16th Annual OSU Global Turfgrass Internship Seminar

On October 29-31, 2010 the 16th annual OSU Global Turfgrass Internship Seminar was held in Sea Pines, South Carolina.

Several of you have gone through the OSU internship program over the years. For those who are not familiar turfgrass students from around the world come to the United States to intern on golf courses for 12 to 18 months. Each year the students attend a 3-day seminar conducted by the OSU International Intern Program.

Syngenta is a major sponsor for the seminar. It is always interesting to hear students talk about their experiences in the United States. Besides the comment that Americans spray more than back home, the one thing that seems to be a rather common theme is the attention to detail. It is small things that go into course preparation that golfers may or may not notice but tend to put the finishing touches on a golf course.

One of the speakers was Cameron Thompson the current golf course superintendent at the Tiger Woods course in Dubai. Cameron who is an Australian that went through the program 10 years previously, flew in from Malaysia on his way home to Dubai spoke on being an international superintendent. A theme that he drove home to the students is to be respectful of others culture and to work within the rules of that culture. To try to change people to be like you, normally will result in frustration and failure.

Going through Europe
Staying on the conference theme, this past year Dr Karl Danneberger has been speaking and attending conferences through Europe (Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, etc.). One suggestion/recommendation that appears to be popular (or at least pushed), and companies are advertising and selling such, is the mixing of creeping bentgrass cultivars (ex. A4, Penncross) in with Festuca rubra species and Agrostis capillaris.

At first I thought these mixes were for establishing fine fescue greens but even with low percentage of creeping bentgrass (7 to 10 percent) that would appear to cause a uniformity problem. Conversely, some are recommending with establishing creeping bentgrass greens that fine fescue be added. Karl states "I don't understand the logic, but I am sure someone will to explain it to me". That recommendation would not be made in the United States.