[Mike Sweeney]

From our friends at SCGA:

http://www.scga.org/blog/12652/golfs-existential-threat

But AB 672 is hardly the only threat. The thinking behind that bill – that golf courses don’t merit the acreage it uses in the same way as other recreational and open space activities (e.g., soccer, baseball, football, hiking, biking, trails, equestrian, tennis, pickleball, land trusts/conservancies) – has found its way into various one-off public golf course closure efforts in recent years (e.g., Mile Square, Willowick, Mission Bay, Links @ Victoria, Eaton Canyon, Marshall Canyon, Arcadia 3-par, Pico Rivera – a partial list).

______________________________________

I have had a great golfing life, and I find myself returning to many "Muni" courses in the post-Covid era. I don't pretend to know California politics, which this clearly fits under, but I do love and appreciate Muni golf. My first rounds of golf were at Walnut Lane and Cobbs Creek in Philly.

I am a "Member" of Marine Memorial GC (on Federal land, so exempt) and Goat Hill GC (not sure if it is a true Muni, as they made some changes to "save it"), so this may or may not directly effect "my clubs". However, golf is golf and I am getting tired of our great game being called out.

I have personally or tangentially raised/supported hundreds of thousands of dollars for Autism causes on VERY Private and VERY Muni golf courses.

If there was ever a reason to pull in some old GCA friends in California, this is it.

Thanks

[Tom_Doak]

The opponents of municipal golf in California need not bother with legislation.  They can just sit back and watch the escalating cost of water kill off the game.  Or do munis not have to do the math on selling water to themselves?


[For those not in the know, the cost of municipal water in California doubles every five years.  If you are any good at math, you can extrapolate to the end result.]

[Joshua Pettit]

The opponents of municipal golf in California need not bother with legislation.  They can just sit back and watch the escalating cost of water kill off the game.  Or do munis not have to do the math on selling water to themselves?


[For those not in the know, the cost of municipal water in California doubles every five years.  If you are any good at math, you can extrapolate to the end result.]

A bit of an exaggeration but not far off.  There are, however, ways to mitigate against the increase in potable water costs: reclaimed water, water recapture programs, deep-rooting drought-tolerant grasses, modernizing irrigation infrastructures to improve efficiency, etc.

As an example, in 2013 the City of Alameda was spending $1M/year to irrigate 45 holes.  Had they maintained the status quo that would amount to about $1.5M today.  But they committed to solving for that variable in the economic equation, and today they're spending $0 on water.

The problem is that most municipalities don't know what they don't know, and bureaucrats typically have a hard time thinking "outside the box."  Combine that with the political pressures, which...well, I'll save that for another day.  Bottom line, golf is an easy scapegoat for resource shortages -- namely water and land.  Interestingly, vineyards are never discussed in this context.

[Pete Lavallee]

Joshua,


I m curious as to how Alameda gets $1MM of water now for free?

[Joel_Stewart]

Joshua,


I m curious as to how Alameda gets $1MM of water now for free?

The water costs are not zero but it is very little.


They did multiple things.
1. They converted from bent and weeds to Santa Ana bermuda which requires less water.
2. They tripled the size of the ponds to retain more water which they capture during the rainy season.
3. They capture runoff from the surrounding area and bring it onto the golf course.


Marc Logan won an award for his effort.


https://www.golfdom.com/corica-park-and-greenway-golf-win-water-sustainability-innovation-award/

[Joshua Pettit]

Joshua,


I m curious as to how Alameda gets $1MM of water now for free?

The water costs are not zero but it is very little.


They did multiple things.
1. They converted from bent and weeds to Santa Ana bermuda which requires less water.
2. They tripled the size of the ponds to retain more water which they capture during the rainy season.
3. They capture runoff from the surrounding area and bring it onto the golf course.


Marc Logan won an award for his effort.


https://www.golfdom.com/corica-park-and-greenway-golf-win-water-sustainability-innovation-award/

The only water they buy is potable water for the clubhouse and facilities.  They don't buy any water for irrigation purposes.

