For many years, Bristol, Ind.’s Elcona Country Club encountered a variety of challenges with dollar spot because of its older Penncross bentgrass fairways.

September and October have been particularly difficult, as the club’s budgeted applications typically have been used up by then.

Recently, Ryan Cummings, Elcona’s superintendent since 2014, heard about the success of Posterity fungicide in research trials, particularly for controlling dollar spot. Those rumors were verified by Troy Rippy, a Syngenta territory manager, along with Luke Baker of Turf Ventures. Both described Posterity as a “game changer” for late-season dollar spot suppression.

After hearing this, Cummings decided to try the SDHI fungicide and witness the results firsthand. In preparation for northern Indiana’s early-fall dollar spot season, he applied 7 fl. oz. per acre of Posterity on his fairways and tees on Sept. 5, shortly after Labor Day. At the time, he wanted to determine the product’s effects and expose it to the wide range of weather conditions in September and October.

Ryan Cummings

“I thought I’d be making a second application to keep our bentgrass surfaces clean for the remainder of the season,” Cummings says. “But I was proven wrong.”

In fact, the conditioning of Elcona’s tees and fairways was better than it had been in years. No additional preventive application was required to control dollar spot the rest of the season.

“I was simply amazed at the longevity and performance of Posterity,” he states. “It allowed us to meet and exceed our membership’s expectations for playability and aesthetics throughout a busy fall season.”

Ideal plant protectants

The overall performance of Posterity was so positive—and the tees’ and fairways’ turf health were so apparent and long-lasting—that Cummings was able to eliminate two additional fungicide applications and reallocate those resources toward other aspects of Elcona’s operation.

“Going forward, Posterity will be our go-to plant protectant for prime, late-season playing conditions,” he stresses.

Although Cummings chose to apply Posterity at 7 fl. oz. per acre, superintendents can apply it at various rates (7 to 14 fl. oz. per acre) and intervals (14 to 28 days). For broader-spectrum disease control, superintendents can rotate or tank mix it with a contact fungicide like Secure Action, which Cummings uses to enhance turf recovery and combat anthracnose, brown patch and dollar spot.

“Secure Action has been a part of our plant protectant rotation on greens, tees and fairways for a couple of years now. We mainly utilize it as a rotation partner during the heat of the summer,” he says. “We can trust Secure Action to give our turf the edge it needs to provide championship conditions throughout the stressful periods summer brings.”

Photo: Ryan Cummings, Elcona Country Club.

Keep your greens—and skills—in top form

Much like Posterity, Secure Action—along with Acelepryn insecticide and Velista fungicide—has ensured that Elcona Country Club members’ demands for playing conditions, fungicide performance, disease control and protection, and turf recovery consistently are exceeded.

Acelepryn has been a staple of Elcona’s program on fairways, greens and tees since it was released to the market. Each spring, Cummings applies the insecticide once to control a broad spectrum of pests all season, which gives him peace of mind as he knows the club’s turf will be well protected from early spring to late fall.

At the same time, he has also used Velista as a rotational partner on his greens, particularly to protect them from anthracnose.

“Our greens are primarily Poa annua and quite susceptible to anthracnose, given the intense management and stress we put our turf through to achieve the playing conditions our members demand,” Cummings explains. “By using Velista as part of our protectant strategy, we’ve kept anthracnose at bay and our greens in top form.”

In addition to regularly using Syngenta products throughout his career at Elcona, Cummings attended the Syngenta Business Institute in 2017. During the three-day program, he learned new management skills and continues to apply them today.

“We focused on generational and cultural differences within our own teams, and how to best utilize everyone’s differences to achieve the greater goals our facilities ask of us,” he adds. “As someone who manages people from all ages and walks of life, this was eye-opening. Not only did I realize subtle ways I could achieve more with our staff—I also learned how to be a more successful leader long-term.”

Learn more about Posterity and additional dollar spot solutions at GreenCastOnline.com/DollarSpot. Superintendents can also sign up to receive email or text alerts when conditions in their area are conducive to dollar spot development.

This page was produced by North Coast Media’s content marketing staff in collaboration with Syngenta. NCM Content Marketing connects marketers to audiences and delivers industry trends, business tips and product information. The Golfdom editorial staff did not create this content.

Header photo: Ryan Cummings, Elcona Country Club