Urban Golf Courses Influence on River Basins in SC

Recently a pissed off superintendent brought to my attention that industry organizations have made too many cuts to environmental research related to the effect of golf courses on the environment. "The future of golf relies on this kind of research" he said. "How are future superintendents suppose to know what to change if we don't understand why something happens, how do we even know if we are influencing changes in the first place?". I told him to donate some money to Turfhugger and we'll do our own studies... I haven't seen any come in yet! haha.

Re: Research Cuts - check out PSU's letter to the GCSAA.

Regardless there's still lots out there, and perhaps we should look outside our industry for a look at the effect of golf courses on the environment.

The River Basins Research Initiative (RBRI) in SC, began in 1996 with two Furman University students studying a 3 km2 watershed, and has grown to become an interdisciplinary study of the Broad and Saluda River Basins that, since 1999, has involved more than 170 student participants.

N Cycle of pHish Ponds on Golf Courses

With a growing trend towards dedicating water features as wildlife habitat, turf staff must now find ways of balancing the aesthetic value of a water feature with the challenge of a hazard while preserving the ecological integrity of the pond.

Learning the basics of pond chemistry can help turf staff understand how flora, fauna and human influences play an intricate part in the nitrogen cycle. Here's a basic review.

pH is perhaps the most complicated chemistry topic when it comes to understanding water chemistry. pH is the measurement of free hydrogen ions in water as measured on a logarithmic scale of 1 to 14, with 7 considered neutral. Ponds should be between 5.5 and 8.5, the ideal range is 7.0 and 7.4.

High pH readings indicate that more hydrogen ions have bonded and are part of a molecule, primarily water molecules. Low pH readings indicate more free ions in the water.