The Grass is Always Greener...

Although last month's weather is reputed by poets to bring May flowers, April rains also initiate the welcome return of turfgrasses and their necessary fertilization, maintenance and irrigation. Whether it thrives in a backyard putting green or a 7,000-yard championship course, good turf is the lifeblood of the game. What the player might not know is that cultivating high-quality grasses reflects years of scientific research, experimentation and numerous environmental, educational and technological concerns.

Like many entities within the golf industry, turfgrass organizations have created for themselves an online niche. Unless you're a course superintendent, an irrigation contractor or a student, the subject might sound as intriguing as -- well, watching grass grow, but a click into the Florida TurfGrass Association's home page, located at ems.ifas.-ufl.edu/ftga/, should dispel any doubts.

Maintained by the University of Florida, the FTGA site is a clean, well-maintained resource with a succinct overview of the organization, its fund-raising goals, membership information and research projects. The site offers information on experimentations with Bermudagrass and St. Augustine sproutlings to controlling the mole cricket without the use of pesticides. The FTGA's published mission is to "increase awareness of the importance and economic impact of turfgrass in Florida," but the audience is nationwide. Unlike other related non-profit organizations, it represents all segments of the industry, including golf course, home lawn and sports turf maintenance, as well as production, landscape and grounds upkeep.

What makes the FTGA site different is the creative use of Internet technology: A thumbnail-sized lawn mower, captured in an animated loop, diligently trims the turf at the bottom of the page. Inside, three constantly changing forums allow dynamic, bulletin-board-style discussion among participants. Though its focus isn't high on my list of spare-time pursuits, the FTGA's simple and functional site rewarded my cursory interest.

Other organizations' pages, gathered from the Guelph Turfgrass Institute at www.uoguelph.ca/GTI/, revealed a variety of resources, projects, funding, and net-friendly features. The Southern California Turfgrass Foundation, www.turfgrassfoundation.org/, pipes in an original electronic soundtrack as it unfurls its brief overview of the group. Unaffiliated with any school, SCTF reiterates its need for donations and sponsorship, a gentle reminder that non-profit entities are too often aptly named. Across the country, the New Jersey Turfgrass Foundation fosters a working relationship between Rutgers University and the industry; its site, www.njturfgrass-.org/home.html, features a menu of historical and foundational links. Other sites connected to these groups include the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, at www.webplus.net/gcsaa/, and the USGA Green Section at www.usga.org/green/index.html.

My only complaint with some pages was that they suffered from irregular upkeep: The FTGA's "Products and Services" link remained under construction months after its launch. But I've worked in non-profits and sympathize with the long list of needs and short budgets existing at many. Taking their concerns to the Net might reach a sympathetic readership.

May is when their chances are best. Just as greenkeepers are uncoiling hoses and gassing up mowers, we're thinking of practicing or playing to reacquaint ourselves with nearly forgotten muscles. After the long winter, lawnmower blades aren't the only things that've gotten rusty.

--Colin Berry