The annual fundraiser which is critical to so many of our students success is upcoming at Westfield CC in Westfield Center, OH – the annual event has been the main driver for scholarship for students int he program, many of them whom are first generation students and have serious need to deal with the cost of education. The event has allowed the program to directly support students with a total of over $65,000 been given out over the last 7 years – we want to get that number to $100,000 and need your help! Anything youc an do – tee sponsors, teams, dinner sponsors are all welcome and we would love to see you there on the day

Registration is here : https://advancement.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/events/ati-turfgrass-scholarship-golf-outing

If you have questions feel free to reach out to Nangle.1@osu or petrella.21@osu.edu

Thanks and go bucks!

Storms, heat and humidity are leaving their mark this year. Some commentary online has mentioned a repeat of 2012 so we will see how it goes. All students are now out on internships and some have already gone through a PGA tour event experience. We expect that everyone will get to sharpen their water management skills this summer based on what we have seen so far. Problems have started to mount with dollar spot activity, pythium on juvenile turf, red thread and leaf spot all rearing their head. The extreme high temperatures may have some respite over the weekend but forecast shows a return early next week (June 20th).

On the program front the loss of Dr Raudenbush was certainly a hit but Dr. Petrella has hit the ground running. Students very much appreciated his approach to teaching sensors and technology for moisture management while he has also done well on the research front with support and applications coming in from a state level and also projects aimed at federal funding.

As the summer progresses we will be announcing the date of the scholarship golf outing – most likely in October and a site is still TBD. A field day in Wooster is in the works this fall also which may tie into the scholarship day and we will be reaching out to look for related to projects. Dr Petrella also was able to complete the purchase of the Walz chlorophyll fluorescence camera and we would like to thank all of the state chapters for their support of this endeavor. Finally we will try to get out and about as much as possible this summer and if you want a visit feel free to reach out!

More to come from the OSU – ATI Turfrgass Management Program

After a hiatus due to COVID19 and changes on the staffing front we are still hanging in there. Currently the program is in the process of looking for a replacement for Dr. Raudenbush and we continue to see student numbers grow – although we can take more if needed! The summer has been a bit of a slow start so far with cooler temperatures and dry weather making for a relatively easy start so far. That should change soon however as we get into the heat of the summer. Further to that we are looking into possible sites for this years golf outing scholarship fundraiser and will have more updates soon! If there are any questions dont hesitate to reach out – nangle.1@osu.edu

For those of you who have been missing out on the blog dearly – here it is!

To say it has been busy would be an understatement, this spring we sent students to five states and three countries for their internships. Trials are located all across NE Ohio with a range of pests in focus. Further to that we have been busy working away with our EM certificate and our first students have embarked on their internships this summer from that program also. Field days for OLCA and OTF are coming up in Columbus and unbelievably school starts back in less than a month – just crazy.

On another note pencil in September 9th for our annual golf outing which we are hosting at Shay Hollow GC in Canton with ATI Graduate Chuck Hayes being the course superintendent. Finally keep an eye out for our weekly turfgrass team times – up to date information on issues surrounding turf management in Ohio through the summer from the OSU turf team. The last link is below for reference – we post these on the OTF website and also on our social media pages.

https://vimeo.com/347806611/e796ba4213