The EarthWorks Podcast

The Jargon of Cincinnati! Dan Francis of Wildwood Golf Club in Middletown, Ohio and TJ Collins of Legendary Run Golf Club in Cincinnati join Chad Kuzawa to chat about social media and its impact within the turf industry. Visit EarthWorks at: https://www.earthworksturf.com Podcasts: https://www.earthworksturf.com/earthworks-podcasts/ 2 Minute Turf Talks: https://www.earthworksturf.com/2-minute-turf...

Welcome back for another of the Lawrence Mayhew tapes! On this episode we talk about the symbiotic relationships between the plant and the soil. Typically, we focus on the rhizosphere, the area around the roots, but here we expand the conversation to how a plant can take up nutrients through its leaves and crown. Lawrence has been instrumental in helping us make our Foliars+ liquid fertilizers Eco...

Joel Simmons and Jack Higgins welcome back Lawrence Mayhew, EarthWorks Chemist to talk about an amazing experience. We enjoyed a pasture walk, facilitated by our sister company for their agriculture clients, as we learned more about how a plant really works. The pasture walk was hosted by a gentleman who learned how to establish good soils and pasture grasses from our founding partner, Jerry Brune...

Steve Fackler is what we call a “soils guy!” He has been a golf course superintendent in the Sacramento Valley in northern California for many years most recently at Serrano Country Club. Steve tells this story of the soils he found at Serrano when he first arrived. “When I first arrived at Serrano, soils were very tight and compacted and the calcium to magnesium ratio was completely backwards wit...

Chanticleer is a stunning 35 acre garden. Upon entering the gates you will find yourself removed from the outside world and inside a timeless landscape functioning as a living art museum. Scott is a very well informed grounds manager with a wide breadth of knowledge from his experience in golf, but particularly from his 14 years at Chanticleer. He could teach a masterclass in managing foot traffic...

Pat Finlen has had an iconic career in the golf course industry as a Superintendent, a Director of Grounds, and as a General Manager. At The Olympic Club, he hosted the 2012 US Open. After a long and successful career on the golf course, he has made a career change. Pat recently became the Executive Vice President at Denehy Club Thinking Partners, a staffing and recruiting company that specializes...

It is always a thrill when a 65 year old golf course gets a complete transition and that is exactly what Andrew Morgan, Golf Course Superintendent oversaw at Palo Alto Hills G & CC in Northern California. In fact that transition earned them the Runner Up title at Golf Digest for Best Transformation of the year. Andrew talks about how it took him and his team years to get the reconstruction pro...

Chuck is a guy that gets it. The job of a golf course superintendent starts by developing mutual respect with every member of the grounds crew and every employee in the clubhouse. Chuck was tasked with recovery and regrowth of much of the golf course, while also maintaining excellent playing conditions. Now add in a 30% increase in 2022 rounds, over what was already a pandemic bump in 2021! You ca...

Meet the father and daughter team of the industry- Amanda and Mike Fontaine from The Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley, Massachusetts. These two golf course superintendents have enjoyed a lot of recognition recently after being featured in several industry publications. Mike has been on the property for 23 years and recently moved into the role of General Manager. This change presented him with the...

We hear from Colin Engstrom, owner of Yard Guard in Bozeman, MT. Colin came to the industry somewhat by accident after moving from Boston to Bozeman to pursue a finance degree (with a bonus of world class skiing). By applying his finance background to the operation, he’s been able to approach running an LCO in a more logical, systems-based way. We talked about fresh ideas in hiring great team memb...

In amongst the giants of Philadelphia golf courses sits a quiet gem in Llanerch Country Club. Brendan Byrne has been there for 23 years as the golf course superintendent and co-general manager. When he first arrived, he recalls a golf course that was dark with trees and shade and a property that needed help. He set into place a game plan of water, agronomy and poa eradication. At first, he saw fai...

This week our guest is Gwen Stahnke, PhD focused in Horticulture/Forestry, his here to discuss her career in the Turfgrass industry. Gwen began, many years ago, as a crew member in Illinois. This led to a degree in Turf Management and an assistant superintendent position in the late 70’s. Talk about breaking a glass ceiling! Gwen’s passion for the industry is apparent throughout the conversation a...

