How much water does a golf course need?

Why might we want to know?

It would be nice to have enough water, and not to run out.
That’s the first reason. With no water, grass stops growing. When
the grass stops growing, it can be difficult to produce the desired
playing surfaces. For many golf courses, especially those with golf
carts driving on the turf, the business model is based on turf not
going dormant. If one knows how much water the grass will use,
one can use the water in a way to prevent it from running out.

Second, it’s the right thing to do. The R&A say that “water is
a precious resource and golf courses should only use what is ab-
solutely necessary.” The USGA say “it is essential for everyone
involved in the game to strive to conserve and protect the world’s
most vital resource.”

And then there is cost. Water costs money, or even if the water
happens to be free, it costs money to pump it and apply it. Using
water efficiently will save money.

Transcript

1. How much water does a golf course need? Micah Woods 6 March 2017 Chief Scientist | Asian Turfgrass Center www.asianturfgrass.com
2. 1. Why might we want to know?
3. 1. Why might we want to know? 2. How can we figure it out?
4. 1. Why might we want to know? 2. How can we figure it out? 3. What happens if I change locations?
5. 1. Why might we want to know? 2. How can we figure it out? 3. What happens if I change locations? 4. Or change grasses, soil, or the way I manage?
6. Why might we want to know?
7. It's nice to have enough water
8. With no water, grass stops growing Hua Hin, May 2010
9. Grass survival, playability, business?
10. The R&A say "water is a precious resource and golf courses should only use what is absolutely necessary."
11. The USGA say "it is essential for everyone involved in the game to strive to conserve and protect the world's most vital resource."
12. Water expense
13. Irrigation system expense
14. How can we figure it out?
16. Water budget, calculated monthly Gross & Hartwiger, Green Section Record, 1 April 2016
17. The water budget equation ETc − Peff DULQ = IrrReq ETc is the crop evapotranspiration in mm Peff is the effective precipitation in mm DULQ is the distribution uniformity of the irrigation system IrrReq is the irrigation requirement in mm
18. The estimate of grass water use is evapotranspiration (ET).
19. Bangkok as an example, monthly ET
20. Bangkok monthly normal precipitation
21. Bangkok effective precipitation
22. Bangkok, monthly
23. Bangkok irrigation requirement
24. What happens if I change locations?
25. How about Fukuoka?
26. Fukuoka evapotranspiration
27. Fukuoka, monthly
28. Fukuoka irrigation requirement
29. How about Singapore?
30. Singapore evapotranspiration
31. Singapore, monthly
32. Singapore irrigation requirement
33. This irrigation requirement seems to be exact for relatively dry months or locations, but is it underestimating the real irrigation requirement in places or months with more rain?
34. Bangkok, daily soil water balance
40. What happens if I change grasses, soil, or the way I manage?
41. That's what we'll be talking about for the next three days.
42. Changes in grass or irrigation practices?
43. Changes in soil or rootzone?
44. Questions?