GCSAA Statement: Wetting Agent Study Reanalysis

In its April 2005 edition of Golf Course Management magazine, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) released the results of a study that evaluated wetting agents. The study was co-funded by The Environmental Institute for Golf (GCSAA’s philanthropic organization) and the United States Golf Association.

Further examination of the study after publication revealed an error in the water- droplet-penetration-test data for the nine evaluation sites for both 2003 and 2004. Baseline data collected before the application of the wetting agents were inadvertently added to the analysis of data collected after the products’ application, producing incorrect results.

Statisticians at the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) analyzed all the wetting agent evaluation data to ensure uniformity among the nine evaluation sites. They are in the process of reanalyzing the data using only the water-droplet-penetration-test data collected after the initial application of wetting agents.

Water-droplet-penetration-test data collected before the application of wetting agents indicated the plots were uniform before the study was started. Therefore, researchers do not expect major changes in the conclusions of the wetting agent evaluation. The remaining data on turfgrass color, turfgrass quality and phytotoxicity were analyzed correctly.

Reevaluation of the water-droplet-penetration data is currently under way, but a completion date is uncertain. The results of the reanalysis will be published in Golf Course Management and on the GCSAA Web site (www.gcsaa.org).

The complete set of summarized data for all study sites, as well as the entire scientific protocol used to conduct the evaluation, will be available on this site soon.

For more information contact:
Dr. Clark Throssell, GCSAA director of research, at (800) 472-7878, ext. 4429.