Asian Turf Seminar

Seminar Hotel Update (update 3 March)

The discounted room block at Amari Orchid Pattaya is fully booked, and the best offer from the hotel now is in the Ocean Tower starting at 4000 baht per night. You may also check the hotel website directly for other booking options.

There are still rooms available at the nearby Hotel Ibis Pattaya at the discounted seminar rate of 1200 baht per night. Use this booking form for the Thai Golf Course Superintendents Association group to reserve your room at Hotel Ibis Pattaya.

The new Holiday Inn Pattaya is adjacent to the Amari Orchid and would also be a convenient place to stay.

Transport to Pattaya

For those of you arriving from overseas, there are a few options for transport to Pattaya. At the arrivals area there are counters for the Airports of Thailand (AOT) limousine service, and I believe the fare to Pattaya is 3000 baht for a Toyota Camry or 2600 baht for an Isuzu MU-7. Regular taxis will have a fixed rate fare to Pattaya, and I am informed that the fixed rate is from 1200 to 1500 baht. One can also find various services online that offer private vehicle transport to Pattaya. See here or here for these types of service. So you can either book a private car in advance, take an AOT limousine that you can book when you arrive at the airport, or just go to the taxi queue at the airport and take a fixed rate taxi to Pattaya. It is an excellent new road to Pattaya and you can expect a driving time of less than two hours. Check the Wikitravel page about Pattaya for more information about the city and transport.

Asian Turfgrass Field Day, March 9

I visited Phoenix Country Club, Siam Country Club, and Laem Chabang Country Club yesterday to inspect the sites and trials for the March 9 turfgrass field day. Here is what you can expect at the field day.

On the morning of March 9, we will travel by air-conditioned coach from the Amari Orchid Resort and Tower to the nearby Phoenix Country Club. At Phoenix, we will look at off-type bermudagrasses on the putting green, including a collection of off-types from other golf courses at Thailand. Darren Moore did his M.Sc. thesis on the phenomenon of off-type bermudagrasses, and he will discuss this with the field day attendees. I will be stationed at one of the zoysiagrass fairways, discussing this grass and its management and how it compares with bermudagrass and seashore paspalum. Matt Roche will be at another putting green with off-type bermudagrass, and he will be discussing how to choose the type of putting green grass that will be right for your facility, and how different grasses (such as the off-types on display) are evaluated at a research station.

 

Our next stop will be the Plantation Course at Siam Country Club where we will discuss preparations of putting greens for tournament play (an apt site for this -- Siam CC hosted the Honda LPGA Thailand tournament last weekend!) and management of new ultradwarf bermudagrass cultivars. Siam CC has seashore paspalum fairways, and I will be talking about the management of these fairways.The Plantation Course has one of the most interesting greens you will ever see (pictured below). This is a nearly 2000 m² TRIPLE green of Novotek bermudagrass, comprising the 4^th and 9^th from the Pineapple nine and the 7^th from the Tapioca nine. It takes two hours to mow with a Toro Flex 21 pedestrian mower. I wonder how many sprinkler heads are required to provide irrigation to this green?

We will have lunch at Siam CC and then transfer to Laem Chabang CC. At Laem Chabang we will see some plots of wetting agent trials, fungicide trials, herbicide and surfactant trials, and phytotoxicity trials showing the effects of certain DMI fungicides, fertilizers, and Primo Maxx on Tifdwarf putting greens.

The field day will conclude with a round at the chipping course near the clubhouse and a dinner at the Club. Wear comfortable attire for the field day -- golfing attire or similar would be appropriate. The locker room facilities at Laem Chabang CC will be available if you would like to take a shower before dinner.

Seminar countdown, 12 more days

The Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010 seminars begin in less than two weeks, and we are busy now putting the final touches on presentations, preparing for the turfgrass field day, and getting ready to welcome the seminar delegates. Since the start of February, visitors have viewed this website from 29 different countries, and we have seminar delegates pre-registered from eleven countries!

I'll be visiting Phoenix CC, Siam CC, and Laem Chabang CC later this week to check on the field day preparations. The presentations and handouts from all the speakers are full of practical hints and technical information that can be used to help improve the turfgrass management at your facility.

These seminars are all about optimizing the playing condition of the golf course while conserving the natural environment and being economically and socially responsible. So if you want to choose the grass that will give you the best playing condition, or want to know how to improve the performance of the grasses you already have, or want to know how to solve a particular turfgrass management problem, you will find the information you are looking for at these seminars, March 8 to 10, at Pattaya.

