Student Name:

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Please read these carefully. Circle the one response (a, b, c, d, or e) that most correctly answers the question or completes the statement.  Each of the remaining four responses has a flaw with respect to the original statement, although containing some truth.  Multiple choice questions are worth 5 points each.

1.      The main point of Student #1’s presentation was:

a.      Life is beautiful

b.      Don’t give out your pager number

c.      A broken 6” main line can fill a trench is less than 2 minutes

d.      It is important to have the “as-builts”

e.      Communications is the key to doing a job

2.      The superintendent plans to topdress 180,000 square feet of greens with 1/16 inch of topdressing 8 times during the season. How many cubic yards of topdressing will she need?

a.      about 30

b.      about 100

c.      about 300

d.      about 1,000

e.      about 3,000

3.      Which factor is the most important component in turfgrass evapotranspiration?

a.      wind

b.      relative humidity

c.      temperature

d.      radiant energy

e.      the root zone

4.      In Mike Bailey’s presentation, the main job of the golf course superintendent is to:

a.      care for the turf

b.      maintain impeccable standards

c.      save the employer dollars

d.      serve the public

e.      be professional

5.      The main point of Student #2’s presentation was:

a.      Errors in pesticide calibration can be very destructive

b.      It is important to have the necessary licenses

c.      It is important to read the label

d.      Loyalty and job security often go together

e.      Communications is the key to doing a job

6.      The best non-chemical preventative for Eleusine indica is:

a.      aerification

b.      fumigation

c.      proper irrigation

d.      removal of lower tree limbs

e.      use of clean sod

7.      Student #3’s presentation dealt with:

a.      Golf Course management is a business

b.      The role of science in golf course maintenance

c.      Integrated computer software for maintenance accounting

d.      The use of computer software to design irrigation systems

e.      Growing of healthy grass

8.      Which turfgrasses have very poor shade tolerance:

a.      bermudagrass and St. Augustinegrass

b.      bahiagrass and bermudagrass

c.      centipedegrass and bahiagrass

d.      St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass

e.      zoysiagrass and centipedegrass

9.      In Mike Bailey’s presentation, the main purpose of a resume is to:

a.      show what you know

b.      show that you care for the turf

c.      show that you can get the job done

d.      demonstrate excellent writing ability

e.      show that you know the rules of golf

10.  The most useful evidence in diagnosing what caused a turf problem:

a.      the signs

b.      the history

c.      the species and variety of grass

d.      the environment

e.      the symptoms

11.  In Student #4’s presentation, the problem that he described in using preemergence herbicides in turfgrass is:

a.      expense

b.      discoloration

c.      root injury

d.      ineffective on broadleaf weeds

e.      none of the above

12.  The basic unit of the grass inflorescences is called a:

a.      floret

b.      glume

c.      spikelet

d.      bract

e.      caryopsis

13.  What grass genus contains both a perennial species widely used for turf, an annual species used for overseeding greens in Florida, as well as an annual species that is both a serious weed and managed as turf on greens in Michigan?

a.      Cenchrus

b.      Stenotaphrum

c.      Poa

d.      Paspalum

e.      Scapteriscus

14.  Imagine that in your responsibility for the South Florida Water Management District, you must award a so-called ECOFriendly Fertilizer label based on only one criterion, low phosphorus content, as a ratio of nitrogen.  Which fertilizer would you pick for the ECOFriendly award?

a.      Scotts Rose Builder 14-11-12

b.      Milorganite 6-2-0

c.      Rite Green 6-6-6

d.      Greencote 24-6-12

e.      Floratam Special 18-4-10

The following questions are each worth 15 points.

15.  As a sod producer you are interested in maximizing the net return from your fields which involves rate of production, among other things.  This problem concerns only the rate of production, that is, the average square feet of harvested sod, per acre, per year.  Sod can be harvested from the same block once per 12 months, 10 months, or 8 months, etc., etc.  An acre can yield 43,560 square feet or anything less than that, depending on various factors.  So high rate of production can be accomplished by reducing the production cycle, that is, producing a harvestable crop more quickly, or by improving the yield in harvested square feet per acre.

