The EarthWorks Podcast

This podcast is a must listen for anyone in the turf industry who wants to turn heads. Chris is the Director of Athletic Grounds at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. He discusses the path that led him to his role today. Learn how he creates innovation by working with the administration and coaches at Georgia Tech. Learn about his experience with Cool Season Kentucky Bluegrass fields in the heat of Georgia!

Meet Golf Pro Jaime Sharp, formerly the Director of Golf at The Valley Club in Hailey, ID and current President of Advanced Scoreboards, LLC. During the conversation, we got an update on the development of the Tasktracker software. Then we dove into a discussion about the relationship between the Golf Shop and Golf Maintenance departments within a facility. Jaime and his Superintendent, Gerald Fla...

Eric Richardson, Director of Grounds at Essex County Club in Manchester Massachusetts, may be the hardest working turf manager in the golf industry. He has taken on one of the most iconic golf courses in the industry and made it better. Eric has big shoes to fill at Essex, as he is one of only a few superintendents to hold the title in its over 120-year history. On that list of former superintende...

Lorabeth Catterson and Madison Rudsinski are rising stars in the golf course industry and have been active volunteers at some of the biggest tournaments in the game. Both recently volunteered at the US Open at the Country Club in Boston and we talk about how wonderful that experience was for everyone involved. They were also both volunteers at the groundbreaking 2021 US Women’s Open at the Olympic...

Bob Searle, Golf Course Superintendent at The Abenakee Club on the coast of Maine, is a long time EarthWorks supporter. He talks about his passion for building soils on his golf course and the challenges of what the Maine coast can do to a golf course year-round. Many golf course superintendents think that it must be easy to grow grass that far north, but Bob breaks down that myth and shares stori...

Acres USA is a publishing house that is generally known as the voice of sustainable agriculture. They have published hundreds of publications on subjects ranging from agronomy to raising dairy cows. Fred Walters, the former publisher of Acres USA, shares stories with us about his father Chuck Walters who started the Acres USA monthly magazine and book publishing business. Acres USA is the voice of...

Our good friend Jerad Minnick is back to discuss the onslaught of a season they have had at the Maryland SoccerPlex. It’s July, and the weekend-long tournaments that started at the end of March haven’t stopped yet. Listen to some of the solutions that Jerad has devised to prepare the fields for such a busy schedule. This talk dives deep into agronomic solutions, but you’ll also love hearing about...

This week’s podcast features Kevin White, CSFM the University of Portland field manager. He brings a unique perspective to the sports turf world in that he manages both natural grass surfaces as well as an artificial turf baseball field. We discuss the management of both surfaces, including his annual fraise mowing practice on the world class soccer pitch as a means of weed control and what it tak...

Travis Hogan has been in the turf business since the mid 1990’s both in golf and sports field management. We talk about the differences between golf course management and managing a sports complex at the highest level. Managing a complex for a Super Bowl Championship team is not without its challenges especially in an environment like Kansas City. Travis talks about how he juggles big concerts, Mo...

This is an excellent talk for anyone starting a new job! Our guest Louis Pitcock of the Avalon Golf Club in Cape May County, NJ talks about how he balances his expectations with that of his coworkers and bosses. Beyond that Louis and Jack have a great time reminiscing about their working relationship over the past dozen plus years.

A casual live chat with chemist Lawrence Mayhew giving an item-by-item breakdown of the macro and minor elements and their importance to plant growth. Lawrence Mayhew has been a fertility and humic acids specialist his entire career and we talk about what each element does for the plant and for the soil biological population. This may be a non-conventional take on a subject important to all turf a...

Tyler Bloom, Owner and President of Tyler Bloom Consulting returns to give us an update of the state of the work force for 2022. Tyler founded his consulting business at the beginning of the COVID pandemic to address concerns with work force issues in the turf industry. In today’s industry the single biggest conversation continues to be “how do we find qualified employees?”. Most golf courses and...

