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Taking nature’s
one-two punch…and winning
An Oklahoma super takes on a drought and a flood in
consecutive years and comes out victorious.
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Nearly 33 inches of rain in a six-month span in 2007 caused The Territory and superintendent Brad Babek plenty of heartache. Photos courtesy of The Territory |
Managing a golf course during a severe drought or cleaning up after flooding and washouts are serious natural challenges any superintendent might face. However, Brad Babek, a six-year GCSAA member and the superintendent at The Territory in Duncan, Okla., had the unusual misfortune to experience both of these extremes in back-to-back seasons: drought and water shortages in 2006 and damaging floods in 2007.
The Territory opened for play in late 2004. Babek was the assistant during construction, grow-in and for the first full season of play in 2005. Having received his bachelor of science degree in horticulture and landscape architecture at Oklahoma State University in 2002, Babek left an assistant superintendent job at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, Ark., to become head superintendent at The Territory in April of 2006.
Owners Rick and Barbara Braught were pleased with their newly established gem in southwest Oklahoma, designed by Randy Heckenkemper. During the first full season in 2005, The Territory hosted the State Amateur Tournament. The layout was quickly recognized for outstanding design and conditioning and was rated one of the top 10 new golf courses by Golfweek in 2006. Also in 2006, The Territory hosted the State Senior Amateur and the NCAA Division II Super Regional, all the while entertaining guest and member play.
On the ropes
If the challenges of being in golf’s state and national spotlights during his first season as superintendent weren’t enough, the summer of 2006 presented Babek with his first major natural challenge — severe drought. As the golf course started to dry out it seemed to Babek that rain did whatever it could to avoid falling on The Territory.
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Top: No. 17 at The Territory. The course was recognized as a top 10 new course by Golfweek in 2006. |
“Showers would appear in the west on the weather radar, would disappear as they approached The Territory, and would sometimes even reappear after the system left the area — time and time again,” Babek says. This weather oddity was compounded by daytime temperatures regularly in the 100s.
As the extreme conditions persisted, Stagestand Creek, from which The Territory was allowed to withdraw 200 acre-feet of irrigation water per year, went dry. Irrigation ponds also dried up. The only emergency water at Babek’s disposal was the rural/municipal drinking water system: a two-inch main coming into the property. That’s right — a two-inch main for the entire golf course.
“We had the two-inch valve wide open, around the clock,” Babek says. This severely limited water supply also came with a cost. The Territory had to pay the going municipal rate of $4.50 per 1,000 gallons. But Babek had no other option for irrigating the golf course.
Babek was walking a fine line with his turfgrass and says that during the driest days his goal was, “not to keep the turf alive, but just to keep it not-dead.” Accomplishing this goal required resourcefulness and creativity. In addition to tapping into the municipal supply to battle the drought, Babek rationed water, prioritized areas that needed water and applied the bare minimum when he did irrigate. He credits the Toro LTC computerized irrigation control system that allowed him an efficient means of assigning irrigation priorities and for rationing water. “We didn’t lose any turf,” Babek says proudly. The Territory’s A1/A4 bentgrass greens, and the Tifsport bermudagrass tees, fairways and rough all survived the ordeal.
Babek’s diligence and effort paid off. The Territory’s scheduled events went off without a hitch, and Babek’s intelligent irrigation techniques met his goal. He says that after the first half-inch of rain that the golf course received to end the drought, “everything was beautiful.”
The best laid plans and vision for The Territory could not have foreseen this degree of difficulty for irrigating the golf course. However, with the experience of managing the drought in 2006 and the anticipation of future restrictions on water rights, Babek and The Territory are proactively exploring the possibilities of using reclaimed water with the city of Duncan and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. This is no small task. In addition to water quality issues associated with using reclaimed water are the logistics, engineering and cost involved with the seven-mile-long pipeline from the city to the golf course.
But Babek points out that it’s critical to be proactive and plan ahead. “Not only do we want water insurance for the possibility of future droughts, but we are also facing disappearing water rights,” he says. “When you weigh the cost of purchasing drinking water from the city, it only makes sense to begin planning for the future. We’ve begun working on our five- to 10-year plan.”
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During the drought, the only water at the course’s disposal was the two-inch drinking water main coming into the property. Yet Babek was able to get by without losing any turf. |
Standing eight count
In 2007, before any plans for improving the water source and irrigation supply could come to fruition, the flood came.
From March through August 2007, The Territory and the Stagestand Creek Watershed received nearly 33 inches of rain. The rains came in overwhelming bursts: 10 inches in March; eight inches in May; seven and a half inches in June; and seven inches in August. The deluge not only covered the golf course with silt and debris, but it also washed out bridges and golf holes.
Three of the four bridges on the golf course had to be rebuilt with temporary structures. The par-5, No. 2 hole had to be converted to a par 3, and as of today the hole is not completely rebuilt. Babek said that the physical damage to the golf course was only part of the problem — there also was silt and debris cleanup to worry about.
“It’s not really the water running around and standing on the course everywhere that causes you the problem,” Babek says. “It’s what’s in that water that can cause the big problems.”
Finding a proactive solution for the flooding problem is proving to be more challenging than solving the irrigation issues. Babek has concluded that there’s not much to do beyond the state-engineered flood-control system, as most solutions are simply cost prohibitive. However, in anticipation of a similar future event, Babek is leading the process to build bridges that will be better able to withstand a flood. Also, the damaged golf holes will be redesigned and reconstructed with adequate elevations to endure a flood and to avoid washouts and submersion.
