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UConn Field Day-What a Great Day!
When Kevin Youkilis would come up to bat while he was playing for the Red Sox, people would yell, “Yoouuuke, Hit a Homaah!” Well, this past week, on July 25th, the University of Connecticut Turf Team did just that, they hit a Homaah! Some 300+ attendees made their way to the Storrs Turf Research Facility where they were hosted by the UConn staff at their biennial Turfgrass Field Day. The day began at 7:30am with attendees being greeted by several vendors and a Dunkin Donut’s food truck! Attendees checked in and visited with exhibitors until about 9:15am when UConn administrators gathered everyone under the big tent for a welcome and in preparations for their scheduled Turf Tours around the facility. The sky was somewhat overcast and helped keep temperatures more comfortable.
A program booklet was available and indicated there were 10 tour stops scheduled each to last for 15 minutes. A full array of research was described by professors and research assistants at each stop with some time for Q & A. Projects included from NTEP Bentgrass at Putting Green Height & other grasses evaluations to Sprayer Speed Comparisons on Fungicide Efficacy. Other studies included analysis of Plant Health Products, Biocontrol and Nutritional Evaluations on different types of turf. There was a Lawn Alternatives study and Autonomous vs Conventional Mowing study. You might wonder if there is a greater benefit to autonomous mowing other than convenience. Dr. Jason Henderson is focusing on a study that may tell if mowing nightly or daily autonomously during the growing season and less during the stressful periods could show a benefit over weekly conventional mowing. You never know and you won’t know unless you try! This is what research is all about.
And wait there is more! The Program Booklet indicated there were 25 tour stops that you could make. The other 15 stops could be a walking tour on your own if you were interested in the topics that included more turfgrass evaluations, product trials, low input sustainable evaluations and more! It doesn’t take long to realize there is a lot going on in Storres! When you come to UConn you see their impressive facility with important trials collecting significant data that can aid all turfgrass professionals. What you may not recognize is all the support from the school down to research assistants and the turf facility management and that it takes to do this work and to provide this resource for the industry. It is important to the industry to continue to support this effort.
Once the tours were done, attendees gathered around the exhibitor area and waited for the call to lunch under the tent. You could smell the barbeque, making it difficult to wait. Dr. John Inguagiato made some closing remarks with thank you’ s during the tasty lunch including one much important announcement. “The UCONN Ice Cream Truck is here!” What a way to finish for me…most of us then headed to our vehicles with the sound of distant thunder, but there were no interruptions this year! As we headed to our rides, some headed to the turf building for afternoon workshops. Topics included Weed & Turfgrass Identification, Invasive Plant Species Management, and Hands-on Spreader and Sprayer Calibration. The event really was worth the time and the ride in many ways.
I have said it before, we in New England have great resources to support our industry and our professions. To have three great schools along with the staff and faculties that provide endless opportunities to get started in a career of turf management, facilities to help managers personally be successful by their efforts and operations and as we look toward the future this turf industry can help direct where we go from here to keep our industry successful. Support Turfgrass Research and support our annual field days. The University of Massachusetts will be announcing their dates soon for 2025. Plan to attend and take your staff that you have trained and depend on. Come and get to know the researchers along with some networking you’ll do. You’ll probably think that you can’t afford to risk part of a day away in July or August. You’ll need to make that decision, but I just know you’ll not regret the effort if you can work it out! Remember, you’ve got to swing to hit a Homaah!
Gary Sykes
Past Scholarship Recipient - Cole Perra
2022-23 and 2023-24 NHGCSA Scholarship recipient Cole Perra has deployed with his Massachusetts Army National Guard unit. Cole had completed 3 semesters at the University of Massachusetts Amherst pursuing a plant and soil science degree before receiving active orders with the 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry Regiment. The deployment is for a year, with 9 months in Iraq, primarily at Erbil Airbase. Cole is a squad automatic weapon operator and is assigned to Aerial Quick Reaction Force (QRF) and base security. A QRF unit is on standby whenever mounted or aerial patrols are off base in case someone needs assistance. After his return stateside in December, Cole will resume studies at UMass and plans to return to the maintenance team at Abenaqui Country Club in May 2025.
