BASEBALL HALL OF FAMETO OPEN FLORIDA EXHIBIT

Babe Ruth's Yankee jersey.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame inCooperstown, NY, will open a permanentexhibit of historical baseball artifacts atBoardwalk and Baseball, a central-Floridaamusement park opening in April. Loansof memorabilia are made very infrequent-ly by the Hall of Fame. The Florida exhibitwill be one of the largest collections to leavethe Cooperstown museum.

The baseball theme park is building a. 1,000 square foot building for the exhibit.

The emphasis of the collection will be Hallof Famers Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Wil-liams, Willie Mays, Warren Spahn, Stan Mu-sial, Hank Aaron and more recent stars in-cluding Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, TomSeaver and Steve Carlton. It will include uni-forms, autographed baseballs, bats,scorecards and other equipment of famousplayers. Hall of Fame CuratorTed Spencersaid the exhibit will give millions of touristsa "Taste of Cooperstown."

The exhibit will be ready when Baoard-walk and Baseball opens on April 4, 1987.Construction delayed the opening of the parkfrom Feb. 14. The Kansas City Royals willuse the parks' fields and stadium for springtraining beginning in 1988. They are usingtheir Ft. Myers camp for the final time thisspring.

WHITE SOX EYE NEWCHICAGO STADIUM

By opening day 1990, the White Sox hopeto be playing in a new baseball-only stadi-um in Chicago, the first stadium to be builtin the city in more than 60 years. ComiskeyPark and the White Sox have not been draw-ing fans as well as the Cubs at Wrigley Field.Afraid of losing the team to another city,Chicago and the state of Illinois will createa Stadium Authority to build the newstadium.

The White Sox expect the new stadiumto have natural turf. They also expectgroundskeeper Roger Bossard to move overto the new stadium once it is built.

The stadium will seat 45,000 fans and willhave twice as many good box seats andskyboxes as Comiskey. According to MajorLeague Baseball rules, the home team does

not have to share revenues from skybox-es with visting teams. Cities often use thisas an inducement to keep teams fromleaving.

The Chicago Bears are also hoping fora new stadium in Chicago. A dome stadi-um has been proposed. How far the city andstate will go to keep its teams has yet tobe decided. The Stadium Authority for theWhite Sox park will be established next year.

DODGER STADIUM TAPSBURNS OF THE RANGERS

Tom Burns, the assistant groundskeep-er for the Texas Rangers, has been appoint-ed head grounds keeper of Dodger Stadi-um in Los Angeles, CA. He will be only thethird groundskeeper for the stadium sinceWalter O'Malley built it 25 years ago.

Chris Duca, the first groundskeeper forthe stadium, retired after the 1985 baseballseason. The notably-short Duca always worea white shirt and tie and was a favorite ofLos Angeles sportswriters. For 23 years hekept the hybrid bermudagrass at DodgerStadium Major League quality.

Burns has been on a fast track since hejoined Marshall Bossard's grounds crew atCleveland Stadium five years ago. WhenBossard retired, Burns worked with Jim An-glea, the Indians' groundskeeper, and DavidFrey, the Brown's director of properties.When the Angels needed a head ground-skeeper for Gene Autry Park in Mesa, AZ,Burns jumped at the chance to learn aboutwarm-season grasses.

Anglea left Cleveland for the head job atArlington Stadium in Texas at the begin-ning of the 1985 baseball season. He talkedBurns into joining him by the end of the sea-son as assistant groundskeeper. The pairbrought the Arlington field quickly back torespectabllity. This past season Arlingtonwas ranked number one by many teammanagers. Since things were back in shapein Arlington, Anglea sent Burns to theRanger's spring training facility in PompanoBeach, FL.

Dodger Stadium, like Arlington Stadium,is a baseball-only stadium. Burns won't havemuch time to make major changes to thefield before the 1987 season starts. Theyoung Burns will have a veteran crew, manyof whom worked under Duca. It is also the25th anniversary of Dodger Stadium so thefield has to look its best.

WOODHOLME COUNTRY CLUB TEAM WINS MUSSERTOURNAMENT

The team from Woodholme Country Club, Pikesville, MD, are smiling for two reasons. The firstis the team of (left to right) Wally Stedding, Steve Potter, Wally Whetzell and Bob Stiffler shotlow net in the best-ball tournament. The second is the entry fees from the Eighth Annual MusserTurfgrass Research Tournament will be spent on discovering the cause for the "black layer"on greens and tees across the country. Dr. Fred V. Grau, chairman of the Musser InternationalTurlgrass F~~tion, holds the winner's plaque.

