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The Trans-Mississippi Golf Association is one of the oldest and most prestigious amateur golf associations in the United States. While the reach of the Trans extends across the nation, its beginnings are deeply rooted in the Midwest.

The Trans started in 1901 when St. Joseph Country Club of Missouri hosted Omaha Country Club for a match between friends. Later that same year, 15 inaugural member clubs came together to initiate the start of the Trans-Mississippi Match Play Tournament. Three of the original clubs are from the state of Iowa and include Cedar Rapids Country Club, Des Moines Golf & Country Club, and Dubuque Golf Club. In addition, the Trans-Mississippi Championship has been hosted by three Iowa golf courses including Des Moines Golf & Country Club (1909), Wakonda Club (1928, 1935, 1955, 2008), and Waveland (1903)

The Trans is comprised of member clubs from across the nation and the association has three main goals:

Tradition – Promote and advance the spirit of amateur golf by cultivating fellowship, harmony, friendly competition, and cooperation among members of the association.

Competition – The Trans-Mississippi Championship and a Four-Ball tournament are two annual events hosted by the Trans.

Education – Provide educational assistance to aspiring turf students through scholarships. The Trans Turf Scholarship fund grants $90,000 annually in the form of turf scholarships.

Revenue generated from the two annual tournaments along with club dues and charitable donations provide the funding for the Turf Scholarship Fund. The scholarship program was started in 1953 and has provided nearly 1,500 students the opportunity to pursue a career in turfgrass management. The Trans is committed to helping students and is currently in the process of increasing their annual scholarship amount to $150,000.

To find out more about the Tran-Mississippi Golf Association and information on how to join or donate to the turf scholarship fund, view the video below or visit www.trans-miss.com

Marcus Jones
Graduate Research Assistant

It’s been awhile since I have posted to the blog. The hiatus is partially due to countless hours of preparation for my preliminary exam which was last week. A preliminary exam is a required step on the way to obtaining a PhD and might be best described as an exercise in poise, patience, and humility while demonstrating your ability to think on your feet. As part of my preliminary exam I was presented with an opinion article that recently appeared in the New York Times.

Here are some excerpts from the article which was titled “The Dandelion King.”

….The unkept look of my lawn is just a byproduct of a conclusion I reached a few years ago: the war on weeds, though not unwinnable, isn’t winnable at a morally acceptable cost.

….I soon learned that the carpets of green in suburbia are the product of assiduously applied chemicals. “Pre-emergent” herbicides are laid down more than once in the spring (mixed in with the fertilizer) to sabotage the germination of crabgrass, dandelions and other undesirables. If this fails, post-emergents may be applied en masse. And as the summer wears on, local pockets of resistance can be wiped out with a spray canister of poison.

….releasing dubious chemicals into the environment — is the inevitable result of using them on your lawn; you can’t negate this negative externality without rewriting the laws of nature.

….But for me, the practical way to have an eco-friendly lawn is to have a weedy lawn.

The remainder of the article is littered with further inaccuracies and embellishments that mislead the reader and paint a negative picture of turfgrass (the full article can be read at by clicking here).

I was asked, as a member and advocate of the turfgrass industry, to provide a rebuttal to this article as part of my preliminary exam. I believe articles of this nature reinforce the notion of the importance that each and every one of us does our part to educate our customers and the public about the benefits of properly managed turfgrass. Here are some facts about the benefits of turfgrass to the environment based upon published scientific literature. Equip yourself with this knowledge so you can provide an insightful answer next time you are challenged about the benefits of turfgrass. A comprehensive report detailing turfgrasses and their benefit to humans and the environment can be found here.

Environmental Benefits of Turfgrass

• Turfgrass provides a dense groundcover which protects the soil from water and wind erosion. Doubling the amount of turfgrass shoots in a lawn (32 to 64/sq.inch) reduced the amount of runoff by two thirds (Easton Z.M., and A.M. Petrovic. 2004. Fertilizer source effect on ground and surface water quality in drainage from turfgrass. J Environ Qual 33: 645-656)

• The dense canopy of well-maintained turfgrass coupled with its extensive, fibrous root system results in more water infiltrating through the soil profile. This enhanced infiltration increases groundwater recharge and reduces nutrient loss in runoff. Weedy-low quality lawns had three times more nitrogen runoff than a dense-treated lawn and no more phosphorus runoff (Easton, Z.M. 2005. Ph.D. thesis, Cornell Univ.)

