It is estimated the City of Saskatoon has 25,000 boulevard and park elm trees that are worth approximately $45 Million. There are many more located on private properties.

Zone 8 Director Lack Reeve, superintendent at the Weyburn Golf Club is looking for a site for the S.T.A.’s annual Research Tournament. It will be in the south on August 14, 2007. Mark this date on your calendar now. You won’t want to miss it. Support Turf Research!

Doug Leavins is the new President of the Saskatchewan Turfgrass Association. Mr. Leavins, elected at a recent Board of Directors meeting, is the superintendent at the Chinook Golf Club in Swift Current. He has served as an S.T.A. Director in Zone 5 for a number of years. He never misses a meeting, always attends seminars and conferences, plays in various golf tournaments and has contributed to the well being of the Association. Doug will be a good president.

Membership renewals are coming up. With the next Newsletter an invoice for 2007 S.T.A. membership dues will be included. Don’t delay submitting the invoice to the person writing the cheques and forward payment back to us. Our goal is to get as many members as we can so reach our goal of having top notch education for our membership and continue our commitment to turfgrass research.

Just recently I attended “Gardenscape” in Saskatoon, battling record crowds at the tradeshow and trying to find a suitable seat at the numerous seminars I wanted to attend. We had a number of our commercial members showing off their product at the trade show. Among them was Shellview Sod Farms. What great people! They went out of their way to make me feel welcome. They have been in business 47 years and plan to have a gala celebration in their 50th year. They invited me to Shellview to see their operation. I’m going!Some time in March 2008 the S.T.A. will host a conference and trade show here in Saskatoon. We want to attract the smaller golf courses and turf people from rural areas. Not only will we be focusing on greens superintendents, but we will invite Board Members as well. As always we will keep the costs down. Already we have had some interest in Booth space from our commercial friends.

The most valuable natural resource in the world is water. The total amount of water found on Earth is about the same as when the planet first formed. The vast majority of water - 97 percent - is sea water. Of the remaining 3 percent, 2 percent is locked up in the ice caps, which leaves only 1 percent of the world’s water available for human use.

I bristle when I hear people complain about golf course conditions and spread the word that golf course maintenance is nothing more than Carl and “Caddyshack”. Managers, by the way, should attend Turf Conferences to see how sophisticated golf course maintenance is and to attend seminars on being part of a team, or more simply, how to manage.

Dutch elm disease is caused by the elm bark beetle transmitting the disease or fungus which will clog the trees water conducting system. This eventually causes the tree to die, usually within one or two seasons. The early symptoms of the disease usually appear by July when the leaves on one or more branches wilt, curl, turn yellow and then die. That’s happening to me.

Just received a catalog from Gaudet Christmas whose President is Ray Gaudet, a member of the S.T.A. The plantation is in Prince Albert, their stock is hardy in Western Canada and the Territories. The catalog is well done and especially informative – a very good read.

At the March Board Meeting outgoing President Kevin Bloski was thanked for his efforts and his many contributions of unselfish support for the Association.

The golf course at Saskatchewan Landing opened March 31st. That is pretty early for Saskatchewan. By now most courses and some parks are pumping water from the property. In some areas of the Province the abundant snowfall has just started to melt. I’ve also noticed some courses are blowing snow from their greens.

Frequent light topdressing has become the norm for many superintendents. It’s a good idea, however, to stop topdressing programs during hot days of summer.

Many golf courses run an alternative-shot couples tournament. They are very popular and a lot of fun to participate in. I used to run one at my golf club every month and members loved it. I used to call it ‘The Divorce Open’.

Jacobson at one time was a big name in the turf business until running into some big problems a few years back. Jacobson is now owned by Commercial Ground Care and has a new facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. It also manufactures equipment in Ipswich, England. With the sale and new location it is hoped the problems endured in the last few years are behind them – especially customer service issues.

Lots of golf facilities in the province haven’t golf superintendents. Most have left for greener pastures such as the oil patch which pays more and is a year round opportunity. With a strong economy in our province I believe this will continue to be a problem.

Had a recent call from a gentleman who was charged by his club president to find a greens superintendent. The president asked him where he would start looking. He replied “at the local coffee shop. Those guys who drink coffee every morning know exactly how a golf course should be maintained. Surely there has to be one that will be interested in the job.”

Recently an old golfer asked me asked me what the biggest improvement in golf course maintenance that I had seen. Certainly the improvement in turf equipment has to be near the top. Growth regulators such as Primo MAXX have to be right up there too. Perhaps the incredible gains brought to the game from the advent of plastic cleats could be the biggest improvement.

Jim Scharf, owner of the “Oasis” in Perdue has to read this. “Why do full length golf courses have 18 holes and not 20 or 10 or an even dozen?” The answer was given at St. Andrews in Scotland around 1763. The Directors decided that if you took a fifth of scotch and limited yourself to just one shot per hole it would take 18 holes to polish off the bottle. With that and nothing more to drink you may as well quit playing. That explanation came from the archives of golf at St. Andrews.

It’s going to be an exciting year for the S.T.A. We plan on some new activity which you will want to participate in. Every activity will be open to Board Members as well as superintendents and greenkeepers. We will keep you posted.

Everyone should know this one – If it sucks air and burns fuel, it’s an engine. If it needs a power cord, it’s a motor. Denis Jeanneau told me that one and, as everyone knows, it was a lengthy explanation. With that tidbit, I’m outta here until May!