The golf course industry is constantly evolving to meet market demands, improve environmental stewardship and attain economic goals. To achieve these results, golf course maintenance staffs are adopting new technology, simplifying agronomic programs and planning course capital projects that will put the facility in a more sustainable position for the future. Here are five recent trends that align with these goals:
- Bunker reduction – Quite commonly, courses spend more budget dollars maintaining bunkers than on any other area of the golf course! On average, golfers will only hit two or three shots from bunkers while playing an 18-hole round and 35 shots on the greens – so why spend so much on bunkers? Unfortunately, this update won’t answer this question, but it is good to see many courses reducing the number of bunkers, the size of bunkers and redesigning bunkers to make them more maintenance and golfer friendly. For example, courses are reducing bunker area to a range of 30,000-60,000 square feet per 18 holes. Steep bunkers are being redesigned to reduce washouts, facilitate ride mowing and reduce hand labor. The maximum slope for sand bunker faces should be less than about 32 degrees and grass slopes should be less than 25 degrees.
- Low-water-use grasses – Courses in the West are faced with increasing water costs and reduced water availability. Reducing highly maintained turf and replacing it with low-water-use grasses or vegetation is a popular strategy for adapting to water challenges. The image in this article shows a hillside seeded to blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), side oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) and Purple Three Awn (Aristida purpurea). These grasses generally need one-fifth the amount of irrigation required by bermudagrass that is annually overseeded with ryegrass.
- GPS sprayers – The use of GPS-guided sprayers is increasing in popularity. Courses that have adopted this technology are reporting increased spraying accuracy, reduced chemical use and less time spent on spraying. One course recently outfitted a 15-gallon, electric-powered greens sprayer with individual nozzle control and GPS to separate chemical sprays for greens and putting green collars. With research suggesting that collars often decline in health due to overregulation from plant growth regulators meant for greens, this little sprayer will come in really handy!
- Simple fertilizer programs – Turfgrass fertilization can be confusing, but observations at some of the best facilities in the country reveal that the simplest programs often work best. Don’t read too much into chemical soil tests, focus on adequate but not excessive nitrogen inputs and stick to simple nitrogen sources. The late Stanley Zontek wrote a great article on this topic titled “Does the Grass Know the Cost?” Read this once a year to remind yourself to keep it simple.
- Ride mowing greens and tees – In this challenging labor market, many courses are operating with fewer employees than they did five or six years ago. Switching to riding mowers for greens and tees is an excellent strategy to free up labor without sacrificing the quality of the golf course product.
These trends are popular because they allow courses to produce a great golf experience while reducing resource inputs. There may be upfront capital costs to implementing these strategies, but the course will benefit in the long term. Many USGA Course Consulting Service visits now focus on helping courses produce exemplary putting surfaces and a great golf experience while at the same time reducing resource inputs. Such practices allow courses to better meet financial goals and remain viable in a difficult and competitive environment.
Best wishes for the remainder of the 2019 growing season and please do not hesitate to contact the USGA Green Section West Office for more information on these strategies or any other agronomic practices.
West Region Agronomists:
Patrick J. Gross, regional director – pgross@usga.org
Brian S. Whitlark, agronomist – bwhitlark@usga.org
