of turf management and offers steps fellow supers can take to promote a united front.

A superintendent discusses collaborating with professionals in other sectors of turf management and offers steps fellow supers can take to promote a united front.

College and professional football season are upon us, and sports fans can feel the excitement in the air. As always, preseason polls, national championship predictions, and other team chatter is in the news, but also making headlines this year are several recent retirements of prominent football players citing in part, concerns over their long-term safety and health. The safety and health of athletes is and should be a top priority for leagues, coaches, parents, and others. However, what other factors are considered when installing new athletic fields? Is it maintenance, costs, environment, or other factors? Is it all of the above? If so, which factors play most heavily in these decisions? This was the topic of research targeted in recent market research conducted in 2018 in the United States and Canada.

A superintendent discusses collaborating with professionals in other sectors of turf management and offers steps fellow supers can take to promote a united front.

A superintendent discusses collaborating with professionals in other sectors of turf management and offers steps fellow supers can take to promote a united front.

Warm-season grasses like bermudagrass and zoysiagrass are usually preferred in environments such as Arkansas, as they are more tolerant of heat, drought, insects and diseases compared to cool-season turfgrasses. However, that does not mean they are bulletproof! All of the major warm-season grasses used in the Natural State can have fungal disease problems and the most severe diseases are spring dead spot and large patch. Spring dead spot (SDS) is primarily a concern on bermudagrass, while large patch can infect all of our warm-season grasses. The University of Arkansas turfgrass program has evaluated various cultural and chemical strategies to control these diseases for many years and we continue to evaluate new products and practices that can be used to manage the diseases.

How many years have you been in the family farm/sod production? Since 1987 – 32 years