MANAGEMENT OF ANNUAL BLUEGRASS ON GOLF COURSES: IMPROVED PRACTICES FOR MAINTENANCE, PEST CONTROL, AND VIABLE TECHNIQUES FOR TRANSITION TO MO

Improved exchange of information among turfgrass management specialists, entomologists, weed scientists, breeders, pathologists, and physiologists throughout the U.S. and Canada. Increased knowledge base of practitioners and county extension agents for the control/management of ABW, ABR and P. annua. Improved management practices adopted by golf course superintendents including new biological, biorational, and chemical strategies, and new cultural and ecologically based control techniques. This will result in practitioners having: (a) a better understanding of the biology/ecology and management of P. annua and ABW and ABR; (b) better tools for assessing, monitoring and predicting injury from ABW and ABR on P. annua turf; (c) more effective control strategies for ABW and ABR that are more cost-effective and reduce reliance on chemical inputs; (d) optimal programs for P. annua maintenance, and (e) optimal methods for P. annua suppression, elimination, and transition to more desirable grasses. Adoption and implementation of this information by practitioners will result in reduced pesticide inputs, cost savings to the golf course industry, improved plant health and ultimately enhanced economic and environmental health benefits across the region.