Golf
over one hundred years is a big deal. And, after the Olympics, the course will become a public facility for Brazil, which has grown over the last decade to become the second largest golf- playing nation in South America, behind Argentina. Brazil has more than 100 golf courses and 25,000 golfers.
The course is made up of zoysia with paspalum greens. How is that combination coming together?
Turfing began at hole 8 Image ©Rio 2016/Alex Ferro
It’s an interesting choice; it’s never mixed before as far as I know. Zoysia Zeon is different physiologically to paspalum. I’ve worked with paspalum for the past fourteen years. I’ve done other Zoysia Diamond projects and Emerald projects, but this is a new variety for me. Generally, zoysia is a good grass, but it’s not the magic bullet grass. Grasses on this planet Earth are designed to be placed in, or grown in, climates that are conducive to good growing conditions. It happens to be one of the better grasses in that particular area. There’s no question about that, it shows, with very little input.
What kind of chemical programme are you using?
There’s no excessive use of chemicals. I’m not allowed to use herbicides, so there’s a lot of handpicking of weeds. There are ways and means of growing grass
beyond what you learned in school. You have to experiment sometimes. On this particular project, I experimented a lot and I’ve come up with a formula for that. I mix and match some of my own ‘juju juice.’
Another challenge for me is the products that
are available locally. It’s not an area for companies to stock and supply what I require for golf maintenance.
When tournament time comes, what kind of course will the players and audience see; a lush and green course or brown, fast and firm?
Zeon Zoysia big turf rolls Image ©Rio 2016/Alex Ferro “
Eventually we are probably going to go for a block-mow look. We are not going to be overly green, but we aren’t going to be overly brown. At some point someone will encourage me to
There is no outlet here where I can go to buy everyday golf course maintenance items. Everything has to come from overseas
do what they want to do, but it has to be a collective responsibility as to how we are going to present it. No matter what, we will present a golf course that will be worthy of 112 years of missed golf.
What kind of local crew have you hired to work on the course?
The crew that I employ, sometimes they don’t last because they don’t like weed-picking 24/7. The attrition rate is about 30 percent a month, and you have to keep training these guys. The ones who do last look at me like I’m crazy when I arrive at 4.00am or 5.00am or when I’m doing experimental things.
I get a kick out of it in the morning when I look
at them strolling in, and it’s like a deer in the headlights when I’ve written things on the board, but they really don’t know why we are doing it. I’m trying to create a whole new turf school for them in terms of understanding turf and why we do things at certain times of year.
The Zeon Zoysia turf was designed to grow in a
climate like Brazil’s and requires minimal input Image ©Marcelo Matte, Green Grass Brazil
26 I PC OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 So the whole process is a culture shock for them?
When I told them that we would be sleeping at the course they kind of looked at each other,
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