Fewer mosquitoes on the course. Nothing on turf.
Biological golf course mosquito control that works at the source. Nothing on fairways, greens or ponds.
SMF offers biological golf course mosquito control in Dallas-Fort Worth using sterile male mosquitoes, released around the tee sheet by our team or your staff. Nothing goes on turf, greens, ponds or water hazards, and there's nothing for your crew to mix or apply. Programs run year-round and start with a free site assessment.
Why the usual methods fight the course
You manage turf, water and members at the same time. Most mosquito control asks you to compromise on all three.
The biters you can't spray away. Ponds and hazards mostly breed night-biting mosquitoes, which your pond program handles. The day biters at tees and the clubhouse breed in small containers: cart-barn buckets, clogged drains, ornamental pots. That's where sterile males help.
The schedule you can't move. Treatments need a window with nobody on the hole and time to dry. On a busy tee sheet, that window is a 6 a.m. shotgun or a lost revenue slot.
The members who notice. Golfers notice bites on the back nine. They also notice a technician with a tank on the 14th and a chemical smell at the turn.
The resets. A spray program fades within weeks and never reaches the swales and wooded edges where day biters rest, so the cycle, and the invoice, starts again. Each release of sterile males removes a generation.
Weighing barrier spraying or misting? Compare all options →
How a course program runs
Built around your agronomy calendar and your tee sheet, with releases by our team or yours.
- 1 Before the first release. A free site assessment, about an hour on site or a short remote review. We walk the course with your superintendent, mapping ponds, drainage, wooded edges, irrigation and the holes members complain about. You get a year-round release plan and a custom quote, sized to your acreage and the clubhouse, patio and practice areas.
- 2 Through the season. A release takes minutes and works around play, every week or two in the warm months, as your plan sets, and monthly in winter. Our team releases on foot or by cart, or your crew does it; your superintendent approves the times either way.
- 3 In the off-season. The winter releases keep the population from rebuilding, so the course opens spring play with fewer mosquitoes.
- 4 At every check-in. We adjust the plan with your superintendent and send a short update for the green committee packet.
Behind each release on the course sit the same four steps
1 Raise and sort We raise mosquitoes and remove the females, using AI vision from our technology partner, Senecio. Only males move on.
2 Sterilize We sterilize the males with X-rays in-house, the last step before they leave our facility.
3 Release Our team can handle every release on site, or your staff can release the plates themselves with our instructions. Every week or two in the warm months, as your plan sets, and monthly in winter.
4 Check in We adjust the plan with you through the year.
Why it works: wild females mate once. When one mates with a sterile male, her eggs don't hatch. Each generation is smaller than the last, until the population collapses. How it works →
For the superintendent
Sterile males are insects, not a product. There's nothing for your crew to mix, store or keep off the greens.
- Nothing on turf, greens or tees. No residue, no drift, no interaction with your fertility or fungicide program.
- Nothing in your ponds. Fish, frogs and turtles are unaffected. Water stays out of the program entirely.
- No chemical handling for staff. Nothing to mix, load or apply.
- They reach what your crew can't. The males find wild females along wooded edges, drainage swales and dense rough, where sprays and traps can't reach.
- Species-specific. Our males mate only with their own species. Bees, butterflies and beneficial insects carry on as usual.
- No insecticide resistance to manage. Releases don't rely on an insecticide, so the pyrethroid resistance showing up in insecticide programs isn't a factor.
For the general manager
Members and guests experience the result, not the process.
- No closures or tee time changes. Releases happen around play, not instead of it.
- Member events on the calendar. Start releases at least 4 weeks before the member-guest, the club championship or your outdoor wedding season. Tell us the dates at the assessment.
- The patio and the 19th hole. Releases cover the clubhouse surroundings, so dusk dining stays comfortable.
- A story members respect. A biological program with nothing on the course makes a good member newsletter story. We'll help you write it.
- Simple for the board. A one-page plan and regular check-ins.
Fits your environmental program
Some courses take part in programs such as the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf. A sterile-male program is consistent with the reduced-chemical, habitat-friendly practices those programs encourage, and it can be one of the practices you document.
SMF does not certify courses and isn't affiliated with Audubon International. Certification decisions rest with the program.
93%
fewer wild female mosquitoes after six weeks Harris County, Texas study of sterile-male releases (related method). Courses rarely rely on one tool, and neither did the California district that paired sterile males with In2Care larvicide stations at its worst spots: 44% fewer female mosquitoes with sterile males alone, 65% combined. Evidence for the method, not SMF's own results. CDC and Harris County Public Health. Lozano et al., PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2022. West Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District, California, April to November 2024, compared with the year before releases at the same sites. Birhanie et al., Insects, 2025.
See the research Feel the difference on the back nine
You should start to feel the difference within 7 to 14 days, and it keeps improving from there.
Safe for golfers, crews and pollinators
Your crew will ask what we're releasing: male mosquitoes, nothing else.
Males don't bite, and they're not genetically modified.1 Regulation details, with sources, are on our safety page. Safety and regulation →
1. CDC, "Irradiated mosquitoes," cdc.gov, May 14, 2024.
Course questions
Satisfaction guaranteed: a free boost if you're not happy, and cancel anytime with your last month refunded. Guarantee terms
Is mosquito spraying safe on turf and ponds?
Barrier sprays are labeled for turf and landscape, but most can't be applied to water and can affect other insects. Sterile male releases put nothing on turf or in ponds, so the question doesn't come up.
Which areas of the course do you cover?
We plan releases around the places mosquitoes breed and golfers gather: pond and hazard edges, wooded perimeters, the clubhouse, patio and practice areas. The assessment decides the exact points.
Do you cover mosquitoes from the ponds at night?
No. We target the Asian tiger and yellow fever mosquitoes, the ones that bite golfers by day and at dusk. Night-biting mosquitoes that breed in ponds and drains aren't affected, so your pond program still matters. The assessment shows which you have.
Does it work alongside Gambusia fish or Bti in our ponds?
Yes. Mosquito fish and Bti target larvae in water. Sterile males cut the next generation from the adult side. They complement each other, and nothing we do affects your fish.
Will golfers see the mosquitoes you release?
Hardly. Males don't bite and don't chase people. Right after a release you might spot a few more near a pond edge or cart path for a short while. That passes as numbers fall.
When should a course start?
Any time. Programs run year-round, so the best start is now. For a tournament or member event, start releases at least 4 weeks before.
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Give your members the back nine back.
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