Greens going ‘green’

LIMA - There was a time when golf course maintenance crews sprayed anything on a course, so long as it didn't turn the grass brown.

Everything from mercury to arsenic was used to battle some pest or fungus.

It was cheap. It was quick. And it didn't take too many applications for the stuff to do the trick.

But times have changed. Now, everything put on the turf - including how it's done, when and how often - is monitored and regulated.

While most environmentally friendly practices and advancements are still off in the future - hydrogen-powered cars, the effective use of solar power - golf courses and those keeping them up and running have been going green for quite a while.

"When I first started in 1998 or '99, they were already starting to realize the importance of some of the chemicals and what they were putting on the ground, and improving to make them more environmentally friendly," Golf at Sugar Creek superintendent Dan Pellegrini said.

Courses apply fungicides and pesticides with lower potency. According to Sugar Creek maintenance member Todd Hammond, a 17-year veteran of golf course work, the chemicals previously used were typically those used on farms.

The way they're applied is more high-tech, with computerized booms supervising the amount dispensed. Even the time of day and weather conditions are monitored and recorded when the applications take place. Windy days and the application of fungicides don't exactly mix.

The advancements come with a price. It's expensive, it's time consuming and the applications have to be done more frequently. When courses were using heavy metals to treat the courses, three applications per year would suffice. Now, those applications are done every seven to 14 days.

"It's more difficult to maintain turf to a high quality. The standards you're expected to keep a golf course at today are higher than ever," said Tom Holtsberry, of Colonial Golfers Club. "It's a situation where it costs us more, and with more competition driving the prices of greens fees down in the area and fuel costs, it's more difficult to maintain a quality golf course.

"I'm sure that health wise for the planet, we're doing the right thing. Though it is very, very costly."

At just 10 years old, Sugar Creek is the area's youngest course and was constructed with an eye to the environment. The course was routed around, and used, existing wetlands, streams and the natural roll of the land. A bird sanctuary is being planned, with requests for unused bird feeders and houses.

Seeking guidance, getting help

According to Dina Pierce, Northwest District Media Coordinator for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, her agency has limited contact with golf courses and almost no direct oversight after their construction.

However, they try to keep course superintendents and architects thinking about nature and wildlife habitats.

"We encourage, but don't require, developers to incorporate on-site streams and wetlands into their designs, preserving as much of the natural habitat as possible," Pierce said in an e-mail. "Golf course wetlands and woods can provide valuable habitat for wildlife, not to mention a nice aesthetic for players. The best developments are designed to control runoff of chemicals from the playing course into the water areas."

Golf course superintendents can utilize many different organizations when trying to become eco-friendly. One of those is the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, which strives to help golf courses protect the environment. The program helps established courses with environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, water quality management and outreach and education.

"We want nothing more than to inform an entire industry and, beyond that, transform the world," ACSP program manager Joellen Zeh said with a laugh.

According to Zeh, 13 percent of all courses in the United States are members of either the ACSP or the Audubon Signature Programs, which apply to new developments. The closest course to Lima in the ACSP program is Longaberger Golf Club, east of Columbus between Newark and Zanesville.

The goal of the program is to inform and educate, which may lead to better decisions.

"We're not going to tell them what they can and cannot use. We're looking more at the philosophy of the application - why they choose what they choose, and how they're going to determine whether they're going to apply it or not," Zeh said.

With numerous superintendents on board, the biggest hurdle for the ACSP to overcome is the education of golfers. To that end, the ACSP has set up the green golfer pledge, educating the golfers as to what they can do during and after a round to keep the course clean. The program can be viewed at www.golfandenvironment.org.

Seeing the results

Holtsberry, who opened Colonial 30 years ago, has spent most of his life in the golf industry. He's seen things turn from heavy metal to a gentle hand. And while he may lament the extra costs involved in changing to a "greener" way of golf maintenance, especially in the troubled economy, the rewards can make it worthwhile.

 "The quality of the water in the area has improved," Holtsberry said. "We used to see run-offs of certain types of chemicals that we had kill fish. I've not seen anything like that for years. Out here, we've got how many different species of birds, rabbit, deer? We've seen more pheasants than we used to."

Sugar Creek general manager Terry Dunn agrees with Holtsberry that the diligence of golf superintendents is paying off.

"You see everything out here. You see deer and red fox running, the geese as usual, there are ducks in the pond," Dunn said. "It brings people out, to be on a golf course on a nice sunny day and see things like that. It makes you feel good."