• The turf-soil ecosystem supports a diverse population of soil microorganisms. These organisms are very efficient at degrading and trapping many of organic chemicals contained in runoff and sediment that occurs from impervious surfaces. Thin, weedy lawns leached 1-2 % of a herbicide compared to no leaching from a dense lawn (Easton, Zachary M., A. Martin Petrovic, Donald J. Lisk and Inga-Mai Larsson-Kovach. 2005. Hillslope Position Effect on Nutrient and Pesticide Runoff from Turfgrass. Intern. Turfgrass Soc. Res. J. 10:121-129).

• Turfgrass removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and replaces it with oxygen. This exchange of gasses allows turfgrass to act as a net sink for the sequestration of C02. Well-managed turfgrass receiving inputs can sequester larger amounts of carbon dioxide compared to lawns receiving no inputs (Zirkle, Gina Nicole. 2009. 2009 International Annual Meetings: [Abstracts][ASA-CSSA-SSSA]. p. [52288]).

Marcus Jones
Graduate Research Assistant

Velocity is a postemergence herbicide from Valent Professional Products that is labeled for selective postemergence control of annual bluegrass and rough bluegrass in fairway height creeping bentgrass and perennial ryegrass. Velocity also controls certain broadleaf weeds and provides suppression of dollar spot in creeping bentgrass.

The product label describes three different protocols for converting turf areas: a slow, rapid, or transitional conversion program. The slow and transitional conversion programs are recommended for areas of turf heavily infested with annual bluegrass/rough bluegrass and utilize lower application rates. The rapid conversion program is recommended for areas of turf with light or moderate infestations of annual bluegrass/rough bluegrass and utilizes higher application rates.

I had some Velocity plots setup at Hyperion Field Club this past summer that yielded very positive results. The plots were located on a practice putting green heavily infested with annual bluegrass. I made four applications of Velocity on 14-day intervals starting the beginning of June and concluding the middle of July at 2 oz/A. A fifth and final applications was made on October 1 at the same rate. This spray regime closely follows the protocol of the transitional conversion program.

Velocity does tend to yellow the turf even after one application. The color differences are even more noticeable in this study because of the untreated plots being directly adjacent to the treated plots. Velocity can be tank mixed with a chelated iron product to lessen the discoloration.

Late in the fall just before winter arrived, the plots that had received the Velocity applications were noticeably lighter green in color compared with the other plots. This could have indicated the beginning of the transition from a mixed stand of annual bluegrass/creeping bentgrass to solid stand of creeping bentgrass.

Early in the spring as the plots began to green-up the differences in the amount of annual bluegrass between the treatments were striking. The majority of annual bluegrass had been removed from the plots treated with Velocity. Based upon visual inspection, the control plots had approximately 60% annual bluegrass. We estimated the coverage of annual bluegrass in the plots receiving Velocity had been reduced to around 20%.

This study is entering its second year and will be conducted again this year to see if the results can be duplicated. More information about Velocity herbicide, including product research and additional literature, can be found by visiting the Valent website.

Marcus Jones
Graduate Research Assistant

Rainy conditions across much of the state have limited everyone’s outdoors activity thus far this week. So far, Ames has received over 1.5 inches of rain and it looks like we’re headed for more on Wednesday. With the extra time spent in the office this week, I had the opportunity to put together a write up about some of my research involving the stolon growth of various creeping bentgrass cultivars and their ability to recover from divots.

A host of improved cultivars of creeping bentgrass have been released onto the market that possess improved agronomic characteristics such as vertical shoot growth, higher shoot densities, and narrower leaf blades. While many believe these morphological characteristics create an improved playing surface there are questions about the ability of these improved varieties to spread laterally compared to older varieties such as Penncross. While it is generally agreed that creeping bentgrass possesses relatively high recuperative potential, minimal research has focused on differences among cultivars of creeping bentgrass.

The objectives of this research were to determine differences in lateral spread and divot recovery of 24 cultivars of creeping bentgrass in mowed and non-mowed settings. The results of this research would help turf managers select cultivars of creeping bentgrass to match specific site requirements.

I started the study June 1 by transplanting 100 plugs of creeping bentgrass (24 different cultivars) into a fallow area. Prior to transplant, the area was treated with Basamid in order to limit competition from weeds. The plugs were simply allowed to grow, unabated, throughout the season.

