fundamentals of turfgrass scienceby dr nick christians. it is ... -...

college course on turfgrass management.We like it because it was written by anIowa author who often reflects what youmight expect from turfgrass in the Mid-west. Teaching in an applied science pro-gram, it’s nice to have textbooks that reflectthe hands-on learning techniques we as fac-ulty promote in the classroom. This booklike many adds lots of color images in theappendix sections and has industry-relatedphotos that grab the students’ attentionwhen reading the chapters.

The book was also chosen because it’s an“easy read.” I believe that when you are inthe field and need to reference back to atextbook you want something that has a de-tailed index that allows you to flip to thechapter/section of the textbook for a quickrefresher and then back to work. This bookdoes that really well.

Other books I would recommend to turfmanagers: Sports Fields: A Construction andMaintenance Manual, from the AmericanSports Builders Association; Mathematics ofTurfgrass Industry, by Nick Christians andMichael Agnew; Practical Drainage for Golf,SportsTurf, and Horticulture by McIntyreand Jakobsen; and Poa Annua, by Vargasand Turgeon.

BRANDON HORVATH, PhD,University of Tennessee

For the introductory turfgrass lab courseI teach I recommend The Mathematics ofTurfgrass Maintenance by Nick Christiansand Michael Agnew. Other texts I wouldrecommend for a reference shelf would in-clude: Management of Turfgrass Diseases byJoseph M. Vargas Jr., and Compendium ofTurfgrass Diseases, edited by Richard Smiley,Peter Dernoeden, and Bruce Clarke.

JOHN STIER, PhD,University of Wisconsin

Fundamentals of Turfgrass Science by DrNick Christians. It is complete and by farthe best value for the money of any bookavailable. University faculties are undertremendous pressure to reduce the cost oftextbooks, both from the public media andfrom academic administrators.

I like the book Practical Drainage forGolf, SportsTurf, and Horticulture, Chris-tians and Agnew’s book on turfgrass mathe-

matics, and Jim Beard’s 1973 Turfgrass Sci-ence and Culture. It’s dated but still the bestbook available beyond an introductory text.

FRANK ROSSI, PhD, Cornell University

I use Bob Emmons’ Turfgrass Science andManagement from Delmar Publishing be-cause it is THE most practical text I havefound. It lays an excellent foundation forstudents to know the basics.

The problem with textbooks is that be-yond the basics things are changing so rap-idly that by the time a book comes out it isalready 2-3 years old. Therefore I don’t rec-ommend texts as much as I used to for

managers but instead recommend that theyaccess the Turfgrass Information File(TGIF) at Michigan State (STMA mem-bers they can access it free) for specializedcontent.

I am very fond of Doug Brede’s TurfgrassMaintenance Reduction Handbook for turfmanagement beyond the sports field. It isthe only text I have seen that takes a pro-gressive look at where we need to be head-ing as an industry.

GRADY MILLER, PhD, North Carolina State

I do not teach our introductory courseat NC State so I’m not 100% sure what

SportsTurf 21www.stma.org

Fundamentals of Turfgrass Science by Dr NickChristians. It is complete and by far the best valuefor the money of any book available. Universityfaculties are under tremendous pressure to reducethe cost of textbooks, both from the public mediaand from academic administrators. — John Stier, PhD

http://www.lib.msu.edu/cgi-bin/flink.pl?recno=103123













22 SportsTurf | May 2011 www.sportsturfonline.com

Facility&Operations

text is used. My understanding is that theydo not require a text, but give several textsas suitable for reference. The library canhold these so our students can go by anduse them as needed. To be honest, it doesnot take a very sophisticated text for the in-troductory class.

There are a number of suitable textsthat fit into an “introductory turfgrasstext” classification, including: TurfgrassManagement by Turgeon, Turfgrass Scienceand Management by Emmons, and Funda-mentals of Turfgrass Management by Chris-tians. All these have multiple editions.

Faculty prefer to use “course-packs”with lectures/handouts for students andrely on students to seek out additional ref-erences if additional information isneeded.

I consider Sports Fields: A Manual forDesign, Construction and Maintenance, tobe a more specialized book that would beused in a second class or a more specializedclass. I think it is an excellent reference forfield managers. I would highly suggest BestGolf Course Management Practices by BertMcCarty. While this by title seems to beonly a golf course text, it really is not. Thereference material on items such as soil

and tissue testing, water quality, turfgrassmathematics, etc., is excellent for sport turfmanagers. Plus, many of the grasses used ongolf courses are also used on sports fields, soall the extensive pest management chaptersare also excellent.