“Cole Perra, center, serving our country with his unit”
Cole Perra, left, and Nate Garland, Cole’s old boss, Superintendent of Abenaqui Golf Club in Rye, NH.
STEM at the Stadium
On Wednesday, May 22nd, over 1,400 students from across the state participated in the "STEM at the Stadium" event at the New Hampshire Fisher Cats game. This event is a New Hampshire Golf Course Superintendents Association initiative to spark interest in the golf industry.
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. Studying these disciplines early in life is important for students to help them develop crucial skills like critical thinking while having fun in an academic setting.
During this recent event held at Fisher Cats Stadium in Manchester, NH, students were able to visit a number of different booths and speak to a variety of vendors and educators. Kids were able to engage in hands-on learning through participation in activities set up in the stadium.
Representing the NHGCSA, Kevin Doyle, Pat Lanman, John Clark and I spoke to interested students about several facets of golf course management. We fielded many good questions and were impressed by the knowledge and level of interest expressed by the participants. We hope to inspire tomorrow’s superintendents by promoting a rigorous STEM based education in schools across New Hampshire.
The students went through four stations pertaining to golf course and turf-related topics. Participants:
The day was a success for promoting the partnership between STEM educators and students and the NHGCSA. We look forward to the next opportunity to further this exciting initiative.
Best Regards,
Greg Hollick
Nashua Country Club
July 2024 Presidents Message
Hello all,
The story of battling the weather seems to not want to change into a period of consistency that we could only all hope and dream of. And with that, I hope everyone is doing well with the challenges of a mix of heavy rain, dry spells, and heat this spring as we venture into the summer season.
I would like to remind the membership that we are coming upon dues renewal at the beginning of July and as discussed previously the work to clean up the membership database with StarChaper has continued and we are in a comfortable position with it being up to date and organized as it should be. However, if you find that you are experiencing any problems still, please reach out to Harriet directly for a quick resolution as she has done an excellent job handling the task of organizing and being able to fix these problems efficiently. You can contact Harriet via email at [email protected].
Along with dues renewal coming, I must inform you of the decision by the board to implement a membership dues increase. It has been many years since the last increase and with increasing costs to conduct business it was a must-do decision for the association to maintain its operating status. This decision was based on the number of years since the last increase, the recent years of high inflation rates, and ensuring we reach a level of sustainability for conducting business. Please see the new membership rates schedule following this message.
Along with dues renewal are two distinct changes to the membership categories. The addition of the Equipment Managers (EM) category and a change for the Student (S) category becoming FREE. We have seen low to zero numbers in this category, and we are now following the GCSAA approach of the student category being FREE to encourage such individuals to join and become involved early on with the thought of it being a great way to help foster their future careers in the golf industry. If you have students/interns working for you this will give the opportunity for such individuals to join and become a part of the NHGCSA at no cost.
In conjunction with these changes, we will also have an updated membership application. This will include the new EM category, dues adjustments, and the removal of required signatures by two members of the association in good standing being replaced by listing two members of the association in good standing as references. This is with the intent of helping streamline the process of new memberships.
Summer is here and we are all certainly well into our busy season, but I hope many of you had the opportunity to attend this spring’s meetings including the MEGCSA joint meeting and the new joint meeting with GCSANE, which we hope to continue in an alternating host state fashion just as with Maine. We will be on a break for events besides our monthly board meetings until the fall. As always, if you would like to join a monthly board meeting, please reach out to Harriet for the meeting zoom link unless we are having an in-person meeting. And be sure to put the following on your calendar, Annual Golf Ball Scholarship Tournament taking place on October 15th at Rochester Country Club, our Annual Meeting on November 7th at Pease Golf Course, and our Annual Education Day on December 11th. All the details can be found on our website, www.NHGCSA.com. See you all then and I hope everyone has a fantastic summer!
President NHGCSA
Profile Club
