Participants at Texas A&M University’s Sept. 12 Turf Field Day place small flags on the plots they like best (Yes, that’s the author’s lone flag in the foreground.) Photo by Darrell J. Pehr
GCM readers have the opportunity each month to learn about the latest turf research being conducted at universities and industrial laboratories around the world.
Some research can be a little harder to fully visualize – for example, I hadn’t thought of the word “alleles” since a distant college class decades ago. But one of the research articles in this issue delves deeper into genetics, which for me required digging through my brain cells until I cleared enough dust to say, “Oh, yeah… alleles !
Other turfgrass research is easier to understand, like this month’s second article, a very “down-to-earth” discussion of how much water is needed to grow warm-season grasses in various southern regions of the United States. This is a subject that concerns everyone. can relate to golf.
Both ends of this spectrum are important, but whether it’s a super-scientific process or something a little more practical, involving other people in the research process really helps to highlight the importance and relevance of the research.
I had the chance to visit the Texas A&M University Turfgrass Research Center in College Station during its Turf Field Day in September. It was an opportunity to catch up on research projects being conducted by TAMU faculty, but part of the day included a rather two-way presentation.
Ambika Chandra, Ph.D., is a professor of turfgrass breeding and genetics for Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Dallas. In a classroom-style environment, she provided the group with an in-depth update on her current research, a zoysiagrass breeding program aimed at developing putting green-type zoysias like Diamond and Lazer as well as fairway-type zoysias and tees as cold tolerant. Innovation.
“We have several new and improved disease, drought and cold tolerant zoysiagrass lines in development that we are currently evaluating for different applications including roughs, fairways/tees and greens,” she says .
The indoor presentation was followed by a tour of his nearby research plots. As we walked in the Texas sun toward a checkerboard of green squares, she suggested we participate in the search ourselves, giving us a flag like those used to mark underground utilities.
“The outdoor activity with the participants was what I would call ‘crowd reproduction,’” Chandra told me later. “It was an interactive way of interacting with the participants, where everyone had to place a flag on the plot they preferred based on its appearance, its quality, the texture of its leaves, its color and its mode of growth. This is an interesting way to get feedback from golf course superintendents who are actually going to be managing these grasses on their golf courses. There were a few plots with multiple flags, and we took note of that.
I’m sorry to say that the plot where I confidently planted my little flag didn’t attract any other flags, but after telling myself, “Hey, this isn’t a competition,” I felt a bit better. Chandra told me that she usually uses this engagement activity during field days and finds it very useful.
“This isn’t necessarily included in the search results per se, but we take note of it and, over time, we can see if certain entries were favored by producers and end users,” she says . “It’s a good way to gauge consumer preferences, which guides us in our selection process.”
The event also featured an opportunity to speak with Matteo Serena, Ph.D., senior director of irrigation research and services for the USGA Green Section, who is the lead author of the article on warm-season grasses in this month’s GCM. It turns out that he, too, is a proponent of involving people in research projects. As part of the conclusion to her article, Serena invites superintendents to conduct their own experiment.
“Turf managers considering implementing warm-season grasses on their course where water use is a consideration should test several options a few years before renovation to see how different species and cultivars perform on this specific site under this specific planned maintenance program,” he writes.
I like this idea and really appreciate the willingness of turfgrass researchers to involve end users in their research. I could apply some of their ideas in my own “research plot” of St. Augustinegrass. I think I can take a step or two in the name of science… as long as it doesn’t require the use of the word “alleles.”
Darrell J. Pehr is GCM’s science editor.
