Is or should there be artificial turf golf courses? (re: California drought)

[Lihu]

No argument here. They should have done it a long time ago.  Yeah, that will fly in California. ;)  I agree with you though that there are other kinds of grass which may not be as nice as what is currently used, like Bahia, but that is drought resistant.  Sure it doesn't look as nice, and after extended dry periods it gets a little sparse, but it would have to be better than artificial turf, and if you could water it some, it would hold up.  Of course without the watering, the divots aren't going to grown in so fast.

I just over seeded my lawn with a dwarf grass that supposedly uses 1/5 the water. . .

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moppy

No argument here. They should have done it a long time ago.

Yeah, that will fly in California. ;)  I agree with you though that there are other kinds of grass which may not be as nice as what is currently used, like Bahia, but that is drought resistant.  Sure it doesn't look as nice, and after extended dry periods it gets a little sparse, but it would have to be better than artificial turf, and if you could water it some, it would hold up.  Of course without the watering, the divots aren't going to grown in so fast.

I just over seeded my lawn with a dwarf grass that supposedly uses 1/5 the water. . .

How about turning your lawn into artificial turf putting ground?   I thought about doing it for my small back yards (front yard would be too conspicuous).   There are contractors who do this for a living and the finished product photos looked pretty good.

[Lihu]

How about turning your lawn into artificial turf putting ground?   I thought about doing it for my small back yards (front yard would be too conspicuous).   There are contractors who do this for a living and the finished product photos looked pretty good.

They do look nice, but it would cost too much as I have too much grass area. . .

[Dave2512]

It's in my budget of landscaping things to do this summer. I don't plan to completely use turf for my design. I will put a 14x18ish green in a corner with fringe surrounded by some gravel and shrubs. Primary purpose will be putting but heading towards the opposite corner we will put a succession of pads with mats for pitching. Less about golf than dressing up the yard with something easy to care for and useable for entertainment. We back to a sizable open area so I may even put up a net if the HOA is cool with it. But maybe not. The local course is about 3 minutes from my house, a seasonal range pass there is $275, I think.

[danL]

I refuse to use mats so a fake turf course would be a no for me.

[Fourputt]

It would be a real drag to never have anyone bitch about having to play out of a divot ever again.  What would we talk about all winter when we can't play?  I guess that someone would start a gripe thread about having to clean the plastic off the bottom of the club, or how he sprained his wrist when he hit the turf 6 inches behind the ball.  One thing is certain, we'd find something to whine about - we wouldn't be golfers if we didn't.

[bubble]

I like most of your suggestions on starting small, converting some areas into no-water-needed areas.   Maybe (and hopefully), some golf courses are already thinking this way to combat water shortage.

Instead of spraying water with spinklers and loosing a lot of it in the air, and drowning certain places but not others I would explore the possibility of small and smart robot/droid watering.

imagin a not too heavy 10 gallons on a droid that tests humidity each foot or so and injects or sprays downward mini doses of water were necessary.

the other idea is maybe to reduce population,  food consumption, agriculture and industry.

[Lihu]

Well, we finally got a little rain. Most of it is pouring off into the ocean, but at least we got a sprinkle. Hopefully more later this week too.

[ghalfaire]

It would be a real drag to never have anyone bitch about having to play out of a divot ever again.  What would we talk about all winter when we can't play?  I guess that someone would start a gripe thread about having to clean the plastic off the bottom of the club, or how he sprained his wrist when he hit the turf 6 inches behind the ball.  One thing is certain, we'd find something to whine about - we wouldn't be golfers if we didn't.

I already bitch about having to clean the plastic crap off my clubs when forced to use artificial turf mats on the driving range.  I could actually get into a rant if they actually used artificial turf on the course.  Probably wouldn't be able to afford it in any case as that stuff is EXPENSIVE.  Just get a bid on installing in a putting green in your back yard.

[SAGolfLuvr]

I agree with FourPutt that the whining will reach new levels if Donald Trump (the only guy who can afford to build an artificial turf golf course) actually built one. With the exception of periodic cleaning, the water use will obviously be drastically reduced. Now we won't have to deal with the humidity from watering and from nature as the sun comes up, or will we? I think the heat return from the sun in some locations will make the faint of heart pass out. Let's hope they figure out the drainage and eliminate standing water. Obviously maintenance costs will THEORETICALLY go down after the initial install but replacing entire sections of artificial turf isn't cheap either. I've seen the way people drive golf carts and predict a big issue at the seams and where the turf butts against the cart path. Keep in mind that these are the same people who don't repair divots, pitch marks, or rake the sand, and hang around the green counting scores instead of moving on to the next tee. There would be some expensive growing pains. I've seen many run-down "Putt-Putt" courses. Can you imagine an entire course like that?