Page 15 - GreenMaster summer 2023

The chef’s wife cares for the bees and maintains a proper environment for them. Plans are to install more in the future.
Nest boxes are installed to increase the tree swallow population.
Bird homes have been installed through- out the property to enhance wildlife.
environment, healthier turf. Being more aware of the impact we have makes us take a good hard look at the actual property.
Certain details come to the forefront that were not easily visible. More maintenance crews are taking steps towards water conservation without doing anything drastic. For example, using soil moisture meters helps conserve water by locating areas of the course that need water more than others. These probes really did change the game when it comes to water management. Newer more sophisticated irrigation systems have also helped with
managing our resources. By making sure we are as precise as possible with irrigation, we also help fight certain diseases. And this in turn has influenced our pesticide usage.
We can continue lowering our use of chemicals on our course by being careful in not creating an environment where disease pressure can increase. When it comes to applying pesticides, we take the time to analyze the situation at hand and decide if we really need to go out and spray. Does this disease warrant a full-on application of fungicide? If we let it ride, will it get worse? How will it affect play? These are things we all think about, and this falls right into the chemical use reduction portion of getting the certification. Being mindful of this aspect of managing a golf course is especially important, as we all know.
We all work within a certain budget so incorporating this mindset of being vigilant of what we put down on the turf helps with unnecessary applications, save money and reduce pesticide usage.
GreenMaster • CGSA • 15