Lastly, I really suggest managers get acopy of The Site Calculations Pocket Refer-ence by Ed Hannan. It has every calculationor conversation for turfgrass constructionand management situation that could beimagined.

ANDREW MCNITT, PhD, Penn State

Our introductory turf book TurfgrassManagement by Al Turgeon. Another greattextbook/reference is Turfgrass Soil Fertilityand Chemical Problems by Carrow,Waddington, and Rieke. Outstandingbook.

A third that will be coming out later thisyear is the Turfgrass Monograph from theCrop Science Society of America. It is not atext but a reference used mostly by re-searchers and it has a listing and updates onmost all the peer-reviewed research in turf-grass. It likely will be available on agron-omy.org eventually.

BETH GUERTAL, PhD, Auburn University

I do not have a required textbook. If Iwere to pick one it would be Nick Chris-tians’ as it is an excellent basic resource, es-pecially for those working with cool-seasongrasses, as that is a bit of the focus of thetext. Instead, I use a combination of web re-sources and extension documents; becauseso many of my students stay and work inthe warm-season systems of the Southeastthat is why I do not require the text. I dorecommend it as an excellent resource.

For reference shelves, I would recom-mend Turfgrass Soil Fertility and ChemicalProblems by Carrow, Waddington, andRieke. It is a thorough and well writtentext. Quite useful. Turgeon’s book isgood, too.

BRIAN SCOTT, PROFESSOR,Mt. San Antonio College

We use Nick Christians’ book. It hasgreat photos and illustrations plus it is easyto read and understand. Other books that Irecommend are the Western Fertilizer Hand-book (latest Horticulture Edition available)and the Mathematics of Turfgrass Manage-

I am still very partial to every turfgrass manager having a copy of Beard’s 1973Turfgrass Science and Culture regardless of how old it is. I was always told it was“The Bible” for turfgrass managers and I still think it is if one really wants to get

into the nitty gritty of why grasses do what they do. — Michael Goatley, PhD


















ment put out by GCSAA. And even thoughit’s all in metric, Growing Media for Turfand Ornamental Plants by Handrek, fromAustralia, has great practical applications.

MICHAEL GOATLEY, PhD,Virginia Tech

I have used both Christians’ Fundamen-tals of Turfgrass Management and TurfgrassManagement by Al Turgeon for intro turftexts over the years and like both of themvery much; both are well written, compre-hensive, and contain excellent ideas for labs,projects, etc. The only reason I changed upwas just to try something new for class.I am still very partial to every turfgrassmanager having a copy of Beard’s 1973Turfgrass Science and Culture regardless ofhow old it is. I was always told it was “TheBible” for turfgrass managers and I stillthink it is if one really wants to get into thenitty gritty of why grasses do what they do.The other books I use a lot as referencesand think that sports turf managers would

also use are Turfgrass Soil Fertility andChemical Problems by Carrow, Waddington,and Rieke, Managing Turfgrass Pests byWatschke, Dernoeden, and Shetlar, andwhatever the latest edition is of The Mathe-matics of Turfgrass Maintenance. That’s justme. I’ve got a slew of other books on myshelf by some other great authors, and a fewof them are very specific to topic (likeHouston Couch’s Diseases of Turfgrasses) butthese are the ones I think folks would reachfor fairly regularly. And though you didn’task, I still regularly look at The Seven Habitsof Highly Effective People by Stephen Coveyto put focus and perspective on things fromtime to time.

TREY ROGERS, PhD,Michigan State

I have always used the Turgeon book onturfgrass management, at least seven edi-tions to my knowledge. Have looked atbooks by both Emmons and Christians,and they would be acceptable to me as well,

but just have not changed [from Turgeon].I also use my paperback book published in2007, Lawn Geek. I think you need a bookor two regarding pest management but hereyou might buy where you live/work, as lo-cation may play a role. Since I actually doabout 90-10 ratio teaching of golf vs. sportsturf (people outside of Michigan just associ-ate me with the latter because ofprojects/research) I really do not focus toomuch on specific books for sports turf. But, the soils book by Waddington, Rieke,and Carrow should be automatic. ■

I really do not focus toomuch on specific books forsports turf. But, the soilsbook by Waddington,Rieke, and Carrow shouldbe automatic.


















Facility&Operations | By Max Utsler

“Oh, my God. I’ve got to go to the bath-room.”

