Divot Mix

Sunday, May 9, is Mother's Day --

"The hardest thing was being young and coming onto the tour right out of high school and a very close home environment. I think the thing I missed the most was my mother's homemade soup." -- Amy Alcott, LPGA professional

U.S Open sets entry record, again.

The application deadline for the 2004 United States Open was April 29, and when the USGA tallied the entries another record was set..

In all, there were 8,726 entries for the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., 258 more than the previous record set for the 2002 Open at Bethpage State Park's Black Course.

Applying over the Internet was again popular, with nearly 73 percent of the entries coming through the USGA Web site. That's an increase of 12 percent from 2003 and 58 percent from 2001. Former champions Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Corey Pavin were among those who submitted online entries.

A total of 1,121 electronic entries were received on the last two days before the deadline and 140 of those entries were submitted in the final hour. The last entry to arrive was from Eric Rustand, 35, a reinstated amateur from Tucson, Ariz., who submitted his electronic entry at 4:58:22 p.m. EDT, 98 seconds before the deadline. In contrast, 27-year-old professional Kevin Simcox submitted the first entry just 12 minutes after online entries were launched March 3.

The youngest golfer to enter is 13-year-old Tommy Mou of Taiwan, who is now living in Bradenton, Fla. The oldest is 81-year-old Dick Lynch, a professional from Milwaukee, Wis. Overall, the USGA received entries from golfers in all 50 states and 58 foreign countries. To be eligible, the player must have at least a 1.4 handicap index, or be a professional.

Other notable players who filed online: Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Alex Cejka, K.J. Choi, Fred Couples, Padraig Harrington, Stephen Leaney, Davis Love III, Shigeki Maruyama, Nick Price, and Ian Woosnam.

A list of other interesting facts about the applicants is available the USGA Web site.

Project EverGreen created from Evergreen Foundation

The Evergreen Foundation is getting a new name to reflect a change in the organization's goal. The newly named Project EverGreen will promote and defend the green industry by raising the awareness of the benefits of landscapes and maintained properties. It will also promote the significance of those who preserve and enhance green spaces at home, work and play.

“The name change more accurately reflects the urgency of our cause,” said Paul McDonough, co-chair of the Project EverGreen board of directors. “It's a name that more clearly describes our efforts to conduct a national marketing campaign. We need to educate and enlighten consumers and Green Industry professionals about all the benefits of well-maintained green spaces, but we also need to defend our industry against imminent threats.”

The five-year-old organization developed this new direction and mission in mid-2003. It hopes to launch a national marketing campaign to U.S. consumers by late 2004 or early 2005.

Phil Fogarty, co-chair of the board of directors, says 2004 contributions have so far exceeded $300,000, which is approximately one-third of the goal.

For more on the organization, and a complete list of contributors, visit http://www.projectevergreen.com/.

NOAA deactivates GOES-8

For a weather junkie, GOES-8 has been a dependable friend for 10 years, and now it's about to be gone. Fortunately, its replacement is already on the job.

As the Geostationary satellite positioned to give clear views of the eastern and central United States, the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, where dangerous tropical cyclones emerge, GOES-8 tracked some of the most memorable tropical cyclones on record.

Among them was the famous parade of storms in 1995, when five tropical cyclones were active in the Atlantic at the same time and deadly Hurricane Mitch, which devastated parts of Central America in 1998.

On May 5, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially deactivated the eighth satellite in Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series. It was boosted into an orbit 350 kilometers above its original geostationary position, where it will be deactivated and disposed of safely in three controlled burns.

“GOES-8 has served America well as our eye above the storm,” said Conrad Lautenbacher, NOAA administrator. “During the 10 years GOES-8 was operational, our tropical and severe weather forecasts improved. That was key to saving lives in the face of potentially deadly conditions.”

For those who always keep an eye on the weather, there's also some good news. NOAA will launch the first satellite in the next series of GOES spacecraft (GOES-N, -O, -P) in December 2004, and it will possess added capabilities. For example, the satellites will use star trackers, instead of Earth sensors, for altitude control, resulting in more accurate images.

“With the help of our partners, NOAA is creating better satellites that will provide better data to improve our understanding -- and prediction -- of climate and weather,” said Gregory W. Withee, assistant administrator of NOAA's Satellites and Information Service.

An even more advanced version of GOES, the GOES-R series, will be the focus of a weeklong conference in Broomfield, Colo., May 10 -13. With the first launch planned for 2012, it will scan the Earth nearly five times faster than the current GOES system, and provide about 50 times the amount of data currently available.

Contact http://www.noaa.gov .

Scientists think creek holds solution to waterway repair

A little creek in north-central Mississippi could hold the key to restoring damaged waterways, according to Agricultural Research Service scientists.

Little Topashaw Creek is only 10 miles long, but it can pack a wallop when it's swollen with floodwaters. And it's one of thousands of U.S. waterways that have endured accelerated erosion due to neglect, poor management practices and channelization.

This situation led ARS hydraulic engineer Doug Shields and his colleagues at the agency's National Sedimentation Laboratory in Oxford, Miss., to launch the Little Topashaw Creek Stream Corridor Rehabilitation Project , which turned a two-mile stretch of the creek into a research site.

But instead of costly stone or concrete structures to control erosion, they're evaluating tools such as large woody debris structures, willow cuttings, switchgrass hedges and submersible pumps as cost-effective ways of stabilizing stream banks and making up for past watershed abuse.

The large woody debris structures, made by stacking uprooted trees in layers and anchoring them with steel cables, can replicate quality aquatic habitat and reduce sediment transport at 20 to 50 percent of the cost of stone structures.

Meanwhile, Shields and University of Memphis wetland plant physiologist Reza Pezeshki are studying revegetation of eroded stream banks by planting soaked dormant black willow ( Salix nigra ) cuttings, or posts. Soaking seems to significantly enhance the posts' ability to take root and survive during the first year. Soaked posts survived at a rate of 64 percent, while unsoaked posts survived at a 53 percent rate.