An Organic Approach toGolf Course ManagementAn island mandate becomes realit~BY JEFFREY W. CARLSON

A blend of Tiger colonial and L-93 creeping bentgrasses, with Jamestown II chewings fescue, has produced quality fairway playing surfaces that tolerate themost prevalent disease on the golf course, dollar spot.

InNovember 1998, I joined a team ofdevelopers to build a golf course onthe island of Martha's Vineyard, situ-

ated just off the coast of Massachusetts.A year and a half and a mountain ofpaperwork later, this abandoned 148-acre lot subdivision gained approval fora private 18-hole golf course. One ofthe 36 conditions of approval was thatthe golf course be managed with naturalorganic fertilizers and without tradi-tional pesticides. With faith in some ofthe recent advances in turf grass research,a concern for the future of pesticide use

in the United States, and a history ofnot always thinking through the long-term ramifications of my actions, Iaccepted the position as constructionand grow-in superintendent for thenew, organically managed golf course,The Vineyard Golf Club.

PLANNING ANDCONSTRUCTIONRealizing the challenges that lay ahead,we invested a great deal of time workingwith the architects Donald Steel andTom Mackenzie, the USGA Green

Section, and various local universities todetermine the most effective construc-tion techniques, help identify potentialpest problems we were likely to face,and select grasses and materials thatwould provide the greatest chance forsuccess. We cleared more than 30,000trees from the site, disked forest litterinto existing topsoil to improve itsstructure and organic content, andseeded with grasses deemed to be mostresistant to the diseases common to thearea. All of the greens were lined withplastic, and lysimeters were installed at

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Managingdollar spot disease without fungicides can be a trying experience. as illustrated on theexperimental practice chipping green. A combination of sound cultural practices and the use of severalbio-products have reduced the disease pressure and damage on the regular greens to an acceptable level.

the exit points. Ground wells also wereinstalled along the perimeter of theproperty to measure nitrate nitrogenleaching on the site.

Evaluating these techniques five yearslater, I am glad we modified the sandytopsoil, but I wish we had cleared even

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more trees and had not been forced toinstall the liners that have since impacteddrainage in the USGA greens. Con-versely, we were fortunate to be able tochoose from varieties of newer andmore disease-resistant grasses, and wehave unexpectedly benefited from the

requirement to install the monitoringwells.

The benefit was realized whenabutting homeowners reported nitratelevels in excess of the state drinkingwater standard in their wells. Immedi-ately, all fingers pointed to the golfcourse as the source of the contami-nation. Armed with well records thatverified that groundwater exiting theproperty never exceeded the statethreshold, the local board of healthagent and county water resource plan-ner were able to demonstrate to thehomeowners that their individual septicsystems were the probable source ofcontamination. Had we not installedthose wells prior to grassing and had wenot routinely disclosed our results tothe local authorities, the golf coursemay have been liable for the installationof a municipal water and sewer systemat an estimated cost of $1 million.

THE EARLY YEARS:BATTLING DISEASEThe grow-in period proceeded rathersmootWy and the golf course openedwith a great sense of accomplishment.A combination of aggressive nitrogenfertility, timely applications of Pseudo-monas tx-1 (Bioject), and traditionalcultural practices typical for a<newcourse made this superintendent feelpretty confident. There was some lightdollar spot and scattered take-all patchactive by early summer, but it did notseriously impact the turf or playingconditions. Disease pressure intensifiedas the weather became more severe inthe summer. The bottom fell out asdollar-spot disease severely damaged thegreens and tees. Pythium blight andbrown patch, which are rarely problemson Martha's Vineyard, also becameactive with the unusually high tempera-tures and humidity occurring thatsummer.

So, it was back to the drawing board.We re-evaluated our existing programsand modified the organic managementplan by reducing nitrogen and waterinputs, altering the Pseudomonas delivery

Above: During the golf course planning stage, we didnot fully comprehend the extent of damage associatedwith crows and skunks in search of white grubs on anorganically managed golf course. Right:An innovativeapproach is often required when managing a golfcourse without traditional pesticides. Because nocurative means of controlling oriental beetle grubswas available,we instead targeted managementefforts against crows, skunks, and raccoons that weredamaging the surfaces while in search for the grubs.

system, and supplementing the programwith the bio-pesticide Ecoguard. Wediligently continued to remove dewevery morning and to topdress andaerate the greens both conventionallyand with the Toro Hydroject machine.The disease activity eventually wanedand the turf recovered everywhereexcept on the sixth and ninth greens,which were located in more shaded andstagnant growing environments. Fortypitch pines were subsequently removed,and one year later the sixth and theninth are two of the healthiest greenson the course.

