Water: More Precious Than Gold?

The availability and cost of water represents the most pressing issue facing the golf industry, but some clubs are better placed than others to take on the challenge. As the changing climate continues to bring weather that tends increasingly towards extremes, greenkeepers are having to find ways to tailor their water management strategies accordingly. Record-breaking dry spells, torrential downpours and seasons that might arrive early or linger too long are all putting an added strain on resources. Irrigation, drainage and water storage solutions can vary significantly from one club to the next, even in the same county. Here, three course managers discuss how they are navigating through these uncertain times.

What has been the biggest change to your water management strategy?

Geoff: The club committed to a massive investment seven years ago to install wall-to-wall irrigation. We carried out loads of drainage work and continue to drain the fairways every year, all done in-house as well. I made it a goal of mine to get us off mains water, so we built a 34,000-cube irrigation lake and we’re totally self-sustainable when it comes to water usage. All our drainage, certainly on the front nine, runs off into the lake and anything that misses gets pumped back in, so we catch every bit of rainwater. We also have an extraction license from a subsidiary river that leads into a main river that we have a winter extraction for, so we literally catch it and then use it all summer.

Alec: A complete upgrade of our irrigation system. After an audit revealed the existing set-up was outdated and poorly maintained, the 2018 drought highlighted just how inadequate it was. We couldn’t get water where we needed it, and leaks were a major issue. Although plans were delayed by Covid, work finally began in October 2023 and finished in March the following year. We doubled the number of irrigation heads, extended coverage to previously dry areas and improved efficiency across the course. It’s been a game-changer.

Sam: A big part of our strategy has been investing in drainage infrastructure. We’ve purchased our own trenching machine and have now drained 22 out of 27 fairways. With limited water storage capacity, we’ve had to become extremely strategic about water usage, prioritising greens irrigation.

What was the impact of the dry spring this year?

Sam: We are in a very dry area and we don’t have a lot of resources. With our automated irrigation system only covering the greens, the rest of the course isn’t irrigated, so the turf is used to drought-like conditions and has developed decent root systems. The biggest issue this year has been leatherjacket damage. Four fairways have been severely affected. We lost a huge amount of grass – partly from the pests and partly because it coincided with one of the driest springs since the Second World War. We just don’t have the water supply to recover from that sort of damage. I’ve only got a 75-cubic-metre tank, and that’s it. If I use that to irrigate fairways, I’ve got nothing left for the greens. With 27 greens to cover, managing that is an absolute juggling act.

Alec: We weren’t anticipating the dry spell would last so long. Initially, we were comfortable putting out as much water as required, but as the dry spell extended and became hotter, we had to change our approach. We strategically plotted water percentages to maintain good course presentation. Fortunately, our greens stayed healthy, firm and putting at 10-10.5, which keeps golfers happy. We were able to maintain consistent approaches while prioritising agronomics, ensuring the turf remained healthy despite the challenging conditions.

Geoff: With everything we have in place we coped very well, but I know that wasn’t the case for many courses around us and around the country. Even with the set-up we had, it was a struggle at times to get enough water out because we had such a long time where we barely saw a drop of rain. Any clubs without an irrigation lake or a good supply of water must have had a rough time of it.

What is your reliance on mains water?

Geoff: We still have it as a back-up, but we know the writing is on the wall and we’ve had the foresight to do something about it. Restrictions on water usage and outright bans will become increasingly common and if you’re reliant on mains water that spells trouble.

Alec: We do have a mains back-up as well, but there’s obviously a cost to that and our priority is to be more efficient with our water than to lean on that back-up.

Sam: We’re staring down a water bill of £15,000 to £18,000, and that’s without watering greens consistently. Water is like liquid gold to us. Storage is everything. We’re landlocked here, so even though we flood and end up with excess water, we’ve got nowhere to store it.

How can you mitigate the impact of a dry spell while still being efficient with your water usage?

Geoff: We have to do a lot of hand watering. That’s manpower and if you haven’t got that manpower, it will take a toll. Some clubs will have to be really selective in the areas that get water and those that don’t.

Alec: Agronomics always come first, before what golfers think they want. It has to be about the longer-term health of the turf, so we’ll use water according to that principle. We’re on sand-based greens, which take more water, but I don’t want high levels of organic matter or soft surfaces, so there’s no chance we’ll be overwatering just to achieve something more visually appealing.

Looking at the other end of the spectrum, how does your course hold up during wet weather?

Alec: We don’t close as often as other local courses, and if we do, we reopen quickly. Our drainage is generally good. That said, there are some wetter areas we’re targeting with surface drainage, rather than deep systems, to move water quickly into less critical areas, like tree lines. We don’t have natural watercourses or ditches.

