Joe McCleary, the golf course superintendent at Saddle Rock in Aurora, said one of the most valuable job-related lessons he’s learned came from a turf scientist at Toro who pointed out that if you can’t quantify your use of resources, you can’t defend it.
Well, McCleary and other golf course superintendents in Colorado have become very adept at quantifying their use of water on courses, among other things. And that has helped them become efficient water users, relatively speaking.
A recently released report confirmed as much.
A U.S. Geological Survey of water use by Colorado golf courses, when compared to other data, reveals that the state uses almost 22 percent less water annually per irrigated acre than comparable facilities in the Upper West/Mountain agronomic region of the U.S.
“Apparently Colorado golf courses manage resources pretty efficiently, concluded McCleary, past president of the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association.
The USGS, in cooperation with the RMGCSA, conducted a study in 2005 which collected water-use information from all but 20 of the state’s 245 courses at the time. And one of the findings was that turf-grass courses used roughly 740,000 gallons of water per irrigated acre over the course of a year. In comparison, the norm for the 13-state area (including Colorado) that makes up the Upper West/Mountain Region was 945,000 gallons of water per irrigated acre per year, according a report funded by the Environmental Institute for Golf.
An acre of land covers about 91 yards of an American football field.
McCleary and others in the Colorado golf industry were happy that the USGS report confirms some of the findings of a landmark study conducted in 2002 by Colorado State University and commissioned by the major golf associations in the state. That 2002 study examined the economic impact and environmental aspects of golf in Colorado.
Among the statistics revealed by the 2002 report was that even in that drought year, Colorado golf courses accounted for just 1/300th (one-third of 1 percent) of the state’s total water consumption. McCleary said another study expected to be released later this year will re-confirm that percentage. The Colorado figure compares favorably to the national average for golf courses (one-half of 1 percent, according to the Environmental Institute for Golf study). In addition, just 8 percent of the water usage by Colorado courses comes from potable public supplies, according to the USGS report.
Given the amount of land involved — there’s 24,800 acres of irrigated course turf in the state — officials in the golf business have become increasingly sensitive to their use of resources, knowing that the future of the sport depends on it.
“This issue isn’t going to go away,” Colorado Golf Association executive director Ed Mate said. “We have to be ahead of the curve, not only for P.R. reasons and because it’s good politics, but because there is no way around the fact that courses use a lot of water.”
As World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman noted as part of a 2009 Environmental Institute for Golf report, “All of us associated with the game must realize that our commitment to environmental sustainability is crucial to the future of the game. … Few other industries have committed to evaluating the operation of their properties in the way golf is doing through this process.”
McCleary, who’s worked on environmental issues related to golf for many years, seconds that notion and notes that it’s “critically important” for each state to gather its own environmental-related information. In fact, he and Mate started the ball rolling for the 2002 study done in Colorado.
Such information is especially important when precipitation levels are below normal, as they are in Colorado so far this year.
“People look for easy targets, and that tends to be golf courses,” McCleary said. “… Especially if it’s dry, it’s important to see that golf is not an over-consumer of water. Golf is very efficient in its use of water resources.”
Because superintendents oversee such large areas of land, they’ve learned to become increasingly water efficient by using wetting agents, by hand watering, and other methods. That serves dual purposes — being wise stewards of finite resources, but also keeping costs down. With water rates going up in many cases — one Colorado facility reported a recent 40 percent jump, for instance — that’s no small matter.
Mate on Tuesday attended a U.S. Golf Association regional conference at which water use was a prominent topic. Officials from courses in the desert southwest reported that the cost of water has reached $1 million annually at some facilities.
“It’s some scary times,” Mate said. “Obviously that’s a strong incentive to maximize every drop. All state legislatures are looking at water use, and the 2002 study and this most recent report prove that Colorado courses use water efficiently.” Still, based on long-term climate forecasts, “water is going to be scrutinized in the southwest and mountains even more than other areas.”
As McCleary noted, knowing the specifics of water use on golf courses is a crucial first step.
One example illustrates the point. At a Colorado golf course that’s part of a larger, multi-use facility, officials were looking to save water during a recent drought. Managers of various parts of the facility were brought together to discuss the issue, and the only one of the group who could offer specific, detailed reports of water usage was the course superintendent. The upshot was that all the other managers were told to get their acts together and follow the lead of that superintendent.
“Golf course superintendents are the best stewards of our water resources that I know of,” said Eddie Ainsworth, executive director of the Colorado Section PGA.
“Because the amount of acres is so large, you have to manage it smartly,” Mate added. “When you’re responsible for that big a tract of land, people evaluate you. But superintendents can tell you exactly how much (water) they put down, when and where.”
