Preventing Dollar Spot and Snow Mold on Cool-Season Turf

Dollar spot probably causes more sleepless nights for cool-season golf course superintendents than any other disease. In fact, the vast majority of the time, the disease superintendents are spraying for on fairways is dollar spot.

“If you wait until disease pressure shows up, you’re operating in knockdown mode,” says BASF Sales Representative Jerry Husemann. “That leads to severe dollar spot problems through the summer and into the fall, so it’s important to lessen the severity of the outbreak with preemptive strikes in the spring.”
If your last fungicide application didn’t provide full disease control, then your next application is assuming liability for it. For the next application to provide full control, tighten up your spray intervals.

Start strong with Emerald^® fungicide for preventive control of dollar spot. Fully 100% of its chemistry is dedicated to dollar spot. To impact its severity early in the season, apply Emerald fungicide in the spring after your third fairway mowing, when the temperature is at 50 degrees or more. This early application also reduces the severity of dollar spot during the summer and into the fall.

Stay on course with a summer application of Xzemplar^® fungicide, which provides immediate knockdown and a long residual of up to 28 days. This fungicide works from the inside out, travelling systemically within the plant to control dollar spot. Finish strong with an Xzemplar fungicide application in mid-August, followed by another Emerald fungicide application in mid-September.

Another problematic disease on cool-season turf is snow mold. University trials of Insignia^® SC Intrinsic^® brand fungicide used in combination with Trinity^® fungicide and chemistries like chlorothalonil and iprodione are top-rated as the final spray for snow mold in late October-early November. Pillar^® G Intrinsic brand fungicide, a granular formulation, provides full-season control when spread before your turf is tarped for the winter and coming out of winter when the soil conditions are soft.