Greg Evans: Wuthering Heights

You'll notice a few new things at Turfhugger in the coming weeks, including a new layout, tools, additional pages and some fresh faces. Our new contributors allow us to provide readers with material from around the world, with interesting perspectives on sustainability in golf. 


One of our newest contributors Greg Evans (Master Greenkeeper at Ealing Golf Club and Consultant at Greg Evans Golf Course Solutions) is a perfect fit for Turfhugger. Residing in London England, Greg has been pushing the limits of turfgrass and mindsets with some controversial maintenance plans. 


Now I've been lead to believe low mowing heights = more resources, Greg however has demonstrated otherwise. For his first post we're going to re-post a Q & A from The Golf Superintendents Association of Ireland's publication Greenside where Greg responds to criticism about his methods and clarifies his reasoning. If you have any questions please use the comment form at the end of this post. 


Welcome to Turfhugger Greg, I'm sure our readers will find your material fresh and thought provoking.

Wuthering Heights

Over the past eight years, Greg Evans has devised course maintenance plans for different golf courses that allow greens to be cut as low as 2 millimeters, yet remain sustainable. Evans’ methods initially encountered a surprising amount of opposition from certain quarters in the greenkeeping profession. Some worried that the greens would die, while others thought that Evans was upping the stakes too much, putting pressure on other greenkeepers to follow suit.


Evans firmly believes that his approach is beneficial to both the grass plant and the industry in general. Some of the most respected heavyweights in the golfing world seem to agree. One is Peter McEvoy OBE who wrote recently in the English Club Golfer magazine that Greg’s greens at Ealing Golf Club has: “the best greens that I have ever putted on in the UK, bar none.” Another is Luke Goddard, a former English Amateur Champion and Walker Cup Player whose commendation goes even further: “I’ve been lucky enough to play all around the world over the last few years and these greens are as good as I’ve putted anywhere.” Greenside invited Greg to address some of the questions raised by fellow greenkeepers during the debate and, in particular, to address how he has managed to keep greens sustainable when the height of cut is reduced. 

Part 2: The Quest for a "Zero Waste" Golf Course

This is a follow up to The Quest for a "Zero Waste" Golf Course interview I did with Josh Heptig about a month ago. This time around we start to get in to some of the financials and the nitty gritty.

Turfhugger: What is your return on investment?

Josh Heptig: Luckily in our situation we do not have any out of pocket expenses other than some of our staff's time. Our compost vessels were granted to us via Integrated Waste Management Authority (our local waste management organization), much of the lumber for the infrastructure was donated by Hayward Lumber (local lumber yard), the worm bins and volunteer labor have been donated by Environmental Protection Associates Inc. (EPA Inc., the non-profit we are collaborating with) and Eco-Rotary International (a non-profit charitable organization in the US), and the current tea brewer is owned by Nyha Roots (one of our partners). 

The rest of the costs ~ $5,000 will be captured by a grant from the Morro Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP). We are not actually sure how much cost will be saved at this point because there really is not any data relating to actual composting or tea brewing available with quantifiable results. Our hope is to provide those figures by working in conjunction with California Polytechnic University's Horticulture Department. We anticipate the total costs to getting our facility operational to be around $27,000 with labor, grants, and hard costs. 

Currently we are spending $0 for water as we have an agreement with a local prison to use their tertiarily treated waste water and we pay the pumping costs to the tune of $70,000 annually. If we can save 10% of the energy costs for pumping the water alone the ROI would be 3.8 years. That's not including potential fertility and pesticide reductions. So a course paying for water and pumping would have an even quicker pay back.

NAFTA gives the SHAFTA, but to whom?

Canadian Municipal and Provincial governments can continue to restrict cosmetic uses of pesticides on lawns as Quebec and Dow AgroSciences settle a $2-million US lawsuit stemming from Quebec’s 2006 ban of the pesticide 2,4-D.

Although both claim victory, pesticide bans can still take place, the only change is that you can't say why. Basically governments have to say "2, 4-D is safe when used according to the product label directions" but government concern over public's ability to apply such products can influence a cosmetic ban for use on lawns.

