Greenside APR 2015 Low Res

Feature
The Association is now based out of the Midwest Golf House in the southwest suburbs of Chicago
northern Indiana into western Michigan. The reason for the spread is
twofold – the Association has been successful in keeping clubs happy
with all services provided, and many of the out of state courses are
weekend or vacation courses for Chicago businessmen who want
their golf scores to count on their CDGA membership. This means
I can cover a lot of ground in the summer. Part of the membership
that is paid by the 80,000 golfers to the CDGA supports my position
and so it is in our best interest to give them value for money. Annual
dues of between $20 and $40 dollars covers handicap management,
competition organization, course ratings, rules officials and turf
support for the association members. This is at no further cost unless
a member decides to play in association competitions outside of their
regular club competitions. The CDGA will also run USGA qualifying
events and are the official vendor for the USGA handicap system in
the state of Illinois.
We have a diagnostic lab where superintendents can send in
samples for free to help with disease problems during the season and
further to that we are on call during the season to help with problems
as they arise.
The CDGA diagnostic lab
We had 20 projects last year looking
at disease control options, surface
firmness and wetting agents, biosolid
activity and herbicide efficacy.
The ‘we’ part includes myself and the director of research - Ron
Townsend. The team combines to work on research projects which
can be funded by industry or implemented based on ideas from
superintendents in the region. Testing and product evaluation is
carried out at the golf house on the three hole golf course and we also
collaborate with courses all over Chicago – giving real world data for
many of the trials. Superintendents in the area like to have the trials
on site as they get to evaluate products and ideas directly as well as
using the trials when talking to membership about changing practices
or altering budgets. Superintendents also drive some of the research
project ideas and it means there is a direct input from the end users.
We had 20 projects last year looking at disease control options,
surface firmness and wetting agents, biosolid activity and herbicide
efficacy. This allows us to provide relevant information at all times to
the superintendents in the region as well as keeping the turf program
up to date on the efficacy of the latest products.
Further to that, we provide education to the superintendents. We
host a research field day, which will cover 8-10 topics, and we bring in
academics from regional universities to help cover some of the topics
for the day.
I also speak at monthly and annual superintendent meetings on
research we have carried out at the golf house. The program works
regularly with the University of Wisconsin, Purdue University,
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greenside magazine | April 2015