Page 20 - GBC summer 2015

“Very few have taken the more extreme measure of allowing fairways and/or tees to dry out; and no one is allowing greens to become ‘un-green.’ “
and often only used to water tees and greens. We placed an intake hose into the nearest pond or river, and cranked up the pump every night. As the game has modernized, so have irrigation systems. A new system, with its computerized, flow maximizing, individual head controlled, wall to wall coverage; would be quite a shock to Old Tom Morris, and to be honest, he would view it as excessive. However, if Old Tom Morris were to attempt to market the course conditions of his era to a present day golfer – he would be an unemployed Superin- tendent within a season.
Admittedly, some very high end courses have opted for single row fairway irrigation (or simply turned off some heads), which has allowed the rough to go dormant in times of drought - Pinehurst being a very high profile example. Very few have taken the more extreme measure of allowing fairways and/or tees to dry out; and no one is allowing greens to become “un-green.” As a result, golf courses are using more water for irrigation than ever before – and the timing could not be worse.
POLITICALLY CORRECT
Water generally, has become extremely politicized - this is not new in parts of the country where fresh water has historically been in limited supply. Images of the Dust Bowl from the 1930s are burned into our collective consciousness, and every elementary student knows that all of our prairie rivers are fed by mountain snowmelt, and rapidly shrinking glaciers. It is common knowledge that the mighty Colorado River, which had the power to carve out the Grand Canyon, no longer flows to the sea. It gets used up along the way by thirsty cities and irrigation.
A recent UN study suggested that we will have a global under supply of fresh water within the next century. Imagine where golf course irrigation will rank in the priority list if that dire prediction comes to pass. In places where water is already in short supply, users are obliged to pay for the water used.
Superintendents in dry States like Arizona, talk about “water acqui- sition” budget line items in the tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. But even in geographic areas with healthy water supplies; the Great Lakes Basin for example, the public demand for water conserva- tion is present and expanding.
The Province of Ontario has recently sent up several trial balloons, to all industries who hold Water Taking Permits (including golf courses) – measuring their reaction to the notion of actually paying for water by volume. The industries were, not surprisingly, cool to the idea, but the public was ecstatic; the same public that won’t pay to play your course if you don’t irrigate it.
IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY AUDITS
So permits are more difficult (and more expensive) to get, and will become more expensive in the future. The public, who are forced to install low-flow toilets, and are not allowed to water their lawns, are not in our corner. Golf is faced with yet another crisis, to add to its ever growing bag of woes, but there is good news here. Because there are golf courses in places like Arizona, Nevada, Dubai, and similar desert envi- ronments, where irrigation water is restricted by legislation, allocation, and cost - Canadian golf courses can benefit from the research, experience, and Best Management Practices that have come out of this restricted irrigation environment.
20 Golf Business Canada