| With the economic downturn of the past few years, all facets of the golf industry have been affected. In the “new normal” era of budgets, superintendents have had to make cuts to many of their programs while still making sure the playability of their courses doesn’t suffer. Add in ever-rising fuel costs, and superintendents really need to look hard at their turf-management programs. In this new era of cost restraint, how has this new economy changed the use of plant growth regulators (PGRs) among superintendents? Surprisingly, talking to both superintendents and suppliers, their use is still growing. Superintendents have saved some money by buying the product in bulk and taking advantage of early-order programs. PGRs are essential to maintaining turf and offer substantial cost savings in other areas – they are part of a core turf maintenance budget. “In modern turf grass management, PGRs are mandatory,” says Bob Goglia, Syngenta brand manager. “They’ve become an essential tool for superintendents to manage golf courses at the levels they are managing it with regards to height of green cuts and height of fairway cuts and the lean, mean attitude of cutting back on some fertilization. I’ve seen turf growth regulators become integral and key, they're not just a nice thing to have.” What makes PGRs an attractive tool for turf management is versatility. Goglia describes their use as an art rather than a science. For him, that’s what makes them so fun to talk about, because every superintendent uses them for a different purpose. When discussing weed, disease and insect control, it’s a standard rate to control the pest – i.e. 1 ounce per thousand for 14 days to cure this disease or this much per acre. “PGRs are amazing because they are turf-type dependent and you can do different things with them depending on what you want to accomplish on your course,” he says. “Each super has a different desired outcome for their turf growth regulation. When I was in the field I would have golf courses that were neighbors that were using the exact same product completely differently because they were doing different things with it.” PGRs can be used to regulate the top growth of the plant to reduce mowings, which saves labor and fuel costs. These products help suppress diseases such as anthracnose. On greens, it can create consistent green speeds throughout the day. “What we’ve seen over the years is superintendents finding their own rates and use patterns for PGRs based on what they are trying to accomplish based on what their fertilization levels are, what their water use is and what their turf types are,” Goglia says. At CrossWinds Golf Course, an 18-hole municipal course in Bowling Green, Ky., Tony Whitmer, director of golf course maintenance, City of Bowling Green Golf Division, uses PGRs on his greens, tees and fairways. The economic downturn has not affected his use of these products, but he has tried using some generics this year to save money, he says. “On our greens, we are currently using Proxy/Primo Maxx combination for Poa annua seedhead suppression,” he says. “We are spraying Proxy at 5 oz. per 1,000 square feet and Primo Maxx at .125 oz. per 1,000 square feet on three-week intervals. We have had really good luck controlling seedheads and we also get an added benefit of better putting green quality. Historically, we have made two to three applications during the months of March and April. This year we have started using generic/post-patent products and are seeing some really good cost savings. These seem to be performing as well as the name-brand products.” Whitmer uses Primo Maxx on their Bermuda fairways, spraying a 14-ounces-per-acre rate on three week intervals. “By using Primo Maxx we have eliminated one mowing per week,” he says. “Before we started using Primo we mowed fairways three times a week and usually had to follow up with blowers to clean up clippings. Now, we mow fairways and tees twice a week and very rarely need to blow afterwards.” Using a PGR on his fairways also improves turf quality, Whitmer says. “By shortening the distance between internodes, it makes the Bermuda plant a more compact plant, thus increasing turf density,” he says. “It also encourages lateral growth, so stolons tend to cover divots quicker than turf that is untreated. We have noticed this on our par 3 tees especially.” Eliminating one cutting per week by using a PGR allows them to save on fuel and labor and reduce the overall wear and tear on their fairway mowers. “Using Primo reduces labor by eliminating two operators mowing fairways, three hours each, and two operators blowing behind the mowers, three hours each,” he says. “That’s 12 hours of labor a week times 24 weeks of mowing equals 288 hours of labor saved during the mowing season.” While most superintendents surveyed have not changed their PGR programs due to economic conditions, there are some that have reduced their use. Jeff Harris, golf course superintendent at Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Ky., uses a lot of PGRs, but he is using fewer now because he’s had a flat budget since 2007. Previously, he used them on his 36 acres of fairways, but he has stopped entirely and now just uses them on his greens. “I cut them out of my fairways because of budget,” he says. “I just have too many things I need, and spraying regularly with PGRs was easiest to cut.” Harris uses Trimmit, Primo and Legacy (Cutlass and Primo) for Poa annua seedhead suppression on greens in the spring, then later for slowing growth to aid in quicker green speeds. He has also used Legacy as a combo product, which includes a generic Primo, but that was not necessarily to save money. “I like the two products together,” he says. “I find the growth regulation to be phenomenal. The products I use do a great job of reducing mowing and clippings; however, labor and fuel have not become budgetary issues yet, so I don’t back off on green mowing at all. We do roll more often, but still mow to clean up and smooth them out. They could save a lot if you could afford them in rough and hard-to-maintain areas. When it comes to greens, where smoothness and speed are so important, I wouldn’t be backing off on the mowing, even if it produces minimal clippings.” One of the reasons even in a downturn economy PGRs are considered a core tool that can’t be cut is that supers realize these products are actually enhancing their budgets. “You are saving on a lot of other tools that you don’t have to use as vigorously because of the amount you are spending on PGRs,” says Goglia. “Supers understand that and that’s why they are not cutting back even in a down economy because they know they are worth even more than the cost. Besides cost savings in these areas, it’s a tool that allows them to achieve greater conditions that I don’t think they could without it.” GCI David McPherson is a freelance writer based in Toronto and a frequent contributor to GCI. SIDEBAR: PGR cost-savings calculator SePRO recently launched an online calculator (www.sepro.com/turf/Legacy-Savings-Calculator.aspx) This tool is designed to show superintendents how using its PGR on fairways can be cost-effective and actually save money in other areas, especially with the rising price of gasoline. Todd Bunnell, SePRO’s T&O research manager/golf product manager, says a large percentage of golf course superintendents are using PGRs on golf greens. Many of them look at the cost of a PGR and say they can afford this on golf greens, but can’t afford to use it on fairways. There are a lot of intangible benefits to using PGRs such as reduced water use, fungicidal benefits since some of PGRs have some reduction on some turfgrass diseases and overall a better quality of turf that is darker, tighter and denser. What can be quantified with the online calculator is the labor and fuel savings. “What we are trying to demonstrate to the superintendent is that PGRs aren’t just for golf greens, but you can use them for fairways too,” says Bunnell. “We are trying to quantify in the amount of dollars, the amount of potential labor savings and fuel savings that are involved by reducing those inputs such as mowing and labor to blow off clippings to maintain your fairways. “With rising price in gasoline, especially diesel because lots of turf equipment runs on this, I think superintendents are going to be looking for more and more things to save labor and reduce fuel costs,” he says. “That really plays into PGRs because you use a significant amount of fuel to mow fairways. In the future, I see PGR use expanding on fairways and potentially rough areas as well. There’s a lot of benefits out there and with our cost savings calculator we are helping the superintendents better quantify potential benefits that they may receive by using the PGR beyond just using them on greens.” |
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