Happy April 1st!: Mild in the West, New Fungicide, & NCAA Action

The Mild, Mild West

This week looks like it's been very mild on the left coast.

Daytime temps have been anywhere from the mid 50s to the high 70s throughout California with some showers here and there.

We picked up a hit of anthracnose this week from an annual bluegrass green in the Central Valley. It's a little early for anthracnose to be running rampant on greens, but this disease can show up just about anytime you have low fertility and stress on greens.

Other than that, with the cool temperatures and some moisture, Rhizoctonia large patch should continue to be active.



Martin Howard (Trump National) sent this photo in from last week showing great symptoms of large patch on kikuyugrass in southern California. Thanks Howard!

New Fungicide Unveiled today at the Asian Golf and Trade Show
In other news, a new broad-spectrum fungicide was unveiled today at the Asian Golf and Trade Show taking place in Helmand, Afghanistan. Developed jointly by scientists at the North Korean Institute for Golf and the Iranian Center for Amenity Turfgrass, Armageddon XL® fungicide shows great promise. Armageddon XL® fungicide provides season long control against major diseases such as dollar spot, brown patch, gray leaf spot, and anthracnose and Waitea patch. USGAA Agromomist Stan Zantac was impressed with the results, "I haven't seen anything like it before" he said, "a single application controlled everything in a 10 mile radius." GSCA Director of Research, Clark Throttle, was similarly impressed: "wow, this s*#t works." Although effective for disease control, Armageddon XL® can cause some phytotoxicity and browning on creeping bentgrass, fescue and perennial ryegrass. "I think it's a rate issue," said Throttle, "but I'm sure that they'll get it worked out." However, Armageddon XL® shows excellent safety on kikuyugrass and annual bluegrass. Armageddon XL® comes in a single 2.2 lb package or as an 8 box link-pack with it's own proprietary delivery system. According to the manufacturer, the 2.2 lb package is more than enough to treat a whole golf course, while the link-pack would be effective for treating a large metropolitan area. Availability is still unclear, as a U.S.–based distributor has not yet been identified. A label has been approved for all states except for California and New York. Expect a launch of Armageddon XL® soon in 2010!

Update from the NCAA Tournament
The Men's NCAA Championship will be wrapping up in just a few short days with the Final Four semifinals taking place this Saturday and the final on Monday. A number of turf schools (and turf program alumni) were represented in the 65 tournament teams including Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Minnesota, Florida, K-State, Kentucky, Cornell, Wisconsin, Clemson, Texas A&M and Purdue. Here's a quick recap from last week's action in the regional semi-final and final match ups.

In the East bracket, Frank Rossi's Cinderella-season was ended by Kentucky in the semi-finals. The duo of Powell and Williams were too much for Rossi and the Cornell Big Red as the Wildcats moved on 62-45 only to be brought down by the Mountaineers of West Virginia in the East Regional Final. You can catch more of Frank's video wrap up of the tournament at TurfNetTV.

In the South bracket, Purdue was crushed 57-70 by Duke in the semifinals. "Zac's transfer to Nebraska has left us with a big hole in our line up," said Boilermaker captain Cale Bigelow, "but we're hoping to bring in some new blood for next year's season."

In the West, K-State was knocked out by Butler 56-63 in the final. "WTF!?" exclaimed a shocked Jack Fry "Those guys don't even have a turfgrass program!"

But the biggest action last week was taking place in the Midwest bracket as the Tennessee Vols went head to head with Ohio State in the semi-finals. Karl Dannenberger's blocked desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer sealed the Buckeye's fate as the Vols took the nail biter in to the finals 76-73 against Michigan State. The Spartans, advancing to the Midwest Final by taking out Pete Dernoeden and the 'Terps in the second round and University of Northern Iowa in the semifinals, were hot and ready to face the Vols in Tennessee's first time to the elite eight in school history. Although Trey Rogers had limited play in the first half due to foul trouble, Vargas and Nikolai stepped it up, each adding double-digits to the scoreboard, and the Spartans led by as much as eight going into the second half. Despite a late-game rally by the Vols, the Spartans held them off to move onto this week's Final Four 70-69. "You know, Tennessee has got a lot of talent in those young guys like Sorochan, Horvath and Brosnan, " said Ron Calhoun, coming into the MSU starting line up to replace an injured Kevin Frank, "but when it comes down to it, it's hard to beat an experienced team like us. Better luck next year Tennessee."

So, in the spirit of camaraderie amongst turf programs, GO SPARTANS! Best of luck to Michigan State this Saturday vs. Butler. If MSU should fall, it's ABD here in the Wong Lab: "Anyone But Duke".

Until Next Week, Have a Great April Fool's Day!

Signing off from the Right Coast….