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Historical Significance

Brown patch can be thought of as the "late blight" of turfgrass pathology, as it spurred much of the initial research on turfgrass diseases and their management. Brown patch was first observed in 1913 on a golf course putting green near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1919, C.V. Piper and H.S. Coe of the United States Department of Agriculture determined that Rhizoctonia solani was the causal agent of brown patch. Initially, morning dew removal by mowing, "poling", or "whipping" was the only practice available for management of brown patch. In 1917, experiments by the United States Golf Association demonstrated that brown patch could be controlled with Bordeaux mixture, and this material was in widespread use for turfgrass disease control by 1919. In 1927, field experiments at the Arlington Turf Gardens in Virginia demonstrated that mercury-based materials were most effective for control of brown patch and dollar spot. Mercury fungicides were commonly used until 1970, when their use was restricted because of their potential adverse effects on the environment.

Although R. solani was one of the first recognized turfgrass pathogens, new diseases caused by Rhizoctonia species continue to be described today. In 1978, yellow patch was initially described by P.L. Sanders and co-workers. Later, the causal agent was identified as R. cerealis by L.L. Burpee in 1980. Martin and Lucas (1984) and Haygood and Martin (1990) demonstrated that R. zeae and R. oryzae were pathogenic to cool- and warm-season turfgrass species. In 1993, D.E. Green and co-workers demonstrated that R. solani was the primary causal agent associated with large patch of zoysiagrass.

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