In this engaging podcast interview, Jon Kiger shares his diverse background and his journey to becoming a key figure at TurfNet. From an early age, Jon was immersed in publicity and promotion—starting as a magician at age 12 and later developing a passion for media at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he managed the campus radio station. His experience in journalism and advertising shaped his approach to media sales and content creation.

Jon discusses TurfNet’s transition from print to digital, a pivotal shift in the early 2000s when the company moved its advertising focus online. This led to innovative projects, including video series like "TurfNet Tips & Tricks" and "TurfNet Goes to Ireland." His hands-on approach allowed him to connect with golf course superintendents and bring their stories to life through video.

Family plays a significant role in Jon’s journey, with his sons often assisting in video shoots and even participating in industry-related meetings. He recounts unique experiences, such as covering golf course maintenance at the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics in Brazil, which led to a career-defining interview with Neil Cleverly. 

Jon also reflects on his foray into public speaking, presenting at industry conferences despite not being a technical expert. His insights into media preparedness and career growth resonated with professionals. Through his work at TurfNet, Jon has blended storytelling, journalism, and industry expertise to make a lasting impact on the golf course maintenance community.

Matt Jones was incredibly open in this interview, sharing great stories from Sylacauga to Skidaway Island. He grew up working on the farm at Farmstead, and since graduating college, he has spent the last 13 years with The Landings Golf & Athletic Club, working on every course.

He provides fascinating insights into the construction and regrassing of many of the club’s six courses. Matt also highlights how adding KVantage to his soil spray was a game-changer, reducing the wilt point of his TifEagle greens by six percentage points, bringing it down to nearly single digits!

Who’s ready to tune in as John and Jack dive into a discussion about Poa annua greens and their passion project, Lehigh Country Club? In forty years, John has come full circle. In 1990, he fumigated the greens and seeded a pure stand of bentgrass. Both Lehigh and John have continued to evolve over the years.

If you’re passionate about classic golf courses—especially if you manage Poa annua—this episode is for you. Don’t miss our discussion on the newly available Poa annua seed!

We had an incredible time at the GIS Trade Show — our 25th! — in San Diego, California! It was great reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. Jack Higgins had the opportunity to welcome many guests onto our couch for insightful conversations about the GIS event and their experiences with EarthWorks.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth, joined us at the House of Blues, or attended our cocktail reception. Your support and enthusiasm made this year’s show truly special!

We revisit a previously recorded podcast with Dave Wilber from December 2021. In this episode, we discussed some of the key elements of completing a successful renovation project and what to watch out for. It serves as a lead-in to a future podcast where we’ll feature several clients who have recently completed major renovation projects. They’ll each highlight the keys to their success and share what they would do differently if given the chance. Dave is always a fan favorite, and this was one of our most popular downloads.

As we approach our 250th episode, we sincerely thank all of you for your continued support. To date, we’ve had almost 100K downloads, and the feedback on our guests has been excellent. Be sure to subscribe to receive the latest weekly updates!

The three-legged stool analogy reminds us of the essential balance between soil chemistry, physics, and biology. While chemistry is relatively easy to test and analyze, and we have reliable tools for assessing soil physics, soil biology has remained more elusive. Laura Decker’s company, MicroBiometer, has developed a simple, handheld meter that provides valuable insights into fungal and bacterial populations in any given soil.

For years, we have searched for a way to both quantify and qualify life in the soil, but existing methods have proven challenging. Microscopy allows us to identify microbes but is time-consuming and costly. DNA analysis from labs offers insights but has limitations, as do microbial respiration tests. While the MicroBiometer isn’t a perfect tool, it represents a major breakthrough in efficiency and affordability. It’s easy for any turf manager to use—requiring just two minutes to complete a test, with results available in twenty minutes. The data is then downloaded to a computer for storage and tracking.

Our team actively uses these tools to monitor microbial populations, and we can visibly track the impact of carbon inputs in specific areas. This makes it an invaluable resource for diagnosing why certain areas of a golf course or sports field may not be performing as expected. Laura’s passion for soil biology shines through in this conversation, which is packed with practical insights for any turf manager looking to improve soil health.

In this clip from the podcast, we dive into the importance of diverse carbon inputs. Laura Decker explains how a balanced approach to soil health can prevent pathogens from taking over and why the Soil MicroBiometer is a game-changer for easy, cost-effective microbial testing. Enjoy an exclusive 20% discount on your own MicroBiometer with code "earthworks20" at microbiometer.com.