This doesn't really effect golf courses because of the exemption (here) unless you consider that the public perception is now "can't use on my lawn" + "used on golf courses" = "golf courses are toxic". 

Official industry response by GolfCanada? Go here to learn how they educate golfers. It seems it falls in the hands of superintendents and their associations, sorry guys. To learn more about the exemption tool go here. To learn about the CGSA's Environmental Policies and Positions, go here.

The Canadian provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have banned 2, 4-D's use on lawns and Alberta has banned it in pesticide-herbicide mixes. British Columbia and Manitoba are considering provincial bans, although municipalities are already creating bans on their own.

As far as coverage of the settlement and all the details, I've collected a variety of sources... pick your poison... haha, just kidding Dow. 

• Environmentalists, chemical company claim victory in NAFTA fight over Quebec ban The Canadian Press
• Editorial Comment: The Problem With the Anti-Pesticide Movement
• Canada Welcomes Agreement with Dow AgroSciences ISRIA (registration)
• Environmentalists, chemical company claim victory in NAFTA fight over Quebec ban CKFR
• Globe and Mail - Deal confirms government's right to ban 'cosmetic' pesticides, minister says
• NAFTA dispute over Quebec 2,4-D ban settled Manitoba Co-operator
• Canada Welcomes Agreement with Dow AgroSciences MMD Newswire (press release)
• Dow AgroSciences, Canada settle NAFTA 2,4-D challenge AgraNet (subscription)
• BUSINESS IN BRIEF
• Quebec backs down on 2,4-D, says it is not harmful to humans
• Terence Corcoran: The dandelion is the official flower of statism

Compare Products to Lower the Environmental Impact of your IPM program

In this guest post by Luke Paddle, see a brief profile at bottom of page, we see how Field Use EIQ of commonly used active ingredients clearly identifies the more benign products. Luke argues that this should be included in to our IPM decision making. 

Are we really making informed decisions?

As managers, it is our job to make decisions. To do our job well we need to make informed and defensible decisions. We rely on pesticides as a key tool in our IPM programs, but how informed and defensible are the decisions we make about which products we choose to use? Efficacy and cost have historically been our most significant considerations, but if the general public is most concerned with environmental impact even when products are used properly, then shouldn't we give greater consideration to it in our decision making?

Ontario Cosmetic Pesticide Ban: Golf Exemption Explained

A little over a year ago I wrote an article for Flagstick Golf Magazine, It was an extremely brief summary of what golf courses are expected to comply with to gain an exemption from a province wide ban on cosmetic pesticides. It had received a lot of attention at the time, but I've never posted it here on Turfhugger. I'm doing so now because I figured it'll help Turfhugger readers understand just one possibility of how a pesticide ban might look in your neck of the woods. It'll also serve to frame the reality of pesticide use in Ontario, which is where tomorrows guest author is from. Enjoy.


The Province of Ontario initiated a cosmetic pesticide ban (Ontario Regulation 63/09) meant to eliminate unnecessary use and potential threats to the environment. The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) method of preventing pests and applying the appropriate control measures helps superintendents reduce pest pressures and active ingredients in chemical controls.

There are two parts to the ban that any golf course must abide by in order to continue to use products under the ban. These include the parameters of the IPM Accreditation exemption tool for golf courses, and additional provincial requirements of the ban.

Design and Create an IPM Plan for Turf

The University of Arizona Annual Spring Turfgrass Seminar - Design and Create an IPM Plan for Turf" will help identify key turf pests and weeds, set goals for an integrated pest management plan, and then ultimately give each participant a start to create a personalized IPM plan for their turf. Originally designed by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, an IPM plan should be the foundation for baseball and football fields, recreational turf, and landscapes.

This is traditionally an excellent program.

Andrew Greess
Golf Course Sprayer Expert

Another look at Civitas

About a year ago I introduced Turfhugger readers to Reinie Drygala, Manager of Lawncare Products at Petro-Canada in a post called What is Civitas? That post went on to be viewed by 628 people in 13 countries! I decided to re-connect with Reinie to see how things have been going, include a few product testimonials and a few links from Turf Disease Blog.

