Golf’s Sink-or-Swim Issue Water

Faced with often-misguided restrictions that threaten many clubs’ very existence, superintendents are fighting back with the facts, to keep their water rights from drying up completely.

by Betsy Gilliland (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
July 2007
 

Summing It Up • Work with lawmakers and politicians to establish reasonable water restrictions and standards for both normal and drought conditions. • A professional lobbyist can help educate those unfamiliar with the needs of the golf course. • Hand watering, naturalized areas and a judicious selection of turf grasses can help superintendents manage their water resources.

Water will always be a vital resource in turfgrass care.

However, severe droughts and population explosions in some parts of the nation, as well as government restrictions, are changing the way superintendents manage this precious commodity. And the need for water conservation—and activism—is not going to dry up anytime soon.

“The drought kicked it all in, but the economic growth we’re seeing here is the biggest factor,” says Doug Lowe, Certified Golf Course Superintendent and the Director of Golf Maintenance at Greensboro (N.C.) Country Club.

Coming to the Table
Like many superintendents around the country, Lowe faced onerous water restrictions in 2002 at his two 18-hole private courses, which both rely on city water, because of severe drought conditions. And, like many of his colleagues, Lowe had to convince lawmakers, who were regulating golf course water usage even though they knew little about the industry, to lift some of their constraints.

The city of Greensboro had imposed the same set of water restrictions on golf courses that it had applied to homeowners. Realizing that his 36 holes could not survive those conditions, Lowe researched water management plans from other municipalities around the country. He brokered a policy with city officials, and later with state legislators, that replaced broad restrictions with greater flexibility in water conservation practices.

The backbone of his proposal was that superintendents can water more efficiently at the right time, rather than on a rigid schedule set by government officials.

“I have a new perspective just because of all the work that I’ve done,” adds Lowe. “My whole philosophy in watering has changed drastically in the last five to six years.”

Superintendents in other states have scored similar victories. “We’ve had legislation sponsored to have a green industry [program], and [to place] a superintendent on the Water Supply Advisory Council,” notes Michael Stachowski, Golf Course Superintendent at the Golf Course of Concordia in Monroe Township, N.J.

This council is working with the state Department of Environmental Protection to craft a master water plan for New Jersey. “We’re not against restrictions. Obviously, during a drought, we do have to cut our water back,” Stachowski says.

Doug Lowe, Superintendent, Greensboro CC

He became involved in conservation issues in 1999, when he was named Government Relations Liaison for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of New Jersey. He helped form the Alliance for Water Conservation (AWC), a group of green industry representatives that works with the state to mandate reasonable restrictions during droughts. However, he reveals, the AWC made little headway with state officials until it hired a professional lobbyist.

“The more we can educate people who are not familiar with our business, the better off we are,” Stachowski believes.

Flush With Pride—and Proof
The relationship between the golf industry and the commonwealth of Virginia reached its “high water” mark earlier this year, when Gov. Timothy Kaine declared May 15 as “Play Golf Virginia Day,” after the results of an independent study spotlighted golf’s sizeable economic and environmental contributions to the state.

The Virginia study, the first of its kind, will serve as a template for similar studies in other states, says Peter McDonough, Golf Course Superintendent of The Keswick (Va.) Club, an 18-hole private facility near Charlottesville.

People in the business must continue to work with state officials who make safety and environmental decisions, he notes, and golf standards should be based on science and fact.

“The population is going to double here, and natural resources are going to be competitive between golf and everyone else,” adds the superintendent, who has been involved in water conservation issues since a statewide drought five years ago.

McDonough won critical concessions for golf courses in 2002 by educating commonwealth officials on golf course management and water conservation practices. He also secured a spot for a golf course superintendent on a task force that is developing a state drought plan.

Sound water management practices do more than make sense environmentally, McDonough believes—they are also good for business.

“You have to make sure you’re sufficiently watering, not excessively watering, because that drives the playability of the golf course,” he advises.

Mark Esoda, Certified Golf Course Superintendent at Atlanta Country Club, frequently works with Georgia government officials on water management issues. He says the golf industry is finally “at the table.”

