Research

What we know about bacterial diseases of turfgrasses

July 14, 2016 By Joseph A. Roberts, Ph.D. and Paul R. Giordano, Ph.D.

Concerns about bacterial etiolation (Figure 1) and decline exploded in the golf course industry more than five years ago. While etiolation had been observed for years, the abnormal elongation sometimes observed in putting greens usually was an unsightly occurrence that ...

Read More

Chemicals control large patch, depending on deposition

July 7, 2016 By Jesse J. Benelli

Seasonal large patch (Rhizoctonia solani) epidemics are observed on zoysiagrass fairways in Tennessee each spring and fall. Golf courses with a history of large patch often will budget for two to three fairway fungicide applications. However, disease breakthrough commonly is ...

Read More

Being proactive on protozoa

June 2, 2016 By Chip Howard, Ph.D.

A superintendent who hasn’t encountered protozoa-related sprinkler head plugging can count his or her blessings. I may have been the first to encounter the problem in 1986, when my employer wanted to pioneer the use of effluent for golf course ...

Read More

Low-input fairway species for the cool-humid region

May 27, 2016 By Cale A. Bigelow, Ph.D.

The availability of water to properly maintain turf is one of the biggest resource challenges superintendents presently face, and it will present additional challenges for decades. Further, as superintendents evaluate their budgets and maintenance programs to save money, grasses that ...

Read More

Making a cultivar

May 16, 2016 By Karl Danneberger, Ph.D.

For northerners, one of the best times to watch golf on TV is during winter and spring months, culminating with the Masters Tournament. Watching golf on high-definition television while the snow is flying relieves stress. The locations are warm and ...

Read More

Soil surfactant improves performance of greens  under stress

April 15, 2016 By Kevin Frank, Ph.D., Kevin Laskowski and Emily Merewitz, Ph.D.

Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) and annual bluegrass (Poa annua) are important putting green turfgrass species that are sensitive to drought and traffic stress. The objective of this study was to investigate whether a soil surfactant, Revolution, would positively impact drought ...

Read More