News Profiles
Talking baseball field upkeep at OTS

One of Turf & Rec’s Top 10 Under 40 honourees from 2019 will be stepping up to the podium on a couple of occasions in February to speak at the Ontario Turfgrass Symposium in Guelph.

Ross Baron, head groundskeeper for the Vancouver Canadians professional baseball team, will speak in the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 19 about managing the field at Vancouver’s Nat Bailey Stadium and then will focus on seasonal management and repair of baseball infields later in the afternoon.

Both addresses are part of the OTS’ sports and recreational facilities education program. Golf, lawn care and nursery sod are the other sector-specific programs offered over the two-day symposium at the University of Guelph.

Speakers and their sessions include:

Wednesday, Feb. 19
Golf sessions

• Strategies to manage organic matter on golf course playing surfaces – presented by Zach Nicoludis, USGA
• New product and development research at the GTI – presented by Dr. Eric Lyons and John Watson, Guelph Turfgrass Institute
• Using plant growth regulators to maintain a quality creeping bentgrass playing surface and to suppress poa annua – presented by Zach Nicoludis, USGA
• Turf disease management in the era of reduced fungicides – presented by Dr. Tom Hsiang, University of Guelph

Lawn care sessions

• Building an effective fertility program – presented by Mark Schneider, Nutrite
• Cultural practices and strategies to enhance soil and plant health – presented by Dr. Katerina Jordan, University of Guelph
• Tips and tricks to survive 37 years as an independent landscape maintenance contractor – presented by James Walke, Total Gardening Services

Sports turf/recreational facilities sessions

• A look at managing the Vancouver Canadians baseball field at Nat Bailey Stadium – presented by Ross Baron, Vancouver Canadians professional baseball club
• Seasonal management and repair of baseball infields – presented by Ross Baron, Vancouver Canadians professional baseball club
• Permitting hours: how much play is too much? – presented by Bet Smith and Pam Charbonneau, DCS Consultants

Thursday, Feb. 20
Golf sessions

• What’s old is new again: a modern take on traditional greenkeeping at Otter Creek Golf Club – presented by Randy Booker, superintendent, Otter Creek Golf Club, Otterville
• Green rebuilding for success – presented by Bill Green, superintendent, Cutten Fields Golf Club, Guelph
• Natural and native turf for roughs and parks – presented by James McCurdy, Rutgers University
• Sustainable management of ABW in view of insecticide resistance issues – presented by Albrecht Koppenhofer, Rutgers University

Lawn care

• Exploring the value of biosolids in turf – presented by Dr. Katerina Jordan and Vighnesh Suhku, University of Guelph
• TWCA certified grasses for lawn care – presented by Jack Karlin, Turfgrass Water Conservation Alliance
• What’s the deal with endophytes? – presented by Cam Shaw, University of Guelph

Sports turf/recreational facilities

• BMO Field’s hybrid field installation – presented by Robert Heggie, BMO Field head groundskeeper
• Turf cricket: to be or not to be – presented by Chris Chappell, the Cricket Guy
• Synthetic turf repairs – Cam Lawrie, University of Guelph

Nursery sod

• Fostering a relationship with soil – presented by Alan Dolick, Lawn Life Natural Turf Products
• Improving sod harvest characteristics and shelf life – presented by Jay McCurdy, Mississippi State University
• Recognition and management of common diseases in sod production – presented by Dr. Tom Hsiang, University of Guelph

For more information or to register, visit https://opened.uoguelph.ca/Ontario-Turfgrass-Symposium.