March, 1987 31

CHALKBOARD

CHANGE MAINTENANCE TOSPEED UP SPRINGTRANSITION

One of the biggest headaches a sportsturf manager can face is overseeded winterturf that slows warm-season grasses fromcoming out of dormancy. One of the rea-sons for this problem, according to Dr. VicGibeault of the University of California, River-side, is failing to change maintenance prac-tices in the spring to meet the specific needsof the warm-season grass.

Maintenance of overseeded cool-seasongrasses should be clearly different from thatof warm-season grasses. The key is switch-ing to the right program at the right timeof year, says Gibeault. "It's a matter of al-tering maintenance practices to fit the grassdesired for the particular time of year," headvises.

When average daytime temperaturesreach 50 degrees F, managers of overseed-ed warm-season turf should switch over tomaintaining the bermudagrass or otherwarm-season turf. This involves loweringmowing heights of bermudagrass to between3/4 and 1114inch. This stresses the ryegrassor rough bluegrass and prevents it fromshading out the young bermudagrass. It alsoallows sunlight to warm the soil faster. Thebermudagrass will not kick in until the soiltemperatures exceed the 50 degree mark.Light vertlcuttinq will also open up the turffor sunlight.

Gibeault and Steve Cockerham at UCRhave been experimenting with covers tospeed up spring transltion. Translucentcovers can increase soil temperatures asmuch as ten degrees in the spring. Cover-ing the turf at night will also protect the turfand soil from low temperatures and helpwarm-season grasses break dormancy. "Wehave had fairly dramatic results with turfcovers," he stated. "We hope to be able torelease some solid data on the effect ofcovers on spring transition in the comingmonths. Gibeault favors covering turf to raisesoil temperatures over application of her-bicides to selectively control cool-seasongrasses in warm-season turf.

An application of quick-release fertilizeralso favors warm-season turf. Ammoniumsulfate, calcium nitrate or ammonium nitratecan be used to get the berrnudaqrass start-ed. Application of dark-colored fertilizers ordyes may help the soil absorb sunlight andbecome warmer, but Gibeault warns thatthe soil compatibility of these materialsshould be considered before they are ap-plied. It's the nitrogen that stimulates the32 sportsTURF

~

TIPS FROM THE PROS

turf. Slow-release materials will not havethe same impact as quick-release fertilizers.

Irrigation should be reduced or adjust-ed to provide deep, infrequent irrigation in-stead of shallow frequent watering. The rootsystem of warm-season grasses is moreadept at obtaining deep moisture than thatof cool-season grasses.

Gibeault is currently conducting researchto establish the average soil temperaturesrequired for each major turfgrass to breakdormancy. He says zoysiagrass and hybridbermudagrasses take longer to break dor-mancy than common bermudagrass. Theresearch is also compiling differences be-tween bermudagrass hybrids in the areasof dormancy and spring transition.

MARKERS ASSUREUNIFORM COVERAGE OFPREEMERGENCEHERBICIDES

The key to effective control of weeds ger-minating in the spring is applying an un-broken barrier of preemergence herbicideto the soil. Gaps in coverage will allowpatches of these weeds to develop. Oncethey've become established, their potentialto produce seed can quickly upset a strongweed control program. This is especially truewith annual bluegrass and crabgrass.

Boom sprayer applies preemergence herbi-cide containing dye to green.

To make sure coverage is uniform someturf managers overlap with the sprayer oneach pass. Without being able to really seethe herbicide on the turf, it's impossible tojudge for the smallest overlap. The resultis a combination of too much overlap, wastedherbicide and gaps.

A growing number of turf managers aremixing colorants in the tank with preemerg-ence herbicides. lhese colorants are gener-ally blue-green in color and break downquickly after application. A few examplesare Regal's Dy'on, Milliken's Blazon, Pre-cision Laboratory's Signal and Lesco'sTracker. Irrigation, which is often recom-mended after applying preemergence herb-icides, will also wash the colorants off foliage.By actually seeing where the spray is, theapplicator can keep overlap to a minimumand spot gaps for touch-up.

A secondary benefit of tracking colorantsis being able to see if spraying equipmentis properly rinsed. Inadequate rinsing cancause plugged nozzles and poor spraycoverage. Today's pesticide laws requireproper disposal or reuse of rinsate. Colorantscan indicate when rinsing is thorough andmay actually cut down on the quantity ofrinsate.

