It's good that golf courses are slowly emerging from their winter dormancy. We were surprised to see early flowering trees during a visit to the Tidewater area of Virginia this past week. The daffodils, crocus and hyacinth also are emerging from the soil. Interestingly, this agronomist has always said, "the grass talks to you." I may have to amend this to say, "plants talk to us." The plants are ready for spring. Are you? Is your golf course ready?

The first concern needs to be spring applications of preemerge herbicides for crabgrass control. The broadleaf weeds will not be far behind. Are you ready? Have you received your inventory? After all, weed control is most effectively accomplished in a fairly narrow window timing. Once the application window passes, it takes a lot more work, time, materials, and aggravation to catch-up.

Has winter completely passed in the Mid-Atlantic Region? Probably not. It was still snowing in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, however the warmer weather is creeping north as witnessed by the plants. They are talking to us; be sure to listen.

Finally, we would like to thank all who attended our two USGA Regional Meetings in Monroeville, PA and at DuPont CC, Wilmington, DE. Both meetings had nearly 200 in attendance. Of special note and importance was that the audience was split almost evenly between professional turf managers and course officials, golf professionals and general managers. Our meetings continue to be unique in this regard.

Our regional meetings for 2009 return to the ExpoMart in Monroeville, PA on February 23, 2009 and our eastern regional meeting returns to Woodholme CC, home of their world famous crabcakes and desserts in March, 2009 (date to be determined).

Remember, the Mid-Atlantic Region agronomists are part of your agronomic support team. If you have a question or concern, give us a call or send an e-mail. You may contact the agronomists of the Mid-Atlantic Region, Stan Zontek ( szontek@usga.org ) or Darin Bevard ( dbevard@usga.org ) at 610/ 558-9066 or Keith Happ ( khapp@usga.org ) at 412/ 341-5922.