|
GOLF
Avid golfers and club members can do an enormous service by taking an active interest in the management of area courses.
Encourage the minimal use of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers where older pest control practices are still being used.
Also, encourage your golf course to test periodically for pesticide contamination in golf course waterbodies, adjacent creeks and ground water.
|
- Encourage the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), as an alternative to the complete reliance on pesticides. IPM monitors pest problems, takes into consideration environmental factors, and uses synthetic pesticides only as needed.
- Encourage the use of an "all-natural fertilizer mix" containing such ingredients as bone meal, feather meal, wheat germ, soya, muriate of potash, enzymes, and soil microorganisms.
These kind of natural fertilizers help to reduce the number of applications, may prolong the length of time the course remains green, and work to increase the soil's ability to hold water.
- Encourage the use of a no-phosphorus fertilizer or a low-phosphorus formula fertilizer, if phosphorus must be applied. Example: a 12-4-8 formula indicates 12% nitrogen, 4% phosphorus, and 8% potash by weight.
- Encourage the use of a fertilizer that releases slowly despite the presence of water. A high percentage of the nitrogen (at least 60%) should be in the form of Water Insoluble Nitrogen (WIN).
Slow-release fertilizers benefit the golf course and downstream bodies of water. The greens receive a steady input of nitrogen. Slow-release fertilizer that washes into area waters will not be immediately available to the plant life, which helps prevent algal blooms and uncontrolled aquatic week growth.
|
The International Year of the Ocean Home Page is a publication of
the NOAA Home Page Design and Construction Company