Bug Repellents & Sunscreen Damage Turf

Although it's not officially summer yet, the recent warm and dry weather we've been experiencing has sure made it feel like it is! When I think of summer, I think of sunshine, backyard BBQs, hanging out at the beach, camping and unfortunately, those pesky mosquitoes! The mosquitoes can annoy the heck out of you while playing golf, especially if you're like me and spend a lot of time in the rough or near the ponds. When they are as annoying as they are right now, we typically get asked, "What are you doing about the mosquitoes?"

The truth is, there is nothing more we can do to effectively reduce the mosquito population than what we are already doing. We used to spend lots of $$ spraying our ponds with larvicide to help reduce their population, but these treatments were not very effective. Furthermore, unless the City of Richmond completes the same treatments along the dyke and in and around the ditches surrounding our property, mosquitoes from the immediate surrounds of the Club will hunt down our golfers for their precious blood.

We have installed a couple of bat houses on the course over the past few years as bats can consume up to 1200 mosquitoes per hour and each of the bat houses accommodates up to 300 bats. That’s up to 720,000 mosquitoes being consumed on the property per hour with the two bat houses we have! We do hope to continue to add more bat houses to the course soon. For now, I’ll have a word with our bats to ensure that they’re continuing to do their part since we are providing them with housing and meals.

What you can do to keep the pesky blood suckers from ruining your round of golf is apply bug repellent. That being said, PLEASE ONLY APPLY BUG REPELLENT ON PATHS. As you can see below, bug repellents damage turf:

The green footprints you see in the photos indicate where the golfer was standing while applying the bug repellent. The turf underneath the golfer's feet was shielded from the spray. As you can see, the turf that did come in contact with the spray was damaged by it. It typically only takes about 24 hours for the damage to show up.

The same can be said for sunscreen. It also damages turf when coming into direct contact with it. So as with applying bug repellents, PLEASE ONLY APPLY SUNSCREEN ON PATHS.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Jason Hooper
Golf Course Superintendent

Why Should Golfers Be Concerned About Grasses Getting Sick?

We continue to battle fusarium, a fungal turf disease, on the greens that are shaded from the morning sun.  Often we are left with no choice but to apply fungicides to control the spread of this resilient fungal pathogen.

Where we have removed trees around greens complexes that used to receive little or no morning sun, we have seen a significant reduction in disease incidence. "Turf Management 101" has proven to be correct again. With the recent tree removals around #7 green, we expect to see far less disease pressure as that green now receives FULL morning sun - a crucial component in maintaining healthy turf.

Time and time again, the USGA Green Section sends out very relevant turf maintenance articles that help greatly in getting our message across to golfers. Low and behold, another gem landed in my email inbox this morning. It explains just why Golf Course Superintendents all over the world do their best each and every day to provide healthy growing environments for turf. Through these efforts,Superintendents are able to do the following:

• Provide the best possible playing conditions for the golfers
• Save thousands and thousands of dollars by reducing the need to apply very costly control products, saving you in green fees or member dues
• Continue to be environmentally responsible by making less of an impact on the environment

Please take a couple minutes to read the USGA Green Section article below...

Why Should Golfers Be Concerned About Grasses Getting Sick?

May 8th, 2015 by USGA Green Section

There are at least three very good reasons why golfers should know a little about the superintendent’s efforts to manage disease problems on turfgrass:

1) Some of the fungal and bacterial organisms that attack turf can result in severe damage – sometimes resulting in complete loss of turf cover and producing bad lies, bumpy putting and significant disruption to your round as the staff implements reestablishment efforts. Of course the loss of turf also detracts from the appearance of the course and can even slow down play if golfers are frequently having to take relief from areas marked as ground under repair.

2) Treating turfgrass disease outbreaks and repairing damaged areas is expensive. Golf course superintendents are extremely careful when they apply fungicides for two reasons. First, superintendents recognize their environmental responsibility to apply products only where and when they are absolutely needed. Second, disease-control products are so expensive that superintendents simply cannot afford to waste them through misuse. Treating large disease outbreaks can be a serious financial hit to any course, eventually that cost is passed on to the golfers via green fees or dues.

3) How can you as a golfer help? Your willingness to tolerate the efforts of the maintenance staff to promote healthy turfgrass is extremely helpful. Consider how some maintenance practices that all golfers despise impact the occurrence and severity of turfgrass disease problems.

a. Tree trimming and sometimes complete tree removal is necessary to provide light to turfgrass. These practices also result in improved air movement across playing surfaces which helps keep the turf dry. Most disease organisms thrive in shaded, moist environments – sometimes to the point that even applying a fungicide cannot completely stop disease activity.

b. Not even golf course superintendents like aeration. However, aeration improves drainage and creates a soil environment that promotes healthy roots which directly translates to stronger plants.

c. Turf that is grown in an environment with plenty of light, air movement, good drainage and properly cultivated soil is far less likely to suffer disease problems. Should a disease outbreak occur, turf in favorable growing environments often can grow through certain disease problems without the need to apply a fungicide. If damage does occur, turf in a good growing environment grows faster and is quick to recover.

#7 Tree Removals

Whenever trees are removed from the golf course, we always receive some inquiries as to what the reason was for removing them.  As anticipated, this is once again the case after removing over 30 trees around #7 green complex during last week's aeration course closure.  For those that may have missed my submission in last week's eNews to the membership explaining exactly why, here is a summary of the reasons for removing them...

All of the trees removed were categorized as either dead, dying, dangerous or detrimental to turf quality (The Four D’s) and all but one were birch trees.  Now that the trees on the property are “leafing out” for summer, it is clear to see that even more birch trees succumbed to the wet winter conditions.  The majority of our birch trees are now past their 40-50 year healthy life expectancy and they are declining rapidly.  The bronze birch borer has also infected many of our birch trees which is also killing them off.  You can expect to see many more removed this season.

To illustrate just how bad the condition was of the trees removed, here are a couple photos of the trunks that were rotting from the inside out:

Here is a "before & after" photo of the right (east) side of #7 green complex:

As you can see, the trees that were removed were in very poor condition and blocked out the majority of the morning sun resulting in unhealthy turf conditions and increased disease incidence on # 7 green, such as the fusarium seen below:

After removing the trees, #7 green will benefit greatly now that it receives FULL morning sun - a crucial component of healthy turf!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 604-277-1513 or jhooper@qgolfclub.ca