| The Virginia Tech Turf Team and its
education partner, the Virginia Turfgrass
Council, will be hosting the annual Turfgrass
Short Courses at the Holiday Inn in Blacksburg
from Monday Dec. 4 through Thursday Dec.
7. As always, the Basic Short Course, an
educational program designed to instruct
all segments of the turfgrass industry,
will be taught. This short course is designed
as a crash course in many of the basic principles
in turfgrass management. If you are relatively
new to the industry or looking for a brush-up
on the most important topics, then this
program is for you. Following in the footsteps
of last year’s very popular “Sports Turf
Short Course”, we will for the first time
be offering an advanced “Golf Turf Short
Course” taught concurrently with the Basic
course. The Golf Turf Short Course features
Dr. Bert McCarty of Clemson University as
this year’s guest educator. Bert will highlight
his years of research in bentgrass putting
green management in a challenging climate
such as South Carolina’s, as well as his
expertise in current and exciting new weed
control strategies. Bert’s program, supplemented
with the VT Turf Team’s latest research
findings in golf turf management, will provide
our attendees with a thorough understanding
of the latest in management strategies.
This year, the VT Turf Team is pleased to
have Dr. Brandon Horvath and Dr. Rod Youngman
on board to share their expertise in the
areas of turf pathology and entomology.
In particular, Dr. Horvath and David McCall
will lead an intensive, hands-on training
session in disease diagnosis at one of the
teaching laboratories on campus for our
golf turf group on Thursday morning. Adding
Brandon’s, Rod’s, and David’s expertise
to a team already featuring the cutting
edge research of Dr. Askew and Dr. Ervin
has reinvigorated VT’s turf program over
the past year, something we hope YOU have
noticed as well. We also welcome back two
of the men responsible for the long history
of success in VT’s Turfgrass Management
program, Dr. Dick Schmidt and Dr. Jack Hall,
who will once again join with us to instruct
in the Basic Short Course. Finally, an often
overlooked part of being a successful turfgrass
manager is leadership. Wes Bray and Chris
Mayhew, developers and presenters of Virginia’s
Certified Crew Chief Program will join us
on Monday evening, Dec. 4, for an informal
session on leadership training. Wes and
Chris’ background in the armed forces and
their years of experience leading crews
in the landscape management industry provide
for interesting perspectives on what makes
successful leaders (and followers).
Daily refreshments, lunch, and an educational
notebook are included in the registration
fees for the short course, and our price
continues to be very affordable compared
to similar educational programs offered
in the region. Please review the accompanying
educational programs and topics to see just
what is being taught for these 4 days, and
then use the attached registration form
to sign-up for the short course. Continuing
education credits have been applied for
through GCSAA. Special hotel rates at the
Holiday Inn are available if you identify
yourself as a short course attendee, but
rooms are filling fast (contact information
is available on the attached registration
brochure). Space for both short courses
is limited so be sure and get your registrations
in soon!
These 4 days are intended for you to
get as many of your questions answered as
we possibly can – it truly is YOUR week
to get to know the VT Turf Team much better,
share your ideas and challenges with us
and your colleagues, and find solutions
that will recharge your career in the industry
for 2007.
Plan on joining us – we look forward
to meeting, instructing, and getting to
kno200w another group of the region’s turfgrass
professionals that much better.
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