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 Thick rough has been the bane of every golfers' game this season. The incredibly wet conditions have encouraged excessive coarse grass growth and prevented mowing, which has resulted in almost unplayable conditions on many golf courses.The Syngenta Golf Player Survey revealed that thick, coarse rough is the number one complaint among golfers. Over 50% of golfers were dissatisfied with the state of thick rough, with over 70% stating ease of ball location as a high priority. The drastic action, where coarse rough is causing slow rounds, lost balls and immense frustration has been to cut it all to the ground, leaving a prairie course of limited interest or challenge to golfers. Player benefits of Fescue rough:Ball location is easierWayward shots are penalised, but offer the golfer a recovery shotPlay is faster; fewer hold ups with players in front looking for ballsHole design and approach is better definedThe course is visually more attractive and challenging The good news is that the wet, warm…

 Syngenta Operation Pollinator Environmental Award Winner, Anthony Darker, hasn't been resting on his laurels at Elsham Golf Club in Lincolnshire. He has continued to develop a whole range of eco projects that has served to further enhance the environmental value of the golf course in the area.In addition to the wonderful wildflower areas that have been created for the benefit of players and pollinating insects, importantly Anthony has also been busy providing a vital winter refuge - or hibernacula - for the bees and bug life that has been attracted.But with only a limited budget he's been trying to come up with ways to create a range opf hibernaculum by recycling materials laying around the yard: bricks; roof tiles; old wood and logs; even old hole cups and more have been cleverly utilised.   Pipes burried in blocks Old bricks covered with tiles"Not only is it more cost effective, but reusing existing materials and supplies reduces waste and is a more ecological approach,"…

  Details of how to use the new fast acting, high performance glyphosate from Syngenta. Download the full article 

 Four golf clubs have been short-listed for the 2015 Operation Pollinator awards for their amazing work with bees.The selected finalists, handpicked by STRI lead ecologist, Bob Taylor and the independent STRI judges, are Elsham Golf Club in Lincolnshire, St Andrews in Scotland, Bowood Golf and Country Club in Wiltshire and Ely City Golf Club in Cambridgeshire. The award, sponsored by Syngenta, recognises golf clubs that do more for bumblebees and pollinating invertebrates including hover flies and hymenopteran and dipteran species (flies and beetles), often by attracting them via important habitat features such as deadwood, wild flowers and suitable overwintering refugia."Golf courses can and are helping to kerb the decline of our important pollinators through the creation of suitable habitat and when one realises the vast resource that is available within golf then with much more wider participation we could as an industry go a long way to reducing the declines that are taking place," said Bob…

 Understanding how fungicides work is paramount to getting the best value for your money from any application. The different modes of action of fungicides, or the way that they tackle disease within the plant, allow you to decide which product to use depending on the disease activity at the time of application, reports Dr Ruth Mann of STRI.The action of the fungicide and the disease target is also important in deciding the optimum application technique to deliver the treatment where it is required. Mode of action The 'topical' mode of action concerns where on the grass plant the fungicide will remain after application: CONTACTS, such as chlorothalonil (DACONIL WEATHER STIK) and fludioxonil (in INSTRATA), remain on the outside of the grass plant at the point of application, forming a shield to protect the leaf from pathogen attack. They will also help prevent the spread of disease, by preventing the pathogen moving to unaffected plants.  LOCALISED PENETRANTS, such as iprodione…

     How to select the optimum turf fungicide and use the golden rule for Rotation, Rotation, Rotation... Download the full article 

 Operation Pollinator AgreementTo get involved with the project and to gain full access to the technical support and marketing resources available to you and your club with Operation Pollinator, please download and complete the Operation Pollinator Agreement below and return to caroline.carroll@syngenta.com.Click here to download a Word document version of the agreementClick here to download a PDF version of the agreementClubs actively involved in Operation Pollinator and promoting the concepts of ecological habitat management in association with the project are permitted to use the Operation Pollinator logo for marketing purposes.

  Who Benefits?Players get to enjoy the visual and ecological interest.Clubs can save costs and generate positive publicity.Greenkeepers can make a real difference that generates a pride in their clubCreate vluable positive publibrcity for your club

  Syngenta Player Survey SummaryHalf of players are not satisfied with most aspects of rough managementManaged and even rough is the most important factorBall location and playability is the second factor – speed of play is a major issuePlayers want fine wispy grass species, not thick tangled roughWeed free rough is desirableRough management tools to enhance the playing experience:  

  Syngenta Player Survey SummaryTee condition is the turf area of greatest dissatisfaction among playersAvoiding thin or bare patches is of the greatest importance for playersOver 40% of players are not satisfied with levels of bare patches, divots and scarsNearly half of players are not satisfied with dry patch and droughted areas on teesTees management tools to enhance the playing experience:   

 If you are looking to consistently maintain the best possible playing surfaces, clearly the best thing we can do is to control disease based on risk assessment - to prevent infection breaking out and causing any damage in the first place. Using modern technology, weather forecasts and scientific research of disease models can supplement and refine the traditional practices and skills of an experienced greenkeeper. Independent trials, by the STRI, have demonstrated that fungicide applications timed according to disease risk, using the GreenCast disease forecasting system, can maintain better playing surface quality over the course of the season, from fewer fungicide applications, compared to either routine spraying or application at the first signs of disease.The key advantage with this pro-active predictive approach, compared to routine application, is that you have the fresh application and therefore the greatest concentration of fungicide in place when the disease is most active.Life-cycle…