The Sprayer That Came in From the Cold

It's cold! So we've decided to discuss the issue of freeze damage as it relates to golf course spray equipment.

We are continually surprised by the number of equipment managers & superintendents reporting freeze damage, even though this problem is totally avoidable.

A couple of general comments to begin with:

1. Freeze damage affects both manual (hand sprayers, backpack sprayers) and power sprayers.

A Sustainable Golf Course - A 2010 Update

A Sustainable Golf Course 2010 Update:
Last week I posted on how we have worked to make Northland Country Club a sustainable golf course. The post was written and posted on my blog last winter and I wanted to go through each item and give an update on what we learned this season, what worked and what we may have had to change.

Consider Going "Blue" in Your Effort to Go "Green"

The resurgence of Dwarf Kentucky Bluegrass as an alternative to Creeping Bentgrass on golf course tees and fairways has received a great deal of attention over the last half decade. Newer varieties of Kentucky Bluegrass can withstand a much lower height of cut than their predecessors; Kentucky Bluegrass is a much less intensively managed turf species than Creeping Bent; and its ability to resist common turf diseases such as dollar spot, necrotic ring spot, fusarium and anthracnose is the bow that ties this neat little package all together.

Colony Collapse Disorder, is Imidacloprid the Culprit?

Image by Lela Dowling

To the average “Joe” bees are more of annoyance then vital link in the food chain. Without the honey bee one third of the food produced would be in jeopardy. Bees are trucked around the countryside to farms and orchards to accomplish pollination on a mammoth scale.

These important insects are fast becoming in major peril due to what scientist are calling Colony Collapse Disorder or CCD.

"Use of biological products growing among turf pros"

Golf Course Industry Magazine, among many others, recently released a review of a Lebanon Turf Surevy and the Use of biological products growing among turf pros. Awesome.
This is exactly the kind of info our industry needs to spread around and be proud of.
From the Golf Course Industry Magazine article:

"According to survey respondents, 51 percent currently use biological products as part of their normal turf fertility program; 45 percent said they expect to increase their use of biologicals in the next two years.
Sixty-six percent use biologicals as a complement to traditional fertilizer products, while 31 percent said they are experimenting with these types of products. Less than 1 percent said they use biologicals exclusively.
“The research confirms the momentum building for bionutrional products and the growing belief in their benefits,” said Dave Heegard, general manager of LebanonTurf.
Ninety percent of respondents said they consider biological products either essential (30 percent) or moderately important (60 percent) to their fertility programs.
In addition to improved plant health and appearance (53 percent) and environmental friendliness (35 percent), 12 percent indicated “cost-effectiveness when compared to traditional fertilizers” as an “important” benefit of bionutrition.
Tees and greens are the areas where most biological products are being applied, although 21 percent said they also use biologicals on fairways.
Ninety-five percent of those responding said they were either very satisfied (31 percent) or mostly satisfied (64 percent) with the results they achieved with biological products."

Golf Course Industry Magazine : Sampling Success

Golf Course Industry Magazine : Sampling Success article discusses the many benefits (economic, conditions, environmental) of tissue and soil sampling.

From the article:

There has been no shortage of news about environmental contamination. It seems with each passing election cycle, public opinion shifts further toward restrictive policies. There is a common misconception that the golf course industry is a heavy polluter of the environment. However, the fact is the golf industry has long been a champion of the responsible use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Environmental BMP on Golf Courses

Created by The Alabama Department of Environmental Management, with help from Auburn University and financial assistance from the EPA, this two part video series discusses Best Management Practices on golf courses. It's a great overview, basic, but informative.

What is Civitas?

I heard some buzz about Civitas quite a while ago, then a few Toronto area clients of mine started trials and were quite happy with the results. Civitas is not like chemical fungicides, instead of the sole focus being to kill the disease spores Civitas instead aims to activate the grasses natural defenses, thus giving the disease nothing to feed upon and will eventually die. Impressed by the results and the information on their website, primarily this video and trial results from the University of Guelph, I contacted Reinie Drygala Manager of Lawncare Products at Petro-Canada to learn more.