March Turfgrass Seminar Update: 10 Things to Know

We have been busy preparing seminar content, planning for the field day, and accepting registrations from the many people who will be attending the Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010 conference. I would like to mention a few things and answer a few questions that have been asked.

1. I am really excited about the seminar content for this year's program. I have seen the presentations and handouts from Matt Roche and Darren Moore. These presentations will be superb and the information these experts have about grass selection and management is something I am very excited to learn more about during the conference. 

2. Should you book at one of the conference hotels? I think you should. The special conference rates at the Ibis Hotel Pattaya (1200 THB/night) and at the 5-star Amari Orchid Resort and Tower (2400 THB/night for superior room, 3000 THB/night for deluxe room) are, according to my research, cheaper than what you can get by booking at discount hotel sites online. Also, it is most convenient to stay at one of these hotels because they are right at the conference venue. Keep in mind that the discounted room blocks for the conference may fill, so please make your reservation with the hotel soon. You may download the reservation forms here.

3. Is there a deadline for registration? No, but we would very much appreciate it if everyone planning to attend could send us their registration details prior to February 28. We must print the right number of seminar workbooks, prepare the correct number of registration packs, and prepare for bus transport to the field day, meals, etc. Please submit your registration as soon as you can, forms available for download here.

4. The majority of the attendees will be from Thailand, but we expect to have people from more than ten countries participating in the conference.

5. The conference has been approved for 1.75 GCSAA education points.

6. The field day on March 9 will be held at Phoenix CC, Siam CC, and Laem Chabang CC. These are three of the premier courses in Thailand. Siam CC will be hosting the Honda-PTT LPGA Thailand tournament this month. Michelle Wie, Lorena Ochoa, Jiyai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Paula Creamer, and other stars from the LPGA will be on the course just two weeks before our field day. We will see zoysia, bermuda, and paspalum grasses at the field day and will have a chance to learn more about particularly effective management techniques for these grasses.

7. Who should attend? Anyone interested in turfgrass management in Asia, and especially those who wish to learn more about the newest cultivars of warm-season turfgrass and how they perform on golf courses in Asia. Golf course superintendents, assistant superintendents, general managers, course owners, golf course architects, turfgrass consultants, university professors, students, and suppliers have all expressed interest in attending this years' conference.

8. I would like to reiterate how impressed I am with the content we have prepared for the conference this year. From control of pests to grass selection to new tips and techniques for managing the grass, we will have information that you can use to improve the management of your facility. This conference is a great chance to learn more about the management of different grasses in Asia.

9. The suggested arrival date is March 7, with departure on the evening of March 10 or sometime on March 11. Thailand is the golf capital of Asia and you may wish to arrive a day early or depart later in order to visit some of the golf courses here, or to take in some of the other attractions at this popular holiday destination.

10. All registration details are handled by the Thailand GCSA. If you have any questions, please contact us at thaisuperintendent@yahoo.com or info@asianturfseminar.com.

Thank you and I look forward to seeing you next month!

Registration now Open!

Registration is now open for the Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010 conference, being held from 8 to 10 March at Pattaya, Thailand. Click here to go to the registration page, where you can find the registration forms available for download in English or in Thai.

The Thailand GCSA along with the Asian Turfgrass Center are working now to put together the final details of the field seminar, the expert speakers are preparing their materials, and travel plans are being made for many people who will travel from outside Thailand to attend this conference. We hope to see you here in Thailand for a fun and educational event.

And don't forget, for those who want to earn GCSAA continuing education points, the conference has been approved for 1.75 points.

GCSAA Education Points Approved

The program for Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010 has been approved by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) for 1.75 education points.

 

GCSAA members who attend the conference will receive the approval code notice which can be used to register these education points with GCSAA.

Turfgrass Seminar Brochure (ภาษาไทย)

Click to download

More Info About March 2010 Seminar Topics, Speakers, & Hotels

In addition to the seminar brochure and the schedule of the Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010  program on 8, 9, and 10 March, you can also find more information here about:

• Speaker Profiles

• Hotel Registration Forms

• More About the Seminar Topics

• Registration information - coming soon. Subscribe here to receive e-mail updates about Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010.

Downloadable Seminar Brochure Now Available

In addition to the information available at this website, you may wish to download this brochure which provides a summary of the program, purpose, and presenters for the Sustainable Turfgrass Management in Asia 2010 seminar.