As we settle in to 2019, my first blog entry will cover golf course maintenance and our responsibility to the environment. Before going any further, this blog is about Kinloch Golf Club (KGC) and our relationship with Mother Nature. While I know that virtually all of my colleagues protect their surrounding environment(s), these comments are only a reflection of our commitment to good stewardship. But I would bet a hefty sum of used golf balls that our stewardship of the environment is not the exception, but the normal standard throughout our industry.
Lets start with water quality...ironically, a university student recently wrote their dissertation on golf maintenance and its effects on surrounding water quality. KGC was one of the test sites. Essentially, the study measured water quality coming in to our property and then water quality exiting our property. The obvious assumption is that if golf maintenance is adversely affecting the surrounding watersheds, then, the water leaving our property should be in worse condition than the water entering our property. Not surprising to me, there was almost no discernible difference between the entry water and the exit water. Out of respect for the author, I will not divulge names or links to the work, but I am happy to support these claims if anyone wants to follow-up with a phone call :)
That work was completed throughout 2014 and I was not surprised with the results because I know how we handle our pesticide and fertilizer applications. Everything that we apply is properly labeled, the labels are adhered to and the operators are excellent applicators. I know they are excellent applicators because if the applications were poor then our turf quality would suffer and I would probably say something ;)
Also, the rate in which these products are applied is astoundingly low. Take, let's say, Insignia SC. This fungicide is labeled at .7 fluid ounces per 1000 square feet. This means that when we spray this fungicide (3 times annually), we are applying 30.5 ounces of chemical per acre! That is a small amount of chemical across an entire acre of turf.
Furthermore, pesticides are expensive. We'd prefer to spray nothing all year long. That would be amazing as you could re-deploy those monies into equipment and labor. Point being, not only do we spray well and within the confines of the EPA labels, we'd like to use as little product as possible.
How else do I know that Mother Nature is our friend... well, we are a certified Audubon Sanctuary. My predecessor achieved that distinction early on and maintained it for many years. I have continued that designation for the past 5 seasons. The Audubon Society exists to encourage golf courses to take care of the environment. We have been proud members for 18 years!
We don't even bother our Canada Geese without being properly permitted. Every year, we renew a Migratory Bird Permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We apply for and renew this permit so that we are handling this nuisance with as much responsibility and accountability as possible.
Do we over-apply water? Well... No!! We hate applying water. In case you have not noticed, Golfers kind of like a golf course that bounces and bounds a bit. A saturated fairway does not exactly release. Not to mention Golf Digest, the preeminent rating publication in the country, defines conditions with words like firm, fast and rolling. Irresponsibly watering your turf, besides being poor agronomy, doesn't really promote firm, fast and rolling. We use words like ET rates, site codes, field capacity and minimum wilting point. We use these words to build a strategy where we TRY to achieve the ultimate intersection of plant health and fun play-ability. Excessive moisture doesn't fit well into that strategy.
I could ramble on for hours talking about how we are supremely responsible to our environment. But the overriding point is this, great golf course maintenance is not mutually exclusive to great environmental stewardship. In fact, great golf course maintenance is a proponent of great environmental stewardship.
And even as much as I enjoy clean air and clean water (my dog does too:), It doesn't even have to be some altruistic mission. Even if I thought Mother Nature was dispensable, there is nothing about
mismanaging the environment that helps me produce great conditions at KGC. To the contrary, the synergy of protecting the environment, most always leads back to a sound agronomic program.
People on the outside may spend less time presuming what they don't know and more time learning from the guys on the ground. Mother Nature is our friend. Hell, without her, there would be no place to even play this great game!
