Summing It Up
•Chemicals in today’s marketplace can pinpoint problem areas more accurately than they could in the past. |
Environmental stewardship is becoming a hallmark of golf course maintenance, and golf course superintendents are leading the charge for club and resort properties to create, and demonstrate, a shared sense of responsibility in the adoption of eco-friendly techniques.
From their relationships with management and memberships, to their rapport with vendors and suppliers, superintendents need all players on board to cultivate a green team. And perhaps no aspect of golf course maintenance is more crucial to creating a successful “green” approach than how chemicals and fertilizers are used.
Integral Ingredients
Application practices and products might have changed through the years, but the use of chemicals and fertilizers remains an integral component of any golf course operation.
“Besides payroll, those are the two most important factors in the budget,” says Dan Ciamaichelo, Golf Course Superintendent at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, Ga., near Augusta.
Ciamaichelo spends close to $100,000 of his annual $1 million budget on fertilizers and chemicals at the 27-hole private club, which features three nine-hole layouts.
Peter George, Golf Course Superintendent at Ravenwood Golf Club in Victor, N.Y., reports that he tries to have use of chemicals and fertilizers at the 18-hole public course mirror the practices that other superintendents follow at mid-range to high-end private clubs.
“I’m trying to give the same product to more golfers for less money,” he explains.
However, like most superintendents, George only applies chemicals and fertilizers as needed.
“I used to spray every three weeks, wall-to-wall,” he says. “Now we wait until things pop up.”
Chemicals in today’s marketplace can pinpoint problem areas more accurately than they could in the past, George notes.
Jim Wilkins, Certified Golf Course Superintendent and Manager of Golf Course Operations for two courses in Arvada, Colo. (the 27-hole private West Woods Golf Club, pictured above, and the 18-hole, municipal Lake Arbor Golf Course), agrees.
While the clay soil at the Denver-area properties requires a steady use of fertilizer, he says, the dry, high-desert terrain limits the need for pesticide applications.
Peter George, Golf Course Superintendent at Ravenwood GC, matches his use of chemicals and fertilizers to that of mid- to high-end private clubs. |
“We do a lot of soil testing to use the right combination for our turf needs,” Wilkins reveals.
West Woods keeps its members, as well as residents of the surrounding neighborhood, abreast of its efforts through its Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, a certification that the property achieved last year.
David Swartzel, Golf Course Superintendent at Bedford Springs Resort in Bedford, Pa., has increasingly turned to organic fertilizers, which he says now cost about the same as petroleum-based synthetic fertilizers. Chemicals and fertilizers are critical to the maintenance operations of his 18-hole course, he adds—but he and his colleagues agree that the way they use the products is equally important.
“We do a lot of light, frequent applications—20 to 30 times a year—so chances of runoff or leaching are minimized,” Swartzel explains. “It’s healthier for the turf to feed it in that manner, and more environmentally friendly.”
Swartzel relies on industry consultants and university researchers for their expertise, and he and his colleagues also depend on vendors and suppliers to keep them informed of the latest products and technology. Wilkins says vendors offer him “good analysis,” and Ciamaichelo looks to suppliers to help him select the products that are best suited for his course at a particular time.
‘An Invaluable Tool’
One tool in the golf course maintenance industry that is becoming increasingly popular is “fertigation”—the application of liquid fertilizers and other nutrients through an irrigation system.
Jim Loke, Certified Golf Course Superintendent and Golf Course Manager at the 18-hole Bent Creek Country Club in Lancaster, Pa., has been a pioneer in the use of fertigation in the Northeast. The system has been “an invaluable tool that makes it convenient to fertilize the course in a moment’s notice,” he reports.
A granular fertilizer application is a labor-intensive process that can take a day’s time to cover the entire golf course, Loke says. However, he explains, “It takes five minutes to set up the fertigation system to fertilize the golf course overnight.”
He prefers to fertigate in a light rain, when plants are more receptive to the products. Low winds and high humidity offer maximum absorption, he adds.
Ravenwood put in a fertigation pump station (left) to help grow in its golf course (below) six years ago; its owner is an enthusiastic proponent of the technique. |
“I tend to fertigate when I feel the grass is showing me signs that it’s hungry,” he reports.
George has used fertigation—a particularly effective process during grow-in—since Ravenwood was built six years ago. He says the course owner was an enthusiastic proponent of the technique.
“It doesn’t do away with your granular program,” George states. “It’s just another tool, and a quick way to get a quick response out of the grass.”
Wilkins has used fertigation for the last 10 to 12 years, to “spoon-feed the turf on a daily basis.” However, he, like other superintendents, relies on a combination of granular and liquid fertilizers.
Fertigation provides density and color, Wilkins says, but he avoids over-fertilizing, so the turf does not clump or become susceptible to disease. He also reports that too much fertilizer can cause the grass to grow too fast, making it difficult for the grounds crew to keep up with mowing.
Ciamaichelo has used fertigation since Champions Retreat was built in 2004. While he depends on granular products for season-long turf feeding, he turns to fertigation during peak growing periods and to help recover from environmental stress caused by extreme heat or cold.
The process can provide quick color enhancement to prepare for a tournament or to showcase the golf course for photographs or television appearances, he adds.
Savings in the Long Run
While liquid fertilizers can be costlier than the granular varieties, superintendents agree that fertigation offers a number of savings in the long run.
“It saves a tremendous amount of time, which lets us focus on other areas,” Ciamaichelo notes.
While the clay soil at Denver-area properties, such as West Woods CC (right), require a steady use of fertilizer, the dry, high-desert terrain limits the need for pesticide applications. |
The process prevents overlapped or overlooked areas of fertilization, he adds. Wilkins concurs, noting that overnight fertigation eliminates the need to close part of the course for a major granular application.
The process also offers fuel savings and environmental benefits. “It does save water, because a healthier plant requires less water than an unhealthy plant,” notes Ciamaichelo. The practice also allows superintendents to adjust the pH level and improve water quality. “I can mimic rainwater as best as I can, and that’s a tremendous feature,” George says.
Precision is another environmental benefit of fertigation. “The fertilizer is applied with the sprinklers, and the sprinklers are calibrated to only hit the grass,” explains Ciamaichelo—a vital benefit for keeping the products out of areas such as streams and wetlands.
While granular applications require “massive amounts [of fertilizer] at one time,” he adds, “fertigation allows us to just kind of prescribe fertilizer to the grass.”
Superintendents say they have seen few, if any, drawbacks to fertigation. At Ravenwood, the pump station had to be positioned in a corner of the property, increasing the time needed for liquid fertilizer to travel from one end of the golf course to the other. So awareness must be maintained of “a potential flushing of the system,” George notes.
But Ciamaichelo says he has experienced none of the problems found on liquid fertilizer warning labels, such as stained cart paths or slippery conditions on wooden bridges.
The initial cost can be steep, notes Swartzel, who has a $25,000 fertigation system. The Bedford Springs equipment includes storage tanks, computerized controls that read the amount of water that flows through the system, and an injector pump that varies the water speed. However, Swartzel believes, “In the long run, it will pay for itself.”
Loke agrees, adding that the payback time for an established property is about three years.
“I think it’s a fun way of fertilizing a golf course, and I use it as much as I can,” he reveals.
Once their systems are calibrated properly, superintendents say fertigation is an easy tool to use. “With all the new products, new injectors and new technology out there, it’s going to be more widely used in the future,” Wilkins believes.
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