10th-annual UA Turf Classic has another successful outing
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Sports/64185/
The University of Arkansas Golf and Sports Turf Classic celebrated its 10 th anniversary Monday at Stonebridge Meadows Golf Club amid crisp conditions more indicative of late autumn than early spring.
The cool air didn’t dissuade the usual patrons who support the event from participating again this year. A cross-section that included golf course superintendents, seed and equipment companies and turfgrass and agr iculture advocacy groups helped the University of Arkansas’ Department of Horticulture raise close to $ 10, 000, said Dr. Mike Richardson, a horticulture professor at the university.
Richardson said the money will be used for undergraduate scholarships and research. Arkansas ’ new head football coach Bobby Petrino also participated. Richardson said it was Petrino’s first golf outing since he was hired as the Razorbacks’ 30 th head coach in December.
The horticulture department has 70 students. About 25 of those are part of the department’s turf-grass management program. A large contingent of the program’s alumni took part in the tournament, including Stonebridge superintendent Lee McBurnett.
Superintendents like McBurnett are the primary stewards of the game, charged with maintaining and improving playing conditions while minimizing the absorption of fertilizers and other forms of nutrients into the surface and ground water.
Richardson said superintendents serve an indispensable role. Their hard work and expertise are an essential part of the golf industry.
“ If you don’t have a golf course, you don’t have a product to sell, ” Richardson said. “ If you have poor playing conditions, people don’t come play. If people don’t come play, they’re not buying things from the pro shop, buying lunch at the pro shop.
“ A good golf course in good condition is the calling card that gets people to come play. Are [superintendents ] more important than the pro or the general manager, it’s hard to say that, but certainly it’s an integral part of the whole golf course business. ”
Some of the research that the tournament helps fund was on display Monday. Placards containing summaries and supporting illustrations describing the research adorned every tee box.
“ We have projects right now where we’re looking at fertilizer programs that are designed for bent grass greens, ” Richardson said. “ Different types of chemicals that can be used in extended periods of drought. Trying to identify grasses that will use less