Is brown the new green?

[spidey1985]

Seems like hot dry summers will be the norm, even the most foolhardy climate change denier must see that. What can courses do to adapt.? Much better water management for sure, perhaps build a reservoir if you have space and money! I know a few places with them already. I'd like to see my course water more of the surrounds , I can deal with the fairways but so many bad bounces for shots that are just missing the green

 

[Orikoru]

Hope this isn't the norm, my handicap is skyrocketing.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Only thing that can be done is getting water on the course to keep it as green as possible

Fairway sprinklers is a first step then reservoir

 

[Robster59]

Not a problem in Scotland at the moment.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

From the other side, is fairway watering a good use of water? Water will very soon be the valuable resource many currently ignore so if these extreme heat summers and overall temperature rises are the norm should we just be watering greens to balance out water use and playable courses.?

 

[KenL]

From the other side, is fairway watering a good use of water? Water will very soon be the valuable resource many currently ignore so if these extreme heat summers and overall temperature rises are the norm should we just be watering greens to balance out water use and playable courses.?

Depends where you get the water, it doesn’t have to come from the tap.

 

[Neilds]

Hope this isn't the norm, my handicap is skyrocketing.

You blame the course for having bad bounces but, as a self confessed slicer, could the hard conditions just be adding to the large amount of side spin you are putting on the ball? It may be the main cause of the 90 degree bounces is you and not the course?

 

[Imurg]

Depends where you get the water, it doesn’t have to come from the tap.

Which is why we've been trying to get a reservoir built for the last 2 years but obstacles keep cropping up.

To be fair, I'm not sure fairway irrigation is going to be that useful to us.
Being on chalk, the water just drains through in minutes...if we were to replicate the amount of water we put on the greens we'd need a reservoir the size of Wales to cope...
Some irrigation would keep that green tinge but the excellent drainage is what keeps us open virtually every day of the year barring fog or snow...
On the whole, a couple of months of "straw" is a small price to pay.

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

You blame the course for having bad bounces but, as a self confessed slicer, could the hard conditions just be adding to the large amount of side spin you are putting on the ball? It may be the main cause of the 90 degree bounces is you and not the course?

Could you stop talking sense please we know all golfers can’t accept fault it’s always the course or the clubs

Would love to see Ori play a links course with those bounces I reckon he’d lose his mind

Which is why we've been trying to get a reservoir built for the last 2 years but obstacles keep cropping up.

To be fair, I'm not sure fairway irrigation is going to be that useful to us.
Being on chalk, the water just drains through in minutes...if we were to replicate the amount of water we put on the greens we'd need a reservoir the size of Wales to cope...
Some irrigation would keep that green tinge but the excellent drainage is what keeps us open virtually every day of the year barring fog or snow...
On the whole, a couple of months of "straw" is a small price to pay.

Same issue at our place it drains exceptionally well and as a result remains open pretty much all year barring snow. The amount our greens are watered to maintain them in this weather is outrageous they have to literally saturate them in addition to sprinkler system usage. So any fairway watering would use the entire Hampshire water reserves

 

[Orikoru]

You blame the course for having bad bounces but, as a self confessed slicer, could the hard conditions just be adding to the large amount of side spin you are putting on the ball? It may be the main cause of the 90 degree bounces is you and not the course?

I haven't been slicing it so much, but I'm just not accurate enough to hit the 10 yard wide area that actually holds the fairway unfortunately.

 

[Backache]

Not a problem in Scotland at the moment.

Or locally for most of the year. Our rainfall at the nearest weather station is still above average for July. We had a dry spell but when it fell it was heavy.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

From the other side, is fairway watering a good use of water? Water will very soon be the valuable resource many currently ignore so if these extreme heat summers and overall temperature rises are the norm should we just be watering greens to balance out water use and playable courses.?

It’s why courses are looking to build reservoirs so that they don’t use the mains

There are lots of water reserves below the ground and of course we are surrounded by water and a lot of lakes

Get a reservoir built and fill it up from bore holes and above and use that

 

[Depreston]

I haven't been slicing it so much, but I'm just not accurate enough to hit the 10 yard wide area that actually holds the fairway unfortunately.

Yeah we are fairly lucky we don't have mad sidehill holes bar 1 really

i absolutely ripped a 3 wood right hand side of the fairway normally would just filter down to flat on lefthand side of fairway

not at the weekend ended up against the fence abot 40 yards from where it landed

 

[sunshine]

Here is cumulative rainfall for Hampstead in north London. It hasn’t rained for 38 days, which is a record.

Due to the wet start to the year, in total the rainfall for the year is about average, but this long hot dry spell is unprecedented and follows a very dry spring as well.

 

[Neilds]

It’s why courses are looking to build reservoirs so that they don’t use the mains

There are lots of water reserves below the ground and of course we are surrounded by water and a lot of lakes

Get a reservoir built and fill it up from bore holes and above and use that

If it was that easy why haven’t clubs done it? Apart from cost, planning, complaints from neighbours, etc.

 

[sunshine]

For golf courses, I think water storage is key. We have enough rain over the course of the year, just need reservoirs and bore holes to keep it.

Courses in hot and dry countries are designed to retain water, with drainage from the fairways to lakes which are used for irrigation.

 

[sunshine]

If it was that easy why haven’t clubs done it? Apart from cost, planning, complaints from neighbours, etc.

Plenty of courses have done it

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

It’s why courses are looking to build reservoirs so that they don’t use the mains
cour

There are lots of water reserves below the ground and of course we are surrounded by water and a lot of lakes

Get a reservoir built and fill it up from bore holes and above and use that

It's really not as simple as that! Reservoirs don't fill themselves, Rainfall is clearly an issue during the summer months so nothing much doing there, lakes/rivers to fill them still takes away from other local environments causing other issues and will be policed by Environment Agency, Boreholes still means taking water from an aquifer. Factor in drawing from boreholes being limited and like the Lake/River options is governed by the Environment Agency who will police over abstraction and its impact on nearby farms, homes, industry and the local eco systems. That's before anything else is even considered.

Or go down the route a club builds a reservoir and seeks to drill its own boreholes, you would still need an abstraction licence which will set out how much water can be drawn, when it can be taken and other Environment factors. So you then enter the realms of money required to do it, many clubs don't simply have the land available and the comment "of course we are surrounded by water and a lot of lakes" Is either very naive that you think that can just be taken or extremely arrogant that a golf course requires it more than the local environment.

Your idea in principle makes sense but like I say isn't that simple, necessarily cost effective and has further reaching impact and factors to consider beyond watering fairways

 

[Lord Tyrion]

As long as the fairways recover, they usually do, then I think golf has to suck it up and deal with this. The ground goes hard, tough. It goes brown, so what? If the grass dies, then maybe there is an argument. Otherwise, golf fairways are down the priority list for when it comes to water usage / requirement.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

If it was that easy why haven’t clubs done it? Apart from cost, planning, complaints from neighbours, etc.

Who said it was easy

And plenty of clubs have managed to do it already