The top 10 posts of 2018

These posts had the most views in 2018. Here they are, counting down from ten to one.

[10] November, Kurofune keeper about the feature article on Andrew McDaniel in Weekly Golf Digest. That post has a download link for the article; it’s also available here in an easy-reading format.

[9] November, Humbug, the MLSN movie. This was a fun project, producing and playing the lead role in a film about MLSN. If you haven’t seen this yet, please have a watch this winter. As the trailer shows, it’s got drama, unbounded optimism, humour, international intrigue, and even ice cream.

[8] July, A pleasant day, with an unpleasant termination. Of the top 10 posts, I’d choose this one as my personal favorite. It’s about something applicable everywhere—playing conditions and the type of work required to achieve the desired conditions. And as I wrote, “surely this is not the only place where this can happen?”

[7] March, Leaves of Grass. This is the narrative for a presentation I made about the applications and implications of clipping volume.

[6] May, The probability of a dollar spot epidemic. This explains how the Smith-Kerns Dollar Spot Prediction Model works and shows some charts of calculations for this model.

[5] December, Autonomous mower at 12 mm produced higher quality turf, increased shoot density, and reduced energy use compared to a conventional reel mower. I was surprised when I read the results from the article discussed in this post.

[4] April, Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. This is also a list of five articles that I think every greenkeeper should read.

[3] April, The case for reactive greenkeeping. I wrote,

Here’s the problem. When we make things happen with the grass, we invariably overdo things. That’s the only safe way to take a proactive approach.

And I suggested that reframing the work in terms of being reactive, rather than proactive, may be an excellent approach.

[2] May, Is carbon “the next frontier in fertilization?” This is a fascinating article by Bryan and Tyler Hopkins, ranging from photosynthesis to soil health to glyphosate to urea. And, of course, carbon.

[1] February, New MLSN cheat sheet. I thought it might be useful to summarise the key details of MLSN in a cheat sheet. So I made one.

Those were the top 10 this year. Thanks to everyone for reading.

The top posts from previous years are at these links:

• Top 10 posts of 2017 about N in rain, two posts about fertilizer cost, green speed by species, Si and green speed, sand topdressing and grass growth, awesome things by other people, fertilizer and roots, and one on K and winter diseases.
• Top 10 posts of 2016 about OM, coring or not, the most comoon oxymoron in turf, roots, winter traffic, ET daily or monthly, greenhouse gas emissions from golf courses, and ethical purchasing.
• Top 10 posts of 2015 about fertilizer, green speed, soil tests, wind at St. Andrews, the 1/3 rule of mowing, U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, and foliar applications.
• Top 10 posts of 2014 about seasonal N use, control of turf diseases, an anecdote about ammonium sulfate, salesmen suggesting calcium, cool-season grass in the tropics, irrigation, and soil moisture.
• Top 5 posts of 2013 about summertime syringing to cool bentgrass, nutrient requirements, and potassium.
• Top 5 posts of 2012 about five articles every greenkeeper should read, 1 minute on fertilizer, the real price of fertilizer, and the imaginary problem of calcium deficiency.
• Top 5 posts of 2011 about modifying fairway conditions in Thailand, sandcapping or topdressing, weeds in Malaysia, and turfgrass potassium requirements.
• Top 5 posts of 2010 about zoysiagrass fertilizer, the China Golf Show, grass selection and manilagrass, Guidelines for Tropical Turfgrass Installation and Management, and turfgrass performance data at the Open Championship.
• Top 5 posts of 2009 about mowing patterns and grass color, core aeration, salt for weed control, seeded seashore paspalum, and turfgrass in Dubai.