Ken Benoit

January 25, 2018 by NYS BMP ·

Stewardship of the natural resources on New York State Golf Courses is the guiding principle behind the establishment and implementation of our Best Management Practices. The media, activists and a muted industry shape public perception, which in turn influences public policy. Try as we may, the golf industry is facing an uphill battle with the majority of the public regarding perception of our stewardship of the New York State’s natural resources. Further, an activist element exists in NY focused on health effects of pesticides and nutrients applied to the land, from farms and orchards to sports fields, lawns, and golf courses. Short term, developing relationships with members of our community off the golf course, educating members on the golf course, and communicating the “natural capital” of the course to policy and the regulatory community is critical.

The “long play” is to have data that tells the story. In an age when reputable sources of information are under siege by the “snap-face-chat-tweet” industry, collecting data that demonstrates action seems to be the best form of a quiet revolution. You can hide from contributing the data we need for BMPs to be tailored to our needs, you can avoid learning about aspects of your course may not entirely understand, but in the end, we each will be held accountable for how we steward the land under our care.

Not all of us can be a Ted Horton, Dan Dinelli, Anthony William or Matt Ceplo. But we can all be recognized for doing our part in shaping the future of environmental stewardship on golf courses in the 21st century. It takes very little time to answer the questions on the assessment of your knowledge, maybe a few more minutes to reflect on the survey of your current practices and their alignment with what science says right now is BEST-not good, not very good-but BEST.

Take 20-30 minutes and take the quiz and survey. It works on your phone, your desktop, laptop and tablet, it’s not sexy but it works. I doubt you will feel any excitement when you are done with the process, but knowing that you are making the long play for the high ground of environmental stewardship might provide a sense of greater accomplishment. It’s what’s BEST!

December 18, 2017 by NYS BMP ·

Pollution Prevention Institute at RIT that partnered with Locust Hill CC on the low cost wash pad demonstration project has just published their case study on the project. Through a Turf Environmental Stewardship Fund grant, the BMP project was able to assist in the demonstration through sponsoring the cost of the equipment purchases (~$6,000) and the participation of Cornell University.

From RIT’s report on the case study, the results were as follows:

• After reductions of up to 50% using air blowing and different nozzles, approximately 700 gal/day of wastewater would need to be managed. Then if, this wastewater can be filtered and reused, overall reductions in wastewater would exceed 90%. A screen and sand filter was tested and installed, and a UV lamp was added to help control bacterial growth
• Equipment costs were approximately $6,000 and engineering support provided by NYSP2I
• As of Fall 2017, system working satisfactory and water recycled
• System will be monitored periodically for performance and quantification of water/wastewater reduction

Read the full project summary on the RIT website: https://tinyurl.com/y8oyb4bc

December 18, 2017 by NYS BMP ·

Since publication of the New York State Best Management Practices for Golf in 2014, the BMP committee (now formalized as the New York Golf Course Foundation) has focused on outreach and education to promote the acceptance and implementation of BMPs. As part of these efforts, the state’s golf course professionals were surveyed two years ago to conduct both a formative assessment of BMP concepts and a survey of BMPs as implemented on NYS golf courses. Cornell University researchers analyzed the results and used the information to develop a plan to direct education and outreach efforts.

With funding provided by a Turf Environmental Stewardship Fund grant, the New York State Golf Foundation has updated the survey questions and is reintroducing the online BMP quiz and survey. This effort is designed to achieve several goals:

• To provide verifiable evidence for NYS regulatory agencies that a majority of New York State golf course superintendents are utilizing the BMP information.
• To assist superintendents in identifying areas for potential improvement in their golf course management operations.
• To encourage the use of the NYS BMP materials by identifying which topics are of greatest relevance.
• To raise awareness of the importance for superintendents to participate in the BMP project.

The foundation is asking for widespread participation in this effort. Therefore, golf turf professionals are asked to take the quiz and survey by March 30, 2018, on any internet-connected device. The quiz should be taken first, followed by the survey. Neither must be completed in one sitting, as all completed questions will be stored by IP address. Links to the quiz and survey are as follows:

Quiz: https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_74lNKzMfRichgDX

Survey: https://cornell.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0UIJ2xZYzptqZ4p