Thailand

I’ve been using the NASA POWER agroclimatology data for a few projects. I get the data using the convenient nasapower R package by Adam Sparks. There is also a web-based map data access viewer.

I’ve seen a lot of highways in Thailand. Highway medians are sodded with manilagrass (Zoysia matrella) as a matter of course (more about the cost of that below). I’ve seen some impressive vistas of this work in past years, but for safety reasons haven’t been able to get any photos.

Have you ever seen patches like this on Zoysia turf? Maybe the early stages of an intense large patch outbreak, or elephant’s footprint (Rhizoctonia cerealis) that got out of control? Way out of control?

I spent a morning with Brad Revill at Nikanti GC last month. I wanted to see the course, get some measurements, see the clipping volume measurement, and talk about turf management with Brad.

When I play golf, I much prefer to walk, so the choice between walking and riding is usually an easy one. These all-terrain vehicles are staged near the first tee, ready for action.

At the end of every year, I like to look at my flight map and at some of my favorite turf photos. In 2019 I was on 56 flights over 161,473 km (100,335 miles).

This is a quick way to get smoother fairways. The fairways at Bangsai Country Club near Bangkok have been rolled with a 10 ton vibratory road roller to make them smoother and, one presumes, a bit firmer.

I participated in a pitch performance workshop put on by the Football Association of Thailand and the Thai League. John Ledwidge answers a question during the FA Thailand & Thai League’s Pitch Performance Workshop on August 5.

On April 22 I planted some ‘Sena’ manilagrass with the help of staff from the GolfEast company. We were careful to plant at an exact rate, and we documented the grow-in through digital image analysis.

Last month I made a trip to Hua Hin and visited two of the fine golf courses there—Royal Hua Hin GC and Banyan GC. All kinds of colors through the green at Royal Hua Hin GC in May Hua Hin has one of the driest climates in Thailand.