Ask any superintendent which pests keep them up at night, and gophers and moles are bound to top the list. These quiet tunnelers might work out of sight, but the damage they cause is impossible to ignore—both on the turf and on the balance sheet. Below, we break down the three biggest “invisible” expenses these burrowing pests create and explain how a carbon-monoxide treatment with the BurrowRx Carbon Monoxide Sprayer can keep budgets (and greens) in better shape.
Even the most pristine golf course can be overrun with gophers
1. Turf Damage That Keeps Compounding
- Root disruption, thin lies, and dead patches
Gophers excavate soil to the surface, severing roots and desiccating turf. Moles heave shallow tunnels that lift—and eventually kill—the grass above them. Each new mound or ridge requires reseeding, re-sodding, and numerous additional passes with a topdresser. - Real-world example: One Rocky Mountain‐region course trapped 223 gophers in a single season, yet still spent the next spring patching dozens of 30- to 50-yard sections of rough where roots had been severed. Material costs exceeded $4,000, not including lost tee-sheet revenue when two holes had to be shortened for repair.
2. Labor Hours You Didn’t Budget For
- Daily trapping routines add up
A single groundskeeper walking, probing, setting, and checking traps can spend two to four hours per day during peak infestation months—time that could be used for cultural practices or bunker work. - Emergency repairs and mower downtime
Hitting a hidden mound dulls reels and bends bedknives. Multiply a bent reel ($120 in parts, one hour in the shop) by several incidents a month, and the real labor expense becomes clear. - Real-world example: An Oregon superintendent logged 78 staff-hours over three weeks just leveling gopher mounds before a tournament. The hidden labor cost—wages, overtime, and equipment wear—topped $2,500.
3. Safety & Liability Risks
- Trip hazards for golfers
Soft ridges on greens or collapsed burrows in roughs can cause ankle injuries. While most facilities prefer to handle incidents quietly, settlements for medical expenses or membership concessions can climb quickly. - Equipment hazards
Wheel ruts from carts that sink into burrows lead to turf scalping, uneven lies, or worse—damaged irrigation heads and valve boxes.
Stop gophers in their tracks with the BurrowRx
The BurrowRx Difference: Cut Costs, Protect Playability
Traditional tactics—trapping, baiting, or explosive “gopher getters”—often provide only temporary relief and demand heavy labor. BurrowRx changes the equation:
| Cost Driver | Traditional Methods | BurrowRx Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| Labor | Daily trap checks & mound repairs | 3- to 4-minute burrow treatments; crews treat entire tunnel networks in a single stop |
| Materials | Ongoing bait or trap replacement | Material costs limited to gasoline & smoke oil |
| Safety | Poison bait risks secondary exposure; traps can injure non-targets | Carbon monoxide dissipates rapidly, leaving no toxic residues |
| Turf Impact | Mounds and tunnels missed; tunnels collapse unevenly | Fumigation kills pests in-place, reducing new mound formation |
It’s easy to caddy around your BurrowRx in a golf cart!
How a Typical Course Saves with BurrowRx
- Reduced overtime: If a crew currently spends 15 hours/week on gophers, moving to scheduled BurrowRx treatments can cut that by half—worth $300–$500 in weekly labor.
- Fewer mower repairs: Eliminating fresh mounds reduces reel sharpenings and blade replacements—often $1,000+ per season.
- Lower liability exposure: No poisonous baits means no secondary kills of hawks, owls, or course pets, and fewer injury claims from missed hidden holes and new tunnels.
Real-World Wins
- Utah desert course: Keven Rutherford of Dixie Red Hills Golf Course reports the BurrowRx “pays for itself over time,” noting a dramatic decline in gopher mounds and fewer player complaints about ankle-breaking holes.
- Downtown Boston project: A pest-control contractor using five BurrowRx units brought a construction-site rat infestation—50–70 burrows—under control in weeks, securing a long-term service contract and saving thousands in bait refills.
- Napa Valley vineyard & par-3 course: Monthly BurrowRx runs eliminated ground-squirrel den sites, protecting vines and greens while avoiding toxins that could harm resident owls.
Ready to Protect Your Turf—and Your Budget?
When you tally the labor, material, and liability costs of gophers and moles, even a moderate infestation can run well into five figures each season. A precision CO-fumigation program with the BurrowRx Carbon Monoxide Sprayer slashes these hidden expenses with little to no impact on non-target wildlife.
Schedule a live demo to see how BurrowRx can pay for itself faster than a single season of mound repairs.
Stop reacting to rodent damage—take control with BurrowRx and keep your course rolling true all season long.
About BurrowRx
Designated as a pest control device by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), BurrowRx Carbon Monoxide Sprayer is designed to control burrowing and tunneling animals, including gophers, ground squirrels, moles, rats, and prairie dogs. BurrowRx Carbon Monoxide Sprayer uses a smoke oil tracer to show where the carbon monoxide is going in the tunnels. As the carbon monoxide enters the burrow system, the rodent breathes it replacing oxygen in its blood and causing the organs to stop working. The product is unlikely to harm any non-target species because once it completely dissipates, the carbon monoxide is no longer a risk to anything entering the burrow system.
For more information about the solution for burrowing pests, visit BurrowRx at www.BurrrowRx.com or call (619) 442-8686. Also, visit the BurrowRx channel on YouTube.