Dr. John N. Rogers III, Golf Turf Coordinator

Dr. John N. Rogers, III is a Professor of Turfgrass Management in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University. He has been on the faculty there since 1988. He is a native of Arkansas and grew up working at Hardscrabble Country Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He received a B.S. in Agronomy at the University of Arkansas in 1982 and then returned to be an Assistant Superintendent at Hardscrabble Country Club 1982‑1983. He returned to the University of Arkansas and earned M.S. in Agronomy in 1985 and received his Ph.D. in Agronomy from Penn State University in 1988 where his research centered on athletic fields.

Dr. Rogers is also the Coordinator of the 2‑year Golf Turfgrass Management program at Michigan State University. His turfgrass research interests at MSU include athletic field management and reduced light conditions; specifically wear tolerance, soil modification, and field hardness and traction. He served as the lead scientist for the indoor turf project at the Pontiac Silverdome for the 1994 World Cup Soccer matches and the project leader of the Spartan Stadium turfgrass conversion in 2001-02. His National and International lectures and presentations total over 170 with over 110 publications and one book. He was a turf consultant and project leader for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympic Games and the 2008 UEFA Cup. He is the senior author of two U.S. Patents and one book. His consultations on athletic field and turfgrass matters are extensive throughout United States as well as China, Greece, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, England, and Spain. National organizations include the American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America. Honors include the Institute of Agriculture Technology Outstanding Faculty Member at Michigan State University and William H. Daniel award, the highest honor given by the Sports Turf Managers Association.

Michigan Turfgrass Foundation Supported Research 2009-2010

The year of 2009 marked the year of transition for the Crop and Soil Sciences department at Michigan State University  with the finish of the Sand Capped Built up System research and initiation of the Kentucky bluegrass monostand research.  MTF monies have gone to support graduate assistantships (Alec Kowalewski for the sand cap work, and now Jeff Dunne for the monostand study.)  The following paragraphs provide the summary for both.

The Built-Up Sand-Capped Athletic Field System

The Problem
Native soil athletic fields high in silt and clay provide inadequate drainage during periods of heavy rainfall, resulting in reduced wear tolerance and surface stability when combined with heavy use.  Renovation procedures range from $1,000,000, for a synthetic field, to $200,000, for a sand-capped system, and render the field temporarily useless, which is unacceptable for a municipality with a limited budget and high use requirement. 

The Solution 
Drain tile installation and subsequent sand topdressing, providing a “built-up sand-capped” system is a cost effective renovation procedure, which can be done for approximately $58,200-103,800 [price includes irrigation system installation ($15,000), 6-20’ drain tile spacing ($60,000-14,400, respectively), and 2 inch sand topdressing layer ($28,800) accumulated over time], that does not take the field out of play.  In 2007, two research projects were designed and initiated at the Hancock Turfgrass Research Center to address the feasibility of this renovation process.  It is important to note that a well-graded 90% sand – 10% silt/clay (90/10 sand) topdressing material manufactured for athletic field use was utilized for the following research projects. 

The Research and Results
The objective of the first project was to evaluate the effects of varying cumulative amounts of 90/10 sand topdressing on turfgrass wear tolerance and surface stability.  Observations showed that lighter more frequent applications (½ inch of topdressing applied over a 5-week period) will increase turfgrass cover, density and surface stability.  On the other hand, aggressive topdressing rates, up to 2 inches of topdressing applied over a 5-week period, while not improving stability, will increase turfgrass coverage in the long run.    

The second project was designed to establish intercept drain tile spacing, in combination with sand topdressing, necessary to improve drainage, wear tolerance and surface stability characteristics.  Findings from this research determined that a drain tile spacing of 13 feet, which will substantially reduce installation costs ($22,400-28,000; material and labor), is adequate to provide sufficient drainage and stability when 1 inch of topdressing ($14,400; material and labor) has been applied.  However, 2008 results suggest that if 2 inches of topdressing ($28,800) has been accumulated and an adequate surface slope is available (≥1%) drain tile spacing can be increased to distances greater than 20 feet.  Drain tile installation at 20 feet spacing would cost approximately $14,400-18,000.  It is important to note that drain tiles are necessary to prevent standing water from accumulating along sidelines and other low lying areas and therefore should not be completely excluded from the renovation process.    

Investigation of Kentucky bluegrass varietal monostands for performance turf situations

Traditionally, for performance turf situations, the blending of turfgrasses will provide advantages over single-cultivar stands in highly stressed environments. Whether these environments include high trafficked areas, disease pressure, or weed interactions, the general thought was that turfgrass blends outperform monostands.  For instance, prior to the use of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) blends, entire monostands were devastated by strip smut (Ustilago striiformis) a cultivar specific disease (Vargas, 1994).  Therefore, recommendations historically have suggested three or more cultivars to prevent complete desiccation.  However, due to recent advancements in breeding technology, single cultivars bred for generalized disease resistance, aggressive tillering, and herbicide resistance may be used in place of a blend, which was previously necessary to provide all of these characteristics.

Additionally, the cultural inputs in these performance turf areas are great enough to offset any of the previously mentioned pressures. Due to these recent advances a small percentage of field managers have begun to switch to single variety Kentucky bluegrass stands.  However, there is a general lack in published research pertaining to the comparison of Kentucky bluegrass monostand to blends utilized for athletic field use.  This research will be conducted through a series of experiments involving traffic, sand topdressing, herbicides, and disease pressure as variables under study.  The objective of determining the efficacy of the monostand could lead to higher quality fields that are easier to manage.  This research could provide evidence to architects and others that writing specifications to include monostands is viable.  This project began September 2009 at the Hancock Turfgrass Research Center and will go through 2011.  Dr. Joe Vargas will cooperate in this project.

Finally, I would like to thank the Michigan Turfgrass Foundation for their support in 2009 and beyond.  Their support for the last 22 years has helped advance sports turf as well as provides training for graduate students, many of who are now professors around the United States.

Research Reports