New Posts

Converting clipping volume to dry weight
One of the reasons I didn’t pay attention to clipping volume numbers in my youth was my failure to realize that the volume of clippings is related to the dry weight of clippings.
2024-11-03 3 min read
Project
Converting clipping volume to dry weight
A chance to update my advice
A text asking “Have you ever read that?” arrived to my phone this morning, along with a screen shot of the the article in question. It’s an article by Todd Pippin with the title “The five-day program: Alternative philosophy for managing your topdressing program.
2024-10-24 4 min read
A chance to update my advice
Do you have an idea why they recommend so much K?
When I make nutrient recommendations, I recommend a quantity of each element that ensures the grass can get all of that nutrient that the grass can use. I also make the recommendation with a thought about the soil.
2024-10-18 2 min read
Do you have an idea why they recommend so much K?
See all posts

Tagged topics

aeration bentgrass bermudagrass bobble test calcium carbon carpetgrass climate ClipVol coring data analysis disease ecology Environment fertilizer golf green speed greenkeeping growth potential irrigation Japan Light manilagrass MLSN Mowing nitrogen OM246 organic matter Paspalum pH Philippines phosphorus playability podcast potassium research rturf salinity sand science seminar soil soil test stimpmeter surface hardness temperature Thailand Tissue test topdress tournament turf hacks turf info Turf reads Turf tourism video water weather web/tech weeds Zoysia

Top posts

How much organic matter is too much?
Project
Reflections on growth rate, nitrogen, and topdressing
The GvX equation
Organic material accumulates more rapidly in putting green soils under these two conditions
The Brede equation
An especially lucid abstract about core aeration
Organic matter reduction by hollow-tines, solid-tines, and sand topdressing
You won't believe this common maintenance practice doesn't reduce organic matter at all
Sand topdressing by exact depth: how to work it out
This one simple trick can transform putting greens from usually good to consistently great
Is carbon "the next frontier in fertilization?"
2 similar approaches to turfgrass nutrition, with 1 notable difference

About

Micah Woods established the Asian Turfgrass Center (ATC) in 2006 to develop and provide turfgrass information for the golf and sports turf industry. Through the ATC, he provides turfgrass advisory and soil testing services to golf clubs, sports facilities, and select clients around the world. Since 2009, he has been an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Tennessee. Since 2022, he has been director of the PACE Turf information service.

Micah manages to keep his eyes on the ground, studying the turfgrass species wherever he is in the world. He remains well grounded in the practical aspects of the golf game and his writing has been praised for its accessible style. Author of over two hundred articles in publications such as GOLF Magazine and Soil Science as well as books with intriguing titles like One Bucket at a Time and 芝草科学とグリーンキーピング: マイカの時間 The BOOK, Micah enjoys spending time creating animated charts and graphs of the data he has collected while discovering unexpected statistics.

Interests
  • Turfgrass nutrition
  • Turfgrass selection & performance
  • Efficient greenkeeping
  • Soil nutrient analysis
Education

  • PhD in Horticulture, 2006

    Cornell University

  • BSc in Horticulture, 1998

    Oregon State University

Projects

*
All Clipping volume MLSN R Soil testing Videos Writing
Soil tests

Soil tests

We provide soil testing services for clients around the world through Brookside Labs, and have an active research program in the area of turfgrass nutrition, soil and plant analysis, and sampling methods.

OM246

OM246

Measure exact topdressing effect, and requirement, by checking total organic material by depth.

Books

Books

My books about greenkeeping, turfgrass science, clipping volume, and MLSN.

Shiny Apps

Shiny Apps

Web applications for R that make calculations or show data.

Grammar of Greenkeeping

Grammar of Greenkeeping

I’ve made some movies with my friends to explain how the grammar of greenkeeping works. You may enjoy watching.

PDF Video
Rturf

Rturf

I’ve been doing some teaching, or demonstrating, how I use R software for data analysis in turf-related matters. See the full list of rturf posts. The initial project is about stimpmeter measurements and ClipVol.

ClipVol

ClipVol

Measuring the growth rate by clipping volume. Really.

Turf Twitter

Turf Twitter

Analyzing the tweets and the accounts of the turf industry on Twitter.

Follow
Global Soil Survey

Global Soil Survey

A project that investigated soil nutrient levels of good-performing turf all over the world.

MLSN

MLSN

Minimum levels for sustainable nutrition—MLSN—is a modern method for interpreting soil tests for turfgrass.

ATC Library

Use the article filter to search the library.
M. S. Woods (2021). The Secret MLSN Operations Manual.

Project Source Document

M. S. Woods, L. J. Stowell, W. D. Gelernter (2020). A survey of soil nutrient analyses from turfgrass sites in Asia, Europe, and North America. OSF.

PDF Cite Code Dataset DOI

E. H. Reasor, J. T. Brosnan, M. S. Woods (2020). A new method to measure bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.) golf course putting green ball roll uniformity. Journal of Testing and Evaluation.

Cite DOI

M. S. Woods (2020). Composite soil sampling for turfgrass. ATC Technical Report.

PDF

M. S. Woods (2019). Measuring clipping volume is easier and more useful than I expected. MIGCSA Course Conditions.

PDF Cite

M. S. Woods (2019). The turfgrass genki level. ATC Technical Report.

PDF

See all publications

Books

The Secret MLSN Operations Manual
This is a compilation of the best content from the MLSN newsletter. It’s all about this modern method for soil test interpretation for turfgrass—how it works, how MLSN was developed, answers to common questions, and some fun stories about this project.
Project Source Document
The Secret MLSN Operations Manual
One Bucket at a Time
You don’t have to measure the clipping volume. But if you are interested in doing so, I’ve written quite a bit about this topic, and I’ve put the information together here so those who are interested can find it in one place.
Project Source Document
One Bucket at a Time
芝草科学とグリーンキーピング (マイカの時間 The BOOK)
Golf is a sport and is played on grass. The greenkeeper works with the grass to produce the best possible playing surface for golf. But just as each golf course has its own design and setting into the landscape, so also the grass on each golf course is growing in its own soil, in a particular climate, with an innumerable list of differences from any other golf course.
Source Document
芝草科学とグリーンキーピング (マイカの時間 The BOOK)
A Short Grammar of Greenkeeping
These are the fundamental principles of greenkeeping, if one agrees that greenkeeping is all about the growth rate of the grass and modifying that rate to get the desired surface conditions.
PDF Cite
A Short Grammar of Greenkeeping

Contact