Battlefield turf

You sit back on your mower contentedly, eyeing the pristine playing surface that spreads before you like an early summer sea of emerald green. Then it happens: insect pests appear, animals start ripping up turf to get at the larvae and the annual battle to control damage to your carefully-managed course begins in earnest.

Even the best laid preventative plans sometimes can go astray or simply be overwhelmed by insidious pest problems, such as grubs and weevils. Chemical applications and best practice natural control methods can go a long way in preventing serious outbreaks. But what do you do when outbreaks take place despite all your hard work?

Eileen Amber Buss, assistant professor of turfgrass entomology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, suggests curative insecticides for outbreaks of grubs and billbug larvae on golf courses.
“Arena (clothianidin) is comparable in curative control to Dylox but is slower-acting,” she advises. “You need to apply at least 0.3 pounds of active ingredient per acre against second instars between August to September.”

Sevin (carbaryl), Talstar (bifenthrin) and Aloft (bifenthrin and clothianidin) can also be applied in curative applications, the latter at the 14.4 fluid ounces per acre rate.

“Adult billbugs also need to be curatively controlled and they may cause more damage than their larvae do,” says Buss. “Using pyrethoroids, such as Talstar and Scimitar, usually works against the adults.”
Traditionally, the heart of grub country is the Midwest and the Northeast, although pests do appear with some frequency in other parts of the country. Ataenius occur in Northern California courses, Texas superintendents battle May and June beetles, and the Southeast can also have severe outbreaks of grubs.

Damage from insect pests can be quite severe and difficult to manage once an outbreak occurs, simply because the infestation can be so widespread. The pests can show up anywhere on a course, including the rough, which must be treated to prevent damage from animals and birds digging into the turf in search of an easy meal. Fortunately, normal turfgrass can withstand quite a bit of grub infestation if it is receiving adequate moisture. However, once high summer sets in and conditions tend to dry out the problem is most dangerous. Turf becomes stressed just when the grub population is launching its second and third instars.

“Grubs have been a problem here,” said James Houchen, superintendent at Sand Creek Station Golf Course in Newton, Kan. “When using Merit we would normally see some damage in late August. This past year with Acelepyrn use, damage was very minimal. To address severe outbreaks I have used Dylox. We had a break through two seasons in a row with the Merit and had to use Dylox.”

“I am going to use Acelepryn again this year. I felt we had better results with this product and it controls the BTA as well for us. We did have some break through last year with the Acelepyrn at the 8-ounce rate, so this year I am going to apply at 10-ounce rate to see if better control is achieved,” he adds. “This will be an added expense. However, if successful, we shouldn’t have to purchase any Dylox and will come out about the same.”

Tony Campanella, superintendent at Hampshire Country Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., is diligent in guarding his course against outbreaks of pests. He and his crew apply Merit between mid-June and Aug. 1, hitting what he calls “hot spots” where he has seen activity in the past.

Jorge Morales, superintendent at Alta Vista Country Club in Placentia, Calif., watches for key signs to take action.

“It has been a manageable problem and we only concentrate on the greens and approaches,” he says. “Generally, if the activity is out of control, crows start to pick and it creates surface damage and that is when we react to the problem.”

“If the problem persists, we follow-up with contact insecticides,” he adds. “We use products like Dursban at a rate of 1.5 ounces per M, followed by deep irrigation until the target area is reached. In this case, we actively monitor the areas to measure success.”

Mike Papineau, superintendent at the Eisenhower Golf Course in Crownsville, Md. says his main concern has been with annual bluegrass weevils. The adults winter at the edge of wooded areas of his course and lay underneath beds of leaves and pine needles. In the spring, they “march out” and move toward desired turfgrass areas.

“We try to keep these areas clean of debris and take away their desired resting spot,” says Papineau. “Also, we installed bug traps in the soil between the turf areas and their winter spot. We were able to track and collect data on the adult movement with the traps and better plan our spray applications. Last season, we used Aloft and had huge success. The weevils have been an issue the past four seasons. But last season we had excellent control of the pest, which I attribute to a better combination of product, application timing and overall cultural practices.”

To address severe outbreaks, Papineau has applied pyrethoroids to affected areas.

“They target the adults and help but there are many life stages and you need to be aware the pest population is constantly evolving. You need to keep yourself educated,” he says.

For Graham Kornmeyer, superintendent at The National Golf Club of Louisiana in Westlake, La., grubs have been a minor problem.

