TURF MANAGEMENT
Turf Management
By Karl Hansell , BIGGA
hen golf reopened
W after the lockdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic , the sport experienced an unprecedented surge in popularity .
BIGGA – the British & International Golf Greenkeepers Association – worked alongside Sports Marketing Surveys and discovered that when golf courses opened , they hosted on average an extra 1,000 rounds of golf per month compared to 2019 figures .
Those numbers amounted to 12 million more footsteps , 10,000 extra pitchmarks and 18,000 extra divots on golf courses every month , with all these needing to be repaired or causing additional wear and tear . The consequence of golf ’ s annus mirabilis meant greenkeepers were stretched to the limit , squeezing in opportunities to undertake vital maintenance between tee times that were booked out from dawn until dusk .
56 GroundskeepingJournal . co . uk | January 2022