They talked turf maintenance for two days at the conference, organized by Todd Voss, superintendent of the Double Eagle Club in Galena, Ohio. Many of the speakers were from Ohio State's turf department.

Jason Straka, a golf course architect with Hurdzan-Fry Golf Design, spoke about golf design with maintenance in mind. Straka pointed out a scary trend tied to his topic — that there's more money spent to design, build and maintain bunkers than there is to design, build and maintain putting greens.

Bob Brame, director of the United States Golf Association Green Section's North-Central Region, talked about the use of wetting agents when watering greens during a panel discussion on "Proper Watering Techniques."

"There is no question that there are a number of golf courses in the state and the region that wouldn't be able to keep up with dry spots if they didn't use wetting agents," Brame said.

That said, Brame warned superintendents to be careful when using wetting agents with applications of other products.

"Every year I see a half-dozen cases or more where there are certain issues, such as thinning or phytotoxicity, on greens that have some tie to applications that include wetting agents," Brame said. "I didn't say it was the wetting agent that caused the issue, but it combined with other certain products to create an issue."

Brame advised superintendents to test wetting agents in an area before making widespread applications.

"There are a lot of wetting agents to choose from," Brame said. "And they're different."

The Ohio State Golf Turf Spring Tee-Off Conference in Columbus
featured talks on sustainable design, irrigation practices and integrated
pest management.

On that same panel, Keith Kresina, superintendent of The Golf Club in New Albany, Ohio, provided tips for syringing, especially for maintenance crew members who are inexperienced with the technique. Kresina said some workers don't realize that they're putting down too much water at times. When that occurs on his crew, Kresina takes workers to a cart path and tells them to water it so they see how much water they're using. "They don't realize how much water they're putting down when the water is landing on turf," he says.

Kresina also warned superintendents to make sure their crew members aren't wearing sunglasses that will cause them to misjudge the condition of turf while syringing.

"If they're wearing sunglasses, make sure they know what they're looking at because sunglasses can give you all kinds of different colors," he says. "You also can't see wilt as easily with some sunglasses."

Voss, who was also part of the panel, said he wants his crew members to have all the mechanical help they need when watering. That's why he makes sure they use soil probes to gauge water absorption.

Dave Gardner, a professor in Ohio State's Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, spoke on herbicide use for the season. But regarding perennial broadleaf weeds, Gardner said white clover, dandelion, wild violet and others are best controlled in the spring and summer when they are hit with a herbicide in the fall.

"Spring-time control is a Band-Aid for these weeds," Gardner said. "If you really want to get rid of them, put down applications in September, October or even November."

Dave Shetlar, a professor in Ohio State's Department of Entomology, spoke about recent insect control studies and new programs for 2007. Shetlar talked in-depth about some of the new insecticides coming out to battle grubs and other bugs. But he also noted that Milorganite can help in this area.

Milorganite?

Apparently, grub-infested turf treated with Milorganite — a natural fertilizer — deters skunks and raccoons from tearing up turf to get at grubs for their dinner.

"They don't like the good old-fashioned smell of sewer," Shetlar says of the varmints.