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SUPER tips |
Throw that hose away
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Illustration by Kelly Neis |
There are two things that irk me in the operation of a golf course: paying for gas and paying for water.
I certainly realize that gas is an essential expense, and you are at the mercy of the gas producers to pay the going rate. But it’s just hard for me to justify the intangible results of this expense. I don’t like it but I can live with it. But to pay for water just seems crazy. While growing up in Canada, water was so plentiful I assumed that nobody paid for using it on the golf course. How wrong was I!
Soon after accepting the job at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kan., in 1999, I received my first golf course monthly water bill of $8,000. Over the next few years I did everything in my power to reduce this expense. I did all the things superintendents normally do: letting the course dry out more, eliminating sprinkler heads, converting nozzles, converting to part circles where possible and praying for rain at night.
Although I was able to drastically reduce my water use rate, certain areas on the course developed dry spots. At times we experienced every type of dry spot, including isolated dry spots caused by decomposing organic matter, compacted soil and nonuniform greens mix. Wetting agents helped somewhat, but frequent applications became necessary. This was not the solution I was looking for. As I watched the staff pull out the hoses and turn on the water, I didn’t see water, I saw dollars being thrown at these dry spots.
Last year at the GCSAA conference and show in San Diego, I ran into an old friend at breakfast. He told me about a new product that was getting ready to hit the golf course market to help in water conservation. The product is called Zeba (originally called AquaZorb) made by a company called Absorbent Technologies Inc. Having been in the business for more than 30 years, I have seen almost everything that claims to save water yet comes up short on delivery.
The product claimed to be a biodegradable, environmentally safe, starch-based polymer that will improve soil moisture retention and water availability to the roots of plants. It claims to absorb more than 400 times its weight in water, retain it and release that water “on demand” when the grass plant needs it.
For my friend, I agreed to do a test plot on the course when I got back from the conference. Within a month, I received a 25-pound bag of granular Zeba to try out.
As with most golf courses, we have our “indicator green” that is the first to show signs of dry spots. I figured this would be an ideal spot for this trial. I decided to inject the product using John Deere’s RZI injector into the green. I applied a single application and a double application of the product and waited. I truly didn’t expect to see any significant results. What I did not see was amazing. The dry spots somehow began to disappear.
Thinking this was just a happy coincidence, I began injecting the Zeba into a variety of dry spots throughout the course. Areas included fairways, roughs, traffic areas and more dry spots on other greens. The results were the same. The product is capable of lasting up to one year, as it is broken down through microbial activity. The turfgrass is healthy, and only a limited amount of extra water was needed. Thinking that other uses may see this benefit, I experimented by simply applying the granular to flower gardens and prior to sodding. The results were unbelievable, and the plants flourished with a significant reduction in water.
The company claims that you can save 20 percent of water costs. I believe that you save more than that. This past year the course was in the best shape ever — firm and fast. Time to throw those hoses away.
Now if I can only get our gas bills down.
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