Fungicides can be an important tactic in an overall integrated program for turf disease control.
In order to insure that products available today remain available in the future, golf course superintendents should be aware of the need to use fungicides in ways that minimize the risk of fungicide resistance. Fungicide resistance occurs when a fungus naturally develops a mutation that allows it to grow and reproduce in the presence of a fungicide. Once a pathogenic fungus develops resistance, a disease can quickly get out of control in spite of the use of the fungicide, even with frequent applications at high rates. The development of fungicide resistance is a very real possibility for a number of turf fungicides, particularly for many of the newest systemic fungicides. These new fungicides are excellent materials in that they often can be used at very low rates, thus having minimal environmental impact.