This week we talk soils with Bryant Mason the President of Soil Doctor Consulting. Bryant is one of the up-and-coming soil scientists in the agriculture industry. He works with vegetable and fruit growers and with cannabis growers helping to build soilless mixes. He is well known for his Instagram clips on various soil subjects ranging from water pH to mycorrhiza. We talk about how to build compos...

In this week’s EarthWorks podcast, we talk to Sean Reehoorn, golf course superintendent at Aldarra GC in Sammamish, Washington. The discussion ranges from agronomic challenges in his area, to his philosophy on building a team, to separating his work life from his family life. Sean is one of the younger superintendents that has struck a balance between delivering high quality results without sacrif...

Golf is thriving at Lancaster Country Club and we’re on location talking with Josh Saunders! Learn how the shot-by-shot improvements to the golf course are primarily enhancing member play all while preparing a new championship layout for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open. Check out Josh’s videos and drone content @LCCgrounds1900

The industry has fallen in love with carbon! We’ve been talking about it since 1988, long before it was cool, and finally the industry is embracing the carbon conversation. But what is carbon and why do we want it in our program? What kinds of carbon should we be looking for? Lawrence Mayhew helps us understand the use, and real value, of carbon in our fertility programs. This is the quintessentia...

I can’t overstate the amount of work that has been done in such a short time at Knickerbocker Country Club. Kyle Hillegass credits his hardworking staff, club committees and membership, golf course architect Jaeger Kovich, and shapers and contractors with all the advancements that took place at the club in the last year and a half. He also talks about some specifics of his soil first green keeping...

Join us for a conversation with the "Silicon Sisters", where we uncover the real value of the element silicon in turf management. Sheree Scarbrough and Dr. Wendy Zellner discuss what silicon is all about, how misunderstood it is in the industry, and its many benefits to turf and ornamental plant material. One of silicon’s great benefits is its ability to manage and hold water in the plant. This ma...

We are so excited to announce that the EarthWorks Podcast has reached a milestone – 100 episodes! The 100th version of the EW Podcast features two of our most popular guests over the past two years Armen Suny and Dave Wilber. We talk to them about the state of the industry and as always end up with some very funny stories and a great conversation. We want to take this time to say thank you to all...

Spring sports are great, but the risk every year is very cold weather. CJ Buck, Head Sportsturf Manager for the Philadelphia Union discusses a memorable early spring match from the 2022 season. The field was frosty but ready, and as it turns out, the preparation and strong agronomic program that CJ and the team had in place helped recover the frost damage they endured.

On this week’s podcast, we invited Hector Velazquez to discuss his time in the golf industry as an ambassador for the equipment technicians. Kevin and Hector discuss his establishment of a homeschool program devoted to providing hands-on learning for kids and parents, technology trends in the turf industry, GPS and 3D printing, and how and where to recruit good technicians. We also talked about wh...

Join us for a fun and informative conversation with Logan Freeman, Golf Course Superintendent at Mountain Branch Golf Club north of Baltimore Maryland. He is in the heart of the Mid Atlantic - one of the toughest places to grow turfgrass. Logan is working with a very limited budget for a course that runs over 30,000 rounds of golf in an area known for tough summer conditions. After years of strugg...

On this week’s EarthWorks podcast, we talk with Marcus Harness, Golf Course Superintendent at Sand Point CC in Seattle, WA. We ask Marcus about how he mapped out his career path, for tips on interviewing for a job you really want to land, about his experience arriving at a new job and starting a major course renovation a month later, and for his thoughts on building a winning team. Thanks for join...

Kurtis Wolford, Golf Course Superintendent at Woodbridge CC in Woodbridge, CA joins us to discuss the path he took that brought him to the golf industry. Kurtis shares his feelings on industry service and how his experience as three-time interim General Manager has made him a better time manager and superintendent. We discuss the importance, and value, of BMP’s and how Kurtis was able to use that...

Ross Miller, CGCS is the golf course superintendent at Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI. He joins Chad Kuzawa to discuss his career, the importance of a positive work culture, and the value in having and being a mentor. Ross embodies professionalism and you won’t want to miss his insight into making things work during a time of labor difficulties, and the generational differences...