In Babek’s corner
During the flood some holes had to be closed and play had to be re-routed, but the entire course was closed for only four days in 2007 because of the flooding. According to director of golf Tim Johnson, this was largely possible because of the cooperation and support from the membership and the leadership of the Braughts.
The membership fully understood that the catastrophes in 2006 and 2007 were not man-made and not caused by management errors. Members had a positive attitude and did whatever they could to pitch in. For example, one member who owns a construction company had a bulldozer on site the day after the bridges and cart paths washed out following the flooding. He cut a path through the natural areas to divert the excess water and brought in gravel to build temporary paths. Near one tee where the path and bank were washed away, a dock from the irrigation pond temporarily allowed golfers access to the tee.
All of the course’s scheduled golf events for 2007 went ahead as planned. If the entire course was not available for play, at least nine holes were prepared for membership play and events. Johnson said they creatively re-routed the golf course by making new paths and backtracking as necessary.
“In situations like this, it’s easy for stakeholders to overreact,” Johnson says. “Rick and Barbara Braught are to be commended for their terrific attitude and leadership during the ordeals.” Everyone knew that they had to use their physical and financial resources wisely. Johnson adds, “The Braughts completely trusted their management team, and gave them the simple directives, ‘Fix it to last, and make it better than it was to begin with.’ Their great attitude was key to our success.”
“I think the greatest piece of advice I could provide is to support those in the middle who are trying to manage and contend with the issues at hand, and to provide positive and regular communication to everyone,” owner Rick Braught says. “It was never about why our members could not go out and play 18 holes of golf, but rather how could we adjust our operating and maintenance schedules to provide the best product for our membership while at the same time determine how best to deal with the problems that had arisen.”
In the end, The Territory’s managers used their time, materials and energy efficiently and effectively, making the most appropriate expenditures and being resourceful wherever possible. Everyone worked together to get through a tough situation. Because of this degree of teamwork, Johnson says, “The Territory is more prepared today to handle the challenges that might come their way.”
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Top: The Golf House at The Territory features a crow’s nest for scenic views of the course. |
The champ
It might have appeared that nature was about to score a knock-out on The Territory and its superintendent. But Johnson says The Territory had a superintendent who was up for the fight. “There are probably not too many people that would have handled the challenges as well as Brad did.”
“I think the biggest attribute Brad brought to the table in dealing with the drought conditions was his mental approach to dealing with whatever extreme conditions were at hand,” Braught says about his superintendent. “Brad showed a wealth of enthusiasm and fervor in thinking of ways to deal with the conditions, and was in no way going to let Mother Nature get the best of him and ‘send him to his room.’”
Through the trying times of 2006 and 2007, Babek admittedly gained a new respect for nature, and because of those experiences he offers some sage advice for anyone facing this level of challenge.
Babek humbly acknowledges that there are others who have had it worse than all he has experienced at The Territory. Colleagues across the transition zone faced similar challenges in 2007 and again this year. However, he has proven that no matter the challenge, it’s important to address the problem at hand head-on.
“The first thing you realize,” Babek says, “is that you’re not going to achieve your previous goals and plans for now. You have to reset what you’re doing.”
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“It sounds cliché, but one thing you can’t control is Mother Nature,” Babek says. “The turfgrass and golf course damage has nothing to do with what you or your staff did or didn’t do. You have to deal with the situation and find solutions.” |
Having a realistic perspective is also vital for keeping a clear head when tackling monumental challenges. “It sounds cliché, but one thing you can’t control is Mother Nature,” Babek says. “The turfgrass and golf course damage has nothing to do with what you or your staff did or didn’t do. You have to deal with the situation and find solutions.”
Also important to solving any problem is taking the necessary, logical and proportional steps for the future. Babek and The Territory are doing just that with their proactive approach to using reclaimed water and with their proposed golf course re-engineering.
Looking back at what all happened in 2006 and 2007, Babek believes enduring the flood was more difficult than the drought.
“The drought was less stressful for me because I knew that some day it was going to rain. The rain will come sometime, and when it does things will begin to turn around,” Babek says. “The flood left me with a more helpless feeling because I didn’t know what kind of damage I was going to incur each time the water went down. Also, the flooding produced much more damage and cost the club more money than the drought because of the reconstruction costs. I gained a lot of respect for floods and water.”
Because no one can choose the next natural challenge that might come along, Babek’s perseverance, forward thinking and level head provide a great example for anyone who might face a drought, a flood or any sort of unforeseeable and uncontrollable challenge.
Babek’s experiences capture the real challenges superintendents face when nature has her way and illustrate the practical knowledge that superintendents must be ready to apply when the situation is beyond our control.
In the face of such trying circumstances, a superintendent must be flexible and ready to set aside previous plans; must systematically tackle the situation at hand; and must proactively look for reasonable solutions to head-off future occurrences.
Leo Feser Award candidate
This article is eligible for the 2008 Leo Feser Award, presented annually since 1977 to the author of the best superintendent-written article published in GCM during the previous year. Superintendents receive a $300 stipend for articles. Feser Award winners receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the Golf Industry Show, where they are recognized. They also have their names engraved on a plaque permanently displayed at GCSAA headquarters.
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