Introduction The Montgomery County Revenue Authority prides itself on being a leader in the golf industry. Part of our role is to stay on the cutting edge of the latest ideas and strategies in order to make our operations more safe and efficient, improve golf course conditioning and value, and reduce our environmental impact on the world around us. Our goal is to be able to continue to invest in our infrastructure and our systems while maintaining a viable business model that allows us to remain a self-sustaining entity that provides services, products and opportunities of value that offer enrichment to the community. During the 2009 golf season, a number of our courses conducted research designed to help us reduce fertilizer, water, and pesticides. We also tested new products on the market that allow us to provide improved playing conditions. This report summarizes the findings of the following experiments: • • • • •
Needwood Golf Course – Executive-9 golf course was dedicated to a number of research studies aimed at reducing inputs of fertilizer, water, and conventional pesticides. Hampshire Greens Golf Course – Experimented with a variety of different growth regulators to reduce the populations of Poa annua on bentgrass fairways and putting greens. Falls Road Golf Course – Attempted to benefit from the symbiotic relationship between a fungus (mycorrhizae) and plant roots to reduce water requirements of putting greens. Poolesville Golf Course – Experimented with a new herbicide that might provide better control of some difficult-to-manage grassy weeds. Northwest Golf Course – tested different rates of plant growth regulators on fairways to ascertain whether reducing the rate of these chemicals would provide acceptable seed head suppression.
Jon Lobenstine Director of Agronomy Montgomery County Revenue Authority
A number of studies were done on this golf course through the 2009 golf season. A summary of the goals and key findings of the research follows below. Research will continue in 2010 as we modify some of the experiments and add new ones that allow us to verify in real world conditions some of the research that comes out of university trials done in a laboratory setting, as well as undertake some experiments that, to our knowledge, have not been done before. One of the most exciting studies is the conversion of existing perennial ryegrass fairways to warmseason turf. Our goal is to be able to find warm-season grasses that provide acceptable playing conditions throughout the season, can survive with reduced inputs of fertilizer, pesticides, and water, and ultimately find a way to convert to these types of grasses while reducing the impact on revenue and playability during the process. We also saw first-hand, and were able to communicate to the public this year, the impact of using no fungicides during the growing season on a putting green (which make up the majority of a golf course’s pesticide applications), as well as using two alternative treatments.
Putting Green Study
Executive Putting Green – Untreated Test Plot Purpose: The untreated plot was used as a control plot. The performance of this plot will be compared to that of the other two test plots and the normal pesticide use plot. General Information The plot received no fungicide applications during the growing season. Fertilizer, insecticide, and chemical applications such as growth regulators and wetting agents were applied regularly. Significant Events March 31 –A single fungicide application (propiconazole) was made. Anthracnose was present on the putting green and a clean green was desired prior to starting the experiment. June 16 – No disease was present, although the Eximo (pH reducing agent) test plot on the green had lesions of dollar spot. June 22 – 0 to 5 dollar spot lesions were present – very acceptable conditions.
July 7 – 0 to 10 dollar spot lesions present – conditions were still acceptable. July 10 – Root and patch diseases were present – playing conditions were unacceptable. Heat stressed areas may have been susceptible to these pathogens first. July 20 – Estimated 30 small lesions of dollar spot were present and fewer than 10 larger ( >1in.). Root and patch diseases were still present and in larger proportions. Conclusion: Bentgrass putting greens cannot be maintained without disease protection.
This photo shows the untreated test plot in September after a season without pesticides.
Executive Putting Green – Eximo Plot Purpose: The objective of this experiment was to determine if a synthetic acid solution with a pH below 2 will provide suppression or control of dollar spot and/or brown patch on putting green turf. The theory was that the disease pathogens could not survive in an extremely acidic turf canopy. General Information: Eximo was applied to this test plot. Eximo is a synthetic acid with a pH
