Stuart Z. Cohen
Golf Course Management, 58(2):26-44
The scientific community began to emphasize the study of nitrates in groundwater as a result of fertilization in the mid- to late 1970s. The emphasis on the study and regulation of pesticides in groundwater also began late in that decade. By the mid-1980s, tens of thousands of wells were found to contain elevated nitrate concentrations and detectable concentrations of pesticides (USGS, 1985; Cohen et al., 1986; U.S. EPA, 1988; Cohen, 1988). But few, if any, of the data points were collected from wells associated with the nation's 13,626 golf courses.
The first comprehensive field investigation of the effects of turf chemicals on groundwater was recently completed on Cape Cod. This article will describe that study and discuss its results in the context of a brief overview of the water quality issue.