Dollar spot is considered the fastest growing turf disease threat for fine turf managers in the UK and Ireland.
As with all turf diseases we expect to see fluctuations in disease pressure in different years, as they present different agronomic challenges.
We know a lot about dollar spot from it’s provenance as a major disease issue in the USA, but there is much still to learn on how we manage it here across the pond.
2024 was a pretty brutal year for dollar spot with lots of golf courses seeing it more seriously for the first time.
2025 was a warmer dryer year in general, this appears to have delivered less dollar spot pressure for most.
It goes back to the basics of fungal diseases, low temperature has often been the limiting factor for us when it comes to dollar spot, but in 2025 the moisture component seems to have been the limit.
Dollar spot was around but many of the high pressure sites reported it was less severe.
There is a notion in the industry that some places are safe from dollar spot, generally it has been too cold to see it in some areas hence the notion.
Inverness is generally the coldest area of mainland Scotland and I observed some dollar spot on holiday this summer, it’s a stark reminder that it’s all about conditions not preconceptions.
For top tips for managing dollar spot see this blog post.
Syngenta and ICL ran a joint dollar spot trial in 2025, down in Burnham & Berrow Golf club (Summerset, UK) but fortunately for the club and unfortunately for the trial the pressure just never kicked on enough to pick out the differences.
Thanks to the two Liam’s of ICL for doing all the assessments (Rowlands and Hargreaves), we go again this year and hope for some strong pressure to pick out treatment differences and help us develop the best advice.
The STRI ran a really nice trial on dollar spot up in Yorkshire looking at all the different ITM practices to help reduce disease occurrence (below I visited in September)
More work is desperately needed in the cultural controls space, and it’s great to see a dollar spot project win some of the joint R&A, STERF & USGA funding for work over the next three years. Read more here.
For those interested in dollar spot and attending BTME I’ve got a talk “Dollar spot under the spotlight” Tuesday 20th January, Theatre A, 13.00 – 13.45.
Please do come along, it’s a seminar session so no need for prebooking just rock up and grab some headphones.
It’s going to be an interactive session, be great to have you there to feedback your experiences with the disease.
If you are sticking around for the Wednesday ICL have another talk on dollar spot:
Hope to see everyone for the Early bird run, bright and early (06.30) on Wednesday 21st January!
