Japan

I’ve been writing a monthly column for Golf Course Seminar (ゴルフ場セミナー) since May of 2008. The articles are usually 2 pages. I wrote a couple 4 page articles when マイカの時間 The BOOK was published last year.

On August 23 at 4 a.m., Andrew McDaniel and I walked into a 7-11 in Fukuoka to get the latest issue of Weekly Golf Digest. Golf magazines in Japan are pretty amazing to begin with.

When I was at Keya GC last month for the Japan Amateur Championship, it rained a lot. From June 29 to July 8, there was precipitation every day, and the total was 446 mm, or 17.

Last week I spent a few days in Fukuoka. I was there for the 103rd Japan Amateur Golf Championship. On the the morning of July 5, I recorded a short iron shot landing on the 16th green at the host venue, Keya Golf Club.

Yesterday I saw some dollar spot on a korai (Zoysia matrella) fairway in Kyushu, Japan. I wondered what the Smith-Kerns model probability for dollar spot had been. So I looked up the recent temperature and humidity at a nearby weather station.

There is a really interesting manga comic this year in the Japanese weekly パーゴルフ (Par Golf) magazine. Newest edition is on the shelves. This manga is definitely getting a bit interesting.

As I say at the end of every year, it has been another extraordinary year for studying grass around the world. See these links for some of my favorite photos (and flight maps) from 2015 and 2016.

A recent conversation about putting surfaces in Japan led to discussion of topdressing amounts and frequency. The Greenkeeper 2018 has course maintenance summaries for 17 courses in Japan. I mapped the locations of those courses by zip code.

I had an open discussion today with a group of greenkeepers in Japan. We talked about a lot of things – bentgrass in summer, irrigation, fertilizer, organic matter management, roots, etc.

When Andrew McDaniel wrote about #MLSN greens, I thought it may be interesting to show a few details of what this is about: These #MLSN greens are about to take 34 mows/21 rolls in 2 weeks.