Intelligro, the maker of the fungicide and plant protection product CIVITAS TURF DEFENSE, is supporting The Bethpage State (NY) Park Golf Courses during the 2019 PGA Championship held on Bethpage Black.
The five golf courses at The Bethpage State Park, a 1,500-acre natural area in the center of Long Island, have achieved Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary status by Audubon International. Intelligro, a gold sponsor of the course maintenance staff, is proud to be a part of the management program of these environmentally responsible properties that represent the highest level of conditioning.
Bethpage State Park courses were among the early adopters of the progressive technology in CIVITAS TURF DEFENSE over 10 years ago. During this time, the product’s proactive approach has been a key component in making Bethpage a truly sustainable golf course, reducing its pesticide use while delivering a quality and aesthetically pleasing turf.
“We’re extremely excited to be supporting Bethpage State Park for the 2019 PGA Championship,” said Oriana Persechini, Category Manager, Intelligro. “It is a great moment for the world-renowned course and a fantastic opportunity to showcase the championship standard of CIVITAS TURF DEFENSE. We work closely with superintendents every day to help create healthy, strong, high caliber turf and using the product during testing times like a PGA tournament will demonstrate the benefits that it can deliver for superintendents at the very highest level in the golf course industry.”
During the past two decades, Bethpage has become known as a leader in environmentally responsible golf course management, in part thanks to turfgrass specialist Dr. Frank Rossi of Cornell University. Dr. Rossi’s research efforts helped identify many of the potential benefits of CIVITAS TURF DEFENSE beyond disease management.
Dr. Frank Rossi and colleague Dr. Jennifer Grant have conducted research at Bethpage since 2000 evaluating progressive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs. The on-going results of this work demonstrate how progressive IPM Programs less reliant on traditional pesticides and mindful of environmental risk can deliver Championship conditions. CIVITAS TURF DEFENSE has been the cornerstone of this effort since 2009.
“Early observations at Bethpage suggested that turf treated with CIVITAS was able to tolerate a variety of pests and stress while reducing nutrient and pesticide inputs by as much as 45 percent.” said Dr. Frank Rossi. “Over that time, Bethpage has hosted a US Open, two PGA Tour Events, and now the 101st PGA Championship. CIVITAS has been a part of each of these events and now with the additional challenge of hosting in May rather than August along the cool Atlantic Ocean, getting the turf going early is key and the CIVITAS TURF DEFENSE Spring Training Program has delivered.”