This morning, I was asked a great question. A member asked me today, if we used a chemical on the golf course called Paraquat. The reason is, they recently read an article in a publication that tied the product to cases of Parkinson's Disease in people who've been regularly exposed to the active ingredient. While I'm not going to debate the validity between the coloration of Paraquat to Parkinson's (that's not my area of expertise), I can tell you that we do not use this chemistry and it's not been used at Highlands CC in the past few decades, if ever. I'd venture to guess there are not many other golf courses using it either. Thanks to science, many more safe and effective products are now available on the market.
First off, Paraquat is an herbicide that I suspect got its beginnings in agriculture. It's an herbicide that controls a number of grassy and broadleaf weeds. Where it came into golf, was during the 70's and 80's, when Superintendents experimented with it as a method of removing Poa annua from stands of Creeping Bentgrass. Specifically, on putting greens. The chemical is so toxic, that golf course supers literally experimented with putting as little as 1 drop from a syringe or eyedropper into a 200 gallon tank of water. Any more, the herbicide would be toxic to Creeping Bentgrass as well as Poa annua. Poa annua has been known to be more affected by herbicides compared to its counterpart, Bentgrass. Needless to say, I'm certain a lot of these experiments lead to dead putting greens across the board and a handful of jobs lost, as a result.
To conclude, if you do read this article or see this in the news, please know this isn't a chemistry that is used on golf courses anymore...if it ever was in the first place. Second, if you ever have concerns with any of the plant protectants we apply to the turf at Highlands CC, I would love the opportunity to sit down with you and talk to you about that. I'm happy to share any Safety Data Sheets (SDS) or labels you'd like to see. It's really important to understand that most all pesticides used in golf, have come a very long way since the 1970's and before. 95% of the products we use today are in the same toxicity class as Dawn Ultra dish detergent. Please don't ever hesitate to call me if this is a concern of yours and allow me to give you more information.
Brian J. Stiehler, Golf Course Superintendent
(828) 787-2778 office