Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Golf-course Maintenance
A golf course can be defined as a large area landscaped for the playing of
golf. On the golf course, turf-maintenance practices are largely deter-
mined by the requirements of the game rather than the requirements of
the turf-grass plants. From an agronomic perspective, turf-grass mowing
is generally excessive, fertilization is too high, cultivation practices are
scheduled not when they are the most desired but so as to minimize
disruption of play, the turf can be irrigated only when golfers are not on
the course, pesticides are often applied on the basis of visual criteria
rather than environmental demands, and so on. The turf manager must
meet many challenges to provide the best possible turf surface for golf,
and must, at the same time, satisfy the fairly high aesthetic expectations
of the golfers. All these factors make proper golf course management a
demanding and uneasy task.
Golf is an outdoor game during which each player moves a small ball
from a starting point into a small hole in the turf, located from 120 to
550 m away (130-600 yards, as golf-course distances are traditionally
given in English units), usually by striking it three to five successive
times with specially designed clubs. The player repeats this process 18
times during one game (one round of golf). The many rules of the game
will not be presented here, but some fundamentals are necessary to an
understanding of the unique nature of golf course maintenance.
The term 'hole' is used to refer to the entire area from the starting
point (the 'teeing ground', also called the 'tee') to the putting green
(the area immediately around the actual hole in the turf that serves
as the player's goal, also simply called the 'green'). The largest turf
area between the tee and the green is called the fairway, and an area
