A legacy of RESPECT

Sustaining and preserving the vitality of the land is of cultural importance to the Oneida Indian Nation, owners of Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, N.Y. Respect for the land dominates all operations of this central New York state property.

“To accomplish this goal, we’ve participated in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program from Day 1 on four of our golf courses,” says Matt Falvo, director of golf courses and grounds for the resort. “Three courses are Certified Bronze Audubon International Signature Sanctuaries, making Turning Stone one of only 74 properties in the world to achieve this status.”

Spread across 3,400 acres of rolling terrain, the property encompasses 72 holes of golf, as well as four hotels, a 125,000 square foot casino, a top-rated RV Park, a 1.2-mile walking trail and much more. Falvo oversees care and maintenance of all of the grounds, including landscaping along roadways and an indoor garden in the main lobby.

Though the casino opened its doors in 1993, the first golf course, Shenendoah, wasn’t completed until 2000. Designer Rick Smith created a wooded Scottish links-style course, incorporating the area’s natural landscape. Falvo arrived at the resort a year later, starting as assistant superintendent of Shenendoah.

Returning to Home Base

“I got my bachelor’s degree in turf management from SUNY Cobleskill and worked in Vermont for a few years before returning to my home base,” says Falvo, who grew up 12 miles from Turning Stone in Rome, N.Y. “So I was here for the grow-in of the other two 18-hole courses, Kaluhyat, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr., which opened in 2003, and Atunyote, a Tom Fazio design that opened in 2004.”

Falvo quickly worked his way up the ranks at Turning Stone. He became superintendent of Atunyote in 2006, then senior superintendent in 2008, overseeing all golf courses, including two nine-hole courses, and resort grounds. He earned his current title in 2010.

All three championship courses feature bentgrass greens, tees and fairways, and Kentucky bluegrass roughs. While Atunyote is a parkland-style course, both Shenendoah and Kaluhyat are links-style designs with 100 acres of naturalized fescue areas between them.

“Golfers love to stand on the tee box and look out to the naturalized areas,” Falvo says. “The contrast of the deep green bentgrass and the tan fescue blowing in the wind is a really beautiful look in mid-summer. Our goal is to grow the fescue up to about two feet without water, fertility or other inputs. But when our guests hit a ball into naturalized areas overgrown with weeds, they are not too happy.”

Switchgrass signals trouble

One grassy weed in particular gave Falvo and his crew fits – switchgrass. A perennial plant that can grow up to seven feet tall in a season, switchgrass is so thick that golf balls are easily lost in it. “We’ve had switchgrass as long as I can remember,” Falvo says. “I believe it was in the original seed blend planted in the naturalized areas. Until recently, we had no effective way of controlling it.”

In 2009, one of Falvo’s superintendents heard about a BASF product called Segment herbicide, a selective, postemergence product for use on grassy weeds without harming the turf. He tried it on a small area and it worked so well that Falvo and his team have been using it every year since then.

“Segment works great. We apply it mid-May to early June – whenever fescue is four to five inches high,” Falvo says. “We find that switchgrass grows at the same pace so it’s good to catch it early. We don’t want the weed growing so tall it’s over the spray booms. Segment is the only product I’m aware of that will control switchgrass without injuring the desirable grass or plants.”

In addition, Segment conforms to the strict environmental standards required by the Audubon Program. The product has a caution label, the lowest toxicity rating for a pesticide. Since only 40 acres of the naturalized fescue areas come into play on the two courses, Falvo and his crew limit their use of Segment to those acres.

Excellent tool for naturalized areas

“We like to create areas of pure fescue where golfers can stand and still see their feet,” Falvo adds. “Segment allows us to do that – it’s an excellent tool for use in maintaining our naturalized areas.”

Falvo also uses Segment to control grassy weeds in wildflowers planted along the roadside leading into the resort. “We have a mile-and-a-half long winding drive planted with perennial wildflowers,” he says. “Within a month after the flowers come up each spring, they are overgrown with weeds. We spray Segment as soon as we see four inches of weed growth. It works like a charm and doesn’t affect the flowers.”

Turning Stone has a maintenance team of 100 employees during peak season, but, not surprisingly, the crew dwindles during the off-season. “We typically close on Nov. 1 and turn our attention to snow removal,” Falvo says. “It’s a good break from golf. I actually like to see that first snowflake fall, but within two months, I’m ready to get back to golf.”

To comply with Audubon Program, Turning Stone prepares an annual report each year, detailing how the courses incorporate reusable resources into everyday practices. It specifies how they control waste products, reduce pollution and promote sustainability of the land, as well as outline goals such as community outreach.

As CEO Ray Halbritter says, “At Tuning Stone, we pride ourselves on maintaining the natural beauty of the courses; it plays an important role in creating the ultimate golf experience, which our team works extremely hard to achieve.”