And the winner is...

Congratulations to Andrew Lanigan (@TurfIntern) for his winning caption seen below. Andrew wins a copy of the Compendium of Turfgrass Diseases courtesy of Syngenta.

Alright Happy, just two putt around the sinkhole and we'll beat him in sudden death. No, I think I'll just win it now.

For the background story of the putting green.  This green was at Burning Tree Country Club in Connecticut.  Water running off the Merritt Parkway (just up from this green) is captured and transferred through the pipe seen in the photo.  I'm not sure when the pipe was put in, but you can see the slight angle that was made where two pipes were connected.  It was just a matter of time before it broke, and when it did it washed a lot of soil and a large portion of the green away.  Also notice the large steel plate (right/top) that was placed right on top of the connection where the contractors new there may be problems...guess that didn't hold it.  Finally, for all of you that hit rocks with the cup cutter, check out the large "boulder" that was unveiled during the washout (right/bottom).  Native soil greens are so much fun!

I like to use this photo in my talks, especially when it has been a tough summer.  The job of a superintendent can very stressful and often times turf managers worry about things they can't control.  This photo is just an example of one of those uncontrollable things (Mother Nature being the most troublesome). I want to thank Mike Barton (pictured above) for allowing Turf Diseases to use this photo for our first contest.

We would also like to give a HUGE THANKS to our First Sponsor Syngenta. Their contributions go to support the APS Turfgrass Pathology Student Travel Fund which provides travel funding for graduate students to present their scientific research at the annual American Phytopathological Society.  These students are the future of Turfgrass Pathology!