Conservation & Ecology “
Golfers demand quality; they will no longer accept the extremes of seesawing golf course conditions day to day. They dislike playing an extremely dry golf course as much as a wet one
golf course conditions day to day. They dislike playing an extremely dry golf course as much as a wet one. The first thing I would suggest is to ask
yourself some questions about the current situation, especially with regard to water procurement in sufficient enough levels to ensure your course meets the demands of the golfer.
- Where do you get your irrigation water from and will its supply be maintained going forward?
- Is it sufficiently available to cover those weather extremes we are now experiencing?
- Can we rely on the current abstraction amounts in the medium to long term?
- One for your supplier - what are their forecasts for continued supply to you as a user?
resources even after we have had so much rain?”; “Why doesn’t the greenkeeper do something about it?”; “I played at such and such a golf course the other day and it was much better than ours”. Based on playing characteristics, golfers
are voting with their feet and going to another club that has better all year round playing conditions because those clubs have invested to cover these extremes better than theirs. Whilst the weather is a major factor, another is the population explosion in the southeast of England which has had a huge impact on the uptake of water from the potable mains supply and, therefore, golf clubs are in direct competition for water abstraction. At the very least, this will drive the cost of water up and result in some restrictive controls being put in place. Water is becoming the new oil or, if we
take it to its natural conclusion, the liquid gold of the future. We are in a very competitive and ever-changing marketplace, with regard to securing this most valuable resource. It would not be incorrect to suggest that the amounts of water we currently enjoy using to irrigate our golf courses could become unavailable to us in the future. We continually, against all the facts it has
to be said, have to overcome the perception from the general public that we are a high user of water. So we will not only have to overcome securing the water that we absolutely need to maintain our golf courses, but also work at the message of good stewardship with the public in general. Some of you will say; “we have enough,
we’ll be fine” and you will stick your head in the sand and blissfully amble through, until it goes wrong in such a monumental fashion that you are unable to deliver the ‘quality product’ required by your customers. Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting
Take advice from industry experts as they
are at the ‘coal face’ when it comes to future trends and legislation issues and will have the ear of local and national government departmental bodies that influence abstraction limits going forward. There are the fortunate few who have all
that they require in place, but to suggest that they are ‘the norm’ would be to way underestimate the facts. Greenkeepers are at the blunt edge of criticism when things get tough. Poor course condition ‘in the golfer’s eyes’ has to be addressed. Investment into something better is everyone’s responsibility and should never be parked at the course manager’s door exclusively. It requires a team effort of wisdom and investment, and that can’t be achieved by any one individual, in my humble opinion. “We’ll be fine, we always manage” is a
common remark I hear front of house; however, behind closed doors, the fire is being stoked and dissatisfaction is being discussed. Comments I regularly hear from golfers are; “Why is the course so bad?; “Why don’t they have sufficient water
102 I PC APRIL/MAY 2014
that we should have a god-given right, just enough, and in sustainable amounts, is all I am alluding to and nothing more. It is such a serious problem we face that, if we ignore it now, we will be courting disaster in the longer term. Water is going to become one of the most
emotive and cost prohibitive commodities of our future, not only at the golf club but also in the society that we all are part of and live in.
You may take the view that I am
scaremongering, but isn’t it up to us, as individuals and an industry, to have a realistic and honest approach to the future? With changing weather patterns highlighting weaknesses in our armoury, we would be ill advised to ignore the need to address these issues full on and better place ourselves to contend with all weather conditions in the future. We should take the view of guaranteeing that we can deliver good quality playing surfaces no matter what weather patterns are thrown at us. The summer abstraction levels that we
currently enjoy will become increasingly more difficult to achieve, at the very least, and we will have restrictions placed on us
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