Golf Grass Experts Convene in Galveston

GALVESTON — Some of the state’s best minds in the field got together on the island the past three days to talk about grass. We’re talking primo stuff. That’s right. We’re talking lush, green fairways, exquisite football and baseball fields, and the perfect lawn that would be the envy of the neighborhood.

About 160 members of the Texas Turfgrass Association met Sunday through Tuesday at the Moody Gardens Hotel for the association’s annual summer institute.

Speakers from Texas A&M University, the Texas Cooperative Extension and the Structural Pest Control Board led seminars on everything from water management to pest control.

The hottest topic? Water issues. In fact, four different speakers talked about water issues on the opening day of the meetings Sunday.

“That’s a big one all around the state,” said Danny Smith, president of the Texas Turfgrass Association. “We’ve got a lot of membership in the San Antonio and Austin areas where water issues are just a huge, huge thing — contamination and wise pesticide use.”

Grass needs water to grow, but much of the state has less and less water to work with each year.

“Nobody seems to have enough, and we know we’ll have less next year than this year,” Smith said.

Smith, an Abilene resident, is the golf course superintendent and part owner of Feather Bay Golf Club in Brownwood. He’s been in the turfgrass business for 20 years and a golf course superintendent for 15 years.

Of course, sometimes a course can get too much water. Smith lamented the fact Brownwood has already received 25 inches of rain this year. He knows that’s not much down on the coast, but a wet June created hardships elsewhere in the state.

“During the month of June, everybody had an abundance of rainfall — way too much rain,” he said. “When that happens, turfgrass seems to develop too shallow of a root system. It doesn’t depend on those lower levels in the soil to draw moisture out of. Within 10 days after the rain stops, you’re already starting to have stress.”

That’s not just a problem for golf courses. It’s a problem for everyone in the grass industry, be it someone who tends high school, college or pro football or baseball fields or just the guy next door who wants the perfect yard. Even Parks and Recreational officials have fields that need proper growth and treatment.

In fact, Smith said only about 60 percent of the Texas Turfgrass Association members are golf course superintendents. The rest take care of sports fields or grow sod for lawn and ornamental use.

There’s big money in grass, too.

“A number we throw at people all the time is that as an added-value industry in the state, the turfgrass industry is a $6 billion industry,” he said. “That’s a big number.”

While the summer meeting draws a little more than 150 participants, Smith said the annual winter meeting in Grapevine in December will attract nearly all of the association’s 1,600 to 1,700 members.

“Of course, we’d like to see that grow,” Smith said about the association’s membership. “We’d like to be an umbrella organization for the green industry in Texas.”

Taking care of the grass at a golf course or football field isn’t just about watering and fertilizing either. There’s a science to it.

“I’d say a bulk of our membership are probably college educated,” Smith said. “The turfgrass department at Texas A&M is big. They put out a lot of graduates every year who just specialize in turfgrass.”