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TURF
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It’s not just about the grass
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QUESTION: What is the most important thing that a superintendent can do to be a good environmental steward?
ANSWER: Environmental stewardship is huge. If you Google “environmental stewardship,” you get about 13,800,000 hits. Adding “golf” to your search pares the number of results to about 370,000 — a staggering amount of information. Environmental stewardship involves all levels of government, the entire planet and outer space. Most superintendents have concerns closer to home. The superintendent has become the environmental steward of the golf course, employing best management practices, following Integrated Pest Management programs, monitoring water quality and establishing wildlife habitat.
In North America, Canada has been particularly sensitive to environmental issues. Sean Kjemhus, TMT, is superintendent at Stewart Creek Golf & Country Club and recipient of the 2004 Environmental Leaders in Golf Award in the International category. His advice on environmental stewardship is to “incorporate sound environmental and sustainable thinking with every business decision you make. Whether you are purchasing fertilizers or selecting sand for topdressing, remind yourself of your environmental responsibility. By doing this, we can best balance sustainability and playability.”
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Sandy C. Clark, CGCS at Barona Creek Golf Club in San Diego, is superintendent at the first golf facility in California built on tribal land. In terms of environmental stewardship, the 2004 National Resort ELGA winner says, “The most important thing to me ... is to respect the history and culture of the tribe’s ancestors. … We want to be sure Barona Creek Golf Club is a benefit to the beautiful land it occupies. That includes protecting water, plants, wildlife and habitat at all times. We consider it an honor to have been given this responsibility.”
Turf consultants base their advice on experience at hundreds of courses. Wendy Gelernter and Larry Stowell of Pace Consulting in San Diego consider the big picture: “The best environmental stewards … base their management programs on careful record keeping; comprehensive pest, soil and water monitoring programs; and the judicious use of reduced risk inputs that are compatible with the diversity of plant and wildlife within and around the golf course.”
Consultant Chip Howard, CGCS, Ph.D.,CPAg, believes that superintendents need specific knowledge: “The single most important thing is education in biological science, especially plant physiology. It’s one thing to know which button to push when an indicator light turns on. It is far more beneficial to understand why the lights turn on and what the impact of the button is.”
As a Cooperative Extension specialist based in Riverside, Calif., Frank Wong covers turf throughout the state. Wong says that “each management choice has its pros and cons. For example, if you choose not to manage and remove trees, be prepared to have shading issues on your turf. A good environmental steward … understands these pros and cons and has the vision, organization and leadership to implement long- and short-term action plans that balance reduced environmental impact with economic sustainability.”
Tom Voigt, an associate professor with an appointment in Extension at the University of Illinois–Urbana Champaign, believes “the most important thing superintendents can do … is to use their expertise and golf course settings to educate golfers and others (such as school, Scout or service groups) about the environment in general and specifically about the important role that golf courses and other open spaces play in our environment.”
Like Voigt, Jack Fry, at Kansas State University in Manhattan, thinks that superintendents need to go beyond the golf course: “Superintendents are excellent environmental stewards. Their most important role now is to serve as excellent communicators about what they’ve done on the golf course to bring it into greater harmony with the environment.”
For more information, visit www.eifg.org/edge/default.asp and click on the icon for Edge.
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