The annual bluegrass weevil (ABW), Listronotus maculicollis, can have two to three generations per year and cause significant damage to many golf courses in New York.  But monitoring and managing ABW in an economically and environmentally sustainable way can be difficult. However, by using proper scouting methods along with a well-informed decision-making process, you can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of ABW management at your facility.

ABW adults overwinter in leaf litter, tall grasses, and other areas with dense organic matter that provides a buffered environment from harsh winter conditions.  On a typical golf course, overwintering habitats include roughs, grassy native areas, forest edges, and tree and shrub lines. In spring — as early as March in upstate New York — ABW adults emerge from their overwintering areas and move toward golf turf playing areas to begin reproduction. This is when the ABW management season begins.

During the spring, ABW adults can be controlled before they lay eggs. Scouting for adult ABW is important for decision-making, with the primary goals for adult scouting being to determine the following:

• Timing and location of ABW emerging from overwintering sites — when and where on each course. Recording these location helps to narrow scouting efforts later in the season.
• Pattern of ABW adult movement following emergence toward short-mown turf.
• Timing of peak activity of ABW adults, meaning the point at which the majority of ABW adults are found at or within the playing surface (fairway, tee, green) edge.

Adult scouting should begin in March and continue weekly until peak activity is observed at the nearest playing surface and noted. This stage generally coincides with the phenological stage of half green/ half gold on forsythia and occurs at roughly 110 – 120 growing degree days (GDD – base 50 beginning March 1). This will also highlight areas for larval monitoring later in the season.

To learn more about scouting and ABW management, see our new video “Scouting & Decision Making for Annual Bluegrass Weevil” featuring the work of Dr. Kyle Wickings, Cornell University, and funded by a Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Fund grant. This video is a companion to our ABW publication Diagnosis and Decision Making for Sustainable Annual Bluegrass Weevil Management.

Since publication of the New York State Best Management Practices for Golf in 2014, the BMP committee (now formalized as the New York Golf Course Foundation) has focused on outreach and education to promote the acceptance and implementation of BMPs. As part of these efforts, the state’s golf course professionals were surveyed two years ago to conduct both a formative assessment of BMP concepts and a survey of BMPs as implemented on NYS golf courses. Cornell University researchers analyzed the results and used the information to develop a plan to direct education and outreach efforts.

With funding provided by a Turf Environmental Stewardship Fund grant, the New York State Golf Foundation has updated the survey questions and is reintroducing the online BMP quiz and survey. This effort is designed to achieve several goals:

• To provide verifiable evidence for NYS regulatory agencies that a majority of New York State golf course superintendents are utilizing the BMP information.
• To assist superintendents in identifying areas for potential improvement in their golf course management operations.
• To encourage the use of the NYS BMP materials by identifying which topics are of greatest relevance.
• To raise awareness of the importance for superintendents to participate in the BMP project.

The foundation is asking for widespread participation in this effort. Therefore, golf turf professionals are asked to take the quiz and survey by March 30, 2018, on any internet-connected device. The quiz should be taken first, followed by the survey. Neither must be completed in one sitting, as all completed questions will be stored by IP address. Links to the quiz and survey are as follows:

Quiz: https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_74lNKzMfRichgDX

Survey: https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0UIJ2xZYzptqZ4p

Construction on the wash pad prototype demonstration at Locust Hill Country Club is in the final construction stages (see the blog post describing the project and the blog post on mid-construction activities).

Below are photos showing the testing of the last component of the system, the booster pump, and construction of a level pad next to the existing wash pad for the equipment to be placed on. The booster pump will take water from the supply tank and pump it into the hoses used to clean equipment. As part of this process, the operating pressure and GPM were measured and determined to be within range engineered for the system.

Documenting pressure

Setting up hoses

Hook up from storage tank

The 1660 gallon tank will be used for the slow sand filtration component

Creating a level pad.

Levelling stone.

Building the pad for equipment to be placed on next to the existing wash pad.

Placing the tanks.

Water enters hydrologic systems as precipitation, primarily in the form of rainfall or snowmelt. It is then delivered to surface waters from runoff or infiltrates into the subsurface. The amount of water that infiltrates into the ground versus becoming runoff depends on a number of variables, including the intensity of precipitation or irrigation, soil infiltration capacity, site characteristics, antecedent soil moisture, and season. The following are some of the seasonal changes in runoff versus infiltration potential:

During the winter, soils in New York are likely to be frozen and impermeable to water. Snowmelt, rain, and low evapotranspiration rates in the spring generate wet soil conditions and downward movement of water to groundwater. The potential for runoff is high because the near-saturated or partially frozen soils have low water infiltration capacities.

During the summer, high rates of evaporation and plant water uptake may reduce soil water storage, leaving none to percolate downward. Summer rains only partially recharge the soil profile, and the soil’s moisture holding capacity is typically not exceeded. Except for high-intensity thunderstorms, runoff and erosion potentials are generally low during the summer.

In the late fall, evapotranspiration rates decrease, and groundwater recharge occurs when the moisture-holding capacity of the soil is exceeded. Runoff and erosion potentials also increase during this period. However, in New York, runoff from turf most often occurs from wet soils and not from high rainfall intensity.