Club Management - May/June 2008 - (Page 42)

Club Wrap W a t is your best water conservation tip? Our superintendent, Shawn Hoiiis, uses a wetting agent. He distributes it through our irrigation iines regularly, and it helps maintain moisture levels. He has found the use of suriactants made minimal irrigation go a long way during iast summer's drought. JACK SAUERS, GENERAL MANAGER CANEBRAKE GOLF CLUB, ATHENS, ALABAMA Going beyond the normai answers of efficient commodes, empioyee awareness, etc., my goif course superintendent has ecucated me on the importance of having an irrigation system that is ecuipped with a weather station that measures evapotranspiration (8). This measure helps guide the amount of water to repiace each night and tsikes out some at the guesswork. One would be amazec at the amount of water savings between an eight-minute set and a 10-mlnute set Keep in mind golf courses are of various sizes and possess At The Breakers Hotel, we have a reverse osmosis system. ~ has the capabilities of producing 400,000 gallons at fresh water daily. This gives us the opportunity to manage our usage more effectiveiy on our goif course. The reverse osmosis system saves the hotel close to $300,000 annually on our public water bill as it turns saltwater into fresh, useable water for our golf course. The a wide variety in terms of irrigation systems, but as an example for our property: 10-minute irrigation set ~ 475,000 gailons of H20 Nine-minute irrigation set = 417,500 galions of H20 Eight-minute imgation set ~ 360,000 galions of H20 When the weather station measures atmospheric conditions course has three retention ponds that store the water until we need it. There is a iarge cash outlay for such a system, but in the long run, it is well worth the investment to have an ampie water supply in the summer months for our golf course. JAMES V. FREBRARO, GOLF OPERATIONS MANAGER THE BREAKERS, PALM BEACH, FLORIDA specific to our property, we get an estimated value at days' end that heips determine the amount of water to put back each night. If our superintendant thought he needed 10 minutes after looking at the day's reading, he might make an adjustment to either eight or nine minutes. In the example above, we could reduce irrigation water by as much as 13-25 percent, depending on whether he chose eight or nine minutes. This takes some of the "feel" method out of irrigation practices. This is extremely important to us, as we have no reservoirs or ponds on our course, meaning we pay for all of our golf course watering. We also have worked out an agreement where we are tapped Into the main raw water line that the local municlPaiity uses to draw lake water for treatment. This water costs us onesixth of what it would cost to use the potable city water. If this option ever leaves us, we will have to do some serious investigation into other alternatives. MARK D. PETZING, CCM, GENERAL MANAGER COUNTRY CLUB OF DETROIT I • 42 • CLUB MANAGEMENT If you'd like to contribute to Club Wrap. please e-mail clubs@naylor.com. We need your insight!

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Club Management - May/June 2008

Club Management - May/June 2008 Contents President’s Message Accounting & Financial Management Board Governance Wine Society Quenches Thirst for Knowledge, Camaraderie Building & Facilities Management Tennis Pro Education Increases Your Bottom Line Cover Story: BMI Golf Management Golf/Sports & Recreation Management Human & Professional Resources Relationship Building in the Internet Era The Ultimate Cellar Raid Products and Services Marketplace External & Government Influences HFTP Insight: HITEC 2008 Features Latest in Club Technology New Directions Global Outreach Advertiser Index/Advertisers.com Club Wrap

Club Management - May/June 2008

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