Lawrence, Kansas, United States: Research grants from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) are supporting five new research projects this year at universities across the country.

One new OJ Noer project, three Chapter Cooperative Research Programme projects, one Dr Michael Hurdzan Endowment project, one Mark Kizziar Research project and one Aquatrols’ Robert A. Moore project were funded.

The projects, which were selected by a committee that included two members of the GCSAA Board of Directors, superintendents, university researchers and professional scientists, will receive a total of US$144,719 from a block grant to GCSAA by the Environmental Institute for Golf, GCSAA’s philanthropic organisation.

The new research projects are:

• Investigation of Water Submersion Tolerance of Fine fescues (Festuca spp.) in Comparison to Other Cool-season Turfgrass Species; by Aaron Patton, PhD, Purdue University. Funded through OJ Noer Research Grant.
• Effects of Plant Growth Regulators on Putting Green Aerification Recovery; Alec Kowalewski, PhD, Oregon State University. Funded by Mark Kizziar Research Grant and Chapter Cooperative Research Programme in collaboration with the Oregon Turfgrass Foundation.
• Late-Season Nitrogen Management for Bermudagrass Fairways in the Southern United States; Benjamin Wherley, PhD, Texas A&M University. Funded by the Aquatrols’ Robert A. Moore Endowment with matching funds through Texas A&M University Department of Soil and Crop Sciences.
• Optimising the Use of Annual Bluegrass Weevil to Control Annual Bluegrass in Creeping Bentgrass Fairways; Albrecht M. Koppenhöfer, PhD, Rutgers University. Funded through the Dr Mike Hurdzan Endowment and Chapter Cooperative Research Programme in collaboration with the New Jersey Turfgrass Foundation, GCSA of New Jersey Foundation, Long Island GCSA and Metropolitan GCSA.
• Understanding False-Green Kyllinga Biology for Integrated Management in Cool-Season Turfgrass; Matthew Elmore, PhD, Rutgers University, in collaboration with Aaron Patton PhD, Purdue University. Funded through GCSAA’s Chapter Cooperative Research Programme in collaboration with the Midwest Regional Turf Foundation, New Jersey Turfgrass Foundation and GCSA of New Jersey Foundation.