ARCHIVE FOR: March, 2009
I was sold on Penterra from the first meeting I had with the Geoponics sales representative once he did the jar test. What I liked was that he asked me to get my favorite wetting agent from my chemical room so he could do a comparison. I was impressed by how quickly the Penterra worked and by the low cost per acre. At the time we were in the middle of the worst drought on record, and under severe watering restrictions, so we were looking for any edge to help control the dry areas.
I have a double row irrigation system with only 700 heads for 95 acres, which means I’d have to either over water the fairways or under water the rough. Because the course was built on a very sandy vein of soil, my fairways drain like a push up green; they have no moisture holding capacity. Since we started spraying Penterra every 3 weeks or so on the tee boxes, fairways and more than half the rough, we’ve been able to keep our moisture levels right in the middle of those peaks and valleys we used to have. I don’t have to water for 20 minutes per head anymore because I can hold my color with just 10 minutes. I pay for my water, so that helps us to offset the cost of the product as well as increase our water efficiency. I’ve tried many different products out there, and I believe we’ve found the right one for our situation.
Billy Huskins, CGCS
Highland Woods GCC
Bonita Springs, FL
bhuskins@comcast.net
239-218-7589
March 20th, 2009
When I was first introduced to the Geoponics line of products, I was skeptical. Every salesman comes into your office with the same story about how this is the best product ever, but you have to buy it before you find out it doesn’t work. So the way I look at it now, when you have a program in place, you don’t modify it unless you have an area where you’re looking to improve. Besides, it’s human nature to resist change.
But when it comes to moving water, I’ve always been willing to try something new. Our greens have gotten slow to drain due to clogging caused by some of the materials used when they were constructed. They aren’t very big greens anyway, so once you add 240 rounds a day, compaction becomes a real issue. When I explained the situation to my Geoponics sales representative, he asked me to try Penterra. I’ve been using it ever since, and now the water moves right through.
You can just tell it’s breaking everything up, and that’s especially important when you have the kind of heavy rains we get here. Before the greens would lock up and we’d start moving towards black layer, but not any more. When a storm is headed our way, I can put the Penterra out and not have to worry. On the other hand, when it gets to be dry and windy and we are looking to hold some moisture, we use Humawet instead. I used to have 2 guys out there hand watering all day, and now we just have to do a little touch up in spots.
We use the soil oxygen product Agriox as well. It’s an incredible product. You can see how it helps release tied up nutrients and gives you a nice even green. It’s been a complete night and day response from before I started using it, and now it’s an important part of my program. We used to fertilize every 10 days or so, but the grass doesn’t start looking as hungry as soon any more. Now we can get almost an extra week out of the same amount of material. I’ve run the numbers, and we save over $15,000 a season in labor and material, so the products really do pay for themselves.
I was looking to improve my tee boxes and decided to spray Carbotein. My clipping ratio from before spraying weekly to now is night and day. Visually it’s obvious because our divot recovery is much faster than before, and the turf is much more dense. I’ve actually had members ask what I do to make them “like carpets.” About once a month we use the Penterra on them, as well as on the fairways, just to loosen things up and get a flush. Before we started doing that we’d see signs of compaction when little brown spots would pop up, but they have all gone completely away.
The turf everywhere on the course looks uniform now, which is what you want to accomplish as a superintendent. I am very pleased with all the benefits we’ve seen, and glad that my owners and membership have noticed the improvements as well.
Francisco Navas, Superintendent
Cypress Woods Golf & Country Club
Naples, FL
March 18th, 2009
Geoponics sponsored a hole at a golf event I played with a superintendent friend who was already using some of their products. He was seeing benefits, and the Sales Consultant on site was obviously very knowledgeable,
so I agreed to meet at my course for a follow up.
I was surprised when at that first meeting the rep asked if there were any areas that were proving challenging where we could do a trial. Turns out we had been working to reclaim the perimeter of our greens, which had been lost to encroachment over the years, and though we had them back to their original shapes, the edges just weren’t filling in completely. We decided that was a good place to spray Carbotein to really see what it could do.
It took a few weeks for it to begin showing, but within two months all the greens were looking completely consistent. More importantly, they are playing as consistent as they look. Our ball speed has even gone up due to increased turf turgidity. I’ve been using Carbotein ever since, and we now use the soil oxygen product Agriox and the wetting agent Penterra. My greens are looking good, and we aren’t doing as much watering or fertilizing as we used to, which both helps us to save time and money and to be environmentally responsible. As an Audubon certified course, we really appreciate that. With the improved health of the turf, our fungicide applications have been substantially reduced as well. It’s been a lights out positive response.
Everything with the turf is just consistent: appearance, health, over all quality. That’s what I find most beneficial about using the Geoponics products, that they have allowed us to overcome the inconsistency of the soils. It’s fantastic. Even the low areas and mounds of the greens now look the same as the rest of the surface, and once the products get a hold, all you need to do is supplement.
David Dore-Smith, Superintendent
Copperleaf Golf Course
Bonita Springs, FL
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March 6th, 2009
I’ve been using Agriox with Penterra for a little over a year now; it’s a regular part of my program. We find the products together give us the extra help we need to keep the turf as healthy as possible considering the stress that daily double cutting and rolling to less than an eighth creates. We are expected to stay as fast as possible, but it is still vital to be consistent. That is probably the best measure of the effect using these products has, but you have to stay on the program.
In this industry we often don’t give a product a chance unless we see a dramatic change right away. We tend to be visual people, which is probably the reason, but not everything can work overnight. By releasing oxygen into the soil in the right mixture with the soil moisture, you can keep the balance between your capillary / non-capillary space right where you need it to be. Not only is our soil profile now more uniform, but we can also quickly get rid of hot spots. My clipping yield tells me the combination is effective as well; I’ve seen us go from being where we need to be for 10 days before putting fertilizer out to 15 or more, so it is definitely saving us money.
Scott Corwin, Superintendent
Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club (Marriott)
St. Petersburg, FL
March 3rd, 2009