President's Message

Summer is in Full Swing!

Hopefully the season started out well for everyone after what appeared to be a prolonged spring with some cool mornings through much of April. I preach and teach the 150-degree rule (the combined temperature in Fahrenheit plus humidity equal to 150 is good for warm-season grass growth) to students and golfers as a point when grass truly starts growing. As is typical, that time always appears to be in the first couple weeks of May, depending on your location within the state. However, this season seemed to flirt with that before temps would again dive into the mid-40’s. Reports from around the state in late spring indicated some areas north of Hwy 82 still had areas of greens in recovery mode from covers blowing off in the subzero temps at Christmas. Hopefully everyone has fully recovered.

The 21st annual Yard Dawg Classic at the MSU Golf Course was a huge success. Jimmy and Jake had the new TifEagle greens in super shape, and it was great to see the modifications made by Nathan Crace during their 2022 work. A huge thanks to Tim and his golf staff for helping get us lined up and for providing all they did onsite. It is always fun to be back HOME. So, thanks to everyone involved. Our attendance and margins always seem to be greater when at MSU.

Please mark your calendar for these upcoming events:

MSU Turfgrass Research Field Day • September 21 in Starkville

Deep South Turf Expo • October 16 – 19 in Biloxi

Also, I am happy to report that the MSU Turf Team has added Dr. Marta Pudzianowska recently. She comes to MSU from UC Riverside and will serve as Turf Breeder starting this October. It is exciting to see this role filled. I was fortunate enough to share dinner with her while she was on campus. I think you will find her to be very approachable, knowledgeable, and fun to be around. Please try to introduce yourself when the opportunity arises. She will be a huge help carrying on the work Mr. Wayne Philley and Dr. Dong were doing with bermudagrass. She also has some excellent ideas on other work to be done.

Hang tough as we enter the “100 Days of Hell.” It is always a challenge to maintain some sense of sanity, but we have fun counting down the days until football season and the weather breaking. I fear many of us will find the challenge more difficult, or at least have to modify our schedules from the past, as many high school kids will now return to school in late July. As if we needed another thing to balance during the summer. That reminds me, be mindful of the Turfgrass Management curriculum that is now available at all public schools in the state of Mississippi.

Please feel free to reach out to any board member or myself with comments, questions, or concerns.

Will Arnett

EMCC’s Lion Hills Golf Course