Golfdom, April 2013

RESEARCH FOR REAL SUPERINTENDENTS Hosted by Clark Throssell Ph D clarkthrossell@ bresnan net Super Science GAMES GRASS OLYMPICS CHOOSES ZEON ZOYSIA FOR GOLF AT THE 2016 GAMES When golfers tee off in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Summer Olympics theyll be doing it on Zeon zoysiagrass Frank Rossi Ph D confirmed at this years Golf Industry Show Rossi an associate professor of horticulture at Cornell University is a consulting agronomist on the Olympics project Everything approaching the greens 88 percent of the grassed area will be Zeon zoysia he stated in a press release from Bladerunner Farms which bred the grass That means approximately 88 acres of the Olympics course will be Zeon zoysiagrass including tees fairways and roughs By choosing Zeon zoysiagrass which requires little maintenance and few inputs those involved say the selection committee showed its desire to have a sustainable golf course at these games the first to feature golf in more than 100 years It will be an example of sustainability and preservation of an environmentally protected area said the president of Rio 2016 Carlos Arthur Nuzman in the release Bladerunner Farms President David Doguet added The grass will create a world class playing surface for the Olympics and for many years to come SUSTAINED HIGH TEMPERATURES COUPLED WITH OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS OVERCOME THE PLANTS DEFENSES AND DECLINE BEGINS Erik H Ervin Ph D see full story on page 36 FUNGICIDES IMPACT OF STROBILURIN APPLICATIONS ON SEASONLONG TURFGRASS HEALTH By Brandon Horvath Ph D Four summer fungicide programs consisting of five applications on a 14 day interval were applied to a creeping bentgrass putting green in the transition zone Strobilurin fungicides pyraclostrobin azoxystrobin fluoxastrobin and trifloxystrobin were applied at the second and fifth spray interval while all other applications were held constant across treatments Measurements of visual quality spectral reflectance percent cover turfgrass rooting and disease severity were collected No treatments were statistically different in the first year and significant differences were not observed in the second year until 42 and 56 days after initial treatment when fungicide programs exhibited greater visual quality turfgrass cover and spectral reflectance than non treated control plots During the same time period fungicidetreated plots also Despite extensive root zone sampling season long applications of strobilurin fungicides result in differences that remain elusive showed reduced brown patch severity compared to the very active disease present in non treated control plots There were few significant differences among the strobilurin programs and the differences that were present were related to the various products abilities to control disease No other season long differences were observed for any of the other parameters measured other than those influenced by a products ability to control disease This research indicates that the plant health effects that are possible with this class of fungicides are transient and potentially short lived Contact Brandon Horvath Ph D assistant professor of turfgrass pathology at the University of Tennessee Knoxville at bhorvath@ utk edu for more information April 2013 Golfdom 35 Golfdom com PHOTO BY BRANDON HORVATH