Field day features tips for golf course care
Posted on Thursday, August 7, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/67873/
Even if a professional in the landscaping, sports field or golf course business came away from the Turfgrass Research Field Day on Wednesday with just one thing to help with his or her business, it was a success, said Mike Richardson, horticulture professor at the University of Arkansas.
“ It’s a day to really show off what we’re doing, ” Richardson said of the field day, which is sponsored by the Department of Horticulture of the UA System’s Division of Agriculture.
The event, which featured turf research and educational demonstrations, was conducted at the Horticulture Field Lab at the research and extension center north of Agri Park in Fayetteville. It attracted 190 participants, mostly lawn care and landscaping professionals as well as golf course superintendents and people involved in sales related to the turf industry.
The field day was conducted every other year for 10 years. It now is an annual event.
New features this year included a trade show that featured 14 exhibitors, said Aaron Patton, turfgrass specialist for the UA Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.
“ That seems to be very popular, ” Patton said.
There was also a putting contest this year, he said, and “ everything’s just bigger this year. ”
Last year, there were two tours. This year, there were five, he said.
“ Every year, we try to vary the topics, ” he said as he prepared to give a presentation titled “ Primo in Paint, ” detailing the different aspects of painting sports fields.
Other sessions covered golf issues such as controlling weeds around putting greens and green speed, lawn and landscaping topics such as tree and shrub selection, and sports turf subjects such as painting logos and seeding Bermuda grass on athletic fields.
Amy Matthews of Springdale attended the event as an exhibitor and to learn more about different seeds. She was representing Pennington Seed Inc., which is based in Greenfield, Mo., and sells all types of grass seed.
She said she likes the relaxed atmosphere of the field day, which she said was full of practical information that people “ can really use on the golf course. ”
Richardson has been involved with the turfgrass science program since its beginnings in the mid-1990 s. He said most major land-grant universities in the nation have turfgrass programs.
He said some of the East Coast universities have had programs in place for several years, including the University of Rhode Island, which has a program dating to the 1920 s, The Pennsylvania State University and the University of Massachusetts.
Turfgrass science programs have expanded in the past 15-20 years because of growth in the golf course, landscape and sports field areas, Richardson said.
He said the recent housing market issues have affected the landscaping industry in terms of new landscape installation, while landscaping maintenance has not been affected.
Golf is seen as a luxury, he said, and some people may stop playing it during weak economic times.
But he said the sports field side of the industry “ has just been growing like crazy. ”
He said most cities and school districts want to have safe playing fields both for children and to help attract tournaments that can stimulate local economies.