This is not much of a post, just a couple links to interviews with Bethpage Black Superintendent Craig Currier.
Wall Street Journal - In response to a question about what the biggest challenge was, from the article:
"Getting the roughs right. This graduated rough, [a recent change in USGA philosophy where a shot farther from the fairway is more likely to find deeper rough] the USGA didn't want it too thick or too high, so finding just the right height has been tough. We're actually cutting the first few feet of rough at 2.5 inches, which is lower than we cut it every day for the public. Even around the greens, we're making a pass at 2.5 [inches]. I've actually never cut it below 3 [inches] for the public."
Grounds-Mag - Article discusses fairway fertility, Crabgrass and IPM where Mr. Currier explains the IPM program at Bethpage Black, from the article:
“We divided the course into three sets of six greens,” says Currier. “We follow a normal program using pesticides on the first six greens, while we follow an IPM program on the second six greens. On the third six greens, we use no pesticides whatsoever. It will be interesting to see the results at the end of the three-year period."
3 comments:
Hi Scott,
Here's Golf Course Industry's recent interview with Currier, conducted by our columnist and former USGAer Tim Morghan.
http://ow.ly/eAks
Marisa Palmieri
Senior editor
Golf Course Industry
Good stories on Bethpage! I spent an hour on your site after finding it on a "Google" search. There is some excellent information on the site. Do you know any Pro golfers that are green or any companies making golf clubs out of "green" materials? I would like to buy a set.
As far as equipment goes, each company is reacting to environmental concerns in different ways. Ping is probably the leader when it comes to running efficient and non-polluting manufacturing processes, but I'm sure Nike's not far behind. Wilson and Dixion make recyclable balls. Check under the solar link on the side of the site to see a solar powered golf bag. There's tons of different tee's on the market now, but I'm not sure how a tee that is derived from corn grown in the USA, shipped and processed in China, and then shipped back to USA are environmentally friendly, obviously one that is made locally and lasts for a long time is best. I think the "greenest" equipment are used clubs and balls, and luckily there's no shortage of those.
As far as players, the only pro's I know that show off their "green" intrests are Dereck Oakey (www.foregreen.org), Gary Player (http://goforethegreen.blogspot.com/2009/05/water-conservation-with-gary-player.html), Ernie Els (http://goforethegreen.blogspot.com/2009/05/water-conservation-with-gary-player.html), and of course Greg Norman (http://www.eifg.org/).
Thanks for the questions and comments.
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