Mike Kenna, Ph.D., recaps a study determining best practices for protecting golf course ponds
Golf course superintendents know that consistent, quality playing conditions require input. Labor input for mowing and other maintenance tasks is number one, but there are chemical inputs for nearly all golf courses. These include using fertilizers to maintain healthy turfgrass growth and pesticides to protect turf from damage caused by weeds, diseases and insects.
In the late 1980s, environmental protection advocates asked, “What happens to nutrients after fertilizers are applied? To what extent can these nutrients be transported to groundwater or surface waters, and what are the ecological effects? What can be done to minimize this risk?”
For two decades, from 1990 to 2010, the USGA funded research to quantify the fate and transport of nutrients and pesticides applied to turfgrass. Toward the end of the research support, the focus turned toward evaluating the adverse ecological effects (e.g., eutrophication) when nutrients are transported from the application site. The two nutrients receiving attention in this regard are nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), and much was learned about how to effectively limit the risk of these nutrients finding their way to ground and surface water.
Several studies involving a range of scales, from small-plot research to entire watersheds, yielded important results that minimize the extent to which applied pesticides and nutrients run into surface waters. The following best management practices are a direct result of those studies.
- Schedule fertilizer applications to avoid rainstorms.
- Do not apply fertilizer on dormant turf or too early or late in the growing season.
- Phosphorous-containing fertilizers should be applied in small amounts based on soil-test recommendations.
- Controlled-release products can reduce nitrogen leaching and runoff.
- Established turfgrass requires lower fertilization requirements than newer turf.
- Use vegetative buffer strips around surface water.
The research information was great but needed to be put into practice with documentation. Years later, the GCSAA implemented the Best Management Practices: A Guide for Environmental Stewardship. Best management practices (BMPs) offer guidelines for superintendents to manage their facilities efficiently and environmentally sustainable. BMP manuals for all 50 states document the science-based practices and professional course management many people need to see. While superintendents spearhead BMP efforts, the use of BMPs benefits everyone in the community that a golf course serves.
References
Nus, Jeff, and Kenna, Mike. 2011. Reviewing USGA-Funded Research: Nutrient Fate and Transport. Turfgrass and Environmental Research Online. Volume 10, Number 21 November 1, 2011, n21.pdf (msu.edu)
Golf Course Superintendent Association of America. Best Management Practices | GCSAA
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