2022 Seminar Descriptions

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

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1.     Golf Course Safety and Risk Management      

         8am-10am      •     ¼-Day Seminar - 0.20 GCSAA Education Points                                            

         Instructor: Michael Hurdzan, Ph.D, Hurdzan Design, Columbus, OH                                                                                          

       

Golf Course Safety and Risk Management can conserve resources, reduce lost man hours, improve staff productivity and morale, but is a skill rarely taught in school.  Instilling a culture of safety and managing risks is easy, inexpensive, and effortless, yet only about 40% of golf courses have a properly functioning safety program.  The seminar is an introduction on how to get your facility’s safety program started. 

 

2.     Personal Financial Planning: Keeping Green in Your Future                   

         8am-10am      •     ¼-Day Seminar - 0.20 GCSAA Education Points

         Instructors: Mr. Dennis Lyon, CGCS, Aurora, CO & Mr. Jeff Massey, Massey and Assoc., RI     

                                              

The seminar will express the necessity and value of planning for an enjoyable financial future.  Statistics show most individuals are not on pace for a well-funded retirement.  Time will include a discussion regarding retirement concerns, retirement planning, options and investing in your future and your family financial wellness! 

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3.   Soil Testing: Reports and Interpretations                 

      NE Pest Credits: 2      •      8am-12noon     •     ½-Day Seminar - 0.35 GCSAA Education Points

      Instructor: Dr. Beth Guertal, Auburn University                                                                                                                        

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This seminar will cover items on soil test reports to help attendees understand what all the number mean.  Protecting the environment and reducing costs to your program is a priority, soil tests are essential to make accurate decisions and for a better understanding of the needs of the soil that will benefit the plant life.  Dr. Guertal will discuss soil sampling, including the best timing for testing, what might be the best type of test for you and how this will help managers considering fertilization.

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4.     If You Build It, They Will Come: How to Attract, Recruit and Retain Employees!                                                        

        8am-12noon     •      ½-Day Seminar - 0.35 GCSAA Education Points

        Instructors: Mr. Bill Maynard, CGCS, MTI Dist., Inc. & Dr. Doug Linde, Delaware Valley Univ.  

                                             

Golf Course Safety and Risk Management can conserve resources, reduce lost man hours, improve staff productivity and morale, but is a skill rarely taught in school.  Instilling a culture of safety and managing risks is easy, inexpensive, and effortless, yet only about 40% of golf courses have a properly functioning safety program.  The seminar is an introduction on how to get your facility’s safety program started. 

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5.     Water Movement in Soils and Soil Surfactants                                                                                 

        NE Pest Credits: 2      •     8am-12noon      •      ½-Day Seminar - 0.35 GCSAA Education Points 

        Instructor: Dr. Stan Kostka, Visiting Scholar, Penn State University                                                                                     

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There are more than 200 soil surfactant products available with a plethora of soil surfactant claims that it makes it extremely difficult to select the right product for your soil and plant needs.  Attendees will learn how to: identify variances in surfactant classes and their impacts, understand what surfactants can and cannot do, and how to select the best soil surfactant for your facility’s soil and water management.

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6.     Improving Your Score, Your Golf Environmental Stewardship Score                                      

        NE Pest Credits: 2      •     10am-12noon     •      ¼-Day Seminar - 0.20 GCSAA Education Points

        Instructor: Dr. Frank Rossi, Cornell University     

                                                                                                                                  

This seminar will outline the background importance of golf course green space in an increasingly urbanized world using ecosystem services.  Implementation of simple operational adjustments that improve environmental protection and preservation whilst maintaining high quality playing surfaces is the goal.  It’s time for all of us to walk the walk after three decades of environmental pressure, we have a moment to be pro-active.  This seminar will outline a plan for implementation at your facility

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7.     Benefits of Fairway Topdressing: Proven or Perception?                                                            

        NE Pest Credit: 1     •    1pm-3pm      •      ¼ -Day Seminar - 0.20 GCSAA Education Points  

        Instructors: Dr. Jason Henderson, UCONN, David Johnson, TCC, Brookline, MA                                                                     

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Fairways account for the largest area (25-30 acres) of intensely managed turfgrass on a golf course, and topdressing is not an easy task.  This seminar will discuss important considerations such as sand selection, application rate/frequency, timing, and target topdressing layer depths.  Practical implementation strategies will also be covered to provide attendees an unconventional perspective while realizing the challenges of committing to this type of program.  The cultural practice provides benefits that can improve playability, help manage pest populations, and enhance soil physical properties, but these opportunities do not come without inherent risks.

