DATE:    9/18/96
CONTACT: Dr. Bruce Martin, (803) 662-3526
WRITER:  Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343 

Clemson Team Helps S.C. Golf Industry
Keep Turf Up to Par

     CLEMSON -- Golf is a big industry in South Carolina, and
grass is the foundation on which it rests. The Clemson University
turf team helps make sure that the state's fairways and greens
stay up to par.
     "Well over $600 million passes through the hands of golf
course operators in South Carolina each year," said Landon
Miller, Clemson Extension turfgrass specialist.
     "When you add in lodging, transportation, food and other 
off-course purchases, sales of golfing equipment, residential
real estate sales around golf courses, and the promotion value of
golf to the state, the total impact of golf on the economy could
be as great as $1.5 billion annually," he said.
     Miller said the Palmetto State has been ranked as the second 
most popular golfing destination in the United States, second
only to Florida. About 40 percent of the more than 9.4 million
rounds of golf played on the state's 349 golf courses in 1994
were by out-of-staters.  
     This is no surprise to Chuck Green, superintendent at the 
Florence Country Club and president of the Carolinas Golf Course 
Superintendents Association (CGCSA).
    "Golf is one of the fastest growing leisure activities in the 
world. You can see it in the influx of foreigners coming to South
Carolina to play," Green said.
     The Japanese love the game, but it's expensive. "I read
where memberships in one club were selling for $9 million and one
guy wouldn't sell. They can fly to South Carolina for a week and
play golf cheaper than they can play in Japan," Green said.
     One problem golf course superintendents have, according to 
Green, is that golf fans watch PGA events on TV every weekend and
see courses nurtured to peak for one week out of the year.
     "They expect our courses to look the same," he said. Green
and the rest of the CGCSA depend heavily on Clemson's turf team
to help in that effort, supporting Clemson's turf work with
around $20,000 a year in grants.
     He works closely with Bruce Martin, Clemson Extension plant
pathologist at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center near
Florence, who heads up the turf team.
     "Bruce keeps us right on top of all the new things as far as 
fungicides and disease control," Green said. He often visits the
Pee Dee REC to see how different turf varieties are performing in
Martin's plots.
     "The most important thing we've done with Bruce was some 
experiments with a new chemical called Sentinel, which did a good
job of controlling brown patch this summer in our bentgrass 
greens," Green said.
     "Bentgrass is an excellent putting surface, but the more
heat and humidity it encounters the more problems it has," Martin
said. A new project financed by the CGCSA may make it possible to
use bentgrass further south. With research ag engineer Roy Dodd's
help, a fan will be installed in a practice putting green at a
Myrtle Beach golf course.
     "We'll blow cool air through the drainage system to replace
the hot air in the soil profile and see if it relieves summer
stress enough to enhance disease resistance," Martin said.
     The Turfgrass Foundation -- made up of golf course 
superintendents, landscapers, sod farm operators, turf equipment
and maintenance providers -- also has an interest in turfgrass
research and Clemson Extension programs.
     "They have helped Clemson secure the state funds to upgrade
our facilities and hire researcher Bert McCarty, who works on
turfgrass stress physiology," Martin said. Clemson gets about
$690,000 a year from the state for turf work, about a third of it
going for Extension programs.  
     Martin gives credit for enhancement of Clemson's turf
program to John Kelly, who got the group organized in 1994 when
he was head of the Department of Horticulture.
     Kelly, now interim vice president for public service and
agriculture, is quick to point out that turf is not just a 
horticulture program.
     "We have faculty from several disciplines who participate
fully or partially in the turfgrass research and extension
program," he said, pointing out that the industry itself helped
design a program aimed at meeting environmental needs. "We
concentrated on redirecting existing programs to this high
priority area and hired only one new faculty member," he said.
     "Our goal is for Clemson to have the best turfgrass program
in the nation within five years," Kelly said. "We're now in year
two."
     What are some of the other turf team members doing?
     Researcher Bob Mazur is the turfgrass breeder, cooperating
with research agronomist Jim Rice. James Blake, who has an
extension/teaching appointment, manages the Plant Problem Clinic. 
Researcher Vance Baird is a biotechnologist in horticulture
working on genetic mechanisms of cold tolerance in bermudagrass. 
     Research entomologist Albert Johnson concentrates on
chemical controls for mole crickets, while his extension
counterpart Clyde Gorsuch works on biological controls for the
same pest. Agronomist Jim Camberato, who has a research/extension
appointment, lends his expertise in nutrition.
     Research horticulturist Ted Whitwell works on weed control
and turf growth regulators. Extension specialist Bob Polomski
handles recommendations on home lawns, while Landon Miller works 
with commercial clients for extension and does turf weed, turf
cultivar and environmental research. Research agronomist Nancy
Ferguson is working on tall fescue infected with a fungus that
affects the health of livestock.
     Turf for landscaping of homes and businesses is also big 
business in South Carolina, accounting for about $30 million in
sales annually. Clemson Extension plant pathologist Jimmy Golden
at the Sandhill REC evaluates grasses for non-chemical control of
nematodes for home lawns.
     Turf team members at Clemson have an agreement with the
Walker Course to use holes 7 and 8 for research into weed control
and turf growth regulators. More projects are planned.
     "The Institute for Wildlife and Environmental Toxicology
(TIWET) is also hooked into turf," Martin said. "They have been
monitoring chemical movement through wetland riparian zones
around Cheraw State Park. So far, the wetlands seem to be
assimilating the nutrients that TIWET has been monitoring."
     He said that as environmental concerns increase, golf course 
employees need continuing education programs to help them deal
with a wide range of federal and state agencies and regulations.
OSHA, EPA, DHEC and several others have a say in safety when it
comes to issues like fuels, oil, pesticides, fertilizers and the
water used to wash down equipment. Martin conducts plant
pathology workshops each year during the annual CGCSA meeting at 
Myrtle Beach.
     "We charge for the classes and they sell out every year,"
Martin said. Clemson also holds an educational turfgrass field
day, alternating each year between the campus and the Pee Dee
REC.
                               END