“And here to tell you about how yourlocal Parks and Rec Department is doingfantastic work in preserving the environ-ment . . . let me introduce your director,Mr. Ron Dayvoo. Let’s hear it for Ron.”

Your knees buckle as you approach thepodium. Your stomach growls. You gasp forone last breath.

Welcome to the world of public speak-ing. Think that scenario only describes thebeginners? Think again. Even the experi-enced pros feel a little of that when it’s“showtime.”

Bear in mind, some of that nervousnessis a good thing. It will ensure you are awake,alert and ready to perform. Because that’s

what you are about to do—perform. Andhow you do in that performance may go along way in shaping the public perception ofhow well you do your day job. So keep inmind: public speaking comes with the job.

If you follow the steps of brainstorm,gather, organize, produce, practice and pres-ent you will find proper preparation makesspeaking easier. Not easy, just easier.

BRAINSTORMFirst consider the difference between

choosing a topic and being assigned a topic.That can run the range of being invited to“talk to us about the recent changes in pesti-cide use that has led to improvements inrun-off ” to a more generic, “talk about any-thing you want to talk about.” The first sce-

STMA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

When it’s

“Showtime,” you can’t just show upEditor’s note: This is the first in a series of 2011 Professional Developmentarticles provided by the Sports Turf Managers Association.

YOU HAVEN’T TOUCHED THE CHICKEN CORDONBLUE that is still laminated onto your plate. You drained yourice water glass four times, but your mouth still feels like you used

a Q-tip instead of a toothpick. You nervously fidget in your chair as thechairman of the parks district board of trustees starts to introduce you.

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In every case, tryto build your topicaround you andyour audience’scommon interests.Do remember, a livespeech works verywell if you want todeliver an emotionalmessage. If youmust deliver lotsfacts, stats and datato your audience,prepare a handout.


nario will likely occur when a particular or-ganization has a special interest in a topicof your expertise, such as a professionalconference. The second scenario will likelyoccur when those civic organizations withmonthly or even weekly meetings require aspeaker, and the organization contacts youto fill a slot on the program.

Next consider the audience. The moreyou know about them the better you canprepare. Belaboring points your audiencealready knows has the same deadly result astaking a knowledge base for granted andtalking over your audience’s heads.

Find out what the members of your audi-ence do for a living. Are these professionalpeople, blue-collar workers, retirees, stu-dents? You will find it helpful to also knowthe age and sex of your audience. If you’respeaking to an audience of Baby Boomers, apop culture mention of Woodstock or Mrs.Robinson might help you make a point. Anaudience of current college students wouldgreet those same references with a headscratch, a yawn or both. Consider what areas

of agreement you will have with your audi-ence. On what points will they disagree?

In every case, try to build your topicaround you and your audience’s commoninterests. Do remember, a live speech worksvery well if you want to deliver an emo-tional message. If you must deliver lotsfacts, stats and data to your audience, pre-pare a handout.

GATHERYes, you want to deliver an emotional

message, but you will need a fact base to setthat up. The fact base often comes fromyour education and experience. That’sprobably why you got invited to speak inthe first place. Personal experiences and an-ecdotes will be invaluable when you beginto organize your presentation.

Just don’t be afraid to expand that factbase beyond your experiential base. Use theInternet or the library (you do rememberwhat a library is, don’t you) and see if anynew information has become available. Useyour contact network you’ve acquired

through your participation in the SportsTurf Managers Association and contactyour fellow professionals. The STMA head-quarters may also be able to steer you toadditional resources. Not matter how youdo it, specifics sell your ideas better thangeneralities.

ORGANIZEThink in terms of a thesis statement.

Just what point do you want to make withthat audience? If you can’t state it simply,then perhaps you haven’t focused yourtopic enough, or you may be working onmore than one focus, which means you areworking on more than one speech A solidthesis statement does more than just de-scribe. It gives context and perspective andgoes a long way in answering the “so what”and “who cares” questions.

Consider the difference between the fol-lowing statements.

• We are going to install the newest ver-sion of Monsanto’s artificial turf that feelslike real grass.


Facility&Operations

• The new Monsanto Turf promises toreduce serious abrasion-type injuries morethan 30 percent.

The first statement provides mere de-scription. The second statement deliverscontext and explains the importance of thetopic. Get to your thesis very early in thespeech. Use the old adage of “tell ‘em whatyou’re going to tell ‘em, tell ‘em and tell ‘em

what you just told ‘em” as the basic organi-zational structure of the speech.

