The traditional Greenkeeper Winter School was held this year from 12 to 13 December in the premises of the Castle Riding Halls in Lednice in Moravia – the multifunctional center. More than 80 participants from the Czech and Slovak Republics welcomed Czechoslovak President Michal Voigts together with Stanislav Hejduk of Mendel University in Brno.

The high attractiveness of the program was ensured by the presence of our top and foreign top professionals. Translation of the lectures was provided by Kamil Pečenka and Stanislav Hejduk. The seminar block of the first day was started by Micah Woods, Asian Turfgrass Center, Thailand, with her lecture on How to Use the MLSN Method for Fertilizing? After him, Jaroslav Záhor of Mendel University came to listen to the Relations between microbes in soil and lawn. Mr. Mark Ferguson, STRI Bingley, UK, followed up with a lecture on Selection of grass species and varieties for golf courses and their testing (a planned tour of the castle garden with a glasshouse with explanation had to be canceled due to bad weather). In the afternoon, Micah Woods re-enrolled on how to ensure the best conditions for lawns in reducing inputs (water, nutrients, sand and work). Martin Kadubec, who manages ecologically 10 hectares of grassed vineyards, finished the training session on the first day. A social evening was held in the chateau carriage. Thursday Mark Ferguson opens with Measurement of the Quality and Playability of Golf Lawns, Innovation in Lawn Cultivation. The conclusion of a successful two-day training course that ended at noon was Micah Woods Lecture on Growth Potential of Lawns, the Meaning of Measuring the Volume of Biased Mosses. All participants praised both the course, the choice of lecturers and the organization of the event. About lecturers: Micah Woods – studied Horticulture at Oregon State University and Grassland at Cornel University. In 2006 he founded the Asian Turfgrass Center in Bangkok, Thailand. It offers advice and research in the field of grassing and provides laboratory analyzes for clients. He publishes a newsletter six times a year and works as a consultant in preparing golf courses for major tournaments. https://www.asianturfgrass.com/ Mark Ferguson – researcher at STRI has been working for 18 years. She is an expert on tennis lawns, managing and consulting projects at The All England Club. She also runs corporate experiments and evaluates the variety of grass trials on STRI. He is a consultant in the preparation of golf courses at the Open for R & A tournament and evaluates the lawn turf before the tournament. Jaroslav Záhora – educator and microbiologist at the Mendel University in Brno. It deals mainly with the problems of microbial communities close to plant roots and the mutual flow of nutrients between plants and microbes. It seeks to explain the harmfulness of higher doses of mineral nitrogen for soil fertility and the condition of plants. Martin Kadubec – with his wife Lenka, they ecologically manage 10 ha of grassed vineyards. Their wines win competitions both at home and abroad (eg Biofach). It seeks to find a match between competition for water and nutrients between vines and grassland so that the condition of the grapes and the quality of the grapes are not reduced.