Green Section Review Wise Investment

May 15, 2009

By Monroe Miller

Editor’s note: Monroe Miller is a former golf course superintendent at Blackhawk in Madison, Wis., and a past recipient of the USGA Green Section Award, given in special recognition for distinguished service to golf through work with turfgrass. In his "Greenerside" column in a recent issue of Wisconsin Golfer magazine, Miller commented on the efforts being made by the Wisconsin State Golf Association to help golf clubs across the upper Midwest maintain course conditions and playability while keeping costs down. To Miller, an important part of achieving those goals is taking advantage of the expertise provided by the USGA Green Section’s Turf Advisory Service. He explains the benefits below.

We are expecting a tight year financially. Projects are on hold, we are extending the life of high-use machinery for another year, and every program we implement has been evaluated, changed and re-evaluated. We are squeezing budgets as hard as we can. Our UW-Madison Extension scientists are going to be busy this summer, too. They are an absolutely precious resource,backed up by our research facility near Verona, grad students, and turfgrass focused science. Our turf team, which matches up with the best in the country, will be helping Wisconsin superintendents solve turf problems this season in ways that will help keep costs down.

Our USGA Green Section agronomist, Bob Vavrek, will be busy this summer, too. His extensive experience in golf turf in our upper Midwest region is unmatched. An undergrad education in biology and graduate school at Cornell in entomology prepared him well for this position he has held for 20 years. Centered in Wisconsin, Vavrek visits 150 or so golf courses each year on Turf Advisory Service visits. More than almost any other consultant, he brings the practical and common sense side of the business with him. If you haven't already done so, this would be a good year to subscribe to the Green Section Turf Advisory Service.

Superintendents themselves are down-to-earth people who are also well-educated and able to deal with problems we face. What we aren't able to do is travel extensively and see how colleagues in similar circumstances have dealt with an issue we might share. Vavrek sees what works and what doesn't. He also attends chapter meetings around his region and goes to field days we have no hope of attending. He brings the results pertinent to us with him on his visits.

Despite a tough economy, the Green Section is still providing millions for turf research all around the U.S. The agronomists have great familiarity with data that may have early applicability to your course. I have experienced that myself.

One of the strengths of the Green Section visits that isn't mentioned often enough is that each agronomist, in a sense, has the entire staff with him on a visit. The communication among the couple of dozen agronomists, the national director, the education director, the Construction Program and the Research Program, has always been impressive and that is even truer in this time of e-mail and Blackberrys. Vavrek is able to, and often does, check with his colleagues over problems that are particularly prickly or difficult. I have always viewed the TAS as similar to a second opinion from a physician. Actually, you may get varied opinions from the Green Section staff around the country.

Many of us have had Vavrek stop at our course on a trip through town to see how we were doing with a specific problem on the course. He is well known for the ownership and concern he has for golf courses and his TAS subscribers.

The USGA agronomists, as you would guess, are involved with tournament preparations on golf courses in their region -- more experience and expertise at your fingertips.

Clearly, I have been the beneficiary of the good advice given by the Green Section to me over the years. I have had access to the best golf turf experts -- Record, Schwartkopf, Zontek, Latham, and for the longest period, Bob Vavrek.

You can have the same. Trust me -- it will be the best money your club will spend in this time when every nickel counts.