Australia

Andrew Thomson is the author of Bridge to the Gods: Tales from Kyushu. That very book happens to be sitting beside my computer as I write this. I’m bringing it to read this weekend when I’ll be on a small island in the Andaman Sea.

I enjoyed the article about growing degree days in the Australian Turfgrass Management Journal. Dan Cook wrote about our discussions of this and how it has been implemented at Elanora Country Club.

As I say at the end of every year, it has been another extraordinary year for studying grass around the world. See these links for some of my favorite photos (and flight maps) from 2015 and 2016.

I went to Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane to discuss the MLSN approach to soil test interpretation in four seminars organized by Living Turf. In these seminars, I explained that the use of the MLSN guidelines is as simple as planning how many beers to buy for an upcoming party.

Someone asked me at the Northern Green Expo if the temperature-based growth potential (GP) and temperature-based growing degree days (GDD) are comparable. They sort of are, with a couple of exceptions.

This soil profile, showing how the soil has been modified after about 70 years of management as a golf course putting green, is absolutely fascinating. This photo is from a course in Sydney, Australia.