Abstract: The compounds 2, 3-butanediol (BD) and 2R, 3R-BD can cause creeping bentgrass to show increased resistance against Rhizoctonia solani. To evaluate the mechanisms of this induced resistance, we determined the activities of antioxidant enzymes in the ascorbate-glutathione cycle and the redox states of various antioxidant compounds in leaves of creeping bentgrass that were injected with 250 μmol/L 2, 3-BD and 100 μmol/L 2R, 3R-BD before inoculation with R. solani. The 2, 3-BD and 2R, 3R-BD treatments significantly decreased the disease incidence in creeping bentgrass plants inoculated with R. solani and increased the activities of glutathione reductase (GR) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX). However, the increase in APX activity was smaller than that in the control (no BD). In the plants treated with 2, 3-BD and 2R, 3R-BD, the ascorbic acid (AsA) content decreased at an early stage and increased at a later stage after inoculation, while the content of dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) peaked at 1 and 9 d after inoculation at levels significantly higher than those in the control. The AsA/DHA ratios of plants treated with 2, 3-BD and 2R, 3R-BD reached a maximum at 5 days after inoculation (5.0 and 3.4 times the AsA/DHA ratio in the no-BD control at 5 d after inoculation, respectively). In plants treated with 2, 3-BD and 2R, 3R-BD, the glutathione (GSH) content significantly increased and the GSH/GSSG ratios peaked at 9 days after inoculation at 2.34 and 1.66 times that in the no-BD control, respectively. These results suggest that in creeping bentgrass, the resistance against R. solani induced by 2, 3-BD and 2R, 3R-BD involves the ascorbate-glutathione cycle, which maintains efficient metabolism and participates in the plant disease resistance response.