Fungicide Requirements and Water Use of Five Fairway Turf Types.

Alternative fairway turfs need to be further evaluated before their possible adoption for golf course culture. This study was conducted to compare the water use rates and fungicide requirements of fairway turfs under reduced irrigation conditions and low nitrogen (N) fertility. The experimental design was a randomized, complete block, strip-split plot with four replications. ‘Epic’ creeping red fescue (F. rubra L.), mixed with ‘Vesper’ velvet bentgrass (Agrostis canina L.), 'Vesper' velvet bentgrass, ‘Shark’ creeping bentgrass (A. stolonifera L.), ‘Longfellow II’ Chewings fescue (Festuca rubra ssp. falax [Thuill.] Nyman), and ‘Diva’ Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) were planted on an Antigo silt loam (pH 7.0) in July 2009. Granular urea N was applied as a split-plot treatment every 6 wk at annual N rates of 0 and 98 kg ha^-1. Three fungicide programs (none, integrated pest management, and chlorothalonil/iprodione full preventative) were applied as strip-plot treatments. Turf quality, disease severity/recovery, and soil water levels were assessed during the June to October growing season. The first year of data collection yielded interactions of all main factors with rating date, mostly due to a disease outbreak in early July. The full preventative program treatments and the non-fertilized treatments held acceptable quality all year. The quality of all turfs, except Diva, was reduced by disease. Longfellow II had unacceptable quality all season and the Vesper/Epic mixture had acceptable quality on only four rating dates; all other turfs had acceptable quality all season.