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I recently read an article in GOLF Magazine called, “The Guilded Age of Golf Course Design is Dead.” The article discusses how the economic downturn has affected the golf course architecture and construction business and speculates how the industry will move forward in the future. In the article, one golf course architect points out the excess inventory that currently exists. He predicts that the new trend in construction will be renovating existing golf courses rather than starting new projects. Part of the renovation would include reevaluating all of the components of the business in hopes of creating a successful facility, a philosophy he calls “repurposing.” Part of the reevaluation would include such key strategies such as incorporating sustainable principles that help lower the operating costs of the facility. One thing that most architects agreed upon was that the days of lavish spending and unlimited resources were gone.

The maintenance side of golf is experiencing the same concerns. Superintendents are rethinking and reevaluating how they conduct business, or repurposing. An easy way to get started repurposing is to evaluate the waste generated from your maintenance facility. A guide for golf courses designed to help them identify and employ pollution prevention techniques can be viewed below. The guide discusses various wastes common to golf courses and provides pollution prevention recommendations for each.
 

Golf Course Waste Reduction

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Marcus Jones
Graduate Research Assistant

This article was submitted by Ty McClellan, USGA Green Section Record Mid-Continent Region Agronomist.

We’ll get back to (insert any maintenance practice or budget line item cut in recent years) as soon as things return to normal.” Sound familiar? At face value, this comment suggests that, while the business of golf is down, the situation is only temporary and operations and staffing levels will return to normal. So, what exactly is normal? For many, normal is the general state of golf that existed prior to 2008.

The 1990s and early 2000s can certainly be referred to as the good ol’ days when golf was bursting at the seams with optimism in every sense of the word. There were an increasing number of golfers, new course construction, and strong revenue streams at golf facilities of all types. Positions for superintendents and assistants were being created faster than turf students could finish their education. In an atmosphere of pure optimism, golf courses were also being designed for the best of times and maintained to achieve the wow factor. This meant extravagance at many levels, including more bunkers with high faces, more tees, more yardage, and more acres of manicured turf. None of this came cheap, and courses became more expensive to maintain with unsustainable business models.

In response to the recent economic recession and fewer rounds, golf facilities needed to reduce expenses. As a result, golf course budgets have generally decreased, and important cultural practices have been scaled back. Central to cost-saving plans were fewer staff and less overtime, which consequently meant less detail work on the golf course, use of inferior products, and fewer capital improvements. Many, if not most, of these cost-cutting measures have at least some adverse effects over time, and some even have detrimental effects with costly future implications. Educating golfers about the difference between frugal spending and harmful cost cutting is a whole other topic of great importance to the Green Section.

While the economy will eventually stabilize and create greater financial security, I believe there may be a “new” normal for golf course maintenance and golf operations. Many of the same management and operational philosophies that worked in the good ol’ days simply won’t cut it any longer. For those who consider 2009 and 2010 to be years during which maintenance operations, staffing levels, and budget cuts were only temporary, the “new” normal for golf course maintenance is more likely to include a sustained focus on efficient operations. At first glance this view may appear gloomy, but this is not necessarily the case. Sure, the number of golf courses (supply) must be further reduced to better align with play (demand), and this adjustment will be painful at times. But golf course superintendents have always proven to be innovative and resourceful, and now is their time to shine.

To help close the gap between limited resources and high expectations, research will also continue to produce more effective products that meet stringent regulatory policies. Equipment, tools, and irrigation systems will continue to become more specialized, more accurate, and more efficient, given the need for fewer inputs and greater environmental awareness. In time it will be commonplace to recycle grass clippings, food waste, and other kitchen byproducts into bio-fuels that can then be reused as electricity, natural gas, or equipment fuel. Golf course superintendents will continue to become better educated and more fiscally savvy. Again, science and innovation will help lead the way, and golf will survive. Will it return to normal as it once was? That’s a different question altogether.

What we do know is that maintaining golf courses during the last golf boom was reflective of the times — somewhat extravagant and rarely sustainable. This should not be viewed as normal. Many of the adjustments that were necessary during the past few years may not be as temporary as some would like to believe. There may be a “new” normal in golf course maintenance, and it will likely resemble the philosophies, budgets, and practices in place today. So, rather than playing the waiting game for a return to normal, start planning for the future by finding ways to get things accomplished.

If you would like more information about a Turf Advisory Service visit, do not hesitate to contact either of the Mid-Continent regional offices: Ty McClellan at tmcclellan@usga.org or (630) 340-5853 or Bud White at budwhite@usga.org or (972) 662-1138.

Her is an interesting situation that I have not seen before.  The pictures come from Mike Vander Pol, superintendent at Emerald Hills golf course in Northwest Iowa.  This is on a Kentucky bluegrass fairway with a history of Summer Patch caused by the fungi  Magnaporthe poae.  The symptoms clearly look like Summer Patch, however, I would not expect the hyphae forming a myclial mass around the outside of the ring.  It was Pythium weather at the time that the pictures were taken, but Pythium is rare on Kentucky bluegrass and the mycelia mass is clearly around the circumference of the patches. 

I had Mike treat a test area with Teramec SP (chloroneb), a pythium control and send a grass sample to the Iowa State Plant Disease and Insect clinic for identification.  Mike reported to me that the Teremec did stop the hypha.  The laboratory was able to find oospores of pythium on the sample and runner hypae in the roots.  They were not able to clearly identify the species of the runner hyphae.

Evidently, the summer patch developed as is common on Kentucky bluegrass at this time of year.  This weakens the grass in the infected area.  That must have coincided with just the right conditions for Pythium development and the two diseases happened simultaneously.  Like I said earlier, I have not seen that before.