75 Years of Green Grass at Penn State

In 1928 a determined group of turfgrass advocates paid a call to Ralph Hetzel, president of The Pennsylvania State College. Joseph Valentine, the golf course superintendent at Merion Golf Club, T.L. Gustin of Philadelphia Toro, and James Bolton, the superintendent of Reading Country Club, told Hetzel that they wanted the same kind of help for professional turf growers that Penn State was providing to farmers. Hetzel agreed readily and assigned H. Burton Musser, a young red-clover breeder in the department of agronomy, to work half-time on turfgrass.

This was the beginning of Penn State's Turfgrass Management Program — a program that has grown to become one of the finest of its kind in the country. Today nine faculty members from the departments of crop and soil sciences, plant pathology, and entomology, as well as numerous support staff and graduate students, are involved in turfgrass research and education at Penn State. In 2004 the turfgrass program celebrated its 75^th anniversary.

Quick Tip

It's been said that the sun never sets on a Penn State turfgrass variety. H. Burton Musser and Joseph M. Duich, pioneers in Penn State turfgrass breeding, developed varieties such as Penncross creeping bentgrass, Pennfine perennial ryegrass, Pennlawn creeping fine fescue and Pennstar bluegrass, which are found all over the world. Penncross, one of the best-known Penn State varieties, is used worldwide on putting greens and tennis courts. It serves as the standard against which all new bentgrasses are compared.

TurfGrass Trends

Penn State turfgrass research has contributed to many aspects of athletic field management, improving safety and playability on fields throughout the country. Research on turfgrass nutrition, runoff, weed control and growth regulators and disease and insect management also has played an integral part in the turfgrass program.

From its early days, the turfgrass management program has had a strong outreach component. Research field days, initiated in the early 1930s and held every other year at Penn State, provide an opportunity for turfgrass managers from around the state to look at turf selections in evaluation plots and to learn about the results of new research. Penn State turfgrass specialists also participate in annual conferences and trade shows, conduct workshops and produce publications, covering topics such as selecting grass varieties, controlling weeds and diagnosing and managing turf diseases.

The industry component of Penn State's turfgrass program has been integral from the earliest years. In 1930 Joseph Valentine helped form the Turfgrass Research Advisory Committee, which Valentine chaired until 1955, when the present-day Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council was established.

The PTC is dedicated to the improvement of the turfgrass industry through education and research. Today its membership of more than 1,100 represents superintendents, owners/operators of lawncare services, nursery workers, sod growers, athletic field managers and industry representatives. PTC has contributed more than $2 million to turfgrass research at Penn State and, in turn, professionals in all areas of the turfgrass industry have benefited from the results of Penn State turfgrass research.

Joseph Valentine, known for his early work with the PTC, is also known at Penn State for the unusual relationship he developed with Ralph Hetzel. Every year Valentine would travel to Penn State, and if Hetzel was available they'd have lunch or dinner together. Valentine would tell him about the problems superintendents were facing and the progress they were making. At every turf conference held at Penn State, Valentine gave a report on activities of the Turfgrass Research Advisory Committee.

Others from the turfgrass industry have enriched Penn State's turfgrass program as well. Tom Mascaro, a mushroom farmer from Philadelphia, took some correspondence courses through Penn State in the 1930s. He also formed an acquaintance with H.B. Musser, Penn State's first faculty member in turfgrass research. In the 1950s Mascaro often accompanied Penn State turfgrass faculty members on travels throughout the country to field days and conferences.

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