Governor Little issues statewide stay-home order, signs extreme emergency declaration
Idaho Golf Industry Letter of Support to Governor Little
On behalf of the Idaho GCSA and the Inland Empire GCSA, we thank the Idaho State Golf Association, and the Rocky Mountain PGA Section.
These associations joined our efforts to ensure basic course maintenance could be performed in case of additional state closures or shelter in place orders in the state of Idaho.
A joint letter was sent to Idaho Governor Little on March 25.
To download or read the letter, CLICK HERE.
As you navigate through this crisis – GCSAA offers up to date COVID-19 Pandemic resources: CLICK HERE
Reserve your GIS chapter room block here. Access code and link here.
2020 ORLANDO GIS Chapter Room Block – reserve your room here:
2020 GIS, January 27 – January 30, Orlando, Florida
IMPORTANT – if you can’t get a night on your reservation that you need,make the reservation as close as possible to your nights and then call GCSAA travel…give them your reservation number and ask them to add the night you need.
A NEW option this year, we offer two and three bedroom condos, in addition to our two hotel properties.
If we go through rooms quickly, we can get more rooms or nights added – if we do so over the next few weeks. Soooo… we encourage you to make your reservations now!
TWO HOTEL OPTIONS (scroll down for condo options):
Located on International Drive, Homewood Suites (recently renovated) includes a hot breakfast daily, and Monday – Thursday, also includes a complimentary evening social with beverages and food ($184 single/double). All rooms are suites with a complete kitchen and offer free Wi-Fi.
The Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando has been an option within our chapter block the last two rounds. We have several attendees who return to this budget property for its proximity to Pointe Orlando and the Convention Center ($115 Single/Double). Attendees have reported the walls are thin – so if noise is an issue, we just wanted you to be aware. Enjoy amenities such as refrigerators, microwaves, coffee makers and free Wi-Fi (sorry, no pool).
VACATION RENTAL PROPERTIES are now available! The 2/3 bedroom condos and townhomes are located within Vista Cay,. a vacation home rental community off of Universal Blvd, adjacent to the N & S Halls of convention center. When you arrive, you will go directly to your vacation home – no need to check in at an office. All condos include balconies and the townhomes include patios. All have fully equipped kitchens, washer/dryers, flat screens, free parking and internet, and more, with sizes ranging from 1,100 to 2,300 sq feet, depending on # of bedrooms.
Prices vary from $189 – $199 per night, plus tax and $30 light cleaning room fee per day.
CLICK ON LINK below and
use this access code: GISGCS0120648
Volunteers needed for The Boeing Classic at the Snoqualmie Ridge
VOLUNTEER for the 15th annual Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie Ridge in scenic Snoqualmie, Washington, which features 78 professionals from the PGA Champions Tour during an exciting week of Pro Ams. It is atelevised event at the end of the week.
Tournament prep starts August 18 with split shifts through August 25.
Check out this flyer with instructions how to volunteer for this opportunity.
EPA Accepting Public Comments until Sept 3
Read more: CLICK HERE
Call to action before April 15 – critical winter injury turfgrass research
Request from Brian Horgan, PhD for your participation – how you can help them receive a grant for critical turfgrass winter injury research:
To show your commitment of time of one hour per week as a citizen scientist to collect your course data during the time specified, we need a letter from you to include with the grant proposal by the end of the day April 15, 2019.
We have provided a letter template (Word document) to use to write your letter – see below.
The grant proposal is to help fund critical turfgrass winter injury research. Objectives include monitoring conditions under ice and snow cover, developing best management practices to prevent and recover from winter injury, breeding more winter hardy turfgrass species, and exploring alternative snow mold control strategies.
Click here for the template letter.
Read below for a full explanation of project and needs or download the full explanation as a PDF by clicking here.
Greetings golf course superintendents:
Winter injury on turfgrass is one of the most challenging, and poorly understood, aspects of managing turfgrass in northern climates. A team of researchers from six universities (University of Minnesota, Michigan State University, University of Wisconsin, University of Massachusetts, Rutgers University, and Iowa State University), as well as turfgrass scientists from the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, are submitting a grant proposal to the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative to help fund critical turfgrass winter injury research. Our objectives include monitoring conditions under ice and snow cover, developing best management practices to prevent and recover from winter injury, breeding more winter hardy turfgrass species, and exploring alternative snow mold control strategies.
However, we need your help. As part of our project we are proposing to collect environmental conditions during the winter on hundreds of golf courses throughout the winter. Your participation in this project would help in two ways. First, you would be providing important data for improved winter injury management for your golf course. Second, your donation of time would also be contributing towards our matching funds requirement for the proposal. The USDA requires that for every $1 we get in funding from them, we need to raise $1 in matching funding or in-kind donations (i.e. people’s time) from other sources.
Below is a description of what a commitment to help out with this would look like. Your commitment to this project is needed before we submit the grant (due in late April), but you will only need to take the measurements if we receive the grant. We should know if the grant is awarded by mid-summer of 2019.
How you can help
We need you to commit at least one hour per week from Oct 15, 2019 through May 15, 2020 to collect data on a golf green on your course. This would be the minimum we need. If you are interested in taking data on more than one green, or for a second year, all the better!
What are you committing to do?
