When I visit golf courses, I ask a standard series of questions about grass types, mowing heights, maintenance work, and site-specific maintenance challenges. In this show, I speak with turfgrass managers around the world, asking them the same questions about the work at their location.
…
continue reading
I discuss ATC blog posts, with supplementary information, stories, and the reasons why I thought the topic was worth writing about, and worth reading about. Thus, a doublecut of these topics. This covers grass selection, playability, and all the work done to create a certain type of turfgrass surface.
…
continue reading
I discuss technical turfgrass topics with turfgrass managers, scientists, greenkeepers, and whoever drops by the ATC office hours. There's a lot of talk about the work done to create playing surfaces for golf, and also about growing grass for sporting surfaces of all sort, and also some talk of lawns.
…
continue reading

1
Green speed went down by 0.6 inches per hour
40:05
40:05
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
40:05I discussed some green speed and green firmness data from measurements made at the Sky RKB Ladies Classic tournament, and I explained why the geometric mean rather than the arithmetic mean can be especially useful (and safe) when dealing with soil nutrient data. Green speed change from morning to afternoon: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/speed…
…
continue reading

1
Golfklúbbur Mosfellsbæjar with Bjarni Hannesson
51:35
51:35
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
51:35Bjarni Hannesson is the course manager at Golfklúbbur Mosfellsbæjar near Reykjavik, Iceland. We talked about the golfing season, tee times that nearly reach 22:00, wind speeds and green speed, the types of grasses used, and robotic mowers. STERF's ROBO-GOLF site: https://sterf.org/projects/robo-golf/ ROBO-GOLF final report: https://sterf.org/wp-con…
…
continue reading

1
Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club with Mark Hooker
43:44
43:44
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
43:44Mark Hooker is the Director of Agronomy at Royal Auckland and Grange Golf Club in New Zealand. We talked about managing couch (Cynodon) fairways, Pure Distinction greens and tees, and fine fescue rough. 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/…
…
continue reading
Eric Ruhs is the golf course superintendent at Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club. We discussed grass types, soil conditions, staff scheduling, and managing 27 holes in Canada's capital city. 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 newslett…
…
continue reading

1
Learning & remembering from a year of turf photos
43:10
43:10
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
43:10In this episode I picked some of my favorite photos from 2024, and I remembered what I learned from them. From roots, layers, OM246, zoysia greens, and drought, to loupes, turf farms, compost, and bermudagrass. I discussed this post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/flights-favorite-turf-photos-2024/ Here's the sand vs. compost ball bounce video…
…
continue reading
Matthew Perry is the golf course superintendent at Emirates Golf Club. We discussed managing 45 holes, night golf, desert temperatures, tournaments, and working in the dark. 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 …
…
continue reading
Bhupendra Singh is the golf course superintendent at Aamby Valley Golf Club in India. He is the author of Playing for the Game, available at https://a.co/d/2nUOXq6 and The Kingdom of Artesia, available at https://a.co/d/98SXErp Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/ Find a suite of decision-making tools at …
…
continue reading
There have been a lot of conversations about soil water content and surface hardness (firmness). I discuss some measurements that I have made, and suggest some of the old posts on the ATC website that discuss this topic. Specific posts discussed include: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/measuring-surface-hardness-on-greens-fairways-and-approache…
…
continue reading

1
The turf GvX for checking grass growth with Jason Haines
32:57
32:57
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
32:57Jason came up with the GvX idea in a flash of inspiration that he describes here. This is the actual growth of the grass compared to the expected growth of the grass, and it has surprising practical implications. We discussed the development and use of the #TurfGvX in this episode. We discussed this blog post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/ex…
…
continue reading

1
Living plant material (and thatch) are part of #OM246 too
16:41
16:41
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
16:41Achieving the lowest possible #OM246 total organic material value is not desirable, because the living plant material is part of the OM measured with this method. I discussed this post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/om246-measures-living-om-too/ @keyakeeper469 and I discussed 8 years of OM246 in https://youtu.be/8B3FQhvSIdI OM246 project page…
…
continue reading

