Turf School Day Forty-Two and Forty-Three

Monday we spent the day at Pine Valley. It is rated as the 2nd Best course in the United States. It was a neat experience to see such a magnificent course.



This morning we had a landscape management class. We have not had the class since week 2 so it was basically a review of material in preperation for our two final projects.

After our landscape management class we had more class presentations. Today was finally my day to present, and I went a little over the time limit, but it all went very well.

We ended our classes talking about sports field management as a potential future employment opportunity.

3 Days of Classes Left!

Turf School Day Forty-One

Friday we had our last class with Chris Carson. We had a review for the final exam and talked about what we can do to keep our jobs.
We then had a history of design class in which we discussed more hole designs and safety in design and construction.
Our last class was on putting green construction. I do not really remember what we talked about in the class, but we are not getting tested on the material, so I guess I can forget it.

Turf School Day Forty

This morning we had 2 lab classes. OUr first lab was an insect identification lab, followed by a calibration lab. During our insect lab we identified turfgrass pests and prepared for our upcoming final exam.
In our calibration lab we talked about how to calibrate a sprayer and how to make big and small changes in the amount of product applied. (these changes can be made by changing speed, pressure, and nozzles)
We ended our day talking about irrigation needs and the possibility of using reclaimed water on our courses. We discussed the amount of water that is needed to flush salts out of the soil profile and how to calculate that amount.
It was our last class meeting with Bingru. Thank you Bingru for all you have taught me.

Turf School Day Thirty-Nine

Today was our last bunch of classes with Rich Buckley, the Master of the Plant Disease Laboratory. Over the past 20 weeks we have learned about integrated pest management and scouting techniques. He has taught us about several turf diseases and how to prevent and cure them. He taught us about turfgrass insects and how to prevent their damage and kill them if they are creating problems. He taught us about the diseases and insects that harm ornamental plants. The most important stuff he taught us were his priceless life lessons.

Thanks for everything Buckley!

Turf School Day Thirty-Eight

Our first class of the day was professional development. We talked about what we need to know to become a superintendent. We talked about being able to manage communication lines between both the rich owners and the "less prominent" crew members.

We then had our turf establishment class and our class presentations. The presentations were nice and for our establishment class we worked on a short group project.

Turf school is winding down and I think the teachers are as excited as we are to be done with school.

Turf School Day Thirty-Seven

This morning we started with an agronomy class. We talked about green speed, what science and our instructor's experience has taught us. We discussed locations for hole locations and how to manage green speed.

We then had our last budgeting class. Today we had a review of our entire year of the class, it was a basic review for the final exam.

We ended our day talking about trees for our landscape plants class. We went over about 20 trees/shrubs.

Greetings from Afar

This weekend has been great...
Yesterday we went up to the USGA Museum and looked at the exhibits about the history of golf. The had clubs on display from the beginning of the game up to present day and had picture and video displays. It was an enjoyable experience.
When we got back from the museum the bYu game was on and it was exciting to watch the cougars beat up on the aztecs on the road, on national tv, in hd, and to see us play as a team.
After the game, I was able to go to a young single adult fireside with Elder Bednar and Elder Clayton, a president of the seventy. It was a unique meeting. Elder Bednar got up and told us it was not going to be a traditional fireside in which he got up and gave a talk that he would hope would be of benefit to all of us. Instead he got up and told us that the Spirit was here to teach all of us. He knew we all had questions, and he invited us to ask him any question we had. The meeting lasted about 2.5 hours. At the end of the meeting we were given the opportunity to shake their hands.
Today we had an irregular stake conference. Elder Clayton attended our meeting and the first hour was an inspired testimony meeting. The stake president called upon the new patriarch, the mission president and his wife, two missionaries, and his counselours to bear their testimonies. Elder Clayton then had the mission president and his wife talk about families and give advice about how to rear a successful family. Then Elder Clayton talked about trials and enduring to the end.
It was a great weekend to be in New Jersey!