Integrated Pest Management for New Maintenance Staff

This is the time of year when superintendents are starting to return staff and hire new staff for the upcoming golf season. With these returning employees and new employees comes the opportunity to train everyone for the year. Of course employees are going to be trained how to perform their assigned tasks as well as the protocols of being an employee in the maintenance department.

This time of year also brings a chance for supers to train new and existing staff about environmentally friendly ways to maintain a golf course. The basics of this come in the the form of Integrated Pest Management or IPM.

Although the less experienced staff will have little decision making power at a maintenance facility it is still important that they are aware of what is going on at the golf course environmentally so they can be sure to make small decisions in line with what the superintendent is thinking.

For example, all staff must be aware of the recycling program, the fueling up procedures and where they can and cannot drive on the golf course. Without proper training, new staff are likely to do what comes easiest to them despite what may be good or bad for the environment.

I think that it is important that all staff are at least somewhat aware of the IPM programs being implemented at their place of business. There are some basic tenets to a proper IPM program and they include: Scouting and monitoring, selecting thresholds, making decisions based on treatment options, proper timing and spot treatment, documenting and evaluating results.

Scouting and Monitoring: This is about maintenance staff being aware of what to be on the lookout for on the golf course. Although not all staff are going to be trained in identifying turfgrass pests (disease, insects and weeds) they should be able to recognize when something on the golf course does not look right. Being able to recognize that the turf does not look healthy is a lot different from identifying a problem. It is the maintenance crew that is on the course every day that must be able to report back to superiors that there may be a problem on the course.

Superintendents and senior staff should take the time in the spring to show new staff members what some of the common turf pests are in the area. This training can be very informal and be done on a piece meal basis by perhaps showing one turf problem per day that is likely to occur at the golf course and what should be done if it is recognized.

Selecting Thresholds: It is the job of the superintendent and his superiors to determine the overall quality of the product that is to be strived for on a daily basis. It must be determined what areas of the property can be left unmaintained and what areas can be left to suffer from a pest invasion in order to save money and reduce pesticide use. For instance it is not uncommon for superintendents to maintain putting surfaces that are to be 100% pest free. This is acceptable as it is the greens that are best remembered by golfers and are to be in top shape at all times.

Tee decks and fairways on the other hand may be able to withstand some pest pressure before action must be taken. Most supers will accept a certain amount of disease pressure on these playing surfaces before pesticides will be used to prevent the death of more grass. Depending on the pest present the super may decide that the tee decks will be covered in 20% disease before they will use pesticides. Again this is a decison that must be made in advance and usually will require input from the super, the assistant super and quite often the director of golf.

Decisions Based on Treatment Options: There is no doubt that the use of pesticides has become a sticky issue in the golf industry today. Unfortunately, they have become a necessary evil in the maintenace of high end turf. If golfers are expecting to play golf on perfectly maincured turf that is maintained at heights less than 1/8th of an inch, they must be prepared to play golf on turf that has been treated with pesticides.

For many turf diseases there are options other than pesticides. For instance there are diseases that can be overcome by changing the pH balance in the soil. Take-All Patch is a turfgrass disease that can be devastating, particularly to new turf. Luckily, this disease can most often be overcome by applying a fertilizer that contains a form of Nitrogen called ammonium sulphate. Applying ammonium sulphate will change the pH balance in the soil and keep the disease at bay.

Other diseases can be overcome by applying fertilizers that will promote a flush of growth to help the grass power through the disease pressure until weather conditions change and reduce the possiblity of further damage to the turf.

Proper Timing and Spot Treatment: When making the decision to apply pesticides a super must be sure that the timing of the application is right. Applying a product at the wrong time can result in wasted product that will be ineffective and possibly cause harm to the environment.

Other timing issues include watching weather so as not to apply during periods of high winds or prior to or during a rain event. Again this will lead to wasted product and a possibility of environmental damage.

Spot treating is about applying product only where there is a pest problem. For instance, if there is one tee deck that is covered with disease there may be no need to apply a pesticide to all of them. In the end this will lead to less pesticides applied resulting in cost savings and less potential for harm to the environment.

Documenting and Evaluating Results: Once a pesticide has been applied it is important that accurate records are kept that will document not only the product that has been applied but also how effective the product was. By keeping accurate records a super will be able to determine pest fighting treatments for the future.

New or less experienced employees do not need to be fully aquainted with an IPM program but should understand the basics of it. Proper training in the spring will give new employees some much needed information to attack their postion with knowledge and confidence. All employees of the golf course should be aware of the environmental postion statement of the facility at which they are employed.