Three years ago, he spearheaded efforts to create a memorandum of agreement between the Georgia Golf Course Superintendents Assn. and the state Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Protection Division. Under the agreement, state and golf officials would reopen discussions about outdoor water use if 75 percent of the GCGSA members adopted best management practices (BMPs) for water conservation by May 2007. According to Esoda, 90 percent of the members had the plans in place by May.

Greensboro CC’s courses may not have survived the severe water restrictions the city placed on them, so Superintendent Doug Lowe went to city officials to help develop a more efficient policy.

Peter McDonough, Superintendent, The Keswick Club

“I’m real proud of Georgia,” he says. “I think at the end of the day this is an amazing thing. A volunteer effort by an industry to protect a natural resource of the state—that’s huge.”

A Purpose for Every Drop
Esoda identifies several BMPs to conserve water during drought conditions, such as decreasing mowing frequency and increasing mowing height, cutting back on fertilizer applications, and increasing the use of wetting agents (for a full list, see box, below).

For Shawn Emerson, who as Director of Agronomy for Desert Mountain Properties oversees six private, 18-hole golf courses in Scottsdale, Ariz., water conservation is a simple matter. “The whole idea is to not put any more water where we don’t need it,” he says.

Sophisticated, computerized irrigation systems with pinpoint accuracy also play an important role in water management. “Irrigation systems are the heart and soul of golf courses, because you want to be efficient with where you’re putting the water,” Emerson states.

His courses also have weather stations to monitor evapotranspiration—the combination of water transpired from vegetation and evaporated from soil and plant surfaces—and determine the exact amount of water each sprinkler head needs.

Hand-watering, naturalized areas and a judicious selection of turf grasses are other techniques and tricks of the trade that can help superintendents manage available water resources efficiently.

Shawn Emerson, Director of Agronomy for Desert Mountain Properties, relies on sophisticated irrigation systems and weather stations to determine precise water needs.

Waves (and Blades) of the Future
Armand Le Sage, Golf Course Superintendent at Lake Arrowhead (Calif.) Country Club, believes the industry’s philosophy on water management will continue to evolve. He expects superintendents to grow better turf with less water in the future, and plant breeders to develop more drought-tolerant grasses and plants with greater water-retention capabilities.

In the meantime, Lake Arrowhead, in a resort mountain community with limited water resources, is working with a local water district to use recycled water. Under the plan, water will be pumped from a sewer treatment plant directly to the 18-hole private golf course.

“The only industry we have up here is tourism,” Le Sage notes. “There’s not a lot of pollutants going into our lake and getting back into our sewer system.”

He expects the practice to be in place by 2009 or 2010. “The East Coast is not into recycling yet, but it’s on the way,” he adds.

There’s already evidence that it’s spreading. In Virginia, The Keswick Club uses recycled water to supplement run-off during the warmest months, says McDonough.

In Arizona, though, where Desert Mountain has used effluent water on its six properties since 1998, Emerson says concerns about water quality may eventually outweigh worries about quantity, if recycling fervor becomes too prevalent.
As residential and commercial growth and development that has nothing to do with the club and resort business creates more restrictions in the future, look for water companies to have even more influence over golf course water resource management, says Greensboro CC’s Lowe.

That means superintendents must continue to hone their lobbying skills, to make their voices heard in government affairs.

“We deal with 12 state agencies at our club,” notes Esoda. “We used to just cut grass and make it look pretty.”

Emerson foresees more attention to drainage systems by golf course construction companies and a greater emphasis on treatment of water from secondary sources. But the consumer, he says, will ultimately determine water management practices. “Can they tolerate a course that’s not as green?” he asks. “I think that’s really what’s going to drive the engine.”

Practicing What They Preach Golf course superintendents now follow a number of best management practices (BMPs) to conserve water on their properties. These include: • Using wetting agents • Eliminating or reducing irrigation in selected areas • Hand-watering tees and fairway areas • Reducing fertilization • Using drought-tolerant plants • Using landscape plans that cluster plants according to their water needs • Using computerized irrigation systems • Monitoring weather with on-site weather stations • Watering at night or in the early morning, when wind and evaporation are lowest • Decreasing mowing frequency and increasing mowing height in drought conditions Source: GCSAA