GOLF COURSES
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS IN THE INDUSTRY
urfgrass ® is celebrating
T 25 years in the golf course industry and decided to look back at the important changes in the industry and the “ game changers ” for the future !
Over the past 25 years , television has played a massive role in golf course conditioning . We call it the “ Augusta National Effect ”. Every golf club aspires to have conditioning similar to Augusta , which is hard to accomplish , without the correct investment and personnel . Golf course owners , general managers and committee members , all see Augusta National in pristine condition in April and wonder why their course cannot be to that standard . They neglect to consider that Augusta National reaches these dizzy heights with a massive number of volunteers and an extremely healthy maintenance budget
When Turfgrass ® was founded in 1997 , green speeds would average 8 to 9 on the Stimpmeter . Today , even an average club is looking for speeds of 11 plus . The demands on Greenkeeping staff are not sustainable given the squeeze on many maintenance budgets and the strict new legislations around pesticides . This is also a concern for designers with the level of slope , number of pin positions and sizes of greens required . Architects and Turf managers need to communicate and educate the ownership team and members of the golf club , to the “ beauty ” of imperfections . The golf course of tomorrow will no longer be lush green nor disease , insect , or weed free . Turfgrass ® role is to assist the designers and the clubs in achieving a new level of excellence , using natural and alternative ways of maintaining golf courses with integrated pest management solutions
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Turfgrass ® aim to make golf more economically and environmentally sustainable , by reversing the size of golf courses and decreasing maintained areas .
and maximising efficiencies across all areas of the maintenance budget .
Advancements in golf technology have meant that there has been an increase of 20 – 25 yards in the distance that people hit golf balls . As a result , new golf course developments have become longer and larger . Even Augusta National has increased its course length by 495 yards over the last 20 years . What Turfgrass ® has seen in the industry is an increase in maintained turf areas , once again putting pressure on maintenance budgets . Golf Course Architects have also had to renovate courses as bunkers became obsolete for the good player and were only “ catching out ” the average player .
Turfgrass ® aim to make golf more economically and environmentally sustainable , by reversing the size of golf courses and decreasing maintained areas . “ Naturalised ” areas are being added and bunker sizes are being vastly reduced . Typically , your average modern-day area of bunker sand of 10,000 square meters , is being reduced to approximately 6,000 square meters . Emphasis is being placed on run-offs around greens as hazards . Generally , 2- 3 % of golfer shots are from bunkers , whereas bunkers can take up to 20 % of a maintenance budget ! We completed one such project at Vidauban just last year .
While the “ Augusta National Effect ” is here to stay , Architects and Turf Managers need to communicate and educate the client more about what is happening in Europe with global warming , water reduction and the curtailment in pesticidal use . We need to work collectively to achieve the same goal of providing a rewarding experience , growing the game of golf and protecting the fine work that has taken place over the last 25 years !
www . turfgrass . net
32 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | September / October 2022