Frank Rossi chats with Dr. Clark Throssell about his circuitous career from his Montana roots through Penn State to Kansas State, GCSAA, Purdue and Lebanon Turf to hanging out his own shingle with Turfgrass R & D, Inc., in Billings, Montana.

Along the way, Throssell served as director of research for GCSAA; research committees of the USGA, O. J Noer Foundation and Crop Science Society of America, and technical resource for the Peaks and Prairies GCSA.

Along the way, Frank and Clark chat about data collection and management, water use and other challenges facing superintendents today.

Presented by DryJect and Civitas/Intelligro.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Jim Koppenhaver of Pellucid Corp and Stuart Lindsay of Edge Hill Golf Advisors. Jim is a frequent guest on Frankly Speaking, offering his refreshingly contrarian (some would say brutally realistic) view of the golf industry. Stuart Lindsay, a first-time guest, has 45 years of broad experience in golf management and measurement.

The group reviews the impact of the abysmal 2018 weather on industry performance, how golf participation metrics are now including off-course activity like TopGolf and golf simulators, and the approach to growing the game by making it fun.

Listen in.  Good stuff!

Presented by DryJect and Civitas Turf Defense.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Dr. Art DeGaetano of Cornell University about the 2018 National Climate Assessment Report and its potential impact on the golf industry.

Presented by DryJect and Intelligro/Civitas.

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In this timely episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Dr. Ben McGraw of Penn State University on the latest research, control methodology, new larvicide products, adulticide resistance information and BMPs in ABW management.

Presented by Civitas Turf Defense and DryJect.

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In this special episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with four influencers in the golf turf industry about how they manage their lives, health and careers through purposeful mindfulness. Frank's guests include

• Peter McCormick, founder of TurfNet
• David Kuypers, Syngenta Canada
• Paul MacCormack, Fox Meadow Golf & Country Club
• Chris Tritabaugh, Hazeltine National Golf Club

Spend an hour and learn how to turn off the noise, focus and prioritize.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Dr. John Sorochan of the University of Tennessee about various factors -- especially mechanical -- that affect putting green performance. HOC, frequency of clip, mowing/rolling frequency, bedknife position and attitude, topdressing,and more.

A native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Dr. John Sorochan began working on the grounds crew at Earl Grey Golf and Country Club in 1988. This experience led him to Michigan State University where he earned his Ph.D. in Turfgrass Science in 2002. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Turfgrass Science and Management in the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Tennessee (UT), where he also serves as the Co-Director for the UT Center for Athletic Field Safety.

Presented by DryJect and Civitas

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Parker Anderson, research scientist at the University of Minnesota. Anderson is the facilitator of the Science of the Green Initiative, a research partnership between the USGA and the University of Minnesota that focuses on developing research and innovation strategies which address sustainability challenges facing the golf industry and promote and implement best practices leading to a sustainable future for the industry.

Parker is a member of the PGA and holds master’s degrees in Landscape Architecture (MLA) and Sustainable Systems (MS) from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. His master’s project, “Greener Golf: An Ecological, Behavioral, and Communal Study of the University of Michigan Golf Courses” explored the position of the two university golf courses with regard to environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

In addition to the study, the project provided innovative recommendations to guide the golf courses towards sustainable management practices as well as created a design for a 19-acre nine-hole sustainable golf living learning laboratory adjacent to one of the university golf courses.

Parker was a team member in the construction of “The Loop” at Forest Dunes, an innovative Tom Doak-designed reversible 18-hole golf course located in Michigan. Additionally, Parker is an experienced beekeeper and pollinator advocate, teacher, and sustainability consultant.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Dr. Frank Rossi chats with professor Gerald Henry of the University of Georgia about precision turf management, spatial variability, mapping soils and soil moisture, fairway playability and sports field safety.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with legendary turf pathologist Dr. Joe Vargas of Michigan State University about his 50 year career as a plant pathologist, teacher, and muckraker. Never one to shy away from controversy or "rocking the boat", Joe Vargas is perhaps the original "outside the box" thinker... and having recently received his 50-year service pin from Michigan State, is still at it today

Always ready to drop the gloves with both colleagues and conventional thinking, Joe Vargas is one of a kind. Flamboyant, aggressive and grating to some, he is always entertaining. There is nobody with a better grasp of both the history and current state of turfgrass management.

