Kate Entwistle, still known to many in the turf industry as Kate York, has recently left the STRI where she had worked since 1990. She has now relocated to Hampshire where she will continue to work in turf pathology under the name of The Turf Disease Centre.
“Starting my own business allows me to really focus on providing a thorough and personalised turf disease management service,” said Kate. “I studied plant pathology, plant physiology and microbiology at college and have developed a specialist knowledge of turf grass pathogens over the last 10 years.” As well as providing analysis of turf samples for disease identification, Kate will continue to offer lectures, take part in seminars and produce articles on turf diseases.
In addition, one of the main areas that she is keen to develop is site visits, aimed specifically at discussing turf disease problems directly with the turf manager. “Although many of our turf disease problems can be diagnosed from sample analysis, supported by general discussions with the turf manager or agronomist, there are an increasing number of persistent and unusual problems which would be better investigated through an on-site inspection”, she says. “We are now seeing diseases which were not a problem only a few years ago and changes in grass types and cultivars used are likely to lead to further novel disease outbreaks. Disease development is heavily affected by local environmental conditions and these can not always be adequately appreciated by looking at a turf sample in the laboratory”, explained Kate. “Seeing the problem at first hand can lead to a more rapid diagnosis of the disease and can assist in offering specific information on the best ways to control the disease on that particular site”.