The black turfgrass ataenius, Ataenius spretulus (Haldeman), is an occasionally serious pest on golf course turf. Yet, little is known about the incidence of this important insect on golf courses or why outbreaks occur. It is has been reported that that A. spretulus is highly attracted to organically-rich areas including soils that contain elevated levels of organic matter including soil amendments (e.g., peat moss or manure). A strong relationship between the percent organic matter content, by weight, and the incidence of black turfgrass ataenius larvae occurred in a golf course putting green comprised of 10 different root-zone mixes. A. spretulus larvae were over 2-fold more abundant in root-zone mixes containing greater than 1.3 percent organic matter content by weight. Manure-rich fertilizers (Milorganite™ and chicken manure) as well as other fertilizers devoid of manure (urea and Pro-gro) were applied to golf course turf (putting greens and fairways) to determine the effect on the increased incidence of black turfgrass ataenius. No significant differences were observed between any of the manure-rich fertilizers or fertilizers devoid of manure; thus, suggesting that organically-based. These results suggest that manure-rich fertilizers may not increase the incidence of black turfgrass ataenius when applied to golf course turf.