Palo Alto Country Club was designed by Clark Glasson in 1958. Clark was known as local architect that produced fine course design. By 1999 it was time for the course to have some upgrades. Robert Muir Graves completed a renovation of the course in 1999 that consisted of bunker reconstruction, drainage work and some re-routing of the course. A brand new Rainbird irrigation system was also introduced that upgraded our watering efficiency which in turn provided better playing conditions.
Within the last 4 years we have dramatically changed the appearance of the course with an emphasis on going more “Green.” Our main goal here at Palo Alto is to constantly keep improving course conditions for our membership to enjoy while being role model stewards for our environment. We take a lot of pride in completing all tasks with the environment in mind by using amenities like solar power, organic fertilizers, recycled water stations for washing equipment, composting grass clippings, and more. Some of the major projects completed in the past few years include:
Total conversion of turf from poa annua to perennial rye grass. Not only do the turf characteristics of ryegrass provide a deep green color for mowing patterns, this turf is a lot more drought tolerant than Poa. You are talking some serious savings in water usage when you take into account that we are watering roughly 80 acres of turf on a nightly basis in summer months. This conversion has drastically improved the overall appearance of the course along with providing the finest playing conditions around for our membership to enjoy.
Native restoration is another area that we have been working on the past few years to be as environmentally friendly as possible. We have been converting “out of play areas” on the course to wild native areas. Considering that our course is bordered by Arastadero Preserve we are providing a lot more environment for our wildlife to enjoy. To date we have converted more than 12+ acres of the course to wild native areas. Not only are we providing environment we are making an impact on the financial side. Once established these areas require minimal water, no fertilizer, minimal labor, and provide an outstanding contrast for the course visually. In water alone we have calculated that these areas have reduced our water usage by 15-20%.
We have also converted a lot of our areas under Monterey Pines to straw beds. These areas provide a real challenge in producing quality turf so instead of wasting labor and expenses we decided to convert to straw to achieve a positive in every area. These areas provide a better visual for the course along with savings in water, fertilizer etc. Once again this is a way that we can improve the course visually along with a savings.
We will continue to find ways to improve course conditions for our membership and at the same time always consider the impact that it will have on our environment. These days everything is moving towards being more “Green” and more sustainable. The same thing can be said for turf managers. The advances alone in chemical and agricultural production are pretty amazing. With the technology that we have it won’t be too long until all chemical manufactures will be producing products that are strictly made of organic compounds and have zero effect on the environment. It’s our job to protect what we have and be as responsible with our surroundings and natural resources to the fullest extent.
By: Andrew Morgan
Golf Course Superintendent
amorgan@pahgcc.net
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