JANUARY 1 2009
AMERICANWAY 21
stays close to the ground. Involved in the
initialplanning stageof theproject,Carlson
knew full well to select turf that was resis-
tant todisease, includinggoodold fescue, a
cool-season grass favored by British golfers
longbeforepesticideswere an inklingof an
idea.Hewasalso fortunate that theweather
on theVineyard isagreatally inwardingoff
malignant turf.
“The reason the Vineyard comes closest
to the organic ideal is that it has one of the
best growing conditions of any place in the
country,”saysJimSnow, theNationalDirec-
tor of the United States Golf Association’s
Green Section. “It’s an island in the ocean
andhas a verymoderate climate.”
Carlson eradicatedmuch of the forest of
spindlyscruboaksandpitchpinestoprovide
a layoutwithwide-open air circulation and
lots of sunshine, twoof themost important
components incombating turfdamage.But
thatdidn’t stop tan lesions from formingon
the greens after the course opened inMay
2002. So Carlson removedmore trees and
appliedanorganicpesticide tooffset the so-
called dollar-spot disease. Then came the
grubs, skunks, crows, and, of course,weeds.
Without the benefit of synthetic pesticides,
Carlson resorts to nematodes, microscopic
roundworms that attackandkill grubs, and
heneedsmoreworkers than traditional golf
courses do. He notes that the cost of extra
employees is equivalent to the amount of
moneyhewould spendonpesticides.
So far, the 300 full-time members (who
pay an introductory fee of $300,000 and
yearly dues of $12,000) have been very
forgiving. When you consider that some
of those members are current and former
CEOsofcorporationssuchasMerrillLynch,
Comcast, and National City, demanding
types who tend to renounce anything short
of perfection, this seems remarkable.
Jay Swanson, a member since its incep-
tion, says, “Ican’ttellanydifferencebetween
this and another links course that uses pes-
ticides. Youdon’t realize it’s organic.”
Which is good news, because as Snow
notes, there are more than 70 courses in
America doing their darnedest to use only
organic fertilizers.
“They might use synthetic pesticides as
a last resort, to spot treat, but they’re using
the principals of organic golf anddoing the
best theycan,” statesSnow. “As timegoesby,
organicpesticides are going tobemore and
more in vogue.”
Carlson agrees. “An organic approach to
golfmanagement isdefinitelypartof the fu-
ture.You see it inEurope.You see it inCan-
ada. A lot of countries are going that way.”
The movement will grow significantly, he
claims, as the golfing public becomesmore
tolerant towardblemishes.
“If golfers lookmore at courses for play-
abilityand less forvisualperfection,we’llbe
able tousea lot lesspesticide.”Thatwill cer-
tainlyput thegreenback in thegreens.
Boston-based
StEphEN JERMANok
is the author of
Outside
Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England
, which includes a
chapter ongolfingMartha’sVineyard.
Recipient of
four
consecutive
NYC’s
“GoldenApple
Awards”
for Food
Safety and
Cleanliness.
Wine
Spectator’s
“Best of Awardof
Excellence”
Since 2001
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