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July 8, 2011 -- Volume 49, Number 27

Student Internships: Moving Beyond the "As Seen On TV Mentality"
How we can improve internship programs and why the industry benefits
by Ty McClellan, agronomist
Internship

An investment is required on both ends to ensure success, and a superintendent must invest just as heavily in mentoring interns as the intern must invest in making the internship a well-rounded learning experience. This investment can pay great dividends in the future when looking to fill open positions at your facility.

Internships mark one of the single most important and exciting experiences for a turfgrass student's education. It is their opportunity to put classroom training into practice, achieve new experiences, further develop a network of professional contacts, and ultimately begin advancing their careers. For superintendents, it provides an opportunity to mentor the next generation of turfgrass professionals, and, in doing so, serves as a screening process to identify potential assistant superintendents.

 

Given their significance, the topic of student internships is common during Turfgrass Advisory Service visits and at many educational conferences throughout the year. Sadly, many well respected and notable golf facilities have become frustrated with the recruiting process. As a result, they now lack internship programs or have given up on the idea of interns altogether because too few students showed an interest. Although some top-tier, nationally recognized courses that post internship openings will be inundated with dozens or hundreds of applications, other high-quality facilities that are not as prominent on a national level will fail to receive more than one or two, if any at all.

 

The intent of this article is to summarize key points and areas of concern with respect to internships that have been prominent in discussions with superintendents and university personnel. In doing so, it will, to some degree, outline what a quality student internship program at a golf facility could look like. This article does not provide a detailed checklist of goals, objectives, and activities that make up a successful internship experience. For this and a reference list of excellent resources about successful implementation and ideas for internships, please note the resources section near the end of this article.


Read the rest of this article.

 

 

Fore The Golfer
"The hardest greens to read that I have ever putted in my entire life." - Mike Davis, USGA Executive Director
by the USGA
The greens on the East Course of the Broadmoor Resort promise to test some of the best players in the world during this week's U.S. Women's Open Championship. 

Watch the video. 
 
Broadmoor East Course

How do the mountains influence putting at the 2011U.S. Women's Open Championship?  (Photo: John Mummert, USGA) 


 

 

2011 U.S. Women's Open Championship
Behind-The-Scenes at the Broadmoor 
A USGA Green Section podcast with Derf Soller
by the Green Section Staff
The U.S. Women's Open Championship is underway at the historic Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Derf Soller, USGA Green Section agronomist for the event, is working closely with the Broadmoor maintenance staff to help prepare the East course for the world's best women golfers.

Few people realize the amount of effort that goes on behind-the-scenes to get a course ready for a national championship. In this 22 minute podcast Derf shares some of the challenges facing the staff and the players.

Listen to the podcast.
 

 

Survey Results From Last Week's Question, "Are Your Bermudagrass Greens Mutating?" 
100 turfgrass managers shared their experiences regarding "off" types of bermudgrass in their greens.
by the Green Section Staff
Question 1

   Question 2

Question 3
See the rest of the survey results
 
 
Regional Updates  

Northwest

Northwest Region

And Now For Something Completely Different 

by Larry Gilhuly, director

 

There have been several articles written that discusses the importance of differentiating between regular golf course conditions and course conductions at national championships. However, the recently completed APL Championships at Bandon Dunes on the southern Oregon coast displayed some completely different sets of circumstances not usually seen at our other national championships.   

 

 Read the rest of this update.

       

 

Research Update 

The Colorado Golf Carbon Project 

by Dr. Mike Kenna

 

Golf courses provide many environmental benefits, such as wildlife habitat, soil erosion prevention, rain infiltration, and improved air quality. Turfgrass plants remove carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis, and a significant amount of the carbon removed from the air is stored within turfgrass soils. To examine carbon storage on golf courses more closely, the Colorado Golf Carbon Project was created by the Allied Golf Associations of Colorado, Colorado State University, and the US Department of Agriculture. The goal of this project is to determine the carbon footprint of golf courses in Colorado through evaluating energy consumption versus the amount of turfgrass carbon storage. This project also has a fundraising effort through the sale of the estimated carbon stored on golf course acreage in Colorado. The Broadmoor was one of the first golf facilities in Colorado to donate the carbon stored on its turfgrass acreage.

 

Read the rest of this article.

  

 

Forward The Record To A Friend
It's Easy To Share This Publication With Others
by the USGA Green Section Staff
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Green Section Record Archive 
Looking for a previous issue of the Green Section Record?
The Green Section Record has been published under various names since 1921 and is composed of an amazing collection of full-text articles and photos. This collection is stored and maintained by the wonderful library staff at Michigan State University in the Turfgrass Information File (TGIF). All past issues of the Record, including this one, can be accessed free-of-charge by following this link.

Search the Green Section Record

 

The USGA Green Section Portal
A Valuable, Free Resource
Take a minute to visit the Green Section's portal at http://gsportal.usga.org to find information regarding upcoming live webcasts and links to recordings of more than 30 previously-delivered webcasts and announcements of upcoming USGA Green Section activities, education conferences, and meetings.

 

Important Links

 

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 P.O. Box 708
Far Hills, NJ  07931-0708
908.234.2300

 

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