Managing the costs of maintaining sports turf

Project Representatives met with the superintendent of the City of Coronado Golf Course, right under the famous Coronado Bridge and directly opposite the Navy Seal training facility.

Coronado’s fairways are a mix of kikuyu and green couch and once again we were able to get a first hand view of how they manage their facility with limited rainfall.

The Superintendent uses plant growth regulators (PGRs) on the course to keep the Kikuyu under control and reduce maintenance costs. He had a number of new herbicide technologies available to manage weeds and used pre-emergents to manage the most difficult areas of weeds.

For the Superintendent, the biggest challenge is the mounting cost of the potable water used to irrigate the course. Coronado doesn’t have access to recycled water so they irrigate with potable drinking water... to the tune of $400,000 US last year.

The use of water for amenity horticulture purposes is an issue we have been grappling with for many years. What strategies have you implemented to reduce water usage in these areas? Are you moving towards recycled water for these areas and do you have strategies in place to counter the effects that water will have on the soil profile and plants you are irrigating?

Are you using PGR’s as part of a broader strategy to reduce water usage? What are you using …and how effect has it been? I welcome your comments, questions and feedback. Images from the visit to Coronado Golf Course can be viewed in the image gallery on our project website.