YEAR 3:THEYEAROFTHE GRUBWith disease pressure somewhat undercontrol, our confidence once againbegan to grow, at least until the orientalbeetle, Exomala orientalis, decided to call

the tees, fairways, roughs, and bunkerbanks home. The real fun began that fallwhen a sizeable number of Martha'sVineyard's skunk and crow populationsdiscovered a new food source. At theheight of the feeding activity, 1 measuredthe damaged surface areas and foundthat as awful as things looked, we stillhad in excess of 99% healthy turf onthe course. Needless to say,we had tomeet this new challenge and are doingso with the help of Dr. Pat Vittum fromthe University of Massachusetts, who isusing the site to investigate several bio-logical control options. We also realizedwe had to deal with the here andnow, so we turned to our own "CarlSpackler:' Walter Walodyka, the island'sonly skunk and crow removal expert.Walter's aromatic pickup truck hasbecome a common site roving over thegolf course in spring and fall, trapping

the skunks and crows and removingthem from the property. We havelearned that organic insect managementis much more "in your face" than thetimely application of an insecticide ...just ask our members.

YEAR 4: WHAT LIESAHEAD?SO then what is our next challenge, ournew frontier? Our battles with diseaseand insect pests will continue. Weanticipate weeds to emerge as a majorchallenge in our organic managementprogram. Annual bluegrass and broad-leaf weeds are beginning to encroachinto playing areas and roughs. Ourcurrent approach is to keep the weedsunder control through a hand-weedingprogram. However, we realize thatwithout a selective chemical means ofcontrol, this weed problem will evolveinto our next major challenge.

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We anticipate that weeds will become our next major challenge as the golf course continues tomature. We have implemented often labor-intensive. non-chemical means of weed control andcontinue to search for new alternative management options.

• This is predominately a walking golf course.

• Traffic is relatively low at less than 10,000 rounds annually.

• Less than I% of the grass on the property is annual bluegrass.

• There are few trees impacting any playingareas, and there are no plansfor future tree planting programs.

• The island climate is temperate.The temperature is rarely above 90degrees, and the wind almost always blows.

• Our members are very aware of the unique restrictions that have beenplaced on the course and have been steadfast in their support andenthusiasm for their course.

The Vineyard Golf Club

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?• This effort is a work in progress. Weanticipate that new challenges will arise,and programs and practices will evolveto meet those challenges.• The organic limitations force us to becreative and flexible and think outsidetraditional management parameters .• A proactive management style iscritical for success in an organic turfmanagement program .• More information about non-tradi-tional pest management is needed if weare going to remain successful in com-bating pest problems without traditionalpesticides .• Perception of pest damage oftenvaries widely between those whomanage the turf and the golfers. Wereceive very few complaints from thegolfers as long as green speed, surfacesmoothness, and good tight lies areprovided .• The turf manager and golfers alikemust adopt a different attitude whenworking in this new frontier .• Open communication with themembership and local community iscritical to success!

Before any evaluation of the organicmanagement program can be made,qualifiers that have made our programsa success must be acknowledged. Theunique location of the golf course pro-vides a temperate climate with frequentwind and moderate temperatures. The

facts that the golf course is new, providesgood grass-growing environments, iswell drained, and has minimal popula-tions of annual bluegrass are helpful. Wealso are very fortunate to have informedmembers who remain supportive of theprograms and who understand theunique challenges we face.

Looking back to 2001, I was not sureI would be here in five years to write astory about the organic managementprogram at The Vineyard Golf Club, orthat there would even be a course towrite about. By combining the latestproducts and research with an under-standing and informed membership,along with an extraordinarily dedicatedstaff, we have a golf course that every-one is proud of Last summer our staffreceived its greatest compliment whenone of our members told me he had aguest play 18 holes with him for thefirst time. Only after they had finishedthe round and were having lunch didthe member have to "remind" the guestthat he had just played an "all organic"golf course.

JEFF CARLSON,CGCS, a two-timenational winner qf the GCSAA ~ Environ-mental Leader in Golf Award, supervised theconstructionand grow-in and is the super-intendent qfThe Vineyard Golf Club.

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