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8.     Trenching, Compaction and Safety: How to Protect Your Assets Above and Below Ground                                    

        1pm-3pm    •     ¼-Day Seminar -0.20 GCSAA Education Points           

        Instructor: Michael Hurdzan, Ph.D, Hurdzan Design, Columbus, OH  

                                                                                       

Trenching, compaction, and safety is about as interesting of a topic as colonoscopies; that is until you have a related problem that could be fatal.  Preventing that problem is a matter of understanding the issues involved and taking proper precautions that could pay huge dividends when you need it.

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9.     Exceptional Leadership                                                                                                                                                              

        1pm-3pm     •      ¼-Day Seminar - 0.20 GCSAA Education Points

        Instructor: Mr. Dennis Lyon, CGCS, Aurora, CO    

                                                                                                                     

What are the traits of exceptional leaders in the workplace?  This seminar will help identify what it takes to lead and manage the intense demands of today’s workplace environment.   It will help you to understand the components and value of the human connection at work.  Discussion will include what makes a good manager versus a bad one, how to improve workplace performance using the concept of Train, Trust and Delegate.  Achieving higher productivity will help managers have more time to prepare for the next workplace issue.

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10.     Turfgrass Insects of New England and Their Management                                                        

          NE Pest Credits: 4      •     1pm-5pm      •     ½-Day Seminar - 0.35 GCSAA Education Points         

          Instructor: Dr. Albrecht Koppenhöfer, Rutgers University      

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This seminar will include the presentation discussion of the biology/ecology, monitoring/scouting methods, cultural control, biological control, and chemical control of important golf course insect pests including annual bluegrass weevil, white grubs, black cutworm, sod webworm, hairy chinch bugs and billbugs.

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11.     Traffic Jam: Understanding Golf Course Traffic                                                                               

           NE Pest Credits: 2      •     3pm-5pm      •      ¼-Day Seminar – 0.20 GCSAA Education Points    

           Instructor: Dr. Frank Rossi, Cornell University  

                                                                                             

Prior to the pandemic many golf courses were not suffering from excess traffic.  Yet, most facilities have areas on the course where cart and or foot traffic are concentrated.  For example, many putting greens have low numbers of hole locations.  This ensures that hole locations are not able to be rotated out long enough to allow for complete recovery.  Many courses have pinch points on tee’s, fairways and approaches that further concentrate traffic.  This seminar will use data science and analytics to manage traffic and suggest fertilizer, rolling, PGR and mowing programs that maintain high performance playing surfaces.

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12.     CPR & AED Training                                                                                                                                                                           

          3pm-5pm     •     ¼-Day Seminar – 0.20 GCSAA Education Points        

          Instructor: American Safety Programs    

                                                                                                        

Do you know how to save a life from Cardiac Arrest?  Heartsaver CPR/AED is a classroom, video-based, instructor-led course that teaches adult CPR and AED use, as well as how to relieve the choking of an adult.  The course teaches skills with AHAs research-proven Practice-While-Watching (PWW) technique, which allows instructors to observe the students, provide feedback and guide the student’s comprehension.  Every person who works at or on a golf course should have this course.

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13.     Grass Tennis Court Seminar (See Descriptions Below)                                                                 

          NE Pest Credits: 2     8am-5pm                   

          Instructors: Many Grass Tennis Professionals including David Lawrence, Edgbaston Priory Club, England

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Various topics on Grass Tennis Court Management including ball bounce science, turfgrass management challenges, organic matter management, and challenges of managing poorly constructed grass courts will be discussed during this 8-hour seminar.  Some management techniques including using plant growth regulators to reduce weed infestations avoiding the use of pesticides will be shared among other pest problems in the UK.

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14.     New! Cemetery Management Seminar (See Descriptions Below)                                           

          NE Pest Credits: 2     8am-5PM                  

 

The northeast is home to some of the most spectacular cemeteries in the country dating back to early 1800’s.  In 2022 this will be our first cemetery management seminar.  This full-day program will include turf management, pest management, new grasses, soils, and personal experiences will be shared.  The seminar will conclude with round table discussions on different turf management topics that cemeteries must deal with.

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