Golfdom, April 2015

Before the course opens each spring the fairways are deep tine aerified so the fescue can produce deep roots couraged the growth of invasive species like Poa annua Bearing in mind the longstanding traditions of the game as well as the principles of agronomics new owner Ziegler converted Erin Hills to a walking only facility shortly after purchasing it Eliminating golf cars means the fescue is now maintained as originally intended using much less fertilizer and water resulting in dry firm and fast conditions Brown is beautiful During the summer of 2012 southeast Wisconsin endured a severe drought with no rain reported for 62 consecutive days In response Reineking actually took advantage of the conditions pushing the course to its limits by only irrigating fescue minimally so it would stay alive without actively growing Greens and tee boxes however were irrigated By the end of the summer the course used only 182 million gallons of water just 500000 more gallons than typical summers Since fescue can manage droughts by transitioning into a summer dormancy state and turning brown while the crown and roots are alive the fairways had an incredible patina of green and brown all erin hills summer Reineking says We want to maintain that brown is beautiful philosophy during the Open by using the least amount of chemicals and water we possibly can Erin Hills has a two row irrigation system preventing excessive water application on the outer perimeters of fairways and rough Of the courses 550 irrigation heads 200 to 300 see frequent use Consequently the course now uses less than 125000 gallons of water each day To better measure Erin Hills irrigation needs the Turfgrass Department also uses time domain reflectometers a form of moisture sensing technology to determine how much water the rough fairways and greens require day to day Staff members have an established daily reading to strive for via hand watering Each reading is based on weather conditions Using the reflectometers and hand watering the turfgrass limits the number of overhead irrigation applications necessary to maintain healthy turfgrass It also limits the amount of disease which usually occurs as a result of overwatering As another example of minimal maintenance input Reinekings staff uses iPads that are paired to their irrigation computers allowing staff members to walk fairways and determine which irrigation heads should run This micromanagement of irrigation is especially valuable on Erin Hills undulated natural terrain which creates microclimates at individual holes and requires more water on some greens and fairways than others People often assume minimalism is an end product Fry says but as evidenced by Erin Hills it is clearly a process To preserve our ecosystem golf courses minimalistic processes must start prior to the beginning of planning design or even construction and then continue long term through the initiatives of superintendents G Michigan based writer Chris Lewis specializes in reporting on golf in the U S He wrote about White Pine National Golf Resort for Golfdom in 2013 and part two of the magazines annual Plant Health Series in 2014 photo by paul hundley DISCOVER AN ALGORITHM FOR FINDING GRASS Our TurfTech Tool utilizes 150 performance traits to help you refi ne your search and quickly identify the right turf seed varieties for your needs SEED A SEED B SEED C Learn more Contact your local WinField representative or visit www winfi eldpro com WinField is a registered trademark of Winfi eld Solutions LLC 2015 Winfi eld Solutions LLC April 2015 Golfdom 25 Golfdom com