“We don’t have a problem with weevils in southwest Louisiana and we only treat for grubs if they damage turf beyond acceptable levels,” says Kornmeyer. “If grubs exceed the economic threshold, our plan is to apply Acelepryn insecticide. It’s classified as a reduced-risk insecticide by the EPA and works as a preventative and curative insecticide, depending on what time of year it is applied and controls every white grub species.”

But white grubs haven’t done enough damage to really be targeted on his course, he says. “The main insect problems we deal with are imported fire ants, mole crickets and army worms. ”

If severe outbreaks of army worms, fire ants or mole crickets occur, Kornmeyer attacks them with broadcast applications of insecticides with a fipronil-based product, such as Topchoice.

Dustin Riley, superintendent at Oconomowoc Golf Club in Oconomowoc, Wis. takes a pragmatic approach to the issue of pest outbreaks during the summer months.

“For years, Japanese beetles have attacked much of the surrounding area but avoided this golf course,” he says. “Then the beetles discovered the golf course approximately five years ago. At that time, I attempted to manage the grub activity by monitoring and treating only the areas that were developing a history of activity. Unfortunately, this strategy failed and the majority of the golf course came ‘under attack’ by Japanese beetles.”

The resulting hatch produced a white grub population that fed on turfgrass roots and became a favorite night time meal for local wildlife. Wild turkeys, skunks, opossums, and raccoons took joy in pulling back turf to feed on the beetles. The damage was extensive and stomach-turning.

“I addressed the severe outbreaks two ways,” Riley says. “First, most of the visual damage to the turf is caused by the animals feeding on the grubs. By using live animal traps and positioning them near the wooded areas surrounding the infested turf, I was able to capture and remove many animals. In most cases, the removal of a single animal actually stopped the damage in that particular area. Secondly, all key areas were treated with Dylox insecticide in order to kill the feeding grubs. Unfortunately, dealing with a severe outbreak will cost more money to chemically treat than it would have if treated preventatively.”

Greg Pattinson, superintendent at The Captain’s Club at Woodfield in Grand Blanc, Mich. reports he has had to treat areas for grubs when they surpassed his threshold for acceptance. Again, much of the damage to his course’s turf is done by animals hunting the larvae of insects.

“Our main problem is with skunks and other animals that will come out at night and rip up the turf looking for grubs,” he says. “That is usually our first indicator that we have a problem and are the main areas that we will treat with a curative product. We also will hire a company to come and trap the animals as well. This is a good control that should be used, because the threshold for damage to the turf may not be to the point where the plants are being damaged by the grubs. After trapping the animals we may not have to use an insecticide.”

He has treated his course curatively with products such as Sevin.

“We water in the product and keep a close eye to see that the threshold has reduced enough to not require an additional treatment.”

Tim Nielson may be the newly-arrived superintendent at The Golf Club Creekmoor in Raymore, Mo., but he recognizes that he has to choose his battles against summer insects.

“As far as I know, there aren’t weevil problems in Kansas City. Maybe I’m lucky and have never had to deal with them. Grubs, on the other hand, are a whole other story,” says Nielson. “We battle grubs just about everywhere you can imagine. Depending on the amount of money there is to spend, I have areas that take priority. If it’s the zoysia tees or fairways I treat them no matter what. It’s just too expensive not to. Treating 40 acres of zoysia is a lot cheaper than having to re-sod the affected areas and lose the business that dead fairways cause.”

Nielson did not treat greens at his former course, Drumm Hill Golf Club in Independence, Mo., until a few years ago.

“I didn’t have a lot of damage but I figured it would only get worse if I didn’t,” says Nielson. “As for the rough, I prioritize with the greens banks first, bunker slopes second and everything else third. Grub damage in the rough typically recovers well by the following spring but overseeding the damaged areas certainly helps.”

He uses Merit in the rough and fairways and Aloft or Acelypryn on greens.

“One other control measure I use is trapping the raccoons that cause the majority of the damage by ripping up the turf,” says Nielson. “Particularly in the cool season rough, it seems raccoons that tear up the turf cause more damage in the long-term than simply having grubs eating at the roots.”

Taking annual preventative measures to control summertime insect pests is a must. Superintendents also need to be constantly aware of any inroads pests have made to a course’s turf despite their best intentions and then act quickly to minimize damage.

BATTLE TESTED
Eileen Amber Buss, assistant professor of turfgrass entomology at the University of Florida, offers some easily-performed tips to help superintendents in their battle against insect pests.

