Turf Campaign Update

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Turf Research Center was held on Tuesday November 1st. The celebration began with a barbeque in front of Stockbridge Hall on the Amherst campus at 11:30, followed by a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1:30 at the Joseph Troll Turf Research Center in South Deerfield. The ceremony was presided over by John V. Lombardi, Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Cleve Willis, Dean of the College of Natural Resources and the Environment.

The building will support on-site research and enable more students to get hands-on experience and be part of the research program. The 3,000 square foot building houses an equipment repair facility, an entire research lab, and meeting room and conference space. The lab streamlines research by enabling experiment samples to be processed on-site. Experiments no longer require going out, bringing samples back to campus and preparing chemicals, and taking them back off-site.

The new building is part of a larger initiative that has been made over the past three years to make the UMass turf program nationally competitive at the top levels. "We are ramping up the quality of the research to better serve the turf industry here in New England," says Associate Dean Goodwin.

The program, which was the first of its kind in the nation, has always been a partnership between the university and the turf industry. This has never been more apparent than during the campaign that made this building a reality.

The campaign was supported by the major turf associations such as the New England Regional Turf Foundation, the New England Golf Course Owners Association, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of New England, the Golf Course Managers Association of Cape Cod, and the Massachusetts Golf Association. Substantial contributions from turf industry leaders like Turf Links, R.F. Morse Turf and Ornamental, and Johnson Golf Management helped to ensure the success of the campaign. Contributions from alumni, golf course superintendents and friends of the turf program put the campaign over the top.

"We could not be more appreciative of the time and effort that all of you have put into the campaign and we hope that you will be able to join us on November 1st as we look forward to the next 75 years and making the UMass turf program the best in the nation," commented Dean Willis.

For more information on this event or to sign up to attend, please contact us at (413) 545-3955 or events@nre.umass.edu.

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