John Richards enjoys some fine Scottish hospitality, a ‘to die for’ breakfast and finds out about the latest product from the Syngenta stable, which is getting rave reviews from greenkeepers
FESCUE RESCUE! Y
ou have to make an effort to get to St. Andrews. Tucked on the far eastern coast of Fife, overlooking St. Andrews Bay and the North Sea, it’s quite a journey even for the native Scots. There's no railway station (the former goods yards are now the Old Course Hotel and the former station master’s house is a popular hostelry) so, unless you have a helicopter to hand, the only way in for most people is by road. This beautifully located town is
golf’s mecca and, for lovers of the sport, its isolation is part of the attraction. Like a hole in one, nothing so good should be too easy to obtain. However, once here, the choice of courses is almost limitless. In addition to the seven making up the impressive St Andrews Links Trust complex, there is a feast of testing links courses strung along the coastline.
During term time, students attending the renowned university add to the town’s numbers but, other
than that, you would question why anybody else would bother visiting the place at all. Well, actually, there are several very
good reasons, as the doorman at the hotel where I was staying - a splendidly attired gentlemen called Davie Johnstone - was eager to point out. For starters, he told me, there’s the stunning scenery, plus the fresh air (very bracing when the wind whips up), the glorious walks, the unparalleled hospitality of the locals and, of course, the whisky. In his immaculate tartan outfit, Davie showed me Carnoustie on the other side of the bay, the directions in which Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh lay, and spent some time convincing me that a speedy return to this haven was a must. As it so happened, the reason for me being in St Andrews was none of the above, although it was golf connected. Along with forty or so greenkeepers, consultants and distributors, I had been invited by
Syngenta and Scotts UK to the launch of a new product which, according to rumours, was going to revolutionise greenkeeping - a selective herbicide capable of controlling rye grass in fine turf swards. Talk of this product has been doing the golfing rounds for some time, and I was one of the privileged few about to find out whether it was fact or fiction. After a not insignificant lunch, the afternoon’s presentations began. The scientists were first to the podium, and we were given a detailed explanation of how the product’s active ingredient, pinoxaden, targets a specific enzyme in the rye grass, stopping cell division.
During the trials, conducted by the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), the first visible effects are typically seen within ten days and foliar die- back usually complete within three to four weeks. Apparently, because of their fine leaf architecture, the uptake by fescue grasses is very limited and they are unaffected.
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