How Does a Golf Course Keep Grass so Green?
- A golf course is often looked at as an asset in a community. Regardless of whether you play golf or not, most poeple who drive by a golf course are taken aback by the natural beauty and the color of the grass. Most people take their own lawns for granted, but when they see how bright the green grass of the fairway is and the texture and color of the putting surfaces, they wonder how the golf superintendents keep their golf courses in such great shape.
- In order to get the grass on a golf course in the best shape possible and to maintain its beautiful green color, the course must receive an adequate supply of water every day. This means that a sprinkler system must be in use at all times when golfers are not on the course. During the summer, some areas will go days and weeks without rain, so a sprinkler system has to be adequately installed and used every night. Full-sized golf courses that are in dry areas--such as Palm Springs--use as much as a million gallons of water per day.
- Finding the right fertilizer for a golf course is far more complicated than watering the course. Each course and each region of the country has its own issues. For example, a course could have a problem with insects like grubworms or crickets. That course would need a different type and amount of fertilizer than a course with a weed problem. Treating a course with chemicals will get rid of insects or weeds, but using too much of a particular treatment could cause additional problems. Knowing the right compounds and fertilizers to use will help a course superintendent get the course to reach its visual peak.