In situations where the appearance of acolorant is unacceptable even for a shortperiod of time, a marking foam can servethe same purpose. A device attached to thespray boom drops balls of foam along theedge of the sprayed area. The foam lastslong enough to mark the spray pattern thenbreaks down within minutes.

CALCIUM EXTENDS LIFEOF UREA FERTIUZER

Urea is one of the most economical formsof nitrogen turf fertilizer that exists today.Unfortunately, a large portion of applied ureais lost to the atmosphere during a processcalled volatilization and leached through therootzone. Dr. Garald Horst, a physiologistwith Texas Agricultural Experiment Station,has shown that the value of urea can begreatly extended by combining it withcalcium.

In tests with bermudagrass in EI Paso,TX, Horst found that the effects of urea couldbe extended up to eight weeks by combin-ing it with calcium. Quality and color of thebermudagrass plots treated with urea andcalcium did not begin to decline until theeighth week, whereas the straight urea plotsdeclined after five weeks. Calcium nitrate-treated plots did not.start to decline until12 weeks has passed.

Horst reports that the quality differencein the turf was most significant in late springand fall. He reasons that the calcium en-hanced the production of roots and rhi-zomes, enabling the bermudagrass to cap-ture more of the urea.

MITCHELL TAKES HELM ATFRENCH LICK SPRINGS

The 65-year-old French Lick Springs Golf& Tennis Resort in southern Indiana hasappointed Robert Mitchell Jr., CGCS, golfcourse superintendent. Mitchell brings fourgenerations and 105 years of family ex-perience to his new post, says FrankMaloney, general manager of French LickSprings.

He will supervise a staff of 35 responsi-ble for maintenance of two 18-hole golfcourses as well as lawns, gardens and road-ways on the 2,600-acre resort. More than53,000 rou nds of golf are played each yearon the two courses. The Country ClubCourse was designed by the legendaryDonald Ross and was the site of the 1924PGA Championship.

Mitchell's great-grandfather and grand-father turned a sand-green golf course inFranklin County, IL, into the exclusive Frank-lin Country Club. His father is the execu-tive director of golf and grounds for TheGreenbriar in White Sulfur Springs, W.V.

Prior to joining French Lick Springs, Mitch-ell served as superintendent of golf andgrounds for Lockhaven Country Club in AI-ton, IL. French Lick Springs is restoring theoriginal hotel and plans to attract vacationersto the golf courses and resort from acrossthe Midwest.

JOINT GOLF CONFERENCEOFFERS RESEARCHUPDATE

As Larry Gilhuly has discovered, a greattime to hold a meeting on the state of golfcourse turf research is the day before theleading research agronomists in the countryare in town for another meeting. Gilhuly isthe southwest regional agronomist for theUnited States Golf Association (USGA)Green Section.

Gilhuly was assigned the task of organiz-ing the March joint meeting of the SouthernCalifornia Golf Association and the USGAGreen Section. Normally, he would invitea turf expert from a local university like Dr.Vic Gibeault from the University of Califor-nia, Riverside, or Jim Brewer, club managerof the Los Angeles Country Club. But thistime he figured out a way to have Gibeaultand Brewer, as well as leading agronomistsfrom across the country-they will be at-tending the USGAlGolf Course Superinten-dents Association of America Joint ResearchCommittee meeting in Newport Beach onMarch 25.

By scheduling his meeting the day be-fore the Research Committee meeting, Gil-huly will be able to borrow Dr. Paul Rieke,professor of agronomy at Michigan StateUniversity; Dr. James Watson, vice presi-dent of The Toro Co.; Dr. William Bengey-field, director of the USGA Green Section;and Dr. Charles Mancino from the Univer-

sity of Arizona. Water conservation and shat-tercore (solid tine) aeration will be the primarysubjects covered by the research commit-tee members. The biggest research projectcurrently underway at 17 universities in thiscountry is development of drought-tolerantturfgrasses that require only half the amountof water necessary for existing turfgrasses.

In addition to the noted agronomists, Gil-huly has also recruited Mike Videtta fromSan Diego Country Club to speak ondesalinization of irrigation water by reverseosmosis and public relations specialist PamJones to speak on the impact of CaliforniaProposition 65 concerning the use of pes-ticides on golf courses.

The meeting is designed for clubmanagers, greens chairmen and superin-tendents to discuss major concerns of thegolf industry. For more information contactKevin Heaney, executive director of theSouthern California Golf Association, P.O.Box 3375, Tustin, CA 92681, (818) 980-3630.