1
Calculation of the average daily temperature
17:36
17:36
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
17:36A common way to calculate average daily temperature is to take the sum of the daily maximum and daily minimum temperatures, and to divide by two. A better statistical approximation of the average temperature is to take measurements made every hour and then to find the mean value of those continuous measurements. This blog post shows a comparison of…
…
continue reading

1
The ATC blog post bombs of 2024 with Joe Gulotti
1:32:44
1:32:44
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:32:44Joe Gulotti joined me to discuss his new job, The Talking Greenkeeper, and the ten posts on the ATC website that no one (practically) read in 2024. This is the post that lists all the "bombs:" https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/ten-posts-no-one-read-2024/ The Talking Greenkeeper catalog is at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talking-green…
…
continue reading

1
Fertilizing grass this way seems strange to me now
20:46
20:46
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:46Although turf research is often done with fertilizer treatments applied at constant rates and on a fixed calendar schedule, that way of supplying nutrients seems strange to me now. I explain why in this episode, and suggest a better method. We discussed this post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/fertilizer-schedule-seems-strange-to-me-now/ Read…
…
continue reading

1
Top 10 posts of 2024, plus app and podcast recommendations
30:27
30:27
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
30:27I recommend 4 podcast episodes and one useful app that calculates sand topdressing amounts, then quickly discuss the top 10 new posts from the ATC website in 2024. Would you like to comment or have questions about this episode? Reply on Bluesky Here are topic links: - https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/top-10-posts-2024/ - https://www.asianturfgra…
…
continue reading

1
Bracketing #ClipVol for a desired range of green speed
32:32
32:32
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
32:32Green speed varies because of many factors. One of those factors is clipping volume. I discuss that relationship and give some advice for those getting started with clipping volume and wanting to know how to adjust it. We discussed this blog post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/getting-started-with-clipping-volume/ Potassium increases dollar s…
…
continue reading

1
Nitrogen rate, pendulum swings, and anchoring
30:23
30:23
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
30:23Did you know there was a time when up to to 2 lbs N per 1000 square feet per growing month, the equivalent of 100 kg of actual N per ha per month, was a standard recommendation for putting green turf? I talk about this and some implications in this episode. The ATC post getting the double cut treatment is https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/nitroge…
…
continue reading

1
2024 #OM246 review with Chris Tritabaugh
2:32:22
2:32:22
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
2:32:22Join me, along with Chris Tritabaugh from Hazeltine National GC, as we review autumn soil test results. We especially look at the #OM246 total organic material results, and discuss those in the context of maintenance work done, changes in the test results from past years, and most importantly, the relation of the tests to putting green performance.…
…
continue reading

1
What every greenkeeper should know about sand in clippings with Dr. Bill Kreuser
53:30
53:30
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
53:30Bill Kreuser from GreenKeeper joined me to discuss how much grass grows, the complicated problems involved when sand is mixed with clippings, growth regulator adjustments, leaf nutrient content, soil surfactant effect duration, and more. #ClipVol We discussed the "Sand in clippings" post from the ATC website: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/san…
…
continue reading

1
Potassium, dogma, and putting green smoothness with Dr. Frank Rossi
1:04:16
1:04:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:04:16Frank Rossi, Ph.D. is the New York State extension turfgrass specialist at Cornell University. We talked about mentorship, potassium, turf nutrition, smoothness of putting greens, dogma, data, budgets, and more. Here are some links: - https://cals.cornell.edu/frank-s-rossi - New podcast, Turf Without Borders: https://turfwb.asianturfgrass.com/episo…
…
continue reading

1
Constants in the turfgrass growth potential equation
24:05
24:05
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
24:05The PACE Turf growth potential equation has one variable (the actual air temperature) and two constants. The constants are optimum air temperature and a term for variance that controls the shape of the curve as the actual temperature moves away from the optimum temperature. It's a little more complicated than that, because the constants change depe…
…
continue reading

