Brad Klein talks with Bob Farren, CGCS, of Pinehurst Resort about his 40-plus-year career at the 10-course property in the North Carolina Sandhills.  Their discussion traces the progression of the property in general and specifically the storied history of Pinehurst's famed No. 2 course that was built by Donald Ross a century ago. Pinehurst No. 2 transformed throughout its history as a favorite course of the USGA from its original design to a tree-lined course with narrow fairways to the...

Paul Jamrog has returned "home" to oversee the transformation of the former Metacomet Country Club in East Providence, RI, into Met Links, an innovative 9-hole public golf course on a portion of the 90 acre Metacomet property. Jamrog was the golf course superintendent at Metacomet Country Club from 1994 to 2013, when he transitioned into sales. In financial difficulty for some time, Metacomet was purchased for development by Marshall Properties in 2020, with a desire to retain and redesign a...

Our 11th season of Frankly Speaking begins with a conversation with Professor Ross Braun, one of the great young minds in turfgrass science from Kansas State University. Director of the Rocky Ford Turfgrass Research Center, Ross received his MS and Ph.D. in Turfgrass Science with previous guest Professor Dale Bremer. After Kansas State Ross spent four years as a Research Scholar at Purdue University where he studied the family of fine fescues. Ross does a lot of teaching and is also the...

Andy Mallick's trajectory as a Rising Star of Turf has been a long one, entailing stops at four golf courses over 14 years before landing his first head superintendent position. Now in his fifth season as superintendent (and 11th overall) at Metedeconk National Golf Club (Jackson, NJ), Mallick had interim stops at Pine Valley Golf Club, Country Club of Darien and Southward Ho Golf Club on Long Island, picking up valuable experience at each one. Mallick credits his girlfriend, Rachel, with...

In this sensitive and revealing episode of Rockbottum Radio, the entire crew tells it all, aided by literary inspiration from Matt Jones and Peter McCormick... and Momma's Mushroom Truth Serum. Learn what really happened on Ludell's honeymoon and how Rockbottum plans to handle the ball rollback and Golf A.I.  Buddy returns from working on Science Interfusional National, an A.I. course, and then RW screws everything up by telling why he's been deliberately provoking the Imperials for 50 years.

Frank sits down with Pamela Sherratt, Turfgrass Specialist in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at THE Ohio State Unniversity. She has a BSc (Honors) in Horticulture from The University of Central Lancashire in England and her MS in Turfgrass Science from The Ohio State University.  In April Pam received the 2022-2023 CFAES Distinguished Teaching by a Lecturer Award that recognizes her expertise as an educator. Frank and Pam cover a wide range of topics related to training the...

TurfNet’s latest All Star of Turf is Steve Ehrbar, CGCS at Panther National Golf Club, a private, single-owner facility in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. A graduate of the two-year program at Ohio State, Ehrbar has been a legendary fixture in South Florida for years. His career includes stops at Jupiter Hills Golf Club in Tequesta, Old Marsh Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens and Lost Tree in North Palm Beach, the home course of Jack Nicklaus. Ehrbar has been involved in multiple construction...

Our first Rising Star of Turf for 2024 is Jeremiah Mincey, first assistant superintendent at Savannah Quarters Country Club in Pooler, Georgia. Many might recognize Jeremiah from his activity on TurfTwitter/X and as a recent recipient of a GCI/Aquatrols Super Social Media Award. Jeremiah, 26, graduated from Georgia Southern University with a BS in business management and then took the certificate program in turfgrass management from the University of Georgia. His first exposure to turf...

Our latest All Star of Turf is Patrick H. Sisk, CGCS, career superintendent, athlete, marathoner, inventor, entrepreneur and family man. Pat guides us through his path from a college transition to early adventures in Colorado and Arizona, then a career that took him from his native coastal Connecticut to 18 years in Milwaukee and recently back to western Massachusetts. It hasn't always been a cakewalk. Early on he fell into substance abuse but clawed his way to sobriety... and has been sober...

Frank sits down with frequent guest and Professor of Weed Science at the University of Tennessee, Jim Brosnan. Jim and Frank cover a wide range of topics that turfgrass managers must be aware of as we confront the lack of new herbicides, the pressure of increasing resistance in weeds, and finish up discussing the recent herbicide restrictions associated with EPA re-registration of Oxadiazon (Ronstar and Andersons Goose and Crabgrass control).

Bradley S. Klein, Ph.D., talks with Marcie Mills of the executive search and consulting firm of Kopplin, Kuebler & Wallace about the evolving role of golf course superintendents, matching the right candidate with the proper opportunity and how the best customer experience first depends on delivering the best employee experience.  Their discussion includes a review of the skills clubs are looking for in superintendents, the responsibility of head greenkeepers to help tream members develop...

