How big of a turf nerd do you have to be...

...to name Turf Diseases as the Super Blog of the Month?  Well, apparently the folks at Golf Course Industry are just nerdy enough and I love it! Pat Jones, Publisher/Editorial Director of GCI Magazine, relayed the good news today (via Facebook).  Turf Diseases has been named the Super Blog of the Month and will be featured for the entire month on their blogroll. So I guess there is no where to go but down from here.

So as for the updates about diseases.  Today I saw some interesting things at the research facility.  Over the weekend Fairy Ring (Type II and Type III) started to appear throughout much of the putting surface.  One thing that particularly stood out was the presence of mushrooms that only Dr. Fidanza could really love in a PGR study.  The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of the post inhibition growth stimulation (PIGS) effect rebound effect on bentgrass recovery following aerification once certain PGRs start to wear off .  In plots that had received a second application of paclobutrazol, mushrooms were abundant.  I have seen this with other fungicide studies in the past, but it always make me wonder about the crazy screwed up things that can occur with the side effects of certain cultural and chemical practices.

Aside from that, I have received samples from a few locations and found really crappy root systems compromised roots, Wong Patch brown ring patch, dollar spot, and anthracnose.  I was also traveling through Ohio and Pittsburgh last week and although most diseases seemed to be limited, it appeared that leaf spot was starting to rage in roughs with perennial ryegrass. At one course in the Pittsburgh area, it was totally freakin awesome clear to see the damage in an area of sod that had some highly susceptible cultivar of perennial ryegrass (image below).  The interesting part about this was that the sod had been laid about 5 years ago and this was the first time that leaf spot had shown up so impressively.

Challenge for the Month...1000 Fans on Facebook!

Today I was listening to our local radio station (The Zoo Crew on B94.5).  The DJ was telling a story about how he was drunk off his... "inebriated" at a local bar and gave his number (although he wrote it down wrong so I guess the term fit) to his hot waitress who I met during a dinner at the same establishment with Stan Zontek last year (and she is HOT).  They had her in to tell the story of how she texted him that night only to find out that the number he gave her was that of some random girl whose boyfriend then thought that she was getting random messages from another guy. Oh the drama.  ANYWAY, the purpose of this was that they started a facebook page and were trying to get 500 fans over the weekend and now their goal is 2500 fans.  I don't have a radio station to shout it out to, but I now challenge all of you to help us get the Turf Disease Facebook Fanpage to 1000 fans by the end of the month.  Spread the word and show the love or I am calling it quits with this damn thing!