Happy New Year to one and all! Isn't it amazing how fast time flies? It seems like yesterday I was visiting courses and assembling site-specific reports. In reality, it's been several weeks as winter has taken full control of the lower North Central Region. Nonetheless, conferences, presentations, writing articles, and staying current with industry research have kept the calendar full. Rest assured, the USGA Green Section is your best ongoing source of nonbiased golf turf maintenance information, not to mention a helpful resource when sorting through any political constraints that may be blocking maximum efficiency at your golf course.

Regional travel in December centered on the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation (OTF) Conference and Show held in Columbus. Ty McClellan (agronomist in the Mid-Continent Region) joined me, Keith Happ (senior agronomist in the Mid-Atlantic Region) and Bill McCarthy (director, Regional Affairs Ohio Valley Region) to facilitate a "Morning with the USGA" open discussion format on Wednesday (12/10/08). Attendance was good and the discussion, as always, covered all aspects of golf course maintenance. Thanks to all who attended and the OTF.

Just before the OTF Conference there were a few calls about snow mold disease prevention. In particular, several courses in northern Ohio were surprised by early snow cover with no opportunity to make appropriate preventative applications. In such situations, the best policy is to wait for an opening and then make an application as opposed to manual removal or trying to apply over a shallow snow cover. We have experienced several warm days that opened the door for most to make the needed treatment. Late winter/early spring will likely allow follow-up applications on sites with past history of disease activity. Whether summer, winter, spring or fall the guiding rule should always be - when in doubt don't do it.

Congratulations to Terry Bonar, CGCS, for being the 2009 Green Section Award recipient http://www.usga.org/aboutus/green_section/awards/green_section_award.html . Terry will be presented with the award February 6 ^th during the USGA educational program at the Golf Industry Show in New Orleans. It's nice to have the award come to Ohio and the North Central Region, and Terry is a truly caring professional and very deserving of this distinction. Join us in New Orleans to honor him.

The next stop on the conference circuit is the Indiana Green Expo ( http://www.indianagreenexpo.com/ ) in Indianapolis on January 12 ^{th -} 14 ^th . There is an excellent lineup of presentations, along with the trade show. I will present a 2008 year-in-review as well as a presentation on putting surface firmness. Hope to see some of you there.

We look forward to working with you and your golf course in 2009. A mailing will be sent out over the next four to six weeks to all courses in our database that outlines visit options for the coming year. However, the scheduling process can be initiated anytime with a call or email.

Here to help make your 2009 the best year ever.

Source: Bob Brame, bobbrame@usga.org or 859.356.3272