Vice President’s Letter

“Off” Season Opportunities

There are certain days every year that I can expect to hear from people with some encouragement. Those days include my birthday, Christmas, the anniversary of a health scare from a few years back, and most importantly… the FIRST FROST. You know you’re a turf nerd if you have friends that text you every first frost just like it’s Christmas morning! In 2022, this wonderful day came unseasonably early, but you certainly won’t be hearing me complain!

For turfgrass managers in warm season grass country, our first killing freeze ushers in our “off-season”. Off season. What exactly does that mean? I don’t know about all of you, but I’m still at work before anyone else in my neighborhood has their lights on. I still have a budget to make, bills to pay, and mouths to feed. I still have customers that call with things they need help with and employee problems to handle. I still have equipment that needs maintained, and I can’t even begin to imagine the winter project lists of you golf course superintendents. Yes, I look forward to winter. We need a small reprieve from the intense grind of the growing season. But…there is no offseason for a turfgrass manager. However, I personally always look forward to that small drop in intensity that winter brings!

Since our work is somewhat seasonal, winter affords more time for things like professional development, interaction with colleagues, and educational opportunities. I strongly encourage you to attend the 2023 Arkansas Turfgrass Association conference and experience all of these things in one venue. We have a great conference planned with engaging speakers, extremely relevant topics, pesticide recertification opportunities, hands on workshops available, and we all know that the golf course guys show up just for the free happy hour at the Embassy Suites!

We are providing two FREE workshops at the 2023 conference. As I write this letter in October, we do not know the exact topics. However, we know that one will be taught by new university professor Wendell Hutchens in the area of his expertise—turfgrass disease. This will be a hands-on learning opportunity that would cost hundreds of dollars if taken outside of this conference. It’s a really great opportunity for those of us that need or want a little extra help identifying turfgrass diseases and knowing how to manage them. This workshop alone is well worth the conference registration. Make plans to attend.

I also wanted to take a minute to thank our sponsors for the conference. The ATA exists to bring you opportunities for education and professional development. We absolutely could not put on this conference without the support of our sponsors and the vendors at the trade show. Please take time to personally thank each of these sponsors at the conference. We can’t thank you enough.

Happy Winter everyone. See you in January at the conference!

Josh Landreth

ATA Vice President