[RookieBlue7]

I've read and read articles about this subject, but I can think of none of the local courses that I play that are going green (to the extremes that several places I read about are). Sure, some are pulling water out of ponds to water with, and smaller things like that so as not to use county/public water, but I haven't seen any that are truly going green to the extremes that several articles I've read describe. But, I've often wondered what types of courses are going green (as far as public, private, etc) and what their dues or round fees are.

There are several around here that are changing their grass types on their greens to save on chemical costs (going from bent to hybrid bermuda for example. The bermuda requires about $40k annual for chemicals when compared to bent).

Are any MGS'ers courses going greener? If so, what's your costs associated with playing at those courses, whether round rates or monthly dues. And what types of going green practices are you guys seeing in your areas?

[RoverRick]

I am sitting here at the course right now with the head greens keeper/director of golf and the owner of 70% of the club. I asked them about this. We are spending $700,0000 over the next two years to make the course totally self-suffient as far as water goes. We have doubled the size of one lake and are building another that will allow us to "empact" two years worth of water on the premises.

As far as truly going green. ie no chemicals. (And in the interest of full disclosure I design composting systems. Not the crap that you are probably aware of but a rapid decomposition system that is a replacement for chemical fertilizer.) They are receptive to this but of course want a test project. Other than the fact that I have no new projects on this continent I would probably jump at this.

[RookieBlue7]

I'm just curious as to what the going green projects cost. Like I said, I have read some stuff that just seems far fetched and insanely costly. I'm just curious what types of courses can afford these projects. Or if there are any more environmentally friendly projects that the smaller budget courses can afford. The replacement of greens at the local course is going to cost them $125k to do, but will pay for itself in chemicals saved in 3 years and a couple of months.

I don't think it's reasonable to think there could be any course that'd be totally self sufficient and need nothing. I'm just curious as to whether smaller courses could cut down on costs by spending some up front and still survive. Your composting system bit sounds insanely intriguing, as it could cut down on fertilizers a bunch by adding natural compost to aid with that side if it can be made fine as say a pelletized fertilizer that wouldn't impact play. And I'm sure you couldn't really discuss cost on here, but it does sound like an awfully good idea for the waste and stuff that could actually be used in it.

[mudfish]

The course I played on for my league last year just installed solar panels covering the entire roof of the clubhouse, and a 50-60 foot windmill, I honestly couldn't tell you what kind of money they are saving, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. I have heard people say the owners want to create enough energy themselves to run the clubhouse...

[RookieBlue7]

mudfish, on 08 June 2012 - 09:21 PM, said:

The course I played on for my league last year just installed solar panels covering the entire roof of the clubhouse, and a 50-60 foot windmill, I honestly couldn't tell you what kind of money they are saving, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. I have heard people say the owners want to create enough energy themselves to run the clubhouse...

I've seen the solar panels and their cost. And working in the utility industry since high school(first on the metering side, then install side, now power generation) I can see where they're a decent idea. It's not windy enough here for windmills. But the solar panels, for an average household, at their current price would take a little over 100 years to pay for themselves if there were enough to power the whole house. The average household consumes around 1,000 KWh per month. To generate that much, you'd have to spend a bunch of money. Glad to see the course wanting to go green with the solar panels, but if they're installing enough to run the place and assessing the members, that could be a costly membership.

[barbajo]

This is from my home course website:

Crystal Lake Golf Course is honored to be one of 23 courses in Minnesota that has qualified for ‘Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary’ certificate. This honor, earned from the Audubon International, requires a high degree of demonstration in multiple areas including, environmental planning, wildlife & habitat management, integrated pest management, water conservation, water quality management and outreach & education.

We have been a member of the Audubon Society since 1999 and certified since 2001. Each year Crystal Lake continues to maintain high standards involving our natural environment and the wildlife that exist on our land.

And they do a fantastic job of keeping the course in great shape. There's one hole - built around a wetland area - that's always moist, but the rest of the course is dynamite for a public facility.

And from what I'm heating about solar PV panels, there's a glut of them on the market due to some product dumping by Chinese manufacturers and the end of incentives programs in Europe - so it would appear the price is going down dramatically. A friend of mine who is running a program in his town in MA says with state and federal programs, incentives from the local utilities, low-interest loans and a group-buying program his town is working on, they can get the so-called "payback" (hate that term - it's very misleading) to around 3 or 4 years.

Check out dsireusa.org for state, federal and utility programs....

[stevenhw8]

We have a system that recycles used water (rain or on the course) to flush the toilets They even put a warning sign saying "don't be surprised if the water comes out muddy, it's natural!"