Abstract Wear stress can negatively impact the quality of creeping bentgrass ( Agrostis stolonifera L.) putting greens. Phosphonate fungicides formulated with proprietary pigments often include label language indicating plant health benefits, such as alleviating abiotic and biotic stresses. The objective of this study was to determine whether pigmented phosphonate fungicides affect the wear response of creeping bentgrass managed as golf course putting green turf. Pigmented fosetyl‐Al and pigmented K‐phosphite were applied at 14‐day intervals to ‘Shark’ creeping bentgrass managed as golf course putting green turf during May–July in 2017 and 2018 and subjected to wear. Wear reduced both qualitative and quantitative measurements on creeping bentgrass compared with no‐wear plots. Treatment rankings for turf quality and turf color were pigmented fosetyl‐Al > pigmented K‐phosphite > nontreated. Creeping bentgrass treated with pigmented phosphonate fungicides and subjected to wear exhibited higher green cover and greater turf density compared with nontreated creeping bentgrass subjected to wear. Our research suggests that including pigmented phosphonate fungicides into fungicide rotations for turfgrass disease control may provide the additional benefit of mitigating wear stress.
Park et al. (Mon,) studied this question.