Turf Line News

March/April 2014

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34 WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION BOARDROOM YARN BY DAVID L. DOHERTY SPORTS TURF INDUSTRY WEATHERING THE STORM The last five years have probably been the most difficult in the history of the sports turf industry. Recreational dollars have been at an all-time low and financing in many cases has been very difficult to come by. A recent article in the GCSAA Industry Spotlight indicates some of the difficulty: "Looking for a little good news about the golf industry? The number of rounds played is continuing a slow but steady climb. The most recent national report of rounds played issued by the National Golf Foundation, Golf Datatech and Weather Trends International indicated that the number of rounds played in November 2012 was up 2.6 percent versus November 2011. Year to date, rounds played are up 6.1 percent when compared to 2011." The article adds that the percent of increase and decrease of rounds played by geographi- cal areas in the USA, shows: The West North Central region a 26.7 percent increase, Mountain Region 20.5 percent increase, South Central region a 14.6 percent increase. On the flip side, rounds played along the Eastern Seaboard of the USA were down 30.8 percent and the New England region experienced a 17.9 percent decline. Is weather the cause of these increases and decreases of rounds played? Not of itself; it has played a role but the lack of recreational dollars has also played a role. The most common, but not the only thread that is consistent with the courses that are doing well is that 99.9 percent have very good to excellent playing conditions. The most valuable asset of any golf course is the greens. We can have a $100 million clubhouse, a master chef, the finest cutlery and the most trained staff, but if the greens are not in the condition that players have come to expect, we will have a clubhouse catering to luncheons and card playing, and neither of those two by themselves covers the overhead. Every course with good to excellent greens also has good to excellent physical properties in their greens' material. The USGA recommended guidelines are for new construction materials and do not necessarily apply to greens once we seed, sod or sprig as the greens age. The physical properties of greens must also be compatible with the microclimate in which they reside. For instance, greens that receive adequate sunlight and have good air movement will normally need/ require different physical properties than those that have limited sunlight and limited air move- ment. The different types of turf (Poa, Bent, and Bermuda) will also in most cases require different physical properties. The number of rounds played, size of greens, and cupable areas will have a tremendous impact on the physical properties as well. The chemical and biological factors of our golf greens cannot function properly if the physical properties are out of balance. I am still amazed that only 25 to 30 percent of our North American golf courses do regular physi- cal properties' testing. If your course is among that 70 to 75 percent that does not do regular testing, I strongly urge you to think strongly about starting a physical properties testing program. Balanced physical properties will in most cases lead to savings on the chemical side of the maintenance budget. WCTA Dave Doherty is CEO and founder of the International Sports Turf Research Center, Inc. (ISTRC) and holds three patents regarding the testing of sand and soil-based greens. He can be reached at 913-706-6635 or via email: daveistrc@hotmail.com >LJHUOH]LHTPSSPVUJS\IOV\ZLHTHZ[LYJOLM[OLÄULZ[ cutlery and the most trained staff, but if the greens are not in the condition that players have come to expect, we will have a clubhouse catering to luncheons and card playing, and neither of those two by themselves covers the overhead. regulators (PGRs) such as ethephon, paclobutrazol or flurprimidol have tradi- tionally been used for annual bluegrass suppression. Herbicides that have been intro- duced more recently include acetolactate synthase inhibitors, such as sulfosulfuron and bispyribac-sodium, which control annual bluegrass and/or roughstalk bluegrass (Poa trivialis L.). However, these options have had limitations in application timing, reliability or efficacy, possibly due to the wide genetic variability associated with annual bluegrass. Methiozolin has been extensively evaluated in turf including annual bluegrass control in creeping bentgrass putting greens. McNulty et al. reported methiozolin at 0.5 and 0.75 kg ha applied in March 2009 reduced annual bluegrass cover by 77–80% at 2 months after treatment in creeping bentgrass putting greens. Methiozolin did not cause any injury on garden height (38–76 mm) perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, or tall fescue, and suppressed seed head production of annual bluegrass 85% one week after application of >1500 g ha. In the test, methiozolin at >3000 g ha controlled annual bluegrass and roughstalk bluegrass >80 and >90%, respectively, and was eventually superior to two applications of bispyribac-sodium at 74 g ha. Methiozolin at 2000 g ha applied twice controlled 31 different annual bluegrass biotypes includ- ing 28 perennial biotypes in a pot test, and there was no biotype showing tolerance to methiozolin. Methiozolin did not injure several creeping bentgrass varieties such as A4, L-93 and Declaration when applied at 500–4000 g ha in two university trials; however, methiozolin at 2000–4000 g ha injured L-93 creep- ing bentgrass by 25–40% in hot and dry weather in a different location. Despite various research, little has been published to date on the whole picture of methiozolin as a turf herbicide. The objective of this research was to provide basic biological properties of methiozolin in terms of turfgrass safety, annual bluegrass rate responses in different growth stages, seed head suppression activity, site of uptake, and application window in the field. WCTA Methiozolin Continued From Page 33

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