Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2010 - 34

Northland CC (photographed mid-July, 2009)
Courses typically use between 25 and 40
millions gallons of water in a season. Northland
used five million gallons two summers ago.
of golf to burn out the grass population
and sterilize the soil, which is full of annual
bluegrass seeds waiting to germinate.
" There are so many variables on each
individual golf course, be it turf variety,
soil type, clientele, water availability and
irrigation systems, " MacKenzie says. " To
mandate that golf should be brown and
firm and fast-that isn't for everybody. It
can't be uniform for all golf courses across
the board. "
If a course can make the transition,
however, there are some benefits to be
had. According to Scott Turtinen, executive
director of the Minnesota Golf Course
Superintendents Association (MGCSA),
courses in the area water daily from midApril
to mid-October, and-depending
upon conditions, location and grass population-typically
use between 25 and 40
million gallons in a season. (It should be
noted that many courses use recycled water.)
Although Tritabaugh at Northland in
Duluth (where conditions are cooler and
less arid near Lake Superior) doesn't know
the water usage before he arrived there, he
used five million gallons two summers ago
and seven or eight million in 2009, which
32
MINNESOTAGOLFER Summer 2010
was dryer than 2008. The financial benefit
from using only a fifth of the typical water
used is considerable.
At The Minikahda Club, superintendent
Jeff Johnson began transitioning his
turf from Poa annua to bentgrass in 2008.
He consulted with a turf management
company from California called Greenway
Golf and has introduced cultural and nutritional
practices that create a more acidic
environment where the bentgrass can outcompete
the Poa. While his water reduction
is not yet where he wants it, he has
seen a 50 percent reduction in fungicides
and fertilizer inputs-a savings of $50,000
on his budget. Like Tritabaugh, Johnson
has reduced core aeration on his course
and is going instead with the less disruptive
solid-tine aeration each month. After
getting hammered by winterkill on his Poa
greens in 2004, many of his greens are becoming
predominantly bentgrass and responding
better.
" In two more years, some greens will
be 90 percent bent, others maybe in five
[years], " says Johnson, who has sought
more organic methods for maintaining his
course. " Our fertilizer practices are about
180 degrees from what we used to do. It's a
change of philosophy that we have had to
adjust to, but I don't see how I could manage
the golf course like I used to. I am not
in that mindset anymore. "
Johnson sees the trend toward these
practices as slow, but knows there are
plenty of people interested in what they
are doing. Vavrek says that in 10 or 20
years, water is going to be a huge issue,
with shortages and restrictions and
higher costs than have been seen before
in this area. And MacKenzie says that the
MGCSA is already ahead of the game.
The organization is currently formulating
a " Golf is Green " initiative that includes
collecting the best management practices
designed to reduce water, fertilizer and
fungicide usage. The MGCSA is hoping
to get all the courses to sign off on it and
present it to the state legislature this fall.
Changes are coming.
" I would like to be ahead of the curve, "
says Johnson. " If the DNR tells us we need
to use less water or the EPA takes some pesticides
away from you-are you prepared
for that? How are you going to adjust if
suddenly certain fungicides are gone and
you relied on them for your turf? If and
when we get regulated on how much we
can use and when, I want to be prepared
for it. " MG
www.mngolf.org
PHOTO BY DAVE DAWKINS
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2010

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