Early order program users share their strategies for success and why EOP is so important

Heading into 2025, Early Order Programs might be as important for golf course superintendents as they’ve ever been, according to Vince DiStefano.

DiStefano, superintendent at Musket Ridge GC in Myersville, Md., says with all that’s going on in the world, both here in the U.S. and abroad, locking in prices on the products he uses the most is on the top of his to-do list.

“I can think of ten scenarios where EOPs are going to be important this year,” he says. “I can’t think of any instances where you wouldn’t want to do it.”

Striving for success

Strategies for getting the most out of an early order program can vary from course to course. For instance, DiStefano has shifted his purchasing strategy towards more generic fungicides. He says that the lack of overall price drops in recent years is a major reason behind that decision.

“We’re a mid-range public course, and I’ve gone from treating my fairways — not every time —with premium products to where I don’t even think about it. I mean, I don’t even consider a brand product on the fairway anymore,” he says.

DiStefano maintains bentgrass at Musket Ridge and says the most important products for his regimen are chlorothalonil and fluazinam, which help him control dollar spot. Both of those active ingredients are among the several where DiStefano relies on branded fungicides, he adds.

“I’ve found that some of the lower offerings from Envu and Syngenta have worked really well for me,” he says. “So, there’s standard stuff. For greens, I’ll do a combination. I’ll do one or two systemics for one combination and then whichever contact I’m doing. But for fairways and tees, it’s one contact, one systemic, hold on for 21 days and do it again.”

Mike Bellino, superintendent at Heathrow CC in Lake Mary, Fla., buys nearly 90 percent of his chemicals for the year during early order season.

“I haven’t been doing EOP too long, probably 10 years maybe, but I can’t imagine going back and doing it the way we used to do it. It’s so much easier just getting everything at once, rotating fungicides, and having all your herbicides there ready to go. It’s fantastic,” he says.

With inflation where it is and uncertainty in the rest of the world, Bellino expects that he’ll spend more of his annual budget on early-order products in 2025.

“You never know what tomorrow’s going to bring,” he says. “I may not be able to get certain things, so if I can get ‘em now and have it here on the property, it means the world. It’s super important.”

Larry Napora, director of golf course maintenance at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, agrees with Bellino’s sentiments. Napora says he purchases almost all of his products for the upcoming year during the early order period.

“About 99 percent,” he says. “I’ve always done that. And the reason is that you get rebates, and I take advantage of every penny of those rebates.”

Napora says the rebate savings help him pay for other important necessities, including his snow mold program.

Damon Hitti, superintendent at Weissinger Hills GC in Shelbyville, Ky., says that early order program rebates are crucial for his team.

“Usually, the maintenance department is seen as a money drain,” he says. “So anytime that I can get a rebate check in the general manager’s hands, that’s a plus for me because it shows that, ‘Hey, they’re not just spending money, they’re getting money too.’”

Hitti adds that EOP rebates have actually helped him get budget increases year over year.

“(Our GM) expands the budget because he can see that I really need those products, and the rebates are like a bonus. But then he allows me to buy more because he knows it’s improving the golf course,” he says.

Trickle-down savings

Outside of money, Bellino’s biggest savings are time. By ordering the bulk of his chemicals early, his crew doesn’t usually have to worry about products being late or not in stock. This keeps them ready to tackle any challenges that might pop up.

Bellino’s top products include Manuscript Herbicide from Syngenta and Specticle from Envu. Manuscript, he says, has helped him nearly eliminate tropical signalgrass from his course over the last three years.

“(Manuscript) has been super important for me,” he says. “I would probably say fungicides for greens are what we spend the most on. It’s just nice to have everything there. If we get a couple of cloudy days, or if it’s raining, I don’t have to wait for the SiteOne guy to come or go pick it up myself. It’s right there. I feel like I can do a better rotation having them all there.”

Steve Brown, general manager at Cleburne (Texas) Golf Links, works in a different situation than both Bellino and DiStefano. As GM of a municipal course, Brown has ultra-specific budgets he has to follow, making EOPs extra important for his course.

“We’ve been doing a better job of shopping things around; being a part of the city government, we have to follow strict purchasing guidelines. So, we’ve been digging a bit deeper, getting extra quotes to make sure we’re getting the best bang for our buck.”

Brown adds that getting ahead with early order programs has not only helped him save money on products but allowed for improvements elsewhere on the course.

“Fertilizer is one of the things that have helped us get our new cart fleet, which we got a little over a year ago,” he says. “We don’t have as much maintenance involved in those. We were running a 5-year-old cart fleet that we couldn’t trust to go more than 18 holes. Now, we don’t have that issue, so that’s been great.”

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