into consideration was the subsurface. We determined there was no need for much reconstruction, but we did need some additional landscaping, additional subsurface drain lines and more sand bunkers. The existing sand bunkers were in good condition, so to protect the sand during the renovation of the golf course, they were all covered with a 6-millimeter black plastic. Sod staples were used to hold each temporary cover in place, and holes were placed at the lowest point directly over a subsurface drain line.

Before attempting to sell the project to your employer, determine the exact cost of the project to ensure the project can be completed on budget. Items to consider include the cost of the new turfgrass, chemicals, equipment rental, soil, material disposal, fertilizer, additional labor, irrigation repair or modifications, and in our situation, some new equipment. Switching from the Tifdwarf to TifEagle, an ultradwarf, we needed a new set of walking greens mowers that was capable of heights of cut in the ¹Ž8-inch range.

The first chemical application took place on May 10, 2000. All of the sprayers had been thoroughly inspected by our equipment manager and were precisely calibrated. The herbicide applicators were thoroughly trained. They all viewed the Superintendents Video Workshop videos, "Sprayer Calibration and Application" and "Safe Pesticide Handling," purchased from GCSAA.

Following Boyd's protocol, our tank mix included Roundup Pro (glyphosate) at 2 quarts per acre, Fusilade II at 24 ounces per acre, LI700 (a non-ionic surfactant) at 1 quart per 100 gallons and Choice (water conditioner) at 1 quart per 100 gallons. Included in the tank mix was a heavy rate of a blue spray dye indicator, so we knew what turf had been sprayed to help ensure even coverage of the herbicide mixture. It would have been cheaper to use foam, but foam cannot be applied as precisely as the spray plus dye indicator.

We used both a 150-gallon Chem Pro sprayer mounted on a utility vehicle and a 370-gallon Chem Pro tow-behind unit for the applications. We selected the Tee Jet TT11006-VP nozzle, which produces a fan-shape pattern. The sprayers were calibrated to apply 38 gallons of material to the acre, which is in the recommended range provided by Monsanto for the Roundup product. Just prior to spraying the turfgrass, tractor-mounted blowers cleaned all debris from the turfgrass canopy. Fifteen-gallon portable hand sprayers were also used to apply the herbicide on areas that were not accessible by the riding sprayers, such as lake banks, wetland planting areas and the edges of tree lines.

grow and/or translocate the glyphosate.

Within a week of the first spray application, it became very evident that a few small areas of the course did not receive the correct application rate of the chemical mixture. This was due to both accidental skips or where an employee walked or drove through the spray application before it had dried, which partially removed the herbicide mixture from the leaf surface. These areas were immediately re-treated in order to keep the entire course on the same spray schedule.

Two weeks later, we lowered the height of cut on our fairway and rough units to ¹Ž2 inch. With the exception of the greens, the course was mowed at this height to remove the dead, brown leaf tissue in hopes of exposing living plant material.

Forty days after the initial chemical application, we began to see some greening up of the bermudagrass, and the second spray application was initiated. As with the first application, the spray was allowed to dry and be absorbed by the leaf tissue for 24 hours, and then the nightly irrigation continued. We repeated the fertilizer regimen, and a week later, spot sprayed any deficient areas.

Twenty-one days after the second spray application, and 61 days from the start of the project, we initiated the physical removal of the turfgrass on the greens and tees. A walk-behind, 18-inch sod cutter was used at a cutting depth of 1¹Ž4 inches to remove the predominately dead turfgrass. This material was then meticulously removed using a combination of shovels and several skid steer loaders. It was important to maintain the exact contours of the greens, so we checked the setting on the sod cutters on each green and carefully trained and monitored the operator of the skid steer loader removing the material.

Following the removal of the dead material, a walk-behind rotary tiller mixed the remaining thatch with the subsurface and loosened the top 4 to 6 inches of soil. Both the greens and tees were tilled in two directions in preparation for the methyl bromide fumigation. With the gas fumigant, it is critical to have good tilth of the soil and the correct moisture content to allow good movement of the methyl bromide through the subsurface. Four to 6 inches of an 80/20 sand/peat mixture were also added to the tee surfaces to improve the growing medium.

After applying the chemical mixture to the turfgrass, the overhead irrigation system was not used for 24 hours to allow complete uptake of the chemical into the plant. This goes beyond the label-recommended drying time. After this initial 24-hour period, we irrigated the golf course nightly as needed so the turf did not go into moisture stress and continued to grow, which allowed for the complete efficacy of the glyphosate. Glyphosate's mode of action is through the translocation of the chemical throughout the plant, which is a key factor in the chemical's ability to completely kill bermudagrass.

The entire golf course was fertilized with granular ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) at a rate of 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet one week after the initial herbicide application. The course continued to receive nightly irrigation, and subsequent applications of granular ammonium sulfate were applied weekly at 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. This encouraged re-growth of the existing bermudagrass prior to future spray applications. Without adequate moisture in the soil, the existing bermudagrass would enter into moisture stress, essentially shutting the plant down and resulting in the turfgrass' inability to re-