Before and after winter (approximately Oct. 15 and May 15) you would estimate visually the percent annual bluegrass and creeping bentgrass (or other desired turf species) on the green, and send in some pictures of the green. Between these dates, you would visit the green each week and record information such as the following: (1) snow depth at 10 locations on the green, (2) presence of standing water, and (3) presence and thickness of ice.
How does this help superintendents?
The data collected on (hopefully) hundreds of golf greens across the northern U.S., Canada, and Scandinavia will help us better understand how golf greens (and turf in general) die during the winter. This information then can be used to design and test new turfgrass management strategies before, during, and after winter. We will also use data you collect, along with satellite imagery and weather data, to help build a sensor-based winter-stress damage prediction model that can help turfgrass managers identify times of greatest turf injury risk. Turfgrass breeders can also use these results to better target traits that are affecting winter performance and biosystems experts can develop low-cost sensors that help monitor winter stresses as they are occurring.
Submitting a letter of commitment
To show your commitment to our project, we need a letter to include with the grant proposal by the end of the day April 15, 2019. We have provided a letter template (Word document) to use to write your letter. The following elements must be included:
1. Address letter to: Eric Watkins
University of Minnesota
1970 Folwell Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55108
2. The title of the project “WinterTurf: A holistic approach to understanding the mechanisms
and mitigating the effects of winter stress on turfgrasses in northern climates”
3. Your name and role at your facility
4. The name and location (city, state) of your course
5. How many hours you are willing to commit to this project each week during the evaluation period. One green (the minimum commitment) will take about one hour, so you should also state the number of greens you are willing to monitor. For example, “I commit to monitoring 1 green during the evaluation period. I estimate that this will take 1 hour per week for each of the 30 weeks.”
6. The “cost” of doing this, which would be your hourly rate and cost of benefits (fringe). If you make $25/hr with a fringe benefit rate of 18%, you would state, “This contribution is valued at $29.50/h.” and calculate the total amount contributed (see letter template). Please note that we will keep this information private and it will only be viewed by the project lead and the panel reviewing the proposal.
7. Address and phone number
8. Signature
9. (Optional) It would be great if you could share an example of winter damage on your course, the impact it had, etc. and any other thoughts you have about the value of this project. Statements such as these establish the critical need for the research by our stakeholders.
We would prefer that the letter be signed and then scanned/saved as a pdf and emailed to Kristine Moncada at monc0003@umn.edu. If you need help or would prefer to send the letter another way, please contact her.
We need these letters by April 15, 2019. If funded, we will send further instructions for how to submit data using your phone or other device.
Thank you for your help on this project.
Dr. Eric Watkins University of Minnesota
USGA Rules of Golf – CHANGES!
There are Major Changes in the New Rules of Golf for 2019!
There are several resources available to learn more about the major changes taking place for the 2019 Rules of Golf!
If you want to view the USGA document in its entirety – Click Here.
Mike Sweeney, USGA Director, Regional Affairs – West, offers these three helpful forms to help understand the rule changes:
Summary of Main Changes_2019 Rules of Golf
Explanation for Each Major Change in the New Rules of Golf for 2019
CGA Summary of 2019 Rules Changes
And you can always find valuable information by visiting the USGA youtube page with several great videos about golf and the rules of golf.
USGA Youtube
Winterization Power Point – Paul Roche
Paul Roche:
Thank you for having me at your educational meeting in Idaho. It was a great pleasure to participate. I have been in communication with a couple of attendees that had requested additional information. The attached is the winterization presentation for you to share.
Soldate update on the potassium presentation – based on analysis of two area sands
Thank you very much for hosting me an attending the McCall Meeting earlier this month. During one of
my presentations, I shared the results of the research we are doing on potassium requirements of
bentgrass. In our field plots, we have determined that our bentgrass gets all the potassium it needs from the potassium-bearing minerals in the sand topdressing (potassium feldspar being the most common).
Adding potassium fertilizer did not improve the performance of the turf, and actually exacerbated snow
mold damage. Our root zone and topdressing sand is quartz-dominated, but has small amounts of
potassium-bearing minerals that appear to be enough to grow high quality bentgrass in Wisconsin.
After my talk, I was given sample of a very white colored topdressing sand from Whitetail Golf Club in
McCall (Unimin BB 202). My initial impression was that the white sand did not have any potassium in it,
because potassium minerals tend to be pink or darkly colored. I also received a sample in the mail from
Reserve your GIS room in our chapter room block
We have two properties in our GIS CHAPTER room block – same two properties as last time in San Diego!
Horton Plaza (pictured above) and the Residence in Gaslamp.
Instructions what to do after you click on the link below:
– Change the drop down box to the option that includes, “I have an Access Code”
– Put in this code: GISPEA0219263
– On the right, in the “Make a Reservation Box,” complete your check in and check out information
– Click on “Find”
You will see this selection (see below). It offers a description about each property. Placing your cursor over the desired property, the “Select” button will appear.
New this year – Super duper important:
Reservations can be cancelled without penalty until December 11, 2018. For cancellations made December 12, 2018 up to the individual hotel’s cancellation policy, Connections Housing will charge a $100 cancellation fee per reservation.
(NOTE – our block closes Nov 30)
CLICK HERE to reserve your room!!!
