Rocky Mountain Regional Turfgrass Association (RMRTA)

The Rocky Mountain Golf course Superintendent Association is a chapter of the golf Course Superintendents Association of America that supports golf course superintendents throughout Colorado. They work closely with many other organizations including:

• Colorado State University
• Colorado Association of Lawn Care Professionals
• Colorado Sports Turf Managers Association
• The Rocky Mountain Sod Growers Association.

 They were founded in in 1953 to aid in the research, education, and information for golf course superintendents.

   Their board of directors has representatives from each of the organizations.

• President - Britt Jardon from the Monte Vista Golf Club in Monte Vista, CO
• Treasurer - Doug Fisher from Graff’s Turf Farms, Inc. in Fort Morgan, CO
• Conference Chair - Sun Roessiein - from Jeffco Schools Dept. of Athletics.
• Conference Chair - Chris Lewis from Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield, CO(represents the RMGCSA on the board..
• Past President - Kevin Sjursen fro Homestead Golf Course in Lakewood, CO

  The association hosts a big conference once a year where they offer classes on everything from Microsoft Excel, to diseases, turfgrass, landscape design, hazardous waste handling, weather,  etc. They offer just about any class in our business that you could ever want to learn. The trade show has exhibitors from all over the country. 

  The association also provides for continuing education in many areas of golf course maintenance. This would be a great association to be involved with.

At The Greenside

At the Greenside is a blog page ran by Mr. Rick Munro. He is a former golf superintendent with 20 years experience who is currently the environmental coordinator at several golf courses. He is a huge supporter of the environmental movement and supports golf courses becoming Audubon Certified. I really enjoy his blog because his posts cover a wide range of environmental topics like the benefits of dead trees to the wild life. They provide a habitat for wild life to live on the golf course. He also talks about creating areas on the golf course around the water with buffer zones for wild animals to feed and have a sanctuary as long as it is safe for the humans. He is trying to get the word out that most superintendents are working with the environment on their golf courses and he is trying to change the beliefs that the golf courses just take from the environment with no worries about the damage. I definitely think this is the way of the future. Golf course superintendents will be concentrating on keeping our natural environment and still provide a beautiful golf course. I encourage anyone interested in preserving our environment in our work with turfgrass to definitely check out this blog.

Sensor Technology

Golf course technology has been growing at a rapid rate. One of the the many things that has come out of this technology is a sensor system that gives superintendents a 24/7 monitoring of their soil moisture temperature and even salinity of the soil. This information relayed back to your computer can help tremendously with water conservation and being able to keep a close eye on your greens, not just above the ground but below. Knowing exactly how much water your greens need cuts back on water waste by up to 40%. UgMo, a company in sensor systems, shows that these sensors can help cut water usage. They are installed by simply using a cup cutter and burying them around a six inch deep. This trend is starting to catch on, one of the first superintendents to get involved with the sensor system was Matt Shaffer at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. In an article from the NY times Matt said “Well, what I thought was dry isn’t even my baseline. These sensors are just so much more sensitive, so much better, so much more complete. I am now hooked. I’m a sensor addict.” He says the sensors are so much more sensitive and complete. Although these units are a little pricey roughly around $85,000 for 18 greens I think they are a very good investment in the long run.

Interview With Niels Dokkuma

For my communications class I chose to interview a graduating two-year student. The students name was Niels Dokkuma from Holland. Niels has enjoyed his time here at Penn State and feels that he has been well prepared for continuing in the business and is anxious to gain more on-the-job experience. He started in the business as a seasonal assistant at Burg Golf, a local public golf course. One of his favorite classes here at Penn State was Soil Physical Properties with Dr. Andy Mcnitt. He also enjoyed his Case Studys class with Dr. Turgeon. He felt that the total experience at Penn State has really made an impression on him.

Niels did an the extensive six month internship at the California Golf Club of San Francisco where he enhanced his knowledge with on-the-job experience and enjoyed his visit by Dr. Kaminski. He was able to work on all of the objectives he had.

His plans following graduation this March is to spend another year working in the United States before heading back to the Netherlands. His advice to anyone beginning in the turf business is to work hard, be dedicated, be willing to move and ask questions. It was interesting to interview Niels and he definitely gave me some things to look forward to in my remaining time here at Penn State and in the future.

Importance of Communication

One of the things that I have learned here, during my time at Penn State, is that growing grass and field work make up less than fifteen percent of your job.
The rest of the job is dedicated to communication, which includes organization and training.
As a superintendent, you need to be able to communicate with a broad spectrum of people ranging from the maintenance staff to the greens committees, and most importantly the membership.
As a superintendent it is important to be able to make yourself understood to your staff so that the jobs get done properly.
With the greens committee and membership you need to be able to clearly explain the work your doing and why.
The better that you educate your membership, the easier it will be for them to understand the work you are doing.
It is important not only to keep the operation running smoothly but also to ensure job security.
I think the idea of sending out a weekly or monthly newsletter updating the membership and key people is a good idea and also helps to keep a running list of things that have been accomplished.

Internship News

On March 15 I am going to be interning at Castle Pines Golf Club. Castle Pines is an eighteen hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course in Castle Rock, Colorado. I will be working there until the middle of September. One of the things I would like to learn from my experience there is an overall understanding of the communications and people management side of the industry. I would also like to increase my knowledge of pesticide and fertilizer application. I am very eager to get to Colorado and get started.

A little about me

My name is Dustin Weeks, I was born and raised in Tucson AZ. I am currently attending the two year turf management program at Penn State University. I have two older brothers that are in the golf industry, so i've grown up around golf most of my life. I was never really interested in pursuing a job in the industry until about three years ago when my brother helped me get a job at a city course in Tucson AZ. After the first week of working on the course i knew this was what I wanted to do. So now here I am at Penn State trying to accomplish that goal.