DEZEMBER ASSUMESPRESIDENCY OF LESCO

James I. FitzGibbon, chairman of LescoInc., has announced the appointment ofRonald L. Dezember as president. Dezem-ber is the former president and chief oper-ating officer of Fermenta Plant Protection

Co., marketer of Daconil turf fungicide andDacthal preemergence herbicide.

"We look to Dezember for strong leader-ship and feel his knowledge of our indus-try and familiarity with our company overthe past 20 years are very valuable assets,"said FitzGibbon.

Dezember started his career with the Di-amond Shamrock Corp. in 1962 as a salesrepresentative. In 1980, he was appointedvice president and general manager of theagricultural chemicals business of SDS Bi-otech, a joint venture between DiamondShamrock and Showa Dinko, a Japanesechemical manufacturer. When Fermentatook over the agricultural chemical divisionof SDS Biotech in 1986, Dezember wasmade president.

FOX TO SUPERVISERENOVATION

Thomas P. Fox has assumed a pivotalrole in the renovation of Cherrington Golf& Country Club in Moon County, NJ, as itsnew superintendent. "We're looking forwardto announcing some major plans for thecourse in the near future," said Fox, a gradu-ate of Pennsylvania State University inagronomy, and former superintendent ofYoughiogheny Country Club in McKeesport,NJ.

Cherrington Associates purchased theformer Montour Heights Country Club 18months ago and expects to build ten officebuildings and two hotels around the golfcourse. The clubhouse is being refurbishedand there are plans to make the golf courseinto one of the district's best.

SEED TRADE ASSOCIATIONELECTS ZAJAC PRESIDENT

John Zajac, vice president and generalmanager of Garfield Williamson Inc., hasbeen elected president of the AmericanSeed Trade Association. ASTA representsmore than 700 firms producing and mar-keting seed for agriculture and landscaping.

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March, 1987 33Circle 136 on Postage Free Card

ROOKIES~

PRODUCT UPDATEFLOWABLE FUNGICIDE

Turf managers who prefer flowable pes-ticide formulations can now take advantageof the broad-spectrum disease control ofChipco 26019. The new formulation isregistered by the Environmental ProtectionAgency to control the major turf diseasesDollar Spot, Brown Patch, Helminthospo-rium leaf spot, Helminthosporium meltingout, Corticum Red Thread and FusariumBlight.

Control is provided at rates ranging from2 to 8 ounces/1,OOO square feet depend-ing upon the level of infection present. Chip-co 26019 is also available in dry formulations.RHONE POULENCCircle 109 on Postage Free Card

PUMP STATIONS

Custom-made prefabricated pumping sta-tions are available from Aquaturf. The con-figuration of the pumps as well as the com-puter program for water distribution is cus-tomized for each user's needs. Each modelis a complete pump station.

From one to four pumps ranging from fiveto 300 hp can be built into a system utiliz-

34 sportsTURF

ing electric, gasoline or diesel power. Elec-tronic circuitry provides total control of de-mand requirements and accurate measure-ments of flow, pressure and time. Thestations are designed to reduce energy con-sumption for startup and for operation duringminimum flow periods.AQUA TURFCircle 137 on Postage Free Card

SPRINKLER SOD CUP

A plug of natural turf hides Hunter's 1-44pop-up sprinkler from vandals when it isretracted. The institutional sprinkler with sodcup is designed for moderate to high-capacity usage on golf courses, athletic fieldsand other public areas.

Water discharge from the sprinkler is ad-justable from 6.5 to 25.8 gallons per minutewithin a radius of 45 to 67 feet. Heads areavailable with full circle coverage or one of17 different arcs. A clutch protects the drivesystem from vandals.

The sod cup sprinklers have been test-ed successfully at the PGA West GolfCourse at La Quinta, CA. They come witha five-year unconditional warranty.HUNTER INDUSTRIESCircle 111 on Postage Free Card

PENDULUM SPREADER

Spread fertilizer, grass seed and granu-lar products from 20 to 45 feet with the LescoPendulum Spreader and a three-point hitchtractor or truckster with PTO. Polyester-reinforced fiberglass hoppers provide a ca-pacity of up to 2,400 pounds of material.All working parts are made of stainless steel.

