Effluent Irrigation: Golf's Opportunity to "Go Green"

Globally, water is considered a highly conserved resource. Ninety-seven percent of the earth’s water is undrinkable seawater. That leaves just three percent for use by humans. Two percent of which is locked up in polar ice caps, which in reality means only one percent of the water on Earth is available for human consumption.

In recent years, the term “going green” has made much more of the world’s population aware of how they are using the earth’s resources. This “green” thought provocation has also brought to light many new and old ways to recycle and re-use these resources. With more and more attention being brought to the mass usage of water for golf course irrigation, golf course superintendents everywhere have been forced to begin searching for alternative, environmentally sound water sources. One option, that has been around for numerous years, is the use of effluent water. There’s no question that golf courses are leading the way when it comes to use of wastewater for recreational turf grass. Webster’s definition of effluent is as follows:

"sewage or other liquid waste that has been treated in a septic tank or sewage treatment plant"

With the rapid increase in housing developments and the immense growth of towns and cities the availability of fresh water as been on a decline, however, effluent water has become an abundant resource in today’s society. The advancements in being able to treat wastewater to make it available for golf course irrigation has made this the most available alternative source of irrigation water for turf. This has created a great opportunity for superintendents looking to better the reputation of golf courses within the community.

For years, golf courses have received an incredible amount of scrutiny for their “environmentally unsafe” practices. Most people look at all the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers and can’t help but think courses are detrimental to the already diminishing state of the earth. What the vast majority of the population doesn’t realize is that turfgrass is one of mother nature’s greatest filtration systems. Not only does it filter pollutants from the air, but it also provides a place for effluent water to be filtered again after treatment through the soil. According to James R. Watson’s Wastewater Reuse for Golf Course Irrigation, most turf areas contain enough soil to adequately filter, purify, or reclaim wastewater. This use of effluent water has also prevented it from being truly wasted by being dumped into lakes and ponds as it normally would be. Through irrigation with effluent water, it is also possible to be recharging aquifers through the natural filtering medium of soil. Because of this mass recycling of wastewater, I believe this is one of the biggest positive impacts golf courses can make on their relations with environmental groups.

BASF Turf Talk

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a great blog site I have come across: BASF Turf Talk. This blog is brought to you by BASF, a company based in North Carolina which develops and markets chemical solutions for improving turf quality through pest management including: weeds, disease and insect control.

This highly informational blog features current event updates throughout the industry, technological advances, business updates, GCSAA credit opportunity reminders, YouTube videos, polls, twitter entries and miscellaneous blog entry's from BASF team members all about different current events or popular topics within the industry. BASF Turf Talk also provides links to many other blog sites from turfgrass industry professionals. While exploring the site you get the feeling you are at a year round, digital turf conference.

Midwest Association of Golf Course Superintendents

The Midwest Association of Golf Course Superintendents (MAGCS) is an organization, founded in 1926 by a small group of Chicago area greenkeepers, which offers networking capabilities, education, employment, and scholarship opportunities to those individuals who are involved in or interested in the growth and enjoyment of golf. The membership of 800 stretches across the midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

MAGCS' membership includes men and women who are Golf Course Superintendents, those who provide the essential products and valuable services, and equipment technicians. Through a monthly magazine, golf events, educational conferences, research, generous contributions, employment services and environmental information MAGCS provides its members with great opportunities in the advancement of individuals in the industry and also the industry itself.

Through the dedication and hardwork of the membership, the courses represented by the MAGCS members have earned the reputaion of being some of the best managed golf courses in the United States. I am proud to have the chance to complete an internship this summer with a club that is associated with the MAGCS, Medinah Country Club.