That will help you provide a beginning,a middle and an end. The beginning grabsthe audience and sets the thesis. The middleprovides the evidence to prove your thesis.The end should make the final reference tothe thesis, leaving the audience, hopefullywanting more, rather than making themglad this whole speech is over.

PRODUCEOnce you’ve decided on your topic and

have turned that into a thesis, you nowmust decide how you will present it. Let’sstart with what not to do.

Do not try to imitate David Letterman.Dave has carved out a nice career sayingfunny things in front of live audiences. Healso employs a number of people to helphim write those funny things. Far too manyspeakers think you must start your presen-tation with a joke. As a result, far too many

speakers end up being a joke. Sometimesthat happens because the joke is unrelatedto the topic at hand. Sometimes that hap-pens because the joke is in poor taste.Sometimes that happens because the jokejust isn’t funny. Sometimes it’s all of theabove.

The moral of the story is if you must usehumor, keep it related to the topic at hand,

show good taste, and for goodness sake,make it funny. Former CBS Television Pres-ident Van Gordon Sauter once began aspeech about the decline in quality of tele-vision news. He recalled working his waythrough graduate school refereeing highschool basketball games. One night hetossed the opening tip-off and a player acci-dentally knocked off his glassesand smashed them as his feetcame back to the floor. Sauterconfessed he couldn’t see a thingwithout his glasses. He also hadnot brought an extra pair to thegame, so he would have to offici-ate without the benefit of cleareyesight. He promptly decidedthat whenever he would blow hiswhistle, he would “sell” the callwith great conviction.

At the game’s end he noted hehad not received any more com-plaints from the coaches, ques-

tions from the players or boos from the fansthan normal.

“That was my first lesson that style tri-umphs over substance,” he said.

Then he went on to prove style was tri-umphing over substance in television news.Pertinent, tasteful and closely tied to thetopic.

Generally speaking, if you can come upwith a personal experience or anecdote,often one that pokes fun at yourself, youwill have found an attention-grabbing wayof starting your speech. Just don’t startthinking you’re the next David Letterman.

The second item on the big no-no list isDO NOT READ FROM A PREPAREDSCRIPT. If you do it will look and soundlike you’re reading from a prepared script.Working from an outline usually providessufficient structure to keep your mind atease and your speech on track. It also pro-vides enough departure so you won’t soundlike you’re reading it from a prepared script.

Extemporaneous is clearly the best way.It allows you to connect better with the au-dience because your focus is on them, notyour note cards or script. It’s also the mostdangerous one, dangerous because if youever forget where you’re going or whereyou’ve been, the awkward silence of tryingto get back on pace will turn out to be aspeech killer. The audience will rememberyou all right—just for the wrong reasons.

Keep in mind you got invited becauseyour inviters knew that you knew a lotabout the subject. You probably talk aboutthat subject virtually every day. You don’tneed note cards to talk to your boss or amember of the city council or a coach.

>> BOARD MEMBER Mike Tarantino presents during the 2011 STMA National Conference in Austin.

>> STMA PRESIDENT Troy Smith, CSFM informally presentsto a group during the educational roundtable sessions thatclosed the conference education program in Austin.

STMA PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT


With enough preparation and practice you can at least get by witha modest number of note cards or points in an outline.

PowerPoint can help you get your point across, but sometimesPowerPoint just gets in the way of getting your point across. Pow-erPoint offers an advantage of visualization of your ideas. So if youare offering visual ideas, then PowerPoint works well. PowerPointalso offers some distinct disadvantages. You can’t adjust the pres-entation during the presentation. Think of the times you’ve seen apresenter fly through the final three slides as time started to runout.

PowerPoint users also have a tendency to put too many wordson a slide. That leads to reading the slide, which is the visual, butequally annoying, equivalent of reading a script. The use of stan-dard PowerPoint templates suggests a lack of creativity if not alack of preparation. Click on the template called “Dad’s tie.” Tellme you can live without ever seeing it again.

PRACTICENothing special about the advice here: practice, practice, prac-

tice.

PRESENTIn the 1979 movie “All That Jazz,” Roy Scheider plays a booz-

ing, drug-addicted, sleepless Broadway choreographer/dancer. Inseveral scenes you see him rise from the dressing room couchlooking like the boozing, drug-addicted, sleepless dancer he was.He walks up to the mirror, opens his bloodshot eyes, squirts in afew eye drops, blinks and loudly proclaims, “It’s Showtime.” Hethen proceeds on stage and does his magic. Perhaps you can closeyour eyes for a moment and think, “It’s Showtime,” before youtake the podium.