1
St. Andrews Old, New, & Jubilee with Jon Wood
51:07
51:07
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
51:07Jon Wood is the Course Manager at the Old, New & Jubilee Courses at St. Andrews, Scotland. We discussed the maintenance of these courses. PACE Turf: https://www.paceturf.org/ ATC: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/ ATC podcast network: https://asianturfgrass.transistor.fm/By Asian Turfgrass Center
…
continue reading

1
Two easy methods to estimate N mineralization under turfgrass
21:25
21:25
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:25You can expect soil organic matter to be 5% nitrogen, and you can expect from 1 to 4% of that organic nitrogen to mineralize in one year. You can also calculate estimated daily mineralization and sum it to get weekly, monthly, and annual totals. The blog post discussed is: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/estimating-nitrogen-mineralization-an-ex…
…
continue reading
This is the trailer for the show, explaining what Turf Without Borders is all about.By Asian Turfgrass Center
…
continue reading

1
Linear relationship between #ClipVol and dry weight
19:28
19:28
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
19:28This episode introduces multiple experiments that have demonstrated a link between rapid measurement of clipping volume and the clipping yield. Clipping yield is typically expressed as dry weight per area. Links to the articles discussed are in the blog post. Blog post on Converting Clipping Volume to Dry Weight: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post…
…
continue reading

1
Creeping, velvet, and browntop bentgrass seeds with Dr. Leah Brilman
1:07:10
1:07:10
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:07:10Leah Brilman, Ph.D., is the Director of Product Management & Technical Services for Seed Research by DLF. We discussed velvet bentgrass, creeping bentgrass, and browntop bentgrass, along with seed production and grass performance. The bentgrass posts at the ATC website are at this link: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/tag/bentgrass/ To see the word …
…
continue reading

1
Topdressing, mowing height, and education points with Andrew McDaniel
19:41
19:41
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
19:41Andrew McDaniel has been watching webinars to get education points, and some of these have been about management of soil organic matter on putting greens. We discussed a particular article and whether that method is something that seems reasonable today. The blog post we discussed is https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/a-chance-to-update-my-advice/…
…
continue reading

1
Four things to look at with #OM246 test results
24:56
24:56
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
24:56Here are four specific things to look at with total organic material by depth (#OM246) test results. The blog post I discussed is this one: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/om246-reports-explained/ The video in that post is https://youtu.be/wUtpJC1YPU0 Read more about all kinds of turfgrass topics at https://www.asianturfgrass.com/ Get ATC newsl…
…
continue reading

1
Golf course water requirement, overseeding, & Zoysia vs. bermudagrass with Dr. Matteo Serena
1:26:00
1:26:00
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:26:00Matteo Serena is the Senior Manager of Irrigation Research and Services for the USGA. We discussed drip irrigation, growth regulators and soil surfactants, water use, overseeding, and bermudagrass vs. zoysiagrass water use. We discussed this ATC blog post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/zoysia-and-water-use/ We also discussed these articles: -…
…
continue reading

1
GvX, top six episodes, and turf terminology
22:52
22:52
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
22:52I checked the top episodes, discussed turf terminology, and discussed the 2025 GCSAA Outstanding Contribution Award winners Dr. Wendy Gelernter and Dr. Larry Stowell. The four posts discussed in this episode are: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/the-turf-gvx-growth-versus-expected/ https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/seven-minutes-of-outstanding…
…
continue reading
When the cool-season growth potential (GP) is lower than the warm-season GP, the difference between them (the ΔGP) will be negative. In this episode, I discuss ΔGP and three different ways to think of summer duration. I discussed this blog post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/summer-assessment-with-delta-gp/ Read more about all kinds of turfgr…
…
continue reading

1
Google's NotebookLM & audio summaries of the MLSN, GSS, and Grammar of Greenkeeping projects
30:04
30:04
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
30:04I wondered what NotebookLM could do, so I created a couple notebooks. One has the title “Global Soil Survey,” and in that notebook I uploaded articles and documents I’ve written about MLSN and the GSS. I let the model generate a few different audio summaries of this project. And I uploaded the text to A Short Grammar of Greenkeeping, and I let the …
…
continue reading

