Monday, March 18, 2024

El Niño’s Effect in Florida: Explaining it to Golfers, Boards and Owners

Recently I was asked by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) to co-present a webinar that addressed impacts the strong El Niño pattern was having on golf courses. The title of the webinar is, “El Niño’s Effect in Florida: Explaining it to Golfers, Boards and Owners.” A link to an abridged copy of the webinar can be found HERE


I was joined by J. Bryan Unruh, Ph.D.University of Florida. Dr. Unruh is an Associate Center Director and Professor of Turfgrass Science. Unruh focuses on providing real-world solutions for today’s turfgrass manager. His work centers on water quality (nutrient leaching and runoff) and quantity (drought) concerns, pest management, and new turfgrass cultivar development.


Over 200 GCSAA members registered for the webinar. After completion, a link to the webinar was posted on the GCSAA website so it could be shared with golfers, facility board of directors and owners to explain how golf course superintendents deal with weather, and weather extremes such as strong El Niño and La Niño patterns.


December and January were the cloudiest in South Florida in 83 years