The debate is still on and we are still waiting for a formal response/recommendation from the Committee on Cosmetic Pesticides ( see
We got a problem.... post for refresher). I had a goofy idea last fall. I wanted to stress the importance of the cosmetic pesticide debate to people who golf at KGC. We chose an area on #1 fairway and deliberately did not spray it with our overwintering fungicide. To encourage as much involvement as possible on the pesticide issue I wanted to get peoples attention so we spelled out the word "WHY" with garbage bags and sprayed over top of the bags.
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| The "WHY" |
The hope was that the areas covered with the bags would be riddled with disease while the surrounding area would be green and healthy and show no disease. When people asked what the "WHY" meant I would use that question as my lead-in to the cosmetic pesticide debate. However, stuff happens. In the race to get everything ready for winter we forgot the location of the "WHY" and sprayed right over it and, as a result, the area I was hoping to act a show piece for disease came through looking great!?! I guess the good news / bad news is there is lots of other areas to show the importance of an overwintering spray to KGC but you need to know where to look. Take a look:
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#4 Fairway
The left side of picture shows the control achieved with the low rate of an overwintering fungicide while the right side had no fungicide applied and is covered with snow mould.
I like to leave some areas on the golf course untreated for cost reasons but also for reference points to get an indication the disease pressure from year to year. The following pictures are from 8 fairway.
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| Start of #8 Fairway: not treated |
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| The rest of #8 Fairway: treated |
Had we not treated sections of number 8 the whole fairway would look like the area in the first picture.
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| #12 Fairway |
I took the picture of 12 fairway from on top of the hill on the right of the fairway. The line between treated and untreated on the fairway is obvious.
IMO, I don't think the disease pressure was exceptionally high this year based on what I've seen on untreated areas of turf. I am comfortable with the rate that we used and I would be hard pressed to give up treating fairways based on cost or legislation. How long will it take for those area we didn't spray to recover? This is where Poa is good because I know we have a huge seed bank in the soil so, ultimately, the grass will come. How long it takes depends on weather and other stresses (play, mowing, etc). There is things we can do to speed recovery but with this years budget we don't have the man power or necessary equipment to address these areas adequately.
As you play the course this year keep an eye on those areas shown in the previous photo's and see how long it takes for those fairway areas hit by snow mould to recover to a playable condition. For me, none of the sprays we did last fall were for cosmetic reasons. There is too much golf to choose from locally to risk not having the course in the best possible condition. Unlike damage from other winter stresses (ice, crown hydration, etc), I have some level of control on how severe winter disease damage can be by applying fungicides. Actual risks associated by application of products for cosmetic reasons are, perhaps, best demonstrated by this photo:
