This past year I have been working on a research project with two courses near my home in the Pacific Northwest. The point of this update is not to cover that research, but to express a newfound appreciation for real turfgrass researchers after my experience as an amateur. My reliance upon people far smarter and more experienced than me during this project cannot be overstated. As the researchers coached me through the process, I was amazed at how much work good research takes. Site selection, plot layout, treatment application, sample collection, taking measurements, photographing progress, data collection and statistical analysis all take enormous amounts of time.
When I reflect on some of the projects that the USGA is currently funding through the Mike Davis Program for Advancing Golf Course Management, I think about the folks staring through a microscope for hours on end counting nematodes. Or the people praying for water to move quicker through a double-ring infiltrometer. I envision the researcher mapping the genomes of creeping bentgrasses, or the student taking thousands of organic matter samples. I see a scientist drying and weighing clippings from plots, or preparing and cleaning equipment used for spraying each treatment. I think of my friends at Oregon State University, Rutgers University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and the University of Nebraska whom I have had the privilege of learning from over the past two years.
These researchers willingly share their hard-earned information at turfgrass conferences and field days around the country, and on a one-to-one basis when someone asks for help. Most people in the golf course management world have sat through many meetings where turfgrass professors or graduate students present findings on work they have been diligently performing for years. It is usually a 60-minute presentation to sum up countless hours of work.
So, the next time you are listening to a research presentation from a graduate student or university professor, be grateful. Think about the thousands of samples, readings, statistical gyrations and analyses that have gone into their work and remember that we are the beneficiaries. All of us who have cared for golf courses owe these hard-working people a huge debt of gratitude.
West Region Agronomists:
Brian Whitlark, regional director – bwhitlark@usga.org
Cory Isom, agronomist – cisom@usga.org