Are we far from an artifical turf golf course?

[Bruce Katona]

Economics and environmental concerns for water recharge are great, but how about the bigger picture:  Will the customer play the course more than once?  We seriosly considered installing Tour Turf on par 3 holes where the tee boxes are too small and the turf is poor as a result.  The concern from the operations people was our customers wouldn't use the Tour Turf, they would find a spot  of grass and tee of there, thus defeating the purpose.

I had a chance last year to visit The First Tee facility at Mosholu Golf Course in The Bronx.  They use Tour Turf tees and greens, very successfully.  The liked both the look and the playability, as you can regulate green speed by adding or sutracting sand to expose more or less of the grass blades.

[Forrest Richardson]

I think this idea will be perfected — perhaps not a great word — one day in the near furure.

The idea in the west is certainly ripe for the try. Perhaps not at fairways, but certainly at tees and greens. We recently planned a 9-hole, par-33 course in a deep canyon which would have been totally artificial. It has gone no-where, but the only possibility was artificial surafces and no water whatsoever.

I have been impressed with the manufacturing...but not the warranty. So far there are few large acre test installations and no one can guarantee a product for which there is no imperical data.