Tenacity

Tenacity is a product we have been experimenting with over the last couple of years. This coming season we should have much better results in our effort to kill and control Poa annua in the Kentucky bluegrass. We have based our experimenting and applications on recent studies done at the University of Illinois.

This product works by removing the chlorophyll within the plant essentially starving the plant and causing it to turn whitish in color. This coming spring we will take one of 2 approaches to restore the areas with dead Poa annua. We will either; remove the dead grass and replace it with new sod, or we will push the growth the Kentucky bluegrass with fertilization and slit seeding to fill in thin areas.

Why are we spraying this product? Simply said, to control the Poa annua. Poa annua is a very invasive weed that has the ability to take over a turf stand. It can be invasive in the fairways, rough or greens. The most crucial area to control Poa annua is on putting surfaces. Poa annua grows quicker than bentgrass, it is a prolific seed producer, it is very susceptible to many turf grass diseases and temperature stresses, these traits make it vulnerable for an easy death. During last year's US Open at Pebble Beach many of the pros complained about these negative effects. The quicker growth causes a very bumpy uneven putting surface which commonly nocks the ball off line while it's tracking towards the hole. By removing large stands of Poa annua in the fairways this allows the Kentucky bluegrass to dominate which in turn allows us to be less dependent on spraying fungicides in the fall, saving us money and being more environmentally friendly, while at the same time providing better esthetics, playing surface and healthier turf.

I specifically chose which parts of the golf course to apply this product so that the Poa annua can be attacked over the course of 2 or 3 years. This will lessen the negative effect of large turf areas being dead come early spring and summer. We sprayed fairways 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, the upper half of 13 and 17. All green approaches were sprayed along with all the tee boxes. Come late May we will finish spraying the greenbanks (the areas surrounding the greens). In August we will include some additional areas to spray again as we move towards reducing the amount of Poa annua on the golf course.