New England Regional Turfgrass Foundation

The New England Regional Turfgrass Foundation or NETRF was found in 1996 by several groups of turf and lawn related associations. The founding associations were seven Golf Course Superintendents Associations in the New England area, Massachusetts Association of Lawn Care Professionals and the New England Sports Turf Managers Association. The goal of NERTF is to support the Turf industries in the New England area and research.

Since its start in 1996, the NERTF has hosted the annual New England Regional Turfgrass Conference. In its short lifespan this Conference has grown to be one of the largest turf trade shows in the USA. It is held over four days at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI and has more than 2300 turfgrass professionals attending the four days of activities. In 2009, the first NETRF Turf Bowl was held during the conference and students from the University of Massachusetts, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Connecticut competed against each other. Winner of the 2009 NETRF Turf Bowl was team #2 from UMass.

In 2010 the New England Regional Turfgrass Conference will be held from March 1-4.

The NERTF are funding a wide variety of research in the turf industry. The main research funded has taken place at the universities in New England, such as University of Massachusetts, University of New Hampshire, University of Rhode Island and University of Connecticut. Among the many projects funded is research in to “Impact of Nozzle-Type Application Timing and Fungicide Resistance on Dollar Spot” by Dr. John Kaminski, “Evaluating Turf Tolerance In Poorly Drained Soil Covered By Ice” by Dr. John Roberts, and many more. For a list of research projects and reports funded please click on this link.