The Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG) has introduced a planning guide for golf facilities to implement and document integrated pest management (IPM) plans to enhance the playability and sustainability of the golf course.
An IPM plan is a written, comprehensive document that contains the strategies and tactics to manage pests on the golf course. The plan relies on common sense practices in which monitoring is utilized, pests are positively identified, damage thresholds are established, all possible control options, including pesticides, are considered and appropriate controls are implemented.
The adoption of IPM-based decision making will enhance turfgrass performance; optimize pesticide applications and promote efficiency; and improve the golf facility's bottom line. The IPM Planning Guide is a tool in Golf's Drive Toward Sustainability and will guide golf facilities in developing, documenting, implementing, assessing and periodically improving IPM plans.
The EIFG, which is the philanthropic organization of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), is providing the IPM Planning Guide on its website, www.eifg.org. A set of templates (written procedures, pest identification guides, agronomic guidelines and other reference materials, spreadsheets, record keeping forms and planning calendars) are also included that will guide golf facilities toward development and implementation of IPM plans that meet facility environmental, agronomic and budgetary goals. IPM case studies are posted on eifg.org as well, along with best management practices, and findings from the GCSAA Golf Course Environmental Profile.
"In data from the Golf Course Environmental Profile's pesticide survey that we will soon release, we found that while most golf facilities are practicing IPM to some degree, only 40 percent of golf facilities have a written IPM plan," said GCSAA Director of Research Clark Throssell, Ph.D. "The intent of this IPM Planning Guide is to help golf facilities document their IPM work, which will improve their environmental stewardship and help them drive business."
The IPM Planning Guide was developed by leading scientists in the industry and provides a comprehensive, yet easy to use, tool designed to be applicable in all areas of the country. The principal investigators in the creation of the IPM Planning Guide are:
• Rick Brandenburg, Ph.D., GCSAA member, Extension Entomology Specialist, North Carolina State University
• Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D., Principal PACE Turf Research Institute
• Dave Kopec, Ph.D., Extension Turfgrass Specialist, Plant Sciences Department, University of Arizona
• Larry Stowell, Ph.D., Principal PACE Turf Research Institute
• Kai Umeda, M.S., GCSAA member, Area Extension Agent Turfgrass Science, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension
• Fred Yelverton, Ph.D., GCSAA member, Extension Weed Specialist, North Carolina State University
By learning and knowing the identity and lifecycles of weed, disease, and insect pests, and by integrating this information with site-specific agronomic (soil, water and weather data) and financial data, golf facilities can generate proactive IPM plans that document progress toward goals.
"Our hope is that with the help of the IPM Planning Guide golf facilities can improve course conditions, reduce environmental impacts and improve profits," Throssell said. "Additional benefits from a written IPM plan include the documentation of goals that can help facilities meet expectations of golfers and a platform to promote positive land use through professional management."
Effective IPM plans are comprehensive in scope, integrating agronomic and biological principles as well as cultural, biological and chemical pest control practices. They provide proven, science-driven and reliable methods for resolving the sometimes conflicting goals that golf facilities face – producing consistently high quality, high playability turfgrass while at the same time reducing environmental impacts and keeping within budget constraints.