1
Browntop greens, Poa annua suppression, pH, & OM testing with Grant Saunders
1:39:12
1:39:12
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:39:12Grant Saunders is the course superintendent at Hamilton Golf Club in New Zealand. He has successfully overseen a green species conversion from Poa annua to browntop bentgrass (Agrostis capillaris). We discussed that, and the role of OM testing, and sand topdressing, and soil pH, and greenkeeping in New Zealand. Some links include: https://www.asian…
…
continue reading

1
Using #OM246 test results to get net organic material accumulation rate
37:12
37:12
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
37:12When you know the rate at which organic material is accumulating in the rootzone, you can adjust sand topdressing rates with more precision. You can also start to check how any changes in maintenance can have an effect on the accumulation rate. The blog post discussed is this one: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/inexorable-rise-soil-organic-mat…
…
continue reading

1
Tournaments and the "grammar" with T-Jay Creamer
41:45
41:45
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
41:45T-Jay Creamer is the golf course superintendent at Olympic View Golf Club in western Canada. He joined me to discuss tournament golf maintenance and the grammar of greenkeeping. We discussed this ATC blog post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/two-weeks-in-august/ T-Jay's Substack newsletter is https://ovgrounds.substack.com/ He explained the gr…
…
continue reading

1
My visit to Delaware with Joe Gulotti (The Talking Greenkeeper)
51:44
51:44
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
51:44A month ago Joe Gulotti and I walked the fairways and greens of the Montchanin Course at Dupont Country Club. I wrote a blog post about that, and we discussed my visit in this episode. Blog post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/a-visit-to-the-talking-greenkeeper/ The Talking Greenkeeper podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talking…
…
continue reading

1
A turf paradox: better turf in soils with lower nutrient content
43:34
43:34
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
43:34You can sometimes, perhaps more often than you would think, find soil under good turf to have lower nutrient content than does soil under poor quality turf. In this episode, I explain why that is, what the implications of this phenomenon are, and what you can do about it. This blog post has all the details on the turf (and soil) paradox: https://ww…
…
continue reading

1
Disease, nutrition, and control problems, with Dr. John Dempsey
1:05:06
1:05:06
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:05:06Independent turfgrass researcher John Dempsey, Ph.D., joined me to discuss evaluating treatment effects and the importance of having a good control. We talked about diseases, nutrition, and this blog post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/problem-with-the-controls/ Find John on X at https://x.com/J_J_Dempsey Read more about all kinds of turfgras…
…
continue reading

1
OM measurements, models, and data analysis with Dr. Henry Qu
52:33
52:33
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
52:33Dr. Henry Qu, partner and data scientist at Oxbridge Economics, joined me to talk about data analysis, and statistics, and how to try to learn things in turfgrass science. We discussed NTEP, posterior distributions, disease resistance, ANOVA, total organic material expectations by species, the process of learning, and much more. ATC blog post about…
…
continue reading

1
Doing more work to produce better turf with Jon Wall
1:07:04
1:07:04
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:07:04Jon Wall, golf course superintendent at Shanqin Bay, joined me to discuss doing more work to make grass better, rather than doing less. And also about what I'd want everyone to do, which is doing the right amount of work for your property. We talked about many things, starting off with: Better turf conditions with more intensive maintenance blog po…
…
continue reading

1
Heat kills: a 12 point list and thermal death point temperatures for cool-season grass
27:07
27:07
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
27:07It's summer in the northern hemisphere, and the two items discussed in this episode provide guidance on managing turf when it has to survive through heat stress. From the ATC website, a 12 point list: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/catching-up-on-reading-heat-stress/ From PACE Turf, the Heat Kills document: https://www.paceturf.org/member/Docu…
…
continue reading

1
Explaining MLSN and assessing ball roll on putting greens, with Carl Schimenti
1:30:27
1:30:27
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:30:27Carl Schimenti from Cornell University joined me to discuss intro to #MLSN explanations vs. using MLSN the way it is designed to be used. We also talked a lot about ball roll assessment using the #BobbleTest, and the USGA GS3 ball, and other methods. MLSN project page: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/mlsn/ Daniel Palin with the MLSN test on The Talk…
…
continue reading

