Turf damage from excess nitrogen

Last week, we encountered an all-too common problem—over-fertilization with nitrogen. In this particular case, a poorly performing hybrid bermudagrass green had not been responding to a variety of fungicide applications. The course owner then instructed the superintendent to increase the rates of nitrogen fertilizer to help the turf "grow out of the problem and catch up with the other greens". The damaged turf in the photo was the result.

We evaluated the damaged turf for diseases (there were none) and…