Paying the price of success

Forest Lake CC in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., used an IPM service to scout for turfgrass diseases and insects as part of its overall IPM efforts. Photo courtesy of Joellen Lampman

Mark Johnson

Frank Lloyd Wright, the well-known American architect, educator and writer, has been credited with stating, “I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”

Those words could apply to any worthwhile environmental stewardship program on a golf course, but more specifically to the commitment and extra effort involved with an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. One facility that knows all about that “unremitting devotion” to an IPM program is Forest Lake Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., a certified Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary.

Frederick McMullen, the Class A superintendent at Forest Lake and a 38-year GCSAA member, is featured in “Turfgrass Scouting Programs,” a case study featured within the Green Links section of The Environmental Institute for Golf Web site at www.eifg.org.

Working with both AI and the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program to establish Forest Lake’s programs, McMullen wrote, “We have met our goals … while working with the contractor, but recognize that the goals are not static. There are no constants so we continue to strive for these things in our ongoing maintenance practices. There are some obvious direct benefits from the IPM service we have engaged. As a result of the information gathered and documented from the scouting activities, we have been able to more selectively and accurately manage several pest situations.”

F. Dan Dinelli, CGCS at North Shore Country Club in the Chicago suburb of Glenview, Ill., concurs with McMullen’s efforts and writes in a related piece that can be found on Green Links, “Routine scouting, with trained eyes, is a cornerstone in IPM. Timely, accurate identification of plant health care issues allows for quick response, which often requires fewer inputs with favorable results. Scouting large landscapes, especially with a diverse stand of plant species, can be a labor-intensive task. Trained eyes learn how to hunt for problems often associated with microclimates or susceptible hosts. It takes experience and an investment in time to learn the site-specific personalities of each landscape.”

Continuing education and training also are important elements to the success of any IPM program. In another Green Links case study — “Integrated Pest Management at Stone Mountain Golf Club” — Anthony L. Williams, CGCS at Marriott’s Stone Mountain GC in Georgia, writes, “We consider our IPM program successful because of our commitment to high-quality education. Continuing education should focus on a variety of IPM skills and pest management, including chemical and biological controls, environmental planning, cultural practices, plant selection and employee safety. We started with a series of pest identification and management classes and then expanded to cover more advanced topics.”

As demonstrated by these three GCSAA members, successful IPM programs start with the vision and devotion to succeed, but also require an extra commitment to training and field operations. Each year GCSAA provides continuing education on environmentally related topics such as IPM programs in order to help superintendents achieve success. Superintendents can then take their training and apply it to their turfgrass management programs as needed.

Mark Johnson is GCSAA’s environmental programs specialist.