Topdressing and sand spouts are avail-able in addition to the standard spout. Thespreader provides rectangular and symmetri-cal spreading patterns for complete over-lapping. A hopper cover is optional for us-ing the spreader in the rain or snow.LESCO, INC.Circle 128 on Postage Free Card

SOIL SCREENERSoil is the most important ingredient in

sports turf. Without controlling the contentand texture of a soil, managing turf is justa guessing game. The only way to controlthe rootzone is to have the soil properlyscreened and mixed when the field is built.

The Read Corporation has introduced aneconomy version of its portable Screen-Allthat processes topsoil, loam, sand, grav-el, woodchips and other materials. Twohydraulic shakerheads with screens rang-ing in size from 1/4-inch to four inches re-move rocks from local or imported soil andseparate soil particles by size. The unit setsup in minutes and functions without an oper-ator. One bucket loader operator can screentruckloads of soil in a single day. A tankfulof fuel keeps the screener running for upto three work days.

The four-ton unit is towed by any truckor tractor with a pintle hitch. Electric brakesmake towing the eight-foot-wide, 17-foot-long unit safe on public streets.READ CORPORATIONCircle 129 on Postage Free Card

ROOKIES...PRODUCT UPDATE

GOALS, NETS AND CAGES

WDTD&SH.ADBSCBEBl\TS,Il\TO.

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A wide assortment of nets and standardsfor soccer, baseball, tennis, volleyball andbasketball is available from Wind & ShadeScreens, Inc. Permanent soccer goals, ten-nis standards, movable batting cages andpitcher protectors with appropriate netting

can be quickly shipped to any sports facility.The company specializes in all types of

netting for sports. It started out with windand shade screens and has branched intonets for tennis, volleyball, basketball, golfball barriers and soccer. Temporary crowdfencing and floor covers, net attachmentcables, straps and hooks for all applicationsare also offered.WIND & SHADE SCREENS, INC.Circle 130 on Postage Free Card

ROTARY MOWER WINGSThe Range Wing mower attachments from

Excel allow sports turf managers to mowup to 60 acres of utility turf per day leav-ing more time to care for athletic fields. Upto three hydraulically-raised and lowereddecks cut a 12-foot-wide swath of turf.

The main deck is an upfront, 72-inch dual-trim deck with nearly ten inches of trim capa-bility on both sides. Each side wing is 48-

inches wide with rear discharge and canbe raised or lowered separately to maneu-ver around obstacles. Clutches automati-cally disengage the blades when individu-al decks are raised. Each deck floats in-dependently up to 20 degrees above andbelow the terrain to prevent scalping andto provide a smooth cut.

Range Wing decks can be attached tofour different Excel tractors featuring twin-lever steering and dual hydrostatic-drive.

EXCEL INDUSTRIES, INC.Circle 131 on Postage Free Card

Circle 122 on Postage Free Card March, 1987 37

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BROUWER11JRF EQUIPMENT UMrTEDAn Outboard Marine Corporation Company

7320 Haggerty Rd.lCanton, MI. 48187 Telephone (313) 459-3700Woodbine Avenue/Keswick, Ontario, Canada L4P 3E9 Telex 065-24161 Telephone: (416) 476-4311

Circle 102 on Postage Free Card

389,000 reasons youshould be buying Ryan.

Only Ryan can give you doublethe tines for double the holes. So,instead of 194,500 holes over afootball field you get 389,000 in thesame amount of time. Nobody givesyou greater flexibility to cover all ofyour aeration requirements on largearea turf.

And nobody gives you a widerselection of tines to choose from.Coring tines for regular soil. Slicingtines for drier soil. Open spoon tinesfor renovation. There's a set of tines

and a towable Ryan aerator that'sjust right for you.

For large, level turf areas, theRyan Tracairef covers a wide6-foot swath of ground. For undu-lating areas, the Ryan Renovaire'"is the only tractor-drawn aeratoravailable that follows the contour ofthe land so high spots, as well as lowspots, get deep, even penetration.For smaller grounds, the TowLawnaire'" and 3-Pt. Hitch Lawn-aire'" can be pulled by most tractors.

All give you maximum penetra-tion at speeds up to 10 mph. All aredesigned to provide years of heavyuse. All are backed by the namesynonymous with great turf mainte-nance - Ryan.

For more information or a freedemonstration, contact the Ryandealer nearest you today. Or calltoll-free: 1-800-228-4444.

BUILT TO LAST6098 Cushman, OMC-Lincoln, P.O. Box 82409, Lincoln, NE 68501

Circle 124 on Postage Free Card© Outboard Marine Corporation, 1987. All rights reserved.