The turf conversion was away from a hodgepodge of poa, common bermuda, kikuya, etc., to Santa Ana hybrid-bermuda on fairways, bentgrass on greens, and a combination of native bent (Agrostis pallens) and fescues in "naturalized" areas.

I wouldn't really describe the water storage infrastructure as "ponds" -- more like a network of manufactured wetlands that provide the same function as native wetlands, filtering the runoff and supporting native aquatic and avian wildlife.

The footprint of the golf course has expanded, but as an apples to apples comparison they're using only 1/3 the amount of water compared to previously.

[Dan Smoot]

The opponents of municipal golf in California need not bother with legislation.  They can just sit back and watch the escalating cost of water kill off the game.  Or do munis not have to do the math on selling water to themselves?


[For those not in the know, the cost of municipal water in California doubles every five years.  If you are any good at math, you can extrapolate to the end result.]

Why do I think that this situation is the tip of a bigger iceberg.  Not trying to be political here but is there any place in the US where the cost of water has escalated anywhere near that rate.

[Bill Seitz]

...Eaton Canyon, Marshall Canyon, Arcadia 3-par...

Yeesh.  I would probably not be a golfer if these courses, especially Arcadia and Eaton Canyon, did not exist.

[Kalen Braley]

For those who didn't bother to read the link, I think the extra context is important.

This bill specifically:

" proposes to remove all of California’s municipal golf courses (22% of golf courses in the state) from the protections of the Parkland Preservation Act, along with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemptions and zoning short-cuts, all in an effort to fast track them into housing tracts."

And...

the bill was killed in committee before it even made it to an initial vote, much less go thru all of the other voting processes to become law.  Given California is very much a blue state, and becoming even moreso every day, this was never much of a real threat...

[Pete Lavallee]

I’m quite happy that Greenway made it work for Alameda. Capturing rainfall and runoff and using it on water wise hybrid turf species is certainly the way to go, if you can afford to blow the place up and start from scratch. You also need the rainfall which No. Cal. has. However here in So. Cal. you’re never going to get by with purchasing some water because it just doesn’t rain for a 6 month stretch! We recently had a course replace their greens with Pure Distinction bent grass and their green surrounds with Santa Anna Bermuda; I’ll be very anxious to see how that turns out. They had already done a County funded turf reduction program, replacing areas unlikely visited with wood chips.


We do have a waste water recycling plant here in SD, many courses including Torrey Pines use their product for fairway irrigation. However they all use potable water for greens. Sadly there is no pipeline to get that water south of the San Diego River in Mission Valley. Colorado River supplied water is high in salts and we rely on a good winter rainfall to flush these salts. In a low rainfall winters, courses tend to keep things wetter, I’m told to keep the salt saturation at bay.


So we really have no choice in So. Cal. to rely on purchased water to keep golf courses going. We have had several shut the doors because they could not afford the water bill.


As far as AB672, it has failed in its initial attempts but people are still pushing it for a ballot initiative next time around. Although it seems absurd,in California it could be possible!

[Forrest Richardson]

At Baylands we cut 70% of potable water by using paspalum, reducing turf footprint and installing new irrigation infrastructure. Not all municipal courses face a 2x cost every five years in CA. The message needs to be that golf open space is good, creates jobs, provides recreation and produces oxygen for urban areas. Golf BORROWS water — a big part goes right back where it came from.

[astavrides]

Golf BORROWS water — a big part goes right back where it came from.

Can you explain what you mean by that?
I want to believe it, but I would think almost all of it evaporates--either right away or after the grass is cut. And once it evaporates, it doesn't fall as precipitation, it goes to increasing the relative humidity from 30% to 30.0001% for example.

