Happy New Year

Well we made it a another year.  2009 will be an exciting year for The Rim Golf Club.  Since I have started in 2006 the golf course has struggled with water and disease issues.  

Last year was a taste of how the golf course will be managed.  We saved millions of gallons of water by making the necessary adjustments in the field and on our central control system to give us the accuracy we need to apply water most efficiantly.   We lost no grass to disease by following our newly created Integrated Plant Management Program(IPM).  We struggled with excess monsoon rains that collected in some areas in the fairways.  That coupled with 95 degree weather boiled the grass in areas but our drainage program this year shall alleviate some of those issues if it does happen again. 

This year we are still on track to follow our updated IPM program.  We have added the secondary insect damage we recieved late in the summer by Masked Chafers.  We will add a blacklight trap toward the middle of the property to track the adult flight and anticipate the egg laying stage.  We will beable to accurately apply the proper control to avoid any damage this next season.

I look forward to this next year.  We are making strides in converting our decomposed granite soil into a more friendly growing medium by keeping up with our aerification program.  It will be a timely process but the good news is we are starting to make a difference.

This year also brings us the GCSAA show and conference.  This is my chance to expand my knowledge.  I will also be speaking about a portion of our IPM program to 500-1000 of my colleages.  I will focus on our success with Bluegrass Billbug prediction and with my plan of attack for Poa annua control. 

My schedule at the conference will be busy:

2/2/09 Management Strategies for Turfgrass Systems 8am-5pm

2/3/09 Cutting Edge Disease Identification and Management 8am-5pm

2/4/09 Cool Season Turfgrass Insects- Biology, Ecology and Management 8am-5pm

2/5/09 Microscopic Disease Identification 8am-5pm

2/5/09 0600 I will be giving my presentation at the Innovative Superintendent Session I

2/6/09 The Show.  I will be looking at the new equipment for 2009 and gathering ideas and information to make our course better.

If anyone has any questions please feel free to call or send me an email.

Have a great holiday season with your families.