The power of turf-focused intelligence

By Emma Peterson. 

Learn how Flash Weather AI forecasting tools take the guesswork out of agronomy management.  

For professionals in charge of caring for large amounts of turf or grass, like at a golf course or football stadium, it can be hard to manage everything with all the unpredictable variables, such as temperature, precipitation and lightning. But there are tools out there that can help! To learn about forecasting programs that can help in agronomy and grounds management, Karol Weyman spoke to Garrett Bastardi on a recent episode of From the Ground Up.  

About five years ago, Garrett helped found a company called Turf Threat Tracker (T3). He explained, “T3 was specifically designed to help golf course superintendents and turf grass managers work with high-resolution weather data to help them with their agronomic and operational efficiency. And it helped with over 200 golf courses across the country.”  

Then, in 2024, T3 was acquired by Flash Weather AI and Garrett moved into his current position as Flash Weather AI’s chief of innovation and development. This move was highly strategic, as Garrett explained, “T3 was really focused on maintenance and Flash Weather AI had tools more focused on management. So it really made sense to bring our software and systems together to offers a comprehensive management solution.” 

What does that comprehensive solution look like today? Garrett described it:  

We use deep learning and AI to help superintendents keep turf healthy, manage their facilities and workers and stay in budget. The big tagline is that we're site-specific and turf-centric. We're not your standard zip code forecast which you get from the National Weather Service or NOAA, we’re tailored to specific properties and give superintendents information specifically related to agronomics – like evapotranspiration (the loss of water/moisture in the ground through evaporation) data and frost forecasts (a propriety software that calculates when frost burns will occur) – stuff you won’t get from those general zip code forecasts. 

And while this might seem like a lot just for managing grass or turf, it has very real benefits for superintendents. Garrett explained, “We've seen a lot of good results and feedback from our superintendents... It has helped them optimize field conditions and maintenance, as well as better coordinate worker schedules, which all helps make things more efficient and economical.” 

Want to hear more about how Flash Weather AI supports turf-focused intelligence to agronomy and grounds management? Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording!