Mike Coker and son Troy work on golf courses ... - Backed By Bayer

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STEWARDSHIP THE ENVIRONMENT The natives aren’t restless Patience is needed for native grasses, but it pays off in the long run By Mark Leslie Patience is the mantra — <strong>and</strong> savings <strong>and</strong> increased wildlife are the rewards — among the growing number of golf course superintendents who are exp<strong>and</strong>ing their acreage of native grasses. “Going to true low-maintenance native prairie grasses requires patience,” says Ryan Krings, superintendent at ArborLinks in Nebraska City, Neb., adding that former superintendent Dick Neumann,CGCS,once told him: “Three years: sleep, creep <strong>and</strong> leap. He meant it takes three years to establish native grasses. Two years after seeding them, the club owners will ask, ‘What is this weed patch?’ Normally you seed a warm-sea<strong>son</strong> grass <strong>and</strong> it comes up <strong>and</strong> you’re a hero. Not so with native grasses.” While Krings’ testimony is regional to the Midwest, Audubon International’s Joellen Zeh, program director for the national Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System for Golf Courses, says: “In almost any area if you seed, say, a wildflower meadow, it will look good the first year but not the next two or three. Patience is imperative.” But the rewards that patience provides are long-lasting <strong>and</strong> ever-present. Krings, whose ArborLinks is entering its fourth sea<strong>son</strong> <strong>and</strong> whose native grasses are now established, says: “We’re seeing a lot of pheasants <strong>and</strong> meadowlark, a lot of nesting, <strong>and</strong> much more wildlife in general. One or two years after construction we started seeing a lot more deer. There are many areas between holes where they can run. Also, we see more field mice, which means more hawks. We saw three redtail hawks on different parts of the golf course in one day.” At Kansas State University’s Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kan., Director of Golf/General Manager Dave Gourlay, Jr., CGCS, says the environmental benefits of native grasses on his course are huge. “We have deer, squirrel, groundhogs, skunks, badgers <strong>and</strong> coyotes. The bird population is unbelievable. Ducks come in all the time, using the property in their navigation. “We’re like Motel 6,” he quips. Ja<strong>son</strong> Funderburg, who is co-superintendent along with Jeffre VerCautren at Rich 20 Golf Advantage Winter 2006
The first hole at ArborLinks, which is entering its fourth sea<strong>son</strong>. The native grasses shown here are now established. Harvest Links in Sugar Grove, Ill., says wildlife ranging from raccoon <strong>and</strong> foxes to whitetail deer have made the property their home. “Perhaps the biggest byproduct — <strong>and</strong>, for some, the key rea<strong>son</strong> to embrace native grasses in the first place — is savings in cultural practices, chemical applications, irrigation <strong>and</strong>, most of all, labor,” he says. Krings’ colleagues have approached him with questions about establishing <strong>and</strong> managing native areas.“Their budgets are getting cut <strong>and</strong> they’re looking for ways to save,” he says. “Everybody’s looking into it, mostly because of budget concerns as well as from the environmental st<strong>and</strong>point,” says Funderburg. “Water issues are becoming more prominent. And the biggest thing is labor costs.” “It’s 100% savings,” echoed Gourlay. “We’ve had some overlap with watering, but the maintenance <strong>and</strong> fertilizer is nothing. It’s dramatic. We have continued to add native areas every year.” At ArborLinks, which is a cooperative venture among Arnold Palmer Golf Course Design, golf course builder L<strong>and</strong>scapes Unlimited <strong>and</strong> the neighboring National Arbor Day Foundation, Krings says 100 acres of native grasses were seeded, including 15 acres of tall grass prairie mix that grows 5 to 6 ft. high, 80 acres of short prairie mix which grows 2 to 3 ft. high, <strong>and</strong> 5 acres of wildflowers. The tall grasses include Indian grass, big bluestem, little bluestem, sideoats grama, Virginia wild rye, switchgrass <strong>and</strong> Western wheat grass. They were seeded where they function as a shield, blocking out the road in one spot, for instance. The short mix includes hard fescue, buffalograss, blue grama, sideoats grama <strong>and</strong> little Dave Gourlay, Jr., CGCS, says the environmental benefits of native grasses on his course are “huge.” www.bayergolfadvantage.com Golf Advantage 21
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Mike Coker and son Troy work on golf courses ... - Backed By Bayer

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