Disease.
It penetrates and spreads rapidly, leaving an endless trail of death in its wake. Without the right protection, it will creep in unknowingly to strike at a moments notice.

Superintendents at local golf courses know this, and they’re armed and ready to fight it off.

But some golfers like Megan Kellestine are worried that disease fighting pesticides might be harming more than just the weeds. In a recent letter printed in the Daily Gleaner, Kellestine said she could smell powerful weed killers while she was playing a round at Mactaquac Golf Course recently.

“ It made me wonder about the potential hazards of inhaling that smell for four and a half hours. It does take away from the enjoyment of the day when you realize you are walking on a toxic carpet.”

But the superintendent at Mactaquac, Kendall Costain, says Kellestine is simply blowing this out of proportion.

“When we do spray, we put up signs that say we’re doing it. It says what type we’re using and how long we’ll be spraying,” he said. “It’s a shame that people perceive us as toxic criminals when the chemicals we use are less toxic than Javex or table salt.”

Costain says he only sprays the tee blocks and the greens when necessary. He will always look for alternate methods for pest, fungus and weed removal before relying on these chemicals.

“We do a lot of culture practices that reduce our pesticide needs. If we see plantain on the greens, we know it’s compacted soil and we need to air that area. We’ll check the fertility of the ground. You check all those issues first before you apply the herbicides.”

Superintendents like Costain have also adapted Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies, which requires them to look at other practices for pest control. This can include methods for improving soil or turf conditions, better watering, early intervention and pest monitoring. The IPM strategies are meant to be used in conjunction with pesticides so courses aren’t solely relying on chemical treatment.

Mark Boldon works for New Brunswick’s department of the environment. He says the chemicals golf courses use have to go through a detailed process to ensure they have limited health and environmental risks.

“There’s a dual role in managing pesticides in the province of New Brunswick. The first phase is to have pesticides get registered for use in Canada. Before any products can get registered for use in Canada or New Brunswick, they have to get approval by Health Canada,” Boldon said. “They go through detailed health and environmental risk assessments. And once the products receive approval the product gets a registration number or pest control products number for use into Canada. Then they are acceptable for use in New Brunswick.”

These tests can take several years to complete. Once they’ve been given the green light, the chemicals have to be given labels which Boldon says is the equivalent to a legal document saying they’re safe to use. These labels also include strict instructions saying how much should be used and how often.

Even though they’re tried, tested and true, he admits more golf courses in New Brunswick are trying to reduce their dependence on these chemicals.

But the weaning process isn’t easy or quick. Not only do the people become dependent on the chemicals, but the grass and plants become highly dependent on them as well. They can’t be taken off cold turkey, or else the vegetation will go into shock, and die.

This is something Terry Avery, the owner of the Carman Creek Golf Course in Fredericton has tried to avoid from the beginning.

“ We just never used them. I never really found that I needed to use them. My greens aren’t chemical dependent” he said. “ We don’t even really use fertilizer because they can also become fertilizer dependent. We just water and mow the tee blocks and greens.”

He says it’s not really necessary due to the type of grass on his course. While he has used a grass seed from Bermuda on his greens, only the grass native to the area is used for the rest of the course – an element which he says sets him apart from some of the other courses.

“ Some of these other courses use more imported grasses. It can be expensive, but they have more money than we do,” he said. “And when you have more grass that’s not native, you’re more susceptible to disease, because they don’t grow here naturally.”

And Costain agrees that money plays a factor in the care of the courses. He says you can’t lump every golf course into the same category, because they’re not all in the same league.

Green fees at Mactaquac run approximately 50 dollars per round, where it would cost a golfer about 20 dollars at Carman Creek. And courses like Mactaquac and Kingswood rely mainly on memberships for revenue, whereas Avery’s course is green fee based.

And both Costain and Avery agree, the members like a nice course to look at. So there’s more pressure for superintendents at the wealthier courses to maintain a more pristine landscape.