Eric Harshman has one of the most diverse resumes in the turf industry. He spent 12 years in the National Guard, then earned degrees in both graphic design and sports marketing, until finally marrying into a family golf course where he got bit by the turf bug. He went on to work for Walter Pritchett at Hurstbourne Country Club in Louisville, KY. Eric then found his way to LSU as an assistant sport...

The love of golf, and the golf course really shine through in this podcast. Being a member at Huntington Valley, a classic Philadelphia country club, has given Tim Zurybida a great perspective in greenkeeping. He certainly employs a minimalist strategy at Bellewood Country Club, and is an expert at serving the golf course starting at the root zone. You'll enjoy hearing about the mating pair of bal...

Chad Kuzawa is joined by Ryan Anderson, IPM Institute of America, and Alec McClennan, founder and operator of Good Nature Organic Lawn Care, to talk about organic lawn care. Alec operates several locations throughout the upper Midwest and they chat about utilizing integrated pest management and best management practices. They share how many municipalities and homeowners have taken the step towards...

We are very excited to introduce to you Jennifer Torres, Golf Course Superintendent at Westlake Golf & Country Club in Jackson New Jersey. Jennifer used her GI Bill to go to the two year Rutgers Turf Program and has fallen in love with the turf industry. Jennifer is well known in the circles of New Jersey Golf Course Management professionals because of her involvement with the local associatio...

Olee Poole calls himself an extreme DIYer. He shares his joy and reminds us that passion for turf and beautiful landscape is not reserved for the professionals. He continues to learn and we have enjoyed helping him and seeing his amazing results. It's nice to be reminded why we do this, we get a connection to the Earth through the soil and plants. The best part is it's available to everyone! Olee'...

Nothing in nature is uncontrolled, nothing is left to chance. Lawrence Mayhew shares the science behind the plant utilizing a lot more than the 16 essential nutrients considered an industry standard since the 1939 hydroponic research done by Arnon and Stout. Since that research, much has been learned about the importance of trace elements, how plants bring nutrients out of the soil, and the physio...

This EW Podcast features Gary Deters, the Lawn Water Conservation Educator with the University of MN. Prior to taking on this new role, Gary managed the Turf Research Facility at the university and served as the Golf Course Superintendent at St Cloud CC in MN. We reviewed some of the research that’s underway at the university, why he made the career change, and how he’s been able to draw on his ex...

We visit again with Tyler Bloom of Tyler Bloom Consulting to continue the important conversation about the state of the work force in the turf industry. Tyler started his recruiting business in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid Pandemic when the industry was at a standstill and finding anyone to work was a challenge. Moving forward three years and he has built a strong business helping his client...

Mike Keohan has been a friend of EarthWorks for close to thirty years and has built a few golf courses over his impressive career. He has recently taken the position of Golf Course Superintendent at the iconic Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton NY. Sebonack is on the east end of Long Island NY, arguably where the best golf courses in the world reside. His is walking neighbors with Shinnecock Hills...

It’s a privilege to sit down with any seasoned veteran of GCS world, but beyond that it’s a real good time to hang and talk with Ken Flisek! His stories about three grow-ins are awesome, and build to his fourth and final grow-in of The Club at Nevillewood. Listen to the end for really great stuff about working with Jack Nicklaus, the designer of Nevillewod. Enjoy! Visit EarthWorks at: https://www....

On this podcast, Dave and I decided to go off script and riff about how to navigate club politics. We discuss how course communication has evolved over the years and how to effectively get your message out. Ultimately, the superintendent should be in control of the narrative at their club. You were hired because you were the best candidate for the job. Use that position to insure that you control...

We want golf to be popular, that’s why we’re here, but 45,000 rounds in an 8 month season poses a lot of challenges! This talk with Brian O’Malley, at River Vale Country Club, gets into the specifics of how to manage for that amount of volume. It takes a superintendent that is willing be creative and employ new strategies. This is a good ol’ fashioned greenskeeper's podcast, not for the casual lis...

What a year the TCU football team had, making it all the way to the national championship game. Andrew Siegel manages the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs sports fields, and he has a lot of great stories to share. Andrew is a “soils” guy and gives us his tips on how he repairs the football field on Saturday afternoons after a game. TCU is a Division I school and plays their games at Amon G....