Good Management Practices Can Protect
Groundwater From Nitrate Contamination
On Nation's Golf Courses

With good management practices, golf courses can protect groundwater from nitrate contamination, according to a recent study by Dr. A. Martin Petrovic of Cornell University.

Dr. Petrovic recommends the following management practices for golf courses: Apply frequent light rates of nitrogen, or use slow release nitrogen sources, even though they may be more costly. Superintendents also should avoid fertilizing when turf grass is naturally slow growing, especially in cool weather.

Managers, Dr. Petrovic added, should conservatively irrigate the golf course to both save water and reduce leaching. They also can reduce the scope of the "heavily managed" areas of the golf course and use less energy-demanding plants where possible.

"Dr. Petrovic's study underscores the fact that golf courses have a positive environmental impact," noted Robert Trent Jones, Jr., president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.

"It also stresses the need for architects and superintendents to work more closely together to formulate a specific fertilizing program for each golf course, analyzing the site's topography, soil composition, and irrigation system," the ASGCA president added.

Petrovic said that research information on greens-type sites containing high amounts of sand do not support the conclusion that golf courses are prone to heavy nitrate leaching, especially with today's trend toward lower nitrogen use rates and the use of slow release sources.

Furthermore, he stated that research findings from sites with less sandy soils — more typical of fairways, older greens and tees, roughs and general turf grass sites — further support the conclusion that golf courses do not contaminate groundwater with high levels of nitrates.

Good turfgrass managers, Petrovic said, not only pay close attention to the amount of nitrogen used, but rely upon a well designed and installed irrigation system, which can be adjusted according to rainfall and plant water needs.

To reduce possible nitrate leaching, the Cornell turfgrass expert also pointed out that superintendents can utilize grasses or other plants which have a low nitrogen requirement, collect, treat or recycle runoff or drainage water, and amend soils to retain nitrogen.

Page 24 / Illinois Municipal Review / October 1989