Water
Golf Resource Group advocates the maintenance of fast and firm playing conditions.
Besides the fact that these conditions open a golf course to a greater variety of strategic golf shots, there is an agronomic benefit to conditioning a course to receive less water. According to the United States Golf Association (USGA) and supported by Penn State University, overwatering increases the potential for disease and can damage turf roots, contributing to turf loss and increasing the need for extra drainage.
Furthermore, in order to irrigate a golf course, energy is required to pump the water. Industry experts suggest that 20% of the world’s energy demands come from pumping water! Powering a pump system and paying for water can consume a significant portion of a maintenance budget. By watering less, your pumps will consume less energy, your irrigation piping will last longer, and you will pay for less water. All these results will save thousands of dollars each year and prolong the life of your systems.
Our Process
Our process begins by assessing your golf course design and looking for ways to reduce water use. We partner with select irrigation consultants who are able to perform the necessary irrigation system analyses including distribution uniformity testing, overall pipe and sprinkler design and pump station sizing.
Together, our analysis will cover the following areas:
- Complete area take-offs of all irrigated turf including greens, tees, fairways, roughs and bunkers, natural areas, water features, and cart paths and a usable PDF file and excel spreadsheet summarizing everything.
Complete Area Take-Offs Document Example - Distribution Uniformity analysis via catch can testing of select holes and/or problem areas
- Pressure testing of select points throughout the golf course, identifying potential pressure issues
- Historical water and energy use baseline calculations with potential areas of opportunity for reduction. Some of these opportunities can be achieved with minimal adjustments to management, or with more substantial changes like integrating soil moisture sensing, reducing turf or upgrading your irrigation system.
The Golf Resource Group has pioneered the process of linking water use to energy consumption and has streamlined the process to help you save both water and energy while keeping in mind the original design intent of your course.
Free Download
This tool will help you understand your water use alongside energy use and is the final step in calculating your kWh per acre foot metric.
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Featured Case Study
Water Project:
North Ridge Turf
Reduction Planning
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Key Benefits
- Reducing water use reduces the water demands, which in turn, will prolong the life of every component of the irrigation system.
- Drier conditions support better playing conditions, less turf disease and overall less maintenance expense.
- By reducing overall water use, a course will have the benefit of double cost reductions in both energy and water.
- On top of the obvious dollar savings attributed to water use efficiency, courses will realize the environmental benefit of integrating sustainable practices into their business.