Counting Annual Bluegrass Weevils

Today we were joined at Kennett Square Golf and Country Club by Dr. Mike Agnew, Field Technical Manager for Syngenta, Dr. Ben McGraw, Associate Professor of Turgrass Science and Dan Kline, research support technologist, Penn State University. It was a day of evaluation. Evaluating at what stage we currently stand with weevil control.

Dr. Ben McGraw, Danny Kline, Paul Stead, CGCS and Assistant Brian.

Kennett Square has updated some technology this year to include an on site Growing Degree Day tracker to give them real time data. Paul Stead, CGCS and his team are very much about science and ensuring they get it right the first time. Temperatures have been seasonably cool for this time of year and GDD are barely pushing 100 so far.

See Also: Syngenta Weevil Trak

The goal for the day was to evaluate how far adult annual bluegrass weevils have migrated, to date, towards fairways and the playable areas. Several areas scouted were along side woods and native areas of the course. A simply gas powered blower modified with a sown pack inside the tub captures all the debris.

Danny Kline grabbing debris samples from rough to evaluate ABW counts

Overall by the end of the day, weevils, like the rest of the turf is about 2-3 weeks behind what we typically see for this time of year. Be sure to check out the video coming shortly on our visit to Kennett Square Golf and Country Club.