Episode: #7 14/10/2006
Presenter: Kim Syrus

Golf courses are some of the best places in managing large turf areas. So, to see how one works, Kim went on a behind the scenes visit to the Kooyonga Golf Club .

With all the turf, watering is critical. Kooyonga uses a mix of both treated effluent and bore water. No drinkable water is used. The management of water is a serious business and serious measures have been taken to make sure that, not a drop is wasted.

Kooyonga has its own weather station. The high tech instrumentation monitors a number of climatic conditions including wind speed, temperature and humidity. These are linked to a computer which then calculates the daily watering needs for all the areas. The automatic system controls the hundreds and hundred of sprinklers used on the course.

Sprinklers can even be activated using a hand held controller, great for checking individual sprinklers or applying water to areas that need a top up.

The type of grass planted is very important. The fairways and roughs are planted with common couch, although, this is now being gradually oversewn with Santa Anna couch. Santa Anna is favoured because it can be mown very short, doesn?t need a lot of water and still retail a firm tight canopy with lush green colouring.

Bent grass is used on the putting green. This grass is a rich deep green and really stands out from the fairways. Kooyonga even have a bent grass nursery which they use to replace putting greens when needed.

Mowing never seems to stop. Both the fairways and putting greens are cut daily during the summer season. While, this gradually decreases to weekly during winter, there is still plenty of mowing.

Cylinder type mowers are favoured because they are capable of cutting the grass very short. Gang mowers with multiple cylinders are used on large areas of the fairway, while single cylinder mowers are used extensively on the putting green. These have a floating blade making it able to follow the contours of the putting surface and, importantly, leave the surface smooth and even.

Fertilizers are only applied when the turf needs to be fed. This makes sure that nutrients are not wasted. While wetting agents are also used on the turf to make sure valuable moisture is retained.

There is a never ending list of jobs and a lot of work in keeping a golf course like Kooyonga in tip top condition.

Kooyonga Golf Club

http://www.kooyongagolf.com.au/

May Terrace
Lockleys
PO Box 119
Brooklyn Park 5032

club house: (08) 8352 5444
pro club: (08) 8443 6162

administrator@kooyongagolf.com.au