We often forget grass is a living organism. Like us, it can get stressed and sick. And, yes, like us, it can fall victim to disease.
We don’t expect a person who is ill to come to come, but neither do we fully appreciate the massive effects pathogens can have on our golf course surfaces.
When they’re struck down, they just can’t perform as well. That turf, and particularly greens, are having to cope with that.
Golfers want to play all year round and that brings pressure. Warmer weather, greater humidity and more extremes of heat and cold are pushing them to the limit.
It’s all ideal for diseases, and there are a number lurking, waiting for the right conditions to take hold, before causing devastation when they strike.
Kelly-Marie Clack is agronomy and technical manager at Origin Amenity Solutions. She will reveal golf’s ‘big four’, what they do and what we need to understand about how they can be treated. This time, it’s a terror that is a huge threat to turf: Microdochium Patch.
Microdochium Patch
What is it?: It’s a fungal disease. Of all the grass species, poa is far more susceptible to this disease than the others. It lives in the grass, waiting for favourable conditions – specifically prolonged leaf wetness and mild temperatures.
When you open your curtains and see that foggy haze, that’s the moment every greenkeeper goes, ‘oh, no, it’s coming’.
What does it do to turf?
It starts as small, water-soaked patches on the surface, which then expand and merge, killing the turf in that area completely. It tends to arrive around October, as conditions start to get cooler, meaning less grass growth and delaying recovery until spring or sometimes later.
This year’s cool, dry spring, with some heavy ground frosts, meant the patches were there for six or seven months.
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What can be done about it?
Dew dispersants remove dew form the leaf and create an unfavourable environment. Switching, where greenkeepers physically remove dew, can break leaf wetness, which is important for disease management.
Good nutrition plans, including iron, make the plant less susceptible. Greenkeepers will use fungicides, but with limited group the rotation of chemistry can be quite difficult.
Summary
Microdochium, for me, is the worst disease in the UK on turfgrass. Poa is the most susceptible so support your course managers on getting more fine grass species, not worrying too much about speed but looking at good, healthy surfaces that perform well.
Look for trueness and smoothness of the ball rather than how quickly it’s moving, and greenkeepers can start looking at good organic matter management to reduce the house space for that disease.
- This article appears in Your Course, the twice-yearly publication from the British and International Golf Greenkeepers Association. Your Course invites golfers to gain a deeper appreciation of what preparing and maintaining a golf course really involves. Head to www.bigga.org.uk to find out more.
Now have your say on pests and diseases
Have your club had issues with Microdochium Patch? How did they deal with it? Let us know by leaving a comment or get in touch on X.
