This is one green that will really be green.
Golf courses take a lot of heat from conservationists. All of the chemicals and water required to maintain a product used for a leisure activity is viewed as bad for the environment.
One golf course in Andover may be on the leading edge of doing away with that argument forever.
Cedar Pines – a municipal nine-hole golf course located just north of Highway 54 – is puting cutting edge technology in play for the 2010 golf season.
The green on No. 5 was severely damaged recently forcing a major repair. Rather than trying to resod and repair the putting surface, Bob Bauer decided it was time to attack the problem in a creative way.
The decision was made to install a 3,000 square foot green with a three-foot wide collar. But this green will be installed instead of planted.
VersaSport of Kansas is going to install an artificial surface that was designed by Lance Pierce.
Pierce has been in business for more than 10 years and has designed and installed more than 200 greens worldwide and is responsible for many of the innovations of synthetic greens.
Bauer knows many golfers will be skeptical of the decision because they are familiar with old artificial grass technology.
Those surfaces played more like living room carpet than a golf green. But Pierce’s product features incredible advancements.
The installation is an intricate process.
The existing sod is stripped away and a geotextile fabric is laid down to prevent weed growth. Then a two-part base is installed – just like building the surface for a road. Then the actual grass surface is installed and four permanent holes are augered into the green. Three of those will be filled with adjustable plugs.
A product that looks like sand is then used to infill the turf.
But this isn’t playground or beach sand. It is round quartz silica fracking sand.
This product prevents hardening because of the geometry of its structure. Then dyed silica is put down on top of the base silica to help make the appearance more traditional.
When that is finished, the surface can be rolled or brushed to speed up or slow down putts depending on what speed the course superintendent wants the greens to be.
Bauer is excited about bringing the experiment to the public.
“There are several greens like this that have been installed for private use,” Bauer said. “But this will be the first commercial application. We think it will be the first of many.”
Bauer sees the green as a great investment for Cedar Pines.
“We won’t use any water on it – no chemicals either,” he said. “It won’t have to be aerated twice a year like a normal green and there will be minimal labor cost to keep it in perfect condition.”
Bauer said a golf course that used these greens would be able to purchase about $30,000 less in equipment since no specialty mowers would be needed.
He also pointed out that there will be no seasonal variation in the quality of the greens and no ballmarks or footprints to damage the line of putts.
“We think it will play like a normal green, but even better and more consistently,” Bauer said. “If you hit this green, it will react just like grass.”
Several tour pros like Fred Couples, Rich Beem, and Bruce Lietske have had these surfaces installed for practice greens. University of Texas football coach Mack Brown is building his second one.
“Basically, we believe this new surface will offer great performance and low maintenance,” Bauer said. “We are excited to be the first to try it.”
Augusta, Kan. —
