When I look back on the many and varied events and activities I covered at the GIS in New Orleans, on subjects ranging from nutrient delivery advancements, to water and golf courses to setting standards for golf course irrigation systems, I realize that there is really one common theme that connects them all: How a golf course manager can do more with less to improve his golf course, protect his job and polish the image of his profession.
In fact, "Get More with Less" was the theme of a presentation from Precision Laboratories about their new line of liquid nutrients. The "Uptake Technology" takes advantage of research that uncovered new information about the actual size of the particles in the plant that the nutrients must pass through (did I get that right, my new smart German scientist friends?) This makes it possible for superintendents to make more targeted applications and with less product using high nutrient-loaded foliar nutrients.
Next on my agenda was water, and really whose agenda at GIS didn't include water? No fewer than five scientists spoke on various aspects of that topic at Thursday afternoon's Environmental Session: Focus on Water. Brian Horgan, Ph.D., had a checklist of advice on how to use the latest advances in technology -- from polarized glasses to ET estimators to soil moisture probes to remote sensing -- to develop irrigation scheduling that saves water ... and money. Clint Waltz, Ph.D., told the attendees, "Water conservation is the most important issue facing the turf management industry. You've got to become the leaders in the water conservation area." GCSAA's own research director, Clark Throssell, Ph.D., armed with data from the first "chapter" of the association's Golf Course Environmental Profile, pointed out that superintendents' top three water-conservation measures are 1) wetting agents, 2) hand-watering, and 3) generally keeping the course drier. Mike Huck talked about the present and future elements of using recycled water. One interesting number he dropped is that it currently costs $1 million per mile to pipe recycled water to the user. But despite the cost and the issues, he said, water will certainly become so valuable that "without recycled water, there will be no turf."
Did that just make your day?
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