Presented by Civitas and DryJect.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Mike Huck, principal of Irrigation & Turfgrass Services (Orange County, CA) during the recent California wildfires. What's with the wildfires? Why so many? For one, the Santa Ana winds that blow hot and steady for weeks on end. Secondly, increased density of trees sharing reduced levels of precipitation. Snowpack, drought, insect activity all enter into it.

Using historical data, some of these fires could have been mapped in advance. And how does the federal government factor in?

Listen in as Frank and Mike hash it out. Sponsored by Civitas and DryJect.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Dr. Mike Fidanza of the Penn State University Berks Campus joins Dr. Frank Rossi for a wide-ranging chat for a retrospective on 2018 -- lots of rain, humidity, disease -- and a look ahead to 2019 and research in the pipeline.

Presented by Civitas and DryJect.

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Recorded shortly after the PGA Championship at Bellerive, Frank chats with Lee Miller, PhD, associate professor of plant sciences at the University of Missouri about the wacky seasons of 2018, starting with three snow events and then 90 degree temps in May, in St. Louis.

"We can grow any type of grass we want here in Missouri," quipped Miller. "We just can't grow any of them very well."

Both warm- and cool-season grasses were subjected to weather extremes for which they were not acclimated. Heat, cold, rain, humidity, and drought were all encountered at one point or another.

We can grow any type of grass we want here in Missouri," quipped Miller. "We just can't grow any of them very well."

They talk roots, irrigation with wetting agents and fungicide efficacy, irrigation audits, moist blankets from humidity, black layer, the Polar Vortex and NTEP trials, increased disease susceptibility in warm season grasses grown farther north, and a whole bunch more.

Listen in... a fascinating conversation.

Presented by DryJect and Civitas.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank visits with Dr. Paul Koch of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Listen in as Frank and Paul review the challenges and pitfalls of the 2018 season, including fungicide efficacy, predictive modeling and interval adjustment.

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Joining Frank for this episode of Frankly Speaking is Chris Zugel, CGCS, golf course superintendent of the Straits course at Whistling Straits in Kohler, WI.

Chris relates his experience working both for the Kohler Company and at a famous resort course that has hosted many championship events, including the 2004, 2010 and 2015 PGA Championships and the 2007 U.S. Senior Open. It is also the future site of the 2020 Ryder Cup. 

The Pete Dye-designed Straits course is stretched along two miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, shares 500 acres of rough with the Irish Course at Whistling Straits, and has over 1000 bunkers on the Straits course alone.

Spend some time with Frank and Chris to get a glimpse of managing a high end golf course facility in a challenging location.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank chats with Dr. Cale Bigelow of Purdue University about rootzones, including the latest research and thinking on...

• maintaining optimal soil moisture on new greens, older greens, California greens
• the value of vacuum extraction devices (likeon new versus older greens…
• vacuum extraction vs oxygenating via reverse operation; regional differences
• surface fans, and
• soil biology.

Presented by DryJect.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank chats with professor Dale Bremer of Kansas State University.

A native of Nebraska, Bremer grew up on a farm with an interest in meteorology and wound up with an undergraduate degree in agronomy (emphasis in tallgrass prairie rather than turf) and later a PhD in Micrometeorology. 

A "non-turf guy", Bremer's expertise is in micrometeorology related to turfgrass ecosystems including water conservation, turfgrass environmental stress, and exchanges of greenhouse gases between turfgrass and the atmosphere... including off-gassing of nitrous oxide from a nitrogen fertilizer application.

How concerned should the turfgrass industry be with the loss of nitrogen to the atmosphere via nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas that traps heat and destroys ozone?

What can turf managers do to mitigate or minimize this? Hint: Polymer coating can reduce nitrous oxide release by 20%, compared to straight urea.

Can fertilizing rates be reduced on lawns, amenity turf, and fairway turf (we're not talking putting greens here)?

How can irrigation be managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Does spectral imaging have a present or future role in turf management?

All this and more in this fascinating chat between Drs. Rossi and Bremer, presented by DryJect and Civitas.

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In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank Rossi chats with Zach Reineking, superintendent at Erin Hills Golf Club about how the club came to host the 2017 US Open and... one year later, what it was like to host it as a golf course superintendent, including the hangover that followed.

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Kicking off his new Frankly Speaking series on TurfNet RADIO, Dr. Frank Rossi will chat with Dr. Brian Horgan of the University of Minnesota about nutrient management and water quality... the big picture, the role of N and P, and, of course, P regulations.  They will also discuss Dr. Horgan's "Science of (the) Green" initiative at U of MN.

Presented by DryJect and Aquatrols!

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