Research

James A. Murphy, Ph.D., James Hempfling, Ruying Wang, and Bruce B. Clarke, Ph.D.

Fight aging (in your greens)

June 21, 2017 By Curt Harler

Aging is tough. It’s just as tough on greens as it is on superintendents. And, just as a superintendent might put on a few pounds under his belt every year, organic matter accumulates as greens age. Superintendents know that applying ...

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Are you driving fertility on one axle?

June 20, 2017 By Curt Harler

When time and budgets are tight, a superintendent might be tempted to choose between soil testing and more involved plant tissue analysis. Don’t. “Soil testing and plant analyses are like tandem axles under vehicles and trailers,” says Cliff Snyder, nitrogen ...

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Soil testing under the microscope

June 19, 2017 By Douglas Soldat, Ph.D.

In the first chapter of the Soil Science Society of America’s 1990 book, “Soil Testing and Plant Analysis,” authors Peck and Soltanpour write that “Success or failure of soil testing varies depending upon the amount and quality of research data ...

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Accurate or precise?

June 19, 2017 By Curt Harler

When you are deciding whether or not to spray, it is important to know whether your threshold levels should be termed accurate or precise. Consider a superintendent who estimates that clover has infested more than five percent of a fairway. ...

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Super Science: Managing unmellow yellow nutsedge

May 22, 2017 By Luqi Li, Roch Gaussoin, Ph.D. and Zac Reicher, Ph.D.

Yellow nutsedge is a difficult-to-control weed that increasingly is a problem on golf courses. Its yellow-green color, coarse foliage and fast growth decrease visual quality, uniformity and, in the worst case, playability. Yellow nutsedge is a perennial that reproduces primarily ...

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Clark Talks Turf: Digging deep into fraze mowing

May 2, 2017 By Clark Throssell, Ph.D.

Brian Whitlark is a USGA agronomist in the West Region. Brian conducts course consulting visits, writes for USGA publications and is a conference speaker. Brian has observed several golf courses using fraze mowing to improve their turf. You may reach ...

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