DEEP POCKETS
It sure is nice to go out to the course and get away from the chaos of everyday life .Now were beginning to realize that there might be something wrong with the playing field. That every week { usually on a Monday or worse ladies day } the course was sprayed with some very toxic genetic chemical, to rid the course of some unwanted blemish. We are too used to watching television and the seemingly perfect course that the Pro plays on. That look has come at a very high cost in many ways some, incalculable. To achieve that look the Greenskeeper has spent thousands of hundred dollar bills and it’s only for a short time. When you go out on your own course, unless the club has chosen to use an organic approach you get to take those chemicals home with you on your ball, shoes, pants, sox’s, bag, clubs, gloves and skin! You can’t escape it, We smoke a cigarette or cigar, put it on the ground between shots then put it back in our mouths, not good. However how are we to know that this is what is going on around us. Shouldn’t the place where we play be the safest place? At schools today they do not use chemicals because of concerned parents, then why do we not use the same logic for the Grownups? There is a lot of problems with the children of Pro football players and it seems to be from two places ingestion of chemicals called steroids by the adults and environmental. The environmental is playing on fields from College on that have to be perfect for the weekend game and so get heavy doses of Toxic Genetic Chemicals called Pesticides. Pollution is the wild card that is affecting our environment in many diverse ways however there is a better way to keep our playing fields safe to use and improve our own health at the same time. In a word ORGANICS. Look at the tobacco industry the harm caused is coming back on them in lawsuits. The chemical industries will be attacked just like that when people start to catch on to what damage they have done to the health of every one in the name of science. The golf courses are the highly visible areas that people always point to when there is a problem. By going organic the course removes itself from the serious consequences of litigation. The flipside is the course actually becomes less costly to maintain and the results are better. A win win situation for everyone except the chemical company. There is not a problem out there on the course that cannot be fixed using a safe alternative. The Greenskeepers have to learn a new approach,"a low tech, common sense", approach. Instead of chemicals we feed the soil with vitamins and minerals same as we humans. We know that all weeds, insects and dis-ease are only symptoms, the real cause is malnutrition, same as humans. We are finding out for us that if we diet, exercise and breathe correctly we will avoid most health problems. It’s the same for the golf course, Stop all chemical applications and use compost tea, rock dust for minerals, compost, organic fertilizers and garlic for insect control. Garlic? Try it yourself crush up some garlic cloves, put them in a gallon of water for a few days strain it and spray it and watch as the insects flee your yard for over a month! It gets rid of ticks, deer, fly’s, mosquito’s termites and many more. There are over 600 types of insects that are immune to toxic chemicals and over 250 different types of weeds. That’s why the chemical companies have bought all the seed companies, so they can genetically put the chemicals directly into the seed. They are extremly worried that the day of chemicals will be over for foliar application so they are positioning themselves to sell billions of seeds with the chemical inside! Just like the cigarette CEO’s all lied when they were in front of congress. The CEO’s of the chemical companies know the deadly truth and are moving in a more insidious way to continue selling. The golf course has to be the leader in making change with golf becoming more popular and more children playing. However from a Greenskeepers point of view Spraying is job security. When a course is sprayed it means the job was done and it’s not the fault of the maintenance crew but a thousand other reasons from weather to broken sprinklers. It’s the old story " the operation was a success and the patient died." By following the same regimen as we use to good health on the golf course or our own homes we would negate the effects of pollution and live in a safe environment, At the course it means that the savings in water usage less thatching aerating seeding and renovations. The color of the course vibrates with a beautiful green that is real and you don’t worry about when or what was sprayed. We are finding out every day that life is very impermanent at every level but by taking care of ourselves we can extend that time and make it quality time. Your going to have to have patience at minor imperfections, and it will take some time to detoxify the course, however by using organic care we can extend the time between costly renovations or eliminate them completely and have quality time at the links. –30- Jeff Frank