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're not talking putting greens here)?

How can irrigation be managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from nitrogen fertilizer?

All this and more in this fascinating chat between Drs. Rossi and Bremer, presented by DryJect and Civitas.

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.