Source: magcs.org

Turf Club Guest Speaker: Curtis Tyrrell, CGCS

On January 26, The PSU Turf Club was forunate enough to welcome the Director of Golf Course Operations of Medinah Country Club, Curtis Tyrrell, CGCS for a speech on his career path, some career advice, and also a bit on the renovation process currently taking place at Medinah CC.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Medinah CC is getting ready to host The Ryder Cup in 2012. Such a prestigious honor also comes with an immense amount of preparation (geared mainly toward the championship No. 3 Course). Some of the main renovations include:

- A complete grow-in of the No. 3 Course to achieve 100% bentgrass greens and fairways
- Rebuilding the remaining push-up greens to USGA specs
- The addition of two new practice greens behind the clubhouse
- Bunker renovations
- Rebuilding the practice facility
- Construction of a new maintenence facility

Though these preparations are, in part, to get ready for The Ryder Cup we were informed by Mr. Tyrrell that they are primarily being done to bring an overall consistent and great golf experience for the membership and their guests. On the surface, it may seem that the course itself is recieving all the attention. In reality, however, there is an incredible amount of planning that extends beyond the playing conditions. Mr. Tyrrell and his staff must also figure out how to accomidate thousands of spectatorsand when/how cultural practices will be carried out among many other things.

The most beneficial aspect of the speech to me was receiving career advice from one of the industry's best. The highlights on this subject include:

- Set very specific and realistic goals for yourself
- ALWAYS realize there is something else about turf management to be learned
- Make an effort to "Control the controllables"
- "Manage up" - know what your superiors are expecting and try to anticipate their requests
- Utilize your resources and networks
- Always be willing to evaluate your own management program. No one's, not even your own, is perfect

I look forward to working under Curtis and his staff as an intern this summer and anticipate implementing what I learn into my own philosophies I am currently developing.

Communications in the Turfgrass Industry

One of the most important skills for a turfgrass manager, or any manager, to possess is communication. Being a turfgrass manager means you will be communicating to a variety of people at different levels in the industry including but not limited to employees, the membership, and a board of directors for the golf course.

In order to have a successful maintenence crew, they need to understand what they are doing, how to do it, and why they are doing it. If the crew understands these things they will be more aware of the effect their work is having on the course. Also, communicating to your crew the importance of their work is a way to keep morale up as it can bring a sense of accomplishment and even a sense of belonging to your employees.

Arguably, the most important group of people to a golf club is the membership. With all the projects and maintenence practices that go into turfgrass management, the membership is bound to be curious. In order to keep them from feeling left out of their own club, it may be a good idea to present a monthly newsletter for example to inform them of what is happening. Keep in mind these are not turfgrass managers so it will take some skill to present the information in a way they will understand.

Last but definitely not least, is the club's board of directors. At times there are situations where you may need to convince a board that you need a little more room in the budget for the good of the course. No one likes to spend more money than they believe is neccessary. It is your job as a turfgrass manager to persuade a board to allow for what you may need. Once again, communication skills play a huge part here because the board of directors is not a board of turf managers.

My Internship Opportunity

For this coming season, I have been fortunate enough to obtain an internship position at one of the top clubs in the country: Medinah Country Club. Medinah CC is located just west of Chicago, Il and is slated to host the 2012 Ryder Cup competition. For those not familiar with the Ryder Cup, it is a series of matchplay competitions between some of the best golfers in the world.

There are many different aspects of preparing for an event like this, including a complete "grow-in" of the championship No. 3 Course. Though the preparations have already begun, I will be involved in the final stages before the course opens back up to the membership. Along with gaining experience growing in a course I hope to gain valuable knowledge with fertilizer/pesticide applications, irrigation programs and technical repairs, managing crews, and much more.

Because Medinah CC provides multiple courses for its membership to enjoy, there will be many accomplished professionals for me to work under and learn from. I really look forward to this experience and believe it is definitely the correct step to take in becoming an accomplished turfgrass professional myself.


Picture courtesy of: golfersguide.com

It's me, it's me. It's DD.. oh. JMG!

Hi, my name is Justin Gladhill. I am 22 years old and a first year student in the 2-year Turfgrass Program here at Penn State University. I hail from a small town 10 minutes south of historic Gettysburg, Pa (by car [kind of speeding {but not too much}]) called Littlestown. The name speaks for itself as we have been hearing rumors of a second stop-light for the past 5 years.

I recently finished up 2-years of previous education at YTI Career Institute in York, Pa receiving an Associate's Degree through their Golf Course Management Program. I am very excited to be here continuing my education and also look forward to a great internship experience at Medinah Country Club just outside of Chicago, Il this coming season.