The highlight of our work is meeting individuals who are deeply passionate about what they do. Jay Werbalowsky, Golf Course Superintendent at Wallkill Golf Club in Middletown, NY, shares captivating greenkeeping stories and vividly describes the golf courses that sparked his love for golf and greenkeeping.

Justin Mandon has been a guest on the Earthworks podcast in the past, and we wanted to bring him back to discuss the reconstruction of the Alister MacKenzie-designed Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California. This may be one of the best reconstructions we’ve seen in years, but it was not without its challenges. The work was broken into two parts: the front nine was completed first, and a year later, they worked on the back nine.

Justin talks about selecting and testing the greens mix both at the mine and on-site when the mix arrived, along with the challenges he faced there. The front nine did suffer some salt damage that was very difficult to identify. It wasn’t the total amount of salt in the water, but rather that the salt was the predominant element, overpowering all others and causing the young seedlings to wilt.

He also discusses the EarthWorks amendment package he incorporated into the greens mix, which allowed him to grow the entire project using under three pounds of nitrogen. Restoring the architecture of a classically designed course is different from simply building a modern golf course; it’s time-consuming and requires meticulous attention to detail to preserve the original MacKenzie layout. Justin and his architect, Jim Urbina, accomplished that and then some.

Dave Wilber may very well be one of the best agronomy minds in the turf industry. A close friend of EarthWorks for over 30 years, he has appeared on numerous EarthWorks Podcasts and is one of our most popular guests.

Dave spent many years as a golf course superintendent, much of his career as a turf consultant, and he has also been a site manager for construction projects. One of his greatest strengths is his in-depth knowledge of irrigation water concerns, and he has helped many superintendents navigate these issues with tremendous success.

Recently he has taken a position as Director of Agronomy & Customer Success at TurfRad, a company that is revolutionizing the water sensor business in the turf industry. We discussed how TurfRad sensors can be mounted on mowers or utility vehicles and provide thousands of data points showing moisture levels across courses and sports fields. Their slogan is “We map; we inform; you play!” 

This is exciting to us at EarthWorks because if we have a tool on the property that keeps moisture levels even, soil biology will have a better chance to proliferate. This tool is showing a strong return on investment in only a few years by helping properties save money on water.

Each year between the holidays we run a “Best of” podcast where we choose one guest from each of our three podcast hosts and share a piece of the podcast recording. It is always a challenge to choose what we call “the best” when each week we have an informative and fun guest who is passionate about turf. So to all of our guests we say thank you because you all have made the EarthWorks Podcast one of the most listened to in the industry. 

For the “Best of” we have chosen the Jack Higgins interview with our friend Pat Quinlan from Fairmount Country Club in New Jersey. Jack’s podcast was recorded early in the season, not long after the GIS Trade Show. 

The second segment is Kevin Hicks' recording with Turf Technology Consultant, Benton Hodges.  Kevin, a self-proclaimed luddite, had a blast talking about AI and other technologies that are up and coming in the turf industry. 

Finally, Joel Simmons had a chance to meet Golf Course Architect Jim Nagle at the US Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club and sat down with him for a very special podcast.  

Again, thanks to all the EW Podcast listeners, we wish you all a very happy and healthy new year.

At the end of each year the EarthWorks agronomy team gets together for the last podcast of the year. We go around the table talking about the events of the year, the weather, and some ideas that we have formulated throughout the turf season. Most importantly, everyone at EarthWorks thanks you for all the wonderful support. You have made the EarthWorks Podcast one of the most successful podcasts in the industry. We wish you, and your families, a wonderful holiday season and hope you can enjoy some time off. It won't be long until it's time to cut the grass again!

Kevin Hicks and Joel Simmons took some time away from the turf industry to attend the ACRES USA Annual Conference and Trade Show, the premier regenerative agriculture conference in our country. Speakers relayed their experiences on their farms, talking about how organic matter can be built up in any soil. Since carbon is being sequestered and held tightly in the topsoil, the regenerative farms are not losing topsoil at the national level of about 50%. These farmers are now making money, family farms are being saved, and young people are getting excited about staying in the business.

Kevin and Joel brought all the enthusiasm home with them, and they’re excited to discuss the ways in which these principles and practices can work for the turf industry.

From river birches to rhododendrons, we have it all in this week's special plant healthcare episode of the EarthWorks Podcast! We are joined by our friend Bobby Solar of Solar’s Custom Arbor Care in southwest Virginia.