Simple Tips to Increase Efficacy

Trying to get the biggest bang for your buck is the name of the game these days with a suffering economy and rock bottom budgets. When laying out your budget for the next year, chemicals can top the list as being one of the more expensive line items. It is important to get your money’s worth each time you go out to control pests. There are a few tips that I stand by when applying high dollar fungicides and long-term insect control. Knowledge is the key. Knowing the target, knowing your product, and knowing proper application procedures.

Knowing the target is key when control is needed. So many people rely on calendar applications, which are not very accurate. Every year brings different conditions so relying on a calendar application can result in money lost because your timing was off.

Using a prediction model can adjust your timing to the development of your insects or bring your attention to leaf wetness period to plan your prevention of disease. Knowing the life cycle of your target can help you plan your preventative application so your not reacting too late in their development. Knowing how a disease or insects attack the plant is very important as well. I have heard of application that were made for root infecting diseases but were not watered in properly. Simple oversights can cost a lot of money in application and only get a small percentage of control.
Knowing your product is very important. When you try a new chemistry or use a trusted product it is important you are getting the most out of your application. Remember the chemical companies spend millions of dollars testing and registering these chemicals for our use. The testing is definitely in a controlled environment, which we do not have. That is one variable you cannot avoid. Reading the label reveals important information that may be overlooked. Things that people take for granted are, proper application rate, recommended pH of the solution to avoid breakdown and mode of action. This is important information when planning your application. Have you checked the pH of the water you are using to fill your tank? Can you apply with proper dilution? These are all questions that you should be asking yourself when planning out your spray schedule.
The last thing to complete before you load up your tank with an expensive application that you may rely on for extended periods of control is proper calibration. I make sure I calibrate before every application. The first thing that I make sure I have is proper nozzle selection. Nozzles are like different size wrenches for a mechanic. Each one does a different job and not one can do the job of the other. I have a set of nozzles for high volume applications like fungicides, a set for foliar applications. Applying the product according to the proper dilution can make the efficacy much better. When the label recommends 2gal per thousand square feet then applying it at 1 gal per thousand will reduce your efficacy by a good percentage.
Next time you go out to spray your three thousand dollar application that you will trust to have great control for the whole season make sure since you are relying on one spray application that all the variables that you are able to control are spot on. Next time you talk to your neighbor and he is complaining about breakthrough from his application it might behoove you to ask a couple simple questions to get to the root of the problem. Application timing, application rate and proper dilution would be my first questions. You would be surprised at how little things can make a big difference. Taking the time to make sure you applying your chemicals properly can save you time and money.

One Million Acts of Green

When the CBC and the Suzuki foundation envisioned one million acts of green I doubt they immediately thought of the golf industry as potential contributors. However, as an industry so intertwined with the environment I suggest we are perfectly poised to make a huge contribution to “Green programs”. The following is just a summarized list of actions we can take to reduce our impact on the environment and reduce green house gasses:

1. Pick up one piece of garbage per employee per day
We have a course policy, if you drive by it you might as well have thrown it! We also offer rewards for staff seen going out of their way picking up garbage. The program is catchy and affects their personal life. I know I cannot walk by a piece of garbage with stopping to pick it up.

2. Pesticide reduction
It is our goal to review our pesticide applications and make at least one less application per year. The money saved can be applied to other cultural programs like manual weed control, pest scouting, topdressing and overseeding with improved varieties.

3. Natural areas
In 2010 we plan to eliminate 50% of the fertilizer in the rough. We will achieve this by identifying “in play/out of play rough”

4. Greens space/Wild life preservation
Golf courses are often the largest greens spaces in the urban environment. Our course is home to over a dozen species of birds including a family of eagles, deer, rabbits, native and rare plants including owl clover.

5. Green your community as an outreach program…be the local expert
Speak to the public, industry and schools as often as you can. Offer school tours to view special projects. For example we had a bird tagging event where we invited a local school to assist.