Listen to your introduction. If the person doing the intro does-n’t establish your credibility, make sure you blend that into theearly part of the speech. If that intro does establish your expertise,don’t repeat it in your speech.

Part of “Showtime” is being enthusiastic. If you can’t show in-terest in your topic, how can you expect your audience to showinterest?

Use your voice. Most often you will be using a microphone.That allows for easy changes in volume. A very soft voice can getadditional attention. So can a louder voice. Vary your pace. The“pause” and the resulting silence can be a most effective device.Other times talking fast can deliver a dramatic effect. If you areusing a podium microphone you will be tied to the podium, but ifyou are equipped with a lavaliere mic feel free to move around. Itcan help you maintain eye contact with different parts of theroom. Use gestures to help communicate key points, but avoidconstant movement that resembles a sapling flapping in the wind.

Above all, be yourself. That’s really tough to do when you’renervous, but perhaps that practice we talked about earlier canmake that easier to accomplish. That way when it’s “showtime”you’ll be ready for the show. ■

Dr. Max Utsler teaches journalism at the University of Kansas.


Facility&Operations | By Dave Barlow

HAVE YOU EVER ASKEDYOURSELF, “Why isn’t there analternative to rock and gravel forbuilding bases for athletic fields?”

For more than 10 years I have pursued the sci-ence of manufacturing polymeric interlockingpanel base systems to replace traditional stonebase work. With more than 2 million squarefeet of Tour Links panels installed around theglobe, I began to concentrate my efforts onpanel systems for athletic field construction,from rooftops to natural turf retrofits.

This spring at the Port Charlotte, FLtraining home of the Tampa Bay Rays, Ultra-BaseSystems made its debut after we werecontacted by our friends at AstroTurf to helpretrofit a practice infield at the Rays facility.The goal was simple: allow the team to prac-tice on the same Astroturf Game Day Turf3D system that was being installed at theteam’s permanent home in St. Petersburg.One little hitch, however; we only had a fewdays to accomplish the task before the teamreported to spring training.

We made quick work of removingthe existing sod, being certain to exca-vate exactly 2 ½ inches down, whichwould allow the finished panel and turfsystem to sit slightly above the existingbase paths. Once the sod was removed,the area was scraped clean to assure asmooth, properly pitched base on whichto construct the system.

BASE PREP WORKThe AstroTurf engineers requested a

simple drainage system be installedaround the perimeter of the base paths,and then the entire field was meticu-lously groomed and thoroughly com-pacted. Other than the drainage ditchfill, no additional material was used tobuild the sub-base, only the existing soilsthat remained after the turf removal.The entire area was then covered withour permeable, 6-ounce spun polyprogeo textile which not only blocks neworganics from growing but more impor-tantly acts as a panel stabilizer, helpingto distribute the panel load evenly, creat-ing stability underfoot. The entire baseprep work and drain system installationtook about 10 hours with a three-mancrew.

PANEL INSTALLATIONThe next morning our crew of seven

installed the panel base. Starting at sec-ond base and working evenly towardfirst base and third base, the panels wereinstalled symmetrically to ensure thearea remained perfectly square. Expan-sion joints engineered into each moldedpanel allow for a smooth base profile re-gardless of temperature swings.

A 1-inch expansion gap was left be-tween the panels and clay base paths inwhich the turf would be wrapped overthe panel’s edge, secured and buried.The areas around the bases and moundwere measured, marked and trimmedusing a jigsaw. The majority of this crewhad never even seen our UltraBase panelsystem before, yet in 3 hours the entire6,700-square foot area was installed,trimmed and ready for turf.

The new base was measured andmarked and the crew went to work

New panel technologyfor field basesEditor’s note: This article was written by the designer of a new field base panel system. The systemwas first installed earlier this year at the Tampa Bay Rays spring training facility.

>> Below Left: OTHER THAN THE DRAINAGE DITCH FILL, no additional material was used to build thesub-base, only the existing soils that remained after the turf removal. Below Middle: THE AREASAROUND THE BASES and mound were carefully measured, marked and easily trimmed using a jigsaw.Below Right: THE TURF was carefully seamed, rolled and allowed to dry.

>> Below: Starting at second base and working evenly towards first and third base, the panels were in-stalled symmetrically to ensure the area remained perfectly square.

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