Monitor scarab adult flight activity. “The weather differs every year, so it’s hard to accurately predict when adults will become active and begin laying eggs. Know which species are a problem before doing anything extreme. Keep an eye on the scarab beetles that fly to lights left on at night, or that might be walking around on the turf first thing in the morning. Green June beetles and flower beetles are active during the day and are attracted to floral lures. It’s easy to identify most scarabs to genus if you have some pictures to check against.”

Monitor adult billbug activity. “Adult hunting billbugs can be easily observed walking on the soil surface about an hour after sunset. Only a flashlight is needed and some collecting containers or bags, if desired. I don’t know if mowing at this time and collecting clippings (mostly to collect and destroy adults) could be a physical control measure but might be worth trying if budgets are tight.”

Non-chemical measures. “Keep the turf healthy and adequately irrigated to help the grass tolerate and outgrow the root-feeding damage from grubs and billbugs. It also helps to mask the injury (keep the grass green), but the addition of another stress (e.g., drought stress) may cause the grass to turn brown quickly.”
She advises:

• Turn flood lights off or minimize other lights used at night on the golf course from April to June to minimize fly-ins.
• Realize that adult females will more likely find and lay eggs in irrigated soil, especially if nearby sites are dry, which improves the chances of eggs hatching.
• If green June beetles or flower beetles are a problem on a golf course, then manage the soil organic matter, if possible. Avoid organic and natural fertilizers until the grubs are cleaned up.
   

Promising solutions? Pasturia Bioscience’s microbe product, Econem, is one option available to superintendents to control nematodes in turfgrass.GROUND CONTROL
Nematodes are a significant pest problem for many golf courses, notably in the southern portion of the U.S.

Todd Lowe, an agronomist with the USGA Green Section’s Florida Region, reports, “Their significance comes from the fact that we only have Curfew (1,3-D) that is noticeably effective at this time. There are biologicals, like (Bayer’s) Nortica and (Pasteuria Bioscience’s) Econem, that show promise and I am anxious to see more golf courses try them so that we can learn more about their efficacies over time.”

He continues, “Anecdotally, there are superintendents that feel they get some results from programs containing products like sesame oil and black walnut extract.”

Lowe says William Crow, a landscape nematologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, has been working on several experimental products that are proving very effective and that he is “anxious to see them reach the marketplace. But he (Crow) informs us that it might be a few more years.“

“When it comes to nematodes, nematicides are helpful but even Curfew is not long-lasting and it takes an integrated approach to managing symptoms,” he says. “It is important to raise mowing heights during peak nematode pressure and to increase frequency of irrigation and fertility when roots become jeopardized.”

“The nematacide industry is scrambling to produce new effective nemastats or nematicides to replace Nemacur,” says Brian Powell, superintendent at Old Chatham Golf Club in Cary, N.C. “Businesses which rely on fine turfgrasses to bring in customers and have soils particularly high in parasitic nematode populations are susceptible to revenue losses due to inferior product without quality nematacides.”

Chris Walden, superintendent at Misty Creek Country Club in Sarasota, Fla., battles nematodes annually.

“Last year, we used Curfew on our tee tops and selected fairways,” he says. “When Billy Casper Golf began managing the property the tee boxes were thin and chlorotic. We contracted out an application of Curfew and the tee boxes were healthier than they had ever been and we’ve not had an issue with tee boxes since. This year, we’ll complete the same process. At the end of April, we will apply Curfew soil fumigant to all tee boxes, fairways and approaches.”

Graham Kornmeyer, superintendent at the National Golf Club of Louisiana in Westlake, La., says he sampled for nematodes last summer and was well under the threshold for every species. But he plans to conduct yearly tests to monitor the population and when it gets closer to dangerous levels he will consider using Curfew.

“Another promising biological control from Bayer is Nortica for sting nematodes affecting warm season turf,” Kornmeyer says. “This biological control is applied following three days of soil temperatures exceeding 60 degrees. Nortica may be more of a tool to keep nematodes below the economic threshold rather than a tool to severely lower populations.”

“Another interesting product is Multiguard Protect, which is one of the first contact nematicides since Nemacur,” he says. “It is derived from sugarcane byproducts and also offers antifungal activity. Other biological and organic products are on the market and have been tested with varying results. Dragonfire is another organic sesame seed oil derivative nematicide that has worked in some cases in keeping populations under control.”

John Torsiello is a Torington, Conn.-based freelance writer.