Page 15 - GreenMaster Fall 2023

Risk Golf Course This article has been reprinted with
Report
a routine water quality monitoring program would provide feedback on nutrient management BMPs. These recommendations should be considered as NYSPGCs seek to continue as leaders in environmental stewardship.
The Cornell Turfgrass program looks forward to continuing the partnership with NY State Parks in 2021 to aid and monitor the suite of reduced risk pest and nutrient management programs, as well habitat enhancement and climate change mitigation strategies on NYSPGCs.
PESTICIDE USE
Fifteen New York State Park Golf Courses (NYSPGCs) have reported pesticide use data to the Cornell Turfgrass program since 2011. These data are analyzed annually using the Environmental Impact Quotient that quantifies pesticide risk and allows the courses to develop risk reduction strategies associated with progressive IPM practices.
Recently, Cornell partnered with colleagues from University of Wisconsin-Madison to publish a paper outlining this novel method of quantifying pesticide risk. This scholarly publication is a result of over
permission from Dr. Rossi.
Figure 2: Average Annual area-adjusted EIQ by NYSPGC Region.
two decades of research with OPRHP dating back to the Bethpage Green course project initiated in 2000 and is only possible due to the support from NYSPGC staff and administrators.
As a cohort, NYSPGC’s have reduced pesticide risk by nearly 20% since 2011, and 43% since peak pesticide risk in 2014 (fig. 1). As outlined in previous annual reports, NYSPGCs located on Long Island have higher pesticide risk (fig. 2) due to elevated disease pressure, competitive golfing market, and higher expectations. However, Long Island NYSPGCs are also the primary driver of statewide risk reduction, as they have cut pesticide risk by over
50% since their peak in 2013. Overall, pesticide risk by NYSPGCs was the lowest on record in 2020.
Several IPM techniques have been used to achieve pesticide risk reductions. NYSPGCs have focused on limiting the use of high-risk (FUEIQ>100) pesticide applications, specifically on large acreage of turf such as fairways or roughs (table 1). This requires substituting high-risk products (table 2) with lower EIQ products that provide similar pest control, a technique called product swapping. When it is not possible to product swap, managers can reduce their treatment area only to places where pests are present, a technique called spot treatment.
GreenMaster • CGSA • 15