The second phase of the study involved creating simulated divots by removing a core of turf and soil from a fairway that contained the same 24 cultivars with a cup cutter and backfilling the area with soil. No seed was added. The “divots” were simply allowed to grow and heal back in. The maintenance of the area was designed to simulate golf course fairway conditions.

I used a new piece of technology to evaluate the progress of the study called Digital Image Analysis. The software is able to distinguish between different colors (green turf and bare soil in this case) and calculates the percentage of green turf in the picture. With some simple calibrations and calculations, I am able to determine the rate of spread of each of the cultivars.

What we found

Stolon Growth – Non mowed. Differences among cultivars were observed for lateral spread. Penncross had the fastest establishment rate and Bengal had the slowest. The cultivars SR 1150, Crenshaw, Imperial, Kingpin, L-93, MacKenzie, Crystal Bluelinks, Pennlinks II, Penn G-6, Putter, Memorial, Penn A-4, and Tyee all had establishment rates statistically similar to Penncross. The others had growth rates slower than Penncross.

Divot Recovery - Mowed. Differences among cultivars were observed for divot recovery rate. Imperial had the fastest recovery rate and Alpha the slowest (Table 1). The cultivars Penn G-6, Alister, SR 1150, Crystal Bluelinks, Southshore, Penncross, L-93, and Century all had divot recovery rates statistically similar to Imperial.

While the differences appear small, consider that divots can take anywhere between 6 and 10 weeks to heal depending on the time of year and the management conditions. A small difference each day could end up being a big difference over the course of a couple months.

One of the big factors influencing lateral spread of grasses with stolons is the length of the internodes. As I stated earlier, the improved cultivars of creeping bentgrass posses higher shoot densities. This is possible because these cultivars have shorter internodes, thus a higher number of shoots per area.

I measured the internode length of all 24 cultivars and the general trend is that grasses with longer internodes (lower shoot densities) spread faster than grasses with shorter internodes (higher shoot densities). The take home message, there is a trade-off between lateral spread and shoot density. The location of the area (green, tee, fairway) should partially dictate cultivar selection given that cultivars of creeping bentgrass vary in their lateral spread.

On a side note, did anybody see the story from the TPC at Sawgrass last week about the couple who drove and parked their car on the 8th green? I first saw the story on the Golf Course Management Blog. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth the read.

Marcus Jones
Graduate Research Assistant

Last week I was touring a golf course with the Superintendent and we had a discussion about yellow spots on one of their putting greens. Yellow spots can be the result of a number of diseases and conditions. Poa annua contamination and yellow tuft were the first two possibilities that came to mind. Being able to correctly identify the problem is very valuable as the fungicides labeled for yellow tuft can be costly.

This particular green is grassed with the new, high-density bentgrass cultivars. Many of the new bentgrasses are genetically darker green compared to the older cultivars. As a result, any poa that is present is even more distinguishable within the canopy. This color difference can easily be misdiagnosed as a disease and could be the cause of the yellow spots.

Like most diseases, yellow tuft seems to be most prevalent in areas that are poorly drained, over-irrigated, or have excessive thatch. This green is rather flat and has relatively poor surface drainage. The weather so far during the month of June has provided plenty of moisture with many parts of the state receiving over 5 inches of rain.

I collected some samples of the affected turf for further inspection. I was able to detect a fair amount of poa within the samples. The poa could be contributing to the yellow appearance but might not be the sole cause as yellow tuft can occur on most turfgrass species although it is most common in creeping bentgrass or annual bluegrass. Digging a little deeper, I was able to find clusters of tillers originating from a single crown. This symptom is characteristic of yellow tuft and is the result of a plant hormone released by the disease pathogen.

In this case, even though poa was present in the canopy, the yellow spots were probably mainly the result of yellow tuft. With all the rain most parts of the state have received the conditions that would favor yellow tuft development are favorable. Cultural controls for yellow tuft include ensuring adequate surface and subsurface drainage. As far as chemical controls, the mefanoxam (Subdue Maxx) and fosetyl-Al (Signature) are the only fungicides currently labeled for yellow tuft.

For a great article about other causes of yellow spots on putting greens check out this link to our friends at the Turf Disease Blog. Let’s hope the rain stops and the soil dries out a bit before the temperatures heat up again.

Marcus Jones
Graduate Research Assistant