1
Checking phosphorus gradients on putting greens with an upper and lower rootzone sample
37:18
37:18
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
37:18Soil P, pH, and salinity are a few things that likely vary by depth in your rootzone. I've started recommending that 20% of putting greens tested be done with a sample divided at the 5 cm depth. Send the lab a 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm depth sample from that green, rather than the standard 0-10 cm depth sample. I discussed this blog post: https://www.asia…
…
continue reading

1
Spring green-up of cool and warm-season grasses with Maggie Reiter
1:07:55
1:07:55
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:07:55Maggie Reiter joined me to discuss how the start (and end) of the turfgrass maintenance season might be predicted. When is spring green-up? When does the season end? We discussed, and showed charts of growth potential and temperature, from this post: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/maps-of-average-temperatures-in-the-usa/ The Sunday Lawn Care p…
…
continue reading

1
How many hours until the grass wilts? Predicting soil water content with Dr. Bill Kreuser
1:00:37
1:00:37
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:00:37Bill Kreuser, Ph.D., president of GreenKeeper, joined me to discuss the new water resource planning tools in GreenKeeper, along with disease risk, PGRs, soil surfactants, and weather data. See more about these tools at the GreenKeeper app: https://www.greenkeeperapp.com/ Irrigation posts at the ATC website: https://www.asianturfgrass.com/tag/irriga…
…
continue reading

1
Core sweepers make aeration easier, ball roll after 270 rounds, and estimating N in clippings
33:45
33:45
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
33:45I discuss small plot university research with fixed treatments vs. golf course and sports turf maintenance with treatments that vary, and consider which results we should trust more. I also discuss the bobble test after 270 rounds, mention that core sweepers are a nice machine, and explain how I estimate N harvested in creeping bentgrass clippings.…
…
continue reading

1
What you should know about soil test P, spring growth, and #TurfSpeedo calculations
49:51
49:51
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
49:51I describe what we can learn from looking at five years of Mehlich 3 soil test phosphorus results from golf course putting greens, how to calculate the turfgrass speedo in a standard way, rather than in a chaotic way, and recommend an episode of the Cornell Turfgrass Show that asks if soil testing is the answer to all your problems. These are the l…
…
continue reading

1
Putting surface management, the turf speedo (growth ratio), & surprising results with T-Jay Creamer
1:06:39
1:06:39
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:06:39T-Jay Creamer joined me to discuss bentgrass & Poa annua (bent-Poa) management with a surprisingly low annual N rate, almost no use of PGRs, and no aeration (other than occasional needle tining) for more than two years. The results surprise me, and they may surprise you too. We discussed this blog post about the turf speedo: https://www.asianturfgr…
…
continue reading

1
P fertilizer & Poa, the #MLSN time issue, and #ClipVol annual totals
39:16
39:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
39:16In this episode, I discuss sixteen year old bentgrass greens that have also gone sixteen years without P fertilizer. The greens are also free of Poa annua. Then I discuss how fertilizer recommendations made from soil tests are a lot more precise if the time duration over which the fertilizer is being recommended is considered explicitly. And I expl…
…
continue reading

1
Optimal and practical overseeding windows with Jim Huntoon
1:03:56
1:03:56
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:03:56Jim Huntoon joined me from Horry-Georgetown Technical College to discuss overseeding and the hows and whys of this common practice on warm-season turf that goes dormant in winter. We discussed these two blog posts: - https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/optimum-overseeding-time-windows/ - https://www.asianturfgrass.com/post/zoysia-beats-bermuda-on-s…
…
continue reading

1
Botanical walks, ecoregions, and MLSN for lawns with Maggie Reiter
1:07:37
1:07:37
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:07:37Maggie Reiter joined me to reminisce about the grasses one can find at the back of the 7th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links, to consider soil test results for lawns, what the biggest problems are on lawns and whether solutions exists, and much more. Maggie is a Data Scientist at Sunday, https://www.getsunday.com/ The blog post with the photo of gra…
…
continue reading