Pesticide inquiry conversation guide for golf course leaders and superintendents
Purpose: Use this guide to keep the conversation empathetic, factual, transparent, and focused on a clear follow-up process. Listen first, avoid medical conclusions or unsupported assurances, and use optional facility-specific language only when it is accurate for your course.
Thank you for reaching out and making us aware of your concerns. [I’m very sorry to hear that you and your family are dealing with these health issues.] We take concerns involving our neighbors and community seriously.
Protecting our employees, golfers, neighbors, water resources, wildlife habitat, and the surrounding environment is central to how we manage the property. Many of us live, work, and raise our families in this community as well, so being a responsible neighbor is important to us.
Before I try to answer your questions, I’d like to better understand your concerns and what information would be most helpful.
Please tell me what prompted you to contact us. If your concern relates to a particular date or time period, area of the course, product or application, odor, possible drift, or another event you observed, please share those details. It would also be helpful to understand whether you are concerned about a specific event or something you believe has occurred over time.
Because you have mentioned a health concern, I do not want to speculate about its cause or suggest whether a particular activity or application did or did not contribute to it. What we can do is document your concerns, provide verified information about our practices, and make sure your inquiry receives appropriate review.
We are committed to explaining our management practices clearly and accurately. Golf course management involves much more than applying products to turf. We use sound agronomic practices, monitor conditions, manage water responsibly, and address pest pressures in a targeted manner.
Before any pesticide can be sold or used in the United States, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts an extensive scientific evaluation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). A product is registered only after EPA determines that, when used according to its label directions, it will perform its intended purpose without causing unreasonable adverse effects to people or the environment. Those label directions carry the force of law, and our staff is required to follow them precisely.
Use only the statements below that accurately describe your facility’s practices. Each one is collapsed by default — expand only the ones that apply.
We use GCSAA Best Management Practices as a framework for managing the golf course. These practices which are backed by sound science and credible research, emphasize prevention, monitoring, water stewardship, sound turf management, careful product selection, and responsible application practices.
As part of our Best Management Practices, we use an Integrated Pest Management approach that emphasizes prevention and non-chemical strategies whenever practical. We monitor conditions and target treatment only when needed, helping reduce pesticide use while maintaining healthy, playable turf.
Employees who apply pesticide products meet applicable licensing or certification requirements and receive ongoing training in product labels, equipment calibration, application techniques, personal protection, recordkeeping, and responsible handling.
We follow applicable federal, state, and local requirements for pesticide storage, handling, application, notification, and recordkeeping. Our practices are designed to meet the requirements that apply to our facility.
A typical golf course may encompass approximately 150 acres, but roughly six acres — primarily greens and tee boxes — represent the most intensively managed turf. The remainder of the property is managed differently based on its use, agronomic needs, and environmental considerations.
Because you have raised a health-related concern, I will make sure your inquiry is documented and promptly escalated through our established process. We will stay within verified facts and identify the appropriate person to review and respond.
If you have additional information that may help us understand your concerns, please share it with us. Likewise, if additional information is needed from you, we will let you know.
Regulatory referral: If helpful, we can provide contact information for the appropriate local or state pesticide regulatory agency. That agency may be able to provide broader information about pesticide applications and records in the community, including activity by parties other than the golf course.
Thank you again for speaking with us. We appreciate the opportunity to understand your concerns and provide accurate information about our practices. We will follow up within two weeks with a response or progress update.
A claimed illness, injury, exposure, drift, spill, or other health-related concern should be promptly escalated under the facility’s established process. Staff should avoid offering medical advice, assigning causation, or making unsupported assurances about risk. Optional statements should be used only when they accurately describe the facility’s practices and obligations.
Use the nature of the inquiry to determine the appropriate follow-up path. Document the concern, stay within verified facts, and coordinate next steps with the appropriate internal or external resource.
Coordinate the response with course management and appropriate legal counsel before providing substantive follow-up. These inquiries may involve health, regulatory, disclosure, or liability considerations, so the response should be reviewed carefully, documented consistently, and handled through the facility’s established escalation process.
Provide the caller with contact information for the appropriate local or state pesticide regulatory agency. That agency may be able to provide broader information about pesticide applications, records, or potential sources of exposure in the surrounding community, including applications made by parties other than the golf course. This can help the caller obtain a more complete picture of pesticide activity in the area.
Follow-up principle: Serious health-related concerns should receive coordinated internal review; general concerns should be connected with the public agency best positioned to provide broader community-level information.
Document during or immediately after the conversation. Capture the facts; avoid interpretation or assumptions.
This guide is provided by GCSAA as a general educational and communication resource and is not intended to constitute legal, regulatory, medical, or risk-management advice. Laws, regulations, pesticide labels, disclosure requirements, and facility circumstances vary by jurisdiction and situation. Golf facilities should verify that all statements accurately reflect their practices and applicable requirements and consult appropriate legal counsel, regulatory authorities, medical professionals, insurers, or other qualified advisors when circumstances warrant.