Bradley S. Klein, Ph.D., talks with Marcie Mills of the executive search and consulting firm of Kopplin, Kuebler & Wallace about the evolving role of golf course superintendents, matching the right candidate with the proper opportunity and how the best customer experience first depends on delivering the best employee experience.  Their discussion includes a review of the skills clubs are looking for in superintendents, the responsibility of head greenkeepers to help tream members develop...

In this episode of Rockbottum Radio, learn RW's secret for living a calm and peaceful life on the golf course, regardless of the challenges we face in the years ahead. *Note:  This is not your daddy's podcast. It's more like your grandpappy's radio show from 1937.

Frank has a great conversation with old friend and repeat guest John Sorochan, Distinguished Professor of Turfgrass Science at the University of Tennessee. John has been involved with sports turf since his early days at Michigan State University. He was a key participant with the 1994 World Cup games held in the Pontiac Silverdome where the concept of maintaining grass inside a dome began. Fast forward 30 years later and he is LEADING the effort for the multiple locations and fields in North...

Bradley S. Klein, Ph.D., talks with Illinois-based golf course architect Michael Benkusky of Michael J. Benkusky Golf Course Architecture about his start in golf course design and why some consider it the best profession in the golf industry. Benkusky also discusses how his business is one of relationships and the importance of designing golf courses that are fun yet also offer strategic challenges throughout. Finally, they discuss the camaraderie that exists between architects even in the...

Frank Speaks with Dr. Evan Mascitti of Infinite Athlete about his career, MS and Ph.D. at Penn State University, that has led him to be one of the leading thinkers in the study of baseball “dirt”. His pathway had mentors from WI, his role as Manager of Grounds for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and all fostered a keen interest -- bordering on an obsession -- “with the dirt”. You are not going to believe how complex the “dirt” is. Evan’s current position with Infinite Athlete is responsible for...

Frank Speaks with Dr. Evan Mascetti of Infinite Athlete about his career, MS and Ph.D. at Penn State University, that has led him to be one of the leading thinkers in the study of baseball “dirt”. His pathway had mentors from WI, his role as head groundskeeper for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and all fostered a keen interest -- bordering on an obsession -- “with the dirt”. You are not going to believe how complex the “dirt” is. Evan’s current position with Infinite Athlete is responsible for...

A New York Wiseguy and a Philly Punk walk into a Caddyshack with “ginned-up mobsters”… Frank sits down with the inimitable John Reilly, Director of Agronomy at The Resort at Longboat Key and discusses John’s thinking on managing resort golf in an environmentally sensitive area and why he will sometimes discuss the Kreb’s Cycle. John’s pioneering work on the use of data and his interest in sharing and learning and failing and growing are a model for modern professionals in the golf turf...

Frank catches up with Charles Goode (@GoodeTurf), the Southeastern Sales Lead for GreenSight, a provider of digital cloud-based services for turfgrass professionals to manage all aspects of their operation, from mowing and remote sensing to soil monitoring and staff planning. Charles spent his career in the turfgrass industry from landscape and sod to golf and sports fields. A graduate of NC State and Penn State, Charles has been actively promoting the use of autonomous mowers in the...

In this episode, RW reveals one of the key methods behind the success of Rockbottum CC: the proper use of the New Year's Resolution.  Also, Buddy gets "tooken" and Ludell, Willy and Momma form a posse to rescue Buddy.

Anthony Pioppi chats with Dane Wilson, golf course superintendent at the Wakonda Club in Des Moines, IA, about the ongoing restoration of the 1922 Langford & Moreau design. Tyler Rae is the architect of the restoration.

In this month's Storytime, learn about the Christmas Miracle that led RW and familty to leave the nomadic military life and transition to the nomadic golf life.  Also, we cover a few current news items in golf and maybe some non-golf stuff.

In this episode of Frankly Speaking, Frank speaks with Dr. Sara Stricker, the Communications and Outreach Coordinator for the Guelph Turfgrass Institute in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Sara and Frank chat about the people that support the education and research at one of the historically significant turfgrass science programs in the world. Sara expounds upon her wealth of experience in plant pathology, teaching and research that has shaped her perspective on her current role communicating...

Bradley S. Klein talks with Nick Mazzella about consulting on golf course projects, including renovation projects as well as new construction jobs spurred by the resurgent golf economy. The discussion includes the increased need for a project manager as projects increase in complexity due to the many facets of each job.