[Forrest Richardson]

"Golf borrows water" ... More than 50% of the water used on modern irrigation systems percolates into the ground and adds to the area's groundwater resources. This is especially important in regions where recycled water is used on courses because that water (un-drinkable) is then filtered when it percolates. The golf course, in that case, is taking treated sewage water and returning it to the ground where it can replenish water that has been extracted. The plant (turf) and soils act as filters. Some water used for irrigation evaporates and some trans-evaporates through the plant (turf) leaves. While those "losses" may seem unproductive, they do serve the environment through cooling and that moisture (water) does not leave planet earth — it remains in the atmosphere and eventually becomes precipitation.

I hope that helps. BTW, this came up when I attended a Western Governor's Conference several years ago and listened to a scientist talk on the ski industry's use of water to make snow. It was fascinating to hear how water (both recycled and fresh) was used during the winter and then melted in the Spring along with natural snow.

Another factor is to consider where "golf water" comes from. For example, if the water comes from a surface flow (river or lake) then you must consider the evaporation factor of that source. When "borrowing" that water, a golf course is taking a certain volume, preventing a portion of evaporation, using the water and then immediately returning a percentage to the ground and allowing plants (turf) to carry out photosynthesis. A typical 18-hole golf course produces enough oxygen for about 7,000 people.

[astavrides]

Interesting and useful, Forrest. Thanks.
Do you happen to have a citation for the claim below? I'll google it too, and if I find something appropriate, I'll post the link.

More than 50% of the water used on modern irrigation systems percolates into the ground and adds to the area's groundwater resources.

[Forrest Richardson]

The USGS has long been the standard: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/irrigation-water-use?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

There is a host of info on the USGA's website, GCSAA, etc.  Other factors not often discussed is the comparison of golf to agriculture ... use of new turf varieties ... and fact that the naturalized areas of America's golf courses equal a land area more than Yosemite National Park. Many people "assume" golf courses are all turf, and that is hardly the case.

The big take-away for those of us interested in "saving" golf from the mis-information crowd is that: "Golf is good overall, and many of the advancements in turf and irrigation have come from golf...and most golf courses are highly important open spaces in our communities."

[Gib_Papazian]

Being in the farming business, I promise you that California politicians use water to help or punish anybody not in a "protected class."


Farms in areas that vote GOP are being strangled - in favor of pot growers for instance. Same thing in Southern Oregon, Northern California.


Everything is political - and good luck getting a permit to dig a well.


The only option is to keep developing grasses that grow with effluent water - but once that is accomplished, these same CA politicians will just keep raising taxes until they strangle everyone out of business.


Hiding behind "environmentalists" is another strategy used by the totalitarians out here. The choice at this point is to either bribe Democrats in Sacramento or make such a ruckus, even the lapdog press will be forced to cover this outrage. 

[Mike Sweeney]

The USGS has long been the standard: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/irrigation-water-use?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

There is a host of info on the USGA's website, GCSAA, etc.  Other factors not often discussed is the comparison of golf to agriculture ... use of new turf varieties ... and fact that the naturalized areas of America's golf courses equal a land area more than Yosemite National Park. Many people "assume" golf courses are all turf, and that is hardly the case.

The big take-away for those of us interested in "saving" golf from the mis-information crowd is that: "Golf is good overall, and many of the advancements in turf and irrigation have come from golf...and most golf courses are highly important open spaces in our communities."

Thanks Forrest for those thoughtful post. Living in the Northeast, we don't think about water quantities much, but I do think about quality more these days. Very appreciated and sadly I will not get to California this summer to play Olivas Links in beautiful and fun Ventura. 2022!!

[astavrides]

The USGS has long been the standard: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/irrigation-water-use?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects

There is a host of info on the USGA's website, GCSAA, etc.  Other factors not often discussed is the comparison of golf to agriculture ... use of new turf varieties ... and fact that the naturalized areas of America's golf courses equal a land area more than Yosemite National Park. Many people "assume" golf courses are all turf, and that is hardly the case.

The big take-away for those of us interested in "saving" golf from the mis-information crowd is that: "Golf is good overall, and many of the advancements in turf and irrigation have come from golf...and most golf courses are highly important open spaces in our communities."

great. Thanks.


I like Olivas too, btw, and am looking forward to playing Baylands.

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