Grants support five new turfgrass research projects through 2024

Lawrence, Kan. (March 22, 2022) – Research grants from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) are supporting five new research projects at universities across the country beginning in 2022. The projects will be funded through the GCSAA Foundation research endowments and its Chapter Cooperative Grant Program. One new O.J. Noer Research Endowment project, one Dr. Michael Hurdzan Endowment and one Robert A. Moore Endowment project will receive funding. 

The projects, which were selected by a committee that included two members of the GCSAA board of directors, superintendents, university researchers and other professional scientists, will receive a total of $149,957 from a GCSAA Foundation block grant with an additional $62,500 in matching funds from participating GCSAA chapters. GCSAA has an additional 14 research projects on-going through its program.

The following five research projects are funded for a period of two years:

·      Enhanced Breeding Strategies for Gray Leaf Spot Disease Resistance in Cool-Season Turfgrasses; by Phillip L. Vines, Ph.D., Rutgers University. Funded through the GCSAA Foundation’s O.J. Noer Research Endowment.

·      Selection and Evaluation of Shade Tolerance in Creeping Bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera); by Stacy A. Bonos, Ph.D., Rutgers University. Funded by a Chapter Cooperative Research Grant and matching funds from GCSA of New Jersey Foundation.

·      Developing Seedhead Suppression Programs for Bermudagrass Fairways using Plant Growth Regulators and Herbicides; by Jim Baird, Ph. D., University of California, Riverside. Funded by a Chapter Cooperative Research Grant with matching funds from Sierra Nevada GCSA, GCSA of Northern California, GCSA of Southern California, Hi-Lo Desert GCSA, GCSA of Central California and San Diego GCSA in collaboration with the California Turfgrass & Landscape Foundation.

·      Evaluating Alternative Effective Action Thresholds for Lance (Hoplolaimus galeatus) Nematodes in Creeping Bentgrass Putting Greens; by David McCall, Ph.D., Virginia Tech University. Funded by a Chapter Cooperative Research Grant through the GCSAA Foundation’s Dr. Michael Hurdzan Research Endowment with matching funds from the Virginia GCSA.

·      Improving Our Understanding of U.S. Fall Armyworm Populations that Originate in Florida to Aid in Improving Golf Course IPM Recommendations; by Silvana Vieira de Paula Moraes, Ph.D., University of Florida. Funded in part through the GCSAA Foundation’s Robert A. Moore Endowment.