Mr. Kyung Han recently began the Master of Agronomy program at Pennsylvania State University under the direction of Dr. John Kaminski. Kyung is from Mechanicsburg, PA and has a B.S. degree in Turfgrass Science from Pennsylvania State University (Class of 2008). As an undergraduate, he completed internships at Pine Valley Golf Club and White Beeches Golf and Country Club. Kyung has received numerous scholarships including the Pennsylvania State University Alumni Scholarship, Hartman Scholarship from the College of Agricultural Science, John and Mary M. Byerly Scholarship in Agriculture and The Ambassador Scholarship by GCSAA. Following graduation, Kyung worked as the Assistant Superintendent at White Beeches Golf and Country Club.

Now back at Penn State, Mr. Han is directing his research efforts towards the influence of cultural practices on annual bluegrass populations in golf course turf. Kyung’s goal is to determine both the chemical and cultural practices necessary to maintain Poa as a desirable species or suppress Poa as a weed. His work will also evaluate how these cultural practices influence annual bluegrass populations. Specifically, Kyung is investigating the interaction among nitrogen levels, ferrous sulfate and plant growth regulators.  He is also evaluating the safety and efficacy of methiozolin, a new herbicide used to selectively suppress annual bluegrass in bentgrass putting greens. Aside from his thesis work, Kyung will be assisting Dr. Kaminski with ongoing projects such as the influence of N-source on patch disease development and the utilization of PGRs to speed turf recovery following core cultivation.

Kyung assessing Poa annua populations in his plots