Rosemount Greens

You may have noticed on some of the Rosemount greens, the 9th being more noticeable, that there is patches of grass discoloured. Initial diagnosis suggest that it is called 'Ghost Grass'. We will be monitoring these greens over the next few weeks.

This disorder is mostly commonly observed on maintained and closely mown areas including greens, tees and fairways.

With similarities to some diseases it is worryingly at risk of misdiagnosis, costing time and potentially expensive pesticides, conditioners and fertilisers that ultimately have no effect, or possibly exacerbating the effects.

The disorder is not widely researched in UK turf.

In the UK it is mainly referred to as ‘Ghost Grass’.

In the United States there are two names used, some refer to the disorder as Mad Tiller, however, since around 2005 it is routinely named by experts as Etiolated Tiller Syndrome (ETS).

The cool-season grasses that are readily named as susceptible to ETS are mainly reported as:

Annual Meadowgrass (Poa annua), Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne), Creeping Bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) and Smooth-Stalked meadowgrass (Poa pratensis).

Leatherjackets

Over the past few days we have seen signs of leatherjackets on the greens over the courses. They are the larvae of the crane fly and cause damage by chewing at the roots of the grass plant and also chewing the leaf as they come out of the ground at night.

Leatherjacket

Leatherjacket as it emerges from the ground and into its adult form of the crane fly.

Adult crane fly