Contaminated fungicide leaves York-area golf greens with major problems (Jun 18)

June 18, 2015 – A contaminated fungicide commonly used by golf courses has left subpar conditions on the greens of at least one club in the area.

Doug Altland, general manager of The Bridges Golf Club in Abbottstown, said a sample he had sent out to the lab showed the fungicide the club had used, Viceroy 70DF, showed trace amounts of herbicide.

The herbicide affected about 35 percent of the greens on the course, taking out much of its bentgrass, he said.

“At first, we thought (the problem) was maybe from the harsh winter, but when we couldn’t do anything to respond to it, we realized something else was wrong,” Altland said.

The problem started to manifest around mid-May, he said, and course maintenance tried aerating and reseeding the areas many times.

The damage to the green at the 11th hole at The Bridges Golf Club in Abbottstown is traced to a fungicide that had trace amounts of herbicide. General
The damage to the green at the 11th hole at The Bridges Golf Club in Abbottstown is traced to a fungicide that had trace amounts of herbicide. General Manager Doug Altland says that the affected greens will be re-seeded in the near future. (Dawn J. Sagert – dsagert@yorkdispatch.com)
He said the damaged greens have negatively affected business, and the club had been offering reduced rates to golfers to compensate for the poor condition of the affected greens.

Recall: Bridges Golf Club has used the product – distributed by United Phosphorous Inc. and manufactured by NovaSource – in the past without any problems, he said.

No one at either company could immediately be reached for comment.

David Cassidy, NovaSource TKI group vice president, issued a letter on Tuesday notifying customers of a voluntary recall of Viceroy 70DF after several reports of incidents, according to a report on a company website. The recall will go into effect Thursday.

Altland isn’t looking to take any action against the company at this time, he said, as his focus right now is on fixing the greens.

“Our sole focus right now is just getting the greens back and golfers back,” he said. “We’re hoping, once we can clean up the soil, (the greens will be back to normal) in maybe a month.”

Course closed: Royal Manchester Golf Links in Mount Wolf has been closed for regular play since Monday and will continue to be closed until Sept. 1 for greens renovations, according to the company’s website. The driving range and short game area remain open.

Representatives at Royal Manchester did not return calls for comment.