Stand up to the challenge

Doug Snyder knew his first few months on the job weren’t going to be a cakewalk when he assumed the position of head grounds superintendent at Millbrook Club in Greenwich, Conn. He was warned that he could expect numerous pest problems at the nine-hole course that features a bentgrass/Poa annua mix on the greens, approaches, fairways and rough areas.

“We had nematodes, summer patch and Pythium diseases as soon as the summer stresses came,” he said. “So I decided to feed the soil from day one and build a solid program to withstand the onslaught of pest problems.” He turned to bionutrients to help him battle his course’s problems. “I used bionutrients on the greens and approaches and implemented them into the tees program this season.”

He uses products such as KaPre Exalt, KaPre RemeD8 and Z.One T&O 250 on greens, tees and approaches.

“The results have been superb. All of the problems never surfaced and we have great playing surfaces all season long. I never had to worry about disease or insect pressure attacking my greens and approaches,” he said. “I was surprised on how the greens could take on the climatic stresses and continued to outperform the members’ expectations.”

The spring and summer of 2013 have thrown some challenges at superintendents in the Northeast, first a cool spring, then lots of rain, then brutally high temperatures in July. But Snyder’s course has stood up to them, he said.

“Bionutrition has helped us get through all of the weather conditions this spring and summer. With the weather extremes of frosty mornings and 70 degree days this spring to a few weeks in the high 90s this summer, the greens, tees and approaches have withstood the pressures so far and I expect them to continue.”

As the turf has improved since he started using bionutrient products, Snyder plans to continue making them a solid part of his turf program.

“I will always recommend using bio nutrients to other supers and currently do so. The added nutrients help build a strong foundation to fight off diseases, insects and weather extremes.”

The problems that historically plagued Milbrook “are probably still there,” said Snyder, but bionutrients have built up the roots for the nematodes to eat, created a stronger plant to stop diseases from starting and helped regulate the weather’s impact.