Take a load off

Going green takes on new meaning when the discussion swings toward turf color, which protect at-risk grass to maintain the kind of healthy fairways and greens that attract avid golfers.

Scott Goniwiecha, a seasoned golf course superintendent who oversees The Dunes Club in New Buffalo, Mich., uses products to shield turfgrass from ultraviolet pressure brought on by the summer’s oppressive sunlight.

“I got a small trial of SipcamAdvan products about five years ago and tested them on a couple of my fairways,” says Goniwiecha. “I was blown away by the results. The fairways were dramatically better … I’ve used the Sipcam products since.”

The turf needs the sunlight to thrive, but in the summer, the UV rays can be overbearing, mixing with hot weather to stress out turf. The technology delivers a sort of sunscreen to turf struggling to survive under the sun’s perpetual UV rays, allowing for typically easier and more efficient turf maintenance, says Goniwiecha.

Apart from the positive results, Goniwiecha was able to cut costs, in part, by curbing labor and water usage as the products reduced the need for hand-watering troubled turf. When the sun started putting pressure on the grass, they helped divert some of the stressful UV rays. And keeping the heat off the turf also helped keep it off his budget – which meant more money to keep building strong grass.

“For one, I was able to shift some of the extra money toward buying better fertilizer,” he says. “But a nice part is golfers have told me on several occasions over the years the difference they’ve noticed while playing, which is really the bottom line.”

Goniwiecha says Echo Dyad ETQ has worked at Dunes because it provides resistance with chlorothalonil. He also uses Eclipse and Sipcam Clearscape ETQ for seasonal protection and to combat common turf diseases.

He also uses a foliar fertilizer to back up the sunscreen for handling summer stress and improving plant stress tolerance and recovery. Putting them together makes a more balanced fertilizer program that also supplements the turf’s ability to handle the summer sun.