Golfdom, October 2011

22 Golfdom October 2011 PHOTO COURTESY CHRIS TRITABAUGH REBUT TAL A C CU S A T I O N 1 A C C U SA T IO N 3 CHRIS TRITABAUGH is in his fifth year as superintendent at Northland Country Club a Donald Ross layout nationally regarded as a top 100 classic golf course and in the top five of Minnesota golf courses Tritabaugh says that in his five years at the course the entity that polices his use of pesticides the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has never visited to check on his spraying records or to see if those who apply the chemicals are licensed they are But if the MDA did visit itd like what it saw At Northland inquiring minds would discover that Tritabaugh has drastically reduced the amount of pesticides he uses especially on the fairways where he has not made an application in three years The cool northern Minnesota nights help keep disease pressure low yet Tritabaugh still pushes the envelope by not applying pesticides I want to see how far we can go Tritabaugh said and Ive taken it right to the edge Tritabaugh also notes that at most golf courses the person making the decision about the use of chemicals is formally educated in the field Tritabaugh said that if the MDA monitored golf courses more frequently it would probably help the image of the industry and add credence to that fact that superintendents are stewards of the environment and that courses do not have the perceived detrimental impact It could maybe maybe put to rest the misunderstandings about golf courses he said We could say rather than take a look at our records here is what the MDA audits show Minnesota only regulates restricted use chemicals and the definition is less stringent than other states Many of the pesticides that golf courses apply do not fall under the restricted use definition For the past few years Tritabaugh had not been putting down chemicals that fell under that umbrella This year an ant problem has forced his hand to add one such pesticide That doesnt mean Tritabaugh or any other superintendent can purchase restricted use pesticides at will In order for a person to buy them a proper permit has to be presented Tritabaugh said the MDA may not visit golf courses regularly because they have other priorities They have so much effort they have to put into agriculture they look at us as a small part of what they regulate Tritabaugh said According to the MDA in 2007 the most recent year for which there are records Minnesota had 19267018 acres of harvested cropland The Minnesota Golf Association said that there are just shy of 600 golf courses in the state including ninehole facilities Turf on Trial TH E DEFE NSE CALLS TO THE STAND