6. Solar panels on the roofs of our buildings
Most golf courses have large building offering great potential for power generation.

7. Create and manage community compost centers
We collect all our cores, clippings, plant material and compost to be added to our rough topdressing program. We have expanded this program to allow members and staff to add their plant material to our compost.

8. Car pool
Reward staff for car pooling or biking to work.

9. Reduce maintenance
In 2009 we reduced rough mowing, fairway mowing and bunker maintenance by 50% with no complaints from our member. This has dramatically reduced our fuel consumption, wear and tear on the golf course and the equipment.

10. Paperless meetings
I have gone paperless for all or meetings, staff training and daily work assignments. Meetings are organized and presented on screen with PowerPoint; employee manuals and standard operation procedures are posted online; and the staff daily tasks and record is emailed to each staff daily and posted on the staff television in the morning at the start of the shift.

These are just the acts of green, lets here from you…

Perception Vs. Reality

Greetings from the rock! No not Newfoundland, the other rock, Vancouver Island. With population exceeding 750,000, Vancouver Island stretches 453 kilometers southeast to northwest along the western coast of British Columbia. The largest city on Vancouver Island and capital of British Columbia is Victoria famous for its mild weather, castles, incredible coastlines and Canada’s oldest golf course, the Victoria golf club.


Who am I and what is my background?

My name is Paul Robertson and I have been a golf course superintendent for twenty years, ten at the Victoria golf club (VGC). I have a two year diploma in Turfgrass Management, a degree in Horticulture and I am currently completing my MBA in Project Management.




How is this blog going to work? I will be writing a weekly blog on the highs and lows of Turfgrass management, or as we like to call it, "Professional Turfhugger". I will post a subject, provide my opinion, then invite you to debate and discuss your ideas. So grab a cup of coffee, your morning muffin and take 5 minutes to increase your web presence while broadening the views of Turfhuggers around the world!

This weeks topic: Perceptions Vs. Reality…
Only a chosen few hear the call to Turfgrass management. This leaves many people looking in on our industry speculating, guessing and often misunderstanding the science and art required to maintain public turf spaces. For this week’s blog I would like to discuss the perceptions versus reality of pesticide use in your area.

Municipalities in greater Victoria are in various stages of pesticide prohibition. VGC is located in the municipality of Oak Bay. I recently met with interests groups and Oak Bay officials to discuss the first draft of a pesticide restriction bylaw. The draft bylaw proposes to ban all non-essential, cosmetic application of pesticides. By the end of the meeting, it was clear that much of the fervor over pesticides is a case of perception versus reality.
Here are a few to discuss:

Perception – Golf courses and agriculture are the biggest user of pesticides in Canada.
Reality - Pesticides applied to homes and home lawns account for as much as 80% of all pesticides sold in Canada…

Perception – If we cannot prove that pesticides are the source of introduced chemicals in our environment, we should apply the “precautionary principal”.
Reality – The precautionary principal blindly protects us from suspected risks. It argues that we should refrain from anything which is not clearly understood, with no definable risks, or a risk so small it may outweigh the potential benefits.

Perception – The number one killer in the world is cancer.
Reality - The biggest killer in the world is only referred to by an innocuous code name “Z59.5” in the International Classification of Disease Handbook and accounts for more deaths world-wide than any other single factor…'Extreme poverty induced lack of food'. Z59.5 kills more people than cancer, heart disease, infection and accidental deaths combined!

Perception – By eliminating all pesticides will eliminate our exposure to harmful chemicals.
Reality – Some of our most harmful and easily absorbed chemical are a result of intentional exposure to active ingredients in our day to day personal hygiene products (athlete’s foot products, deodorant, dandruff shampoo, cosmetics).

Take a moment to consider the dichotomy of pesticides in our environment. Reply with additional perceptions vs. reality or comment on my posting. Let’s see where we can take this subject.

In closing, each week I would like to leave you with an unknown or overlooked benefit of turfgrass in our environment: 2,500 square feet of lawn absorbs enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and releases enough oxygen to support a family of four.