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A godsend for
golf courses
by
Joshua Covington
Virginia
Business
October 2003
Anyone
who’s ever hit the links has probably seen how
grass disease can spoil the beauty of a green fairway.
Almost as bad is treating that problem with chemicals
that may harm other flora and fauna. Salem-based company
Novozymes agrees, which is why it created Ecoguard,
an environmentally safe biofungicide that company staffers
believe will be a godsend for course owners.
Ecoguard,
approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in February
after four years in development in Salem, uses a naturally
occurring living organism from farm soil called bacillus
licheniformis to battle lawn fungus, eliminating the
need for traditional chemicals. “The microbe is
a bacteria that produces antifungal compounds,”
says Ecoguard product manager Jeff Howard. “It
is less toxic and helps turf recover quicker.”
Novozymes
is researching other ways to use enzymes, such as making
wine or even fuels, at its Roanoke Center for Research
and Technology. The company has done so well with their
enzyme products that it is expanding with a 7,000-square-foot
addition. But it could be the Ecoguard system that places
the company on the public’s radar.
Novozymes
believes the Ecoguard will become a staple to golf course
superintendents as word spreads of its power to eliminate
pesky fungal growths such as “dollar spot.”
The nemesis of many course owners, dollar spot is recognized
by its distinctive pattern of round, brown, dollar-sized
sunken spots that can be spread by being mowed or tread
upon.
According
to Howard, some courses have already taken notice during
the short time Ecoguard has been on the market and have
used it to gain the upper hand on the fungus —
to the delight of golfers across the state. With dollar
spot and other fungi soon to be in check, maybe they
should start work on an enzyme that eliminates those
troublesome sand traps and water hazards.
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