

As general manager and superintendent at Sharon Golf Club near Akron, Ohio from 1964 until his retirement in 2020 he was committed to finding new solutions to old problems — and sharing what he learned with his colleagues. He developed his own bunker construction method 50 years ago to combat contamination, washouts and erosion. Three decades ago, when he was faced with moss on greens, he found the solution in a bottle of dish soap. He has been president of the Musser International Turfgrass Foundation, which recognizes excellence in turfgrass research, for 27 years, and for the past two years has been compiling the biological history of other golf course superintendents.
Five years removed from retirement, Dobie is still looking for better ways to do things. His latest undertaking is trying to change the way people view Roundup, the non-selective herbicide developed by Monsanto more than a half-century ago that for the past seven years has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
By now, the potential health risks of glyphosate use should be no secret to anyone. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma has almost become a household term thanks to years of late-night commercials by attorneys looking to cash in on the lawsuit craze after more than 100,000 people claimed it caused their cancer. Whether glyphosate does or does not cause cancer remains unclear, with recognized bodies falling on both sides of the debate.
Once the world's most popular herbicide, glyphosate was first developed in the 1950s as a chelating agent to remove mineral deposits from pipes. It was patented by Monsanto as a weedkiller in 1971 under the name Roundup. Since Bayer acquired Monsanto in 2018, Roundup has been blamed for causing cancer in thousands. Today, more than 150,000 cases against Bayer have been filed by farm workers, lawn care operators and homeowners.
While the amount of applicators professing to be affected by glyphosate is significant, it pales in comparison to the number of people who ingest it in their food, which according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection could be in the tens of millions.
Dobie wants to do something about that, and he wants you to do so, as well.
As part of his effort to educate people on what he believes are the ills of glyphosate, Dobie recently sent a letter to dozens of colleagues asking them to consider finding better ways to do things, and to consider organic food options since glyphosate is so heavily use in production of dozens of row crops, from pretreating seeds, to controlling weeds during the growing process to use as a dessicant after harvesting. The letter included links to videos linking glyphosate to a variety of health problems, including malnutrition, liver disease, kidney disease and fertility issues.
"I want people to question what is happening," Dobie said. "I want to take things that are supposed to be common knowledge and poke some holes in it."
Frank Dobie has been giving back to the turf business for more than 60 years. Says Don Huber, Ph.D., professor emeritus in the department of botany and plant pathology at Purdue University, glyphosate persists in many food crops and strips them of much of their nutritional benefits because of its chelating characteristics. At least 8 of every 10 people are exposed to glyphosate in foods at any given time, according to the CDC.
Glyphosate is used in golf during restoration projects and for weed control in dormant Bermudagrass. It has a half-life of about 60 days, according to the EPA.
Whether glyphosate is or is not a carcinogen continues to be the subject of debate. The World Health Organization claims it is a "potential" cancer-causing agent. Despite the courtroom success of those blaming glyphosate for their non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it has never been proven to cause cancer. Monsanto even received a patent in 2010 for use of glyphosate as an antibiotic, a fact never mentioned in litigation.
Bayer reached an agreement in 2016 to acquire Monsanto for $66 million. Less than two months after the deal closed in mid-2018, lawsuits claiming that its active ingredient caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma began flying. By 2022, Bayer sold its Environmental Science division to Cinven, which rebranded its new acquisition as Envu. To date, thousands of cases have been filed against Bayer, which has since set aside about $11 billion to settle such claims.
The glyphosate-based version is still available for professional markets, but was pulled from consumer retail outlets in 2023. The active was replaced for the consumer version with a combination of fluazifop-p-butyl, triclopyr TEA salt, diquat dibromide and imazapic ammonium.
Many of the objections to controlling or banning glyphosate are due to its efficacy for non-selective weed control. That's why Dobie also is promoting a household hack for non-selective weed control.
Vinegar, the concentrated formula found in home-improvement stores, not the watered-down stuff found on supermarket shelves, has been touted as a viable non-selective weedkiller for many years. While much of its effectiveness was initially anecdotal, it was first proven to be a viable weedkiller by USDA scientists in 2002.
"I want people to know there are alternatives out there," he said.
A gallon of cleaning vinegar (at least 30 percent concentration) can be even more effective at broad spectrum weed when a few drops of Dawn dish soap per gallon of vinegar is added as an adjuvant. Salt also has been shown to enhance activity, but can also cake and clog sprayers and nozzles, according to Dobie.
Dobie has been a pioneer in golf maintenance for decades. In 1967, he reportedly was the first person to utilize liners in bunker construction. Thirty years later, he reported that a soap drench of water and Dawn dish soap was an effective control of moss on Poa annua putting greens.
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