Bobby recently spoke with us in the EarthWorks booth at the 2024 Tree Care Industry Expo in Baltimore, where he shared some fascinating case studies from the past year on beech trees, river birches, rhododendrons, and azaleas. He had some truly wild findings that will benefit everyone!

Lawrence Mayhew has become one of our most requested podcast guests, thanks to his in-depth understanding of soil’s inner workings and the dynamics of soil geo/bio/chemistry. Lawrence spoke at the country’s premier regenerative agriculture conference, ACRES USA, in Madison Wisconsin. We asked Lawrence to join us to discuss his presentation, entitled “Biological Carbon Fertilizers.” As usual he was full of enthusiasm, delving into everything from the importance of balancing soil nutrients to the incredible role of enzymes in plant systems.

We also spent some time discussing his definition of the phrase “biological buffers,” and what it means as it relates to dynamic soil systems. As always, we had a bunch of fun and laughs while he shared his expertise with us.

The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, and we thank you all for supporting EarthWorks over the past 35 years. It is also important for us to remember, and express our gratitude, to Jerry Brunetti who we lost to cancer in 2014. Jerry was our founding partner, our driving force, and without his innovations we would not be EarthWorks. His formulas remain the backbone of our company, and they are still years ahead of their time!

We celebrate his life and contributions by rebroadcasting a podcast from July 2020 that includes clips from some of his talks. Jerry is still one of the biggest voices in sustainable agriculture, and his book The Farm as Ecosystem is widely read. Jerry was a soil scientist, a horticulturist, and a specialist in animal husbandry. But most importantly, he was a friend and mentor.

This week Kevin Hicks caught up with Rick Tegtmeier, CGCS MG, as he is getting settled into his new role as Rick Tegtmeier, retired golf course superintendent. Rick was one of our early guests on the podcast back in 2020, so it seemed only fitting that we have him back after just completing his final month at Des Moines Golf & CC.

We talked about the changes he saw in his 40+ years in the industry, what his plans are now that he doesn’t need to check into the office every day, and how he changed his philosophy through the years to meet the needs of an evolving labor force. He even got into a little advice on how folks in the golf industry can prepare for retirement, regardless of their age.

Rick has made a huge impact on our industry, so it was our good fortune to have him on and celebrate a career well served.

Mike Nowicki is the Director of Agronomy at a famously tough golf course to play and to manage: Victoria National Golf Club outside of Evansville, Indiana. The property was designed by Tom Fazio and built in the late 1990s, with the mandate to make one of the toughest golf courses to play in the world. Most would agree that he accomplished that task.

Victoria National was built on an old coal mine and much of the property's soil came from deep in the ground. As Mike describes in the podcast, it was not easy to work with. Because the soils were so bad the course started an aggressive topdressing program on fairways, ultimately building a 10-12 inch sand cap which brought its own set of agronomic challenges.

Mike has worked on golf courses in “transition zones” like Evansville, Indiana and Richmond, Virginia for most of his career and enjoys the challenge. One of the more interesting points of our conversation was when he shared his stories about how he has had to become creative when it came to building a staff. He has a large contingent of crew from Middle Eastern countries that have proven to be wonderful, although the language barriers were a bit challenging!

When listening to Mike, you will get the feeling that he is a “soils” guy and is very intuitive when it comes to getting things done on the course.

Ken Kleinedler, CGCS, is a self-proclaimed carbon-based soils guy. It might be because his course has been hit by multiple hurricanes over the past few years and the saltwater infiltration has been unreal. Ken has been the superintendent at Collier’s Reserve since March of 2017. Located in Naples Florida, a couple of miles from the Florida coastline, he has seen his fair share of hurricanes. He talked to us about some of the precautions he takes before a storm rolls in: removing irrigation controllers from the property, aerifying prior to the rains, and adding penetrant surfactants to allow the salts to flush through.

Collier’s Reserve is an Arthur Hills designed course, built in 1993. It was the first course given the Audubon International Sanctuary distinction, and has since reached the Gold Audubon status. It is clear that Ken and his team are very proud of their environmental work and what it has meant to the club. 

When Ken did a renovation, he interviewed other architects but ultimately made the decision to stay with the Arthur Hills group to stay consistent with the original design. Everyone was thrilled with the results.

Perhaps the funniest stories of our conversation were the ones Ken told us about his grandfather, who owned a small mom & pop course. His grandfather passed his love and passion for the game onto Ken. Lots of informative and fun stuff here!