Sam: Our course faces significant challenges during wet weather due to its location on reclaimed salt marshes. We’re essentially a low-lying area where all regional water runoff converges. The biggest issue is our tidal gates, which are closed for 12 hours a day, preventing water from draining into the sea.This means when peak water levels coincide with closed gates, we experience substantial flooding.

Geoff: We did a lot of drainage work during lockdown, so we’re quite well set on that front. We fill our irrigation lake with drainage and flood water. Because our bottom three holes are on a floodplain, we applied for a winter abstraction licence and that means that flood water ends up helping with our irrigation needs.The climate is becoming more extreme and less predictable – how do you plan accordingly amid such uncertainty?

Sam: With great difficulty. The unpredictability is a nightmare. This year, we went 35 days without a drop of rain – that’s April we’re talking about. Then sometimes we’ve been hammered when we weren’t expecting anything. It makes it almost impossible to plan topdressing, fertilising, seeding – anything.

Geoff: The last 12-18 months have been the toughest I can remember in my time as a greenkeeper, and ‘extreme’ is the right word – from very wet winters and flooding, to record dry spells all through spring. It does make our jobs harder.

Not all clubs have the same weapons to fight this battle with do they?

Alec: Just looking at irrigation, some neighbouring clubs have reservoirs four times the size of ours, so of course they’ll cope better and look better during a dry spell. Then there’s topography – some courses are on clay, others on sand. We’re heavily tree-lined, so humidity is a factor for us too.

Sam: Turf management in dry conditions is expensive – more wetting agents, more fertiliser, more labour. And we’re all trying to balance quality with budget and manpower. I’ve got a decent budget, but we’re competing with clubs that have a lot more and twice the staff. Members might say, ‘Why is it better down the road?’. Well, they’ve got more money and fewer problems.

But if you can invest in things like irrigation and drainage, will these things have a long-term impact?

Sam: Our irrigation pipework will last 40 years – it’ll outlast me, half the board and most of the current membership. But people like to see what their money’s bought. All they saw here was some black pipe in the ground. But without that, your golf course has no future.

Alec: It certainly helps, but people should also appreciate that these things are tools – they’re not magic wands that transform a golf course overnight. Good irrigation supports healthy turf agronomically, and that’s the key.

Despite the difficult conditions, do you still find expectations from golfers remain broadly the same?

Alec: Golfers want to play the same course in January as they do in July, but it’s just not possible. They’ve got Gore-Tex suits and electric trolleys and still expect summer conditions in the depths of winter. Same goes for summer. When it’s 34°C, we’re out hand-watering all day. We can’t run sprinklers while golfers are playing. We’re doing everything we can to maintain presentation, but I think we are reaching a ceiling. And unfortunately, that might give some clubs a reason to make financial cutbacks – or even shut down.

Sam: Members want perfect, lush conditions all year round. We’d love to give them that, but it’s not realistic. When things get tough, like during the wet winter when the course was closed a lot, that obviously leads to frustration. What we strive to do is deliver the best surfaces we can in whatever circumstances we’re working under. 

What’s the key message for golfers?

Geoff: I hope we can help them understand the challenges we’re facing. Ultimately we have to work with nature. People need to appreciate that when their own gardens are flooded or bone-dry, their golf course has the same issues but on a much larger scale.

Alec: Water is a precious commodity. As Sam said, it’s like gold – we can’t waste it just to give people soft, green turf. I’d also say this: talk to your course manager. If you see us out there, ask questions; we’re happy to have the chance to help people to understand what we do and why we do it.

Sam: Be patient and trust your head greenkeeper. We’re all doing our best, but if a club hasn’t got a modern irrigation system or water storage, they’re fighting a losing battle. Golf clubs need to prioritise infrastructure. Yes, everyone wants a shiny new clubhouse and no one sees the pipes underground, but that infrastructure is crucial.

Alec on installing a new irrigation system

The first step for us was commissioning a professional audit of the old system. I also compiled a catalogue of photographs showing the coverage – or lack thereof – from the old system. We presented all of this information to the board first. Once they were on board, we then held three or four presentations for the membership. We showed them the audit, walked through the issues, the man hours lost to repairs, annual maintenance costs and also highlighted sustainability improvements – we’re talking up to a 30% water saving with the new system.

It’s about clear communication and giving yourself time. We didn’t say, ‘We need a new system in 2023’. We actually started the process in 2018, and it was installed in 2024.

Author

BIGGA