An equipment manufacturer says that you can produce a crop more quickly by frequently verticutting the field.  That is supposed to cut off the growing points of the Floratam St. Augustinegrass, make them branch more readily, and fill in the gaps between plugs.  Some of the cut-off growing points are supposed to thrown into the gaps where they will root and fill in more quickly.

Evaluate the verticut manufacturer claims.  Do so by showing the possible factors and conditions that would make the claims more or less plausible.  Those kinds of factors might involve environmental conditions (weeds, moisture, temperature, and anything else significant).  If it helps, you may take an advocacy position, either pro or con, but you must still consider the other side of the argument.

Ask if you do not understand the problem.

16.  Your lawn maintenance company has clients who request twice-per-month cuttings, sometimes even less frequently, to reduce their lawn maintenance costs by 50% or more.  They want to pay you per cutting, and they decide when to cut.  The bottom line is that you can’t afford to do that for everyone, because when you mow a lawn that hasn’t been cut for three weeks, it takes more than three times as long to cut it, plus you have to haul the clippings and pay a tipping fee.

The rule from the Extension Service is not to remove more than 1/3 of the height of the turf per cutting.

Use that statement and anything else you can think of to develop a bulleted fact sheet for the homeowner that will state the options that you can provide them, and the reasoning behind those options.  Realize that saying “no” is not an option, that you have to keep your clients, you have to give them reasonable choices that you still make money from.

The components of your bulleted fact sheet must consist of a catchy title that conveys the fact that you are providing options, even including the option of delaying cutting, some very brief text that conveys the science behind healthy grass, and then the actual “bullets,” basically the benefits of taking the more frequent cuttings option(s).  Whatever you say must fit on a card 5.5 inches wide and 11 inches long, that will be hung on the client’s door knob.

Be brief.  Be effective.  Be profitable.

17.  An administrator in the Pesticide Assessment section of the EPA called you this afternoon, to find out the cost of renovating a sting nematode-infested golf green, assuming that in one scenario, at some time in the future, nemacur will no longer be available.  The reason for this assessment is because the EPA is contemplating taking nemacur off the shelf, because of fears of groundwater contamination and applicator risk.  While it may cost $20,000-25,000 to build a golf green from scratch, the actual kind of renovation that might be needed for nematode infestation would not be so extensive.  But what the EPA would be suggesting as an alternative for nemacur  would be many times the cost of nemacur, and would be a terrible hassle for you as a superintendent, and for your golf course members, to have to effectively replace a large part of the greens every few years.

Try to give the EPA administrator as reasonable and balanced perspective on golf course management, to assess the potential impacts of taking nemacur off the shelf, and using massive greens renovation as an alternative.  Since you have only been asked for the facts, you are not to lie or exaggerate, you are not to create doomsday scenarios, but if you do so, nothing you say will be believed.  In fact, there are others who have talked to the EPA, including those who say that golf courses should be eliminated, who have basically blown their credibility.  You are allowed to have a point of view as a golf course superintendent, but it will defeat your point of view if you are inaccurate in your handling of the facts.

18.  You are writing the “Cartoon Guide to Turfgrass Management.”  To do so, you are working with an artist who will illustrate the basic concepts that you will explain with text, by simple dialog and story.  The potential audience for this book will be turfgrass workers who you will supervise, whether they be on your golf course, or on your sod farm, or lawn care workers who may be mowing condominium common grounds, or pesticide applicators who will spray lawns.  In each case, whatever the kind of worker, you will want to cover some of the basics of the biology and growth of grasses and grass varieties, the types of pest organisms, the relationships of the soils and water, and other environmental variables.  Imagine that one of your employees is confronted by a typical question that would be asked by one of your clients, or a coach, or a member of the golf course.  You would want your worker to enjoy the subject of turfgrass, and have enough background to answer common kinds of questions about why he or she was doing a particular cultural practice on the turf.

To show the publisher and the artist the concept, list 10 basic turfgrass concepts that would be most important for the “Cartoon Guide.”