Brown is the New Green?

Over the last several years, the golf industry has been working to encourage the change from managing golf courses for aesthetics to practices that encourage a focus on playability.  The days of wall to wall lush, green turf are slowly transitioning to the acceptance of a little more brown.


The USGA, along with most all golf associations, is behind the push for more sustainable golf courses.  Reducing water consumption and inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides not only save courses money, but also lead to firmer, more playable conditions.  Some would say, getting golf back to the way it was meant to be played.


At Wichita Country Club, our focus over the last few years has been limitiing our water usuage.  As water rates continue to rise each year, it only makes since to push the limit on how dry we can keep the course without negatively affecting the health of the turf.  We are limited with how far we can push the envelope on Poa/bent greens and cool season rough in the middle of a hot summer.  However, with the Zoysia faiways and Intermediate rough, we have managed to reduce the water inputs significantly.

What we are finding is that a few small changes can make a big difference.  We still use a large volume of water on an annual basis, fertilizer and pesticides will always be needed; however, we feel small steps in reducing our inputs without negatively affecting the playability is a step in the right direction.