Strange days ahead

I’ve been playing golf for 42 years and in the golf business for 38. I don’t say that to claim any great insight into where the game is going, but to explain that I’ve seen it change enormously over the past five decades. I believe nearly all the changes – in equipment, conditioning, agronomy, you name it – have been for the better. I’d like to think that sort of progress will continue. I certainly hope so.

My main area of interest is in helping superintendents and clubs get the most and best out of their golf courses. It’s much more than simply getting the grass to grow or keeping the trees pruned. In the last few years, the fields of turfgrass research, agriculture and ecological science have progressed further and faster than any other parts of golf. Take a look at the mowers and sprayers and verticutters used; the incredible advances in chemicals, fertilizers and seed; and the curriculum for students of landscape management. Each of these disciplines has made incredible strides, and thanks to the never-ending forward motion of science, are sure to keep improving.

But there are certain things that will never change. For instance, we’re always going to need the assistance of Mother Nature to make our courses beautiful and playable. In fact, 25 years from now we’ll probably need her help even more as superintendents (and architects) deal with tighter environmental laws, restrictions on water use and the effects of climate change. So, in 25 years, the man or woman in charge of tending your golf course will have to be even smarter than he or she is today.

As the next generation of superintendents gets smarter, I hope the public will, too, at least regarding courses. The golf industry has to make the naysayers and the non-golfers understand that courses actually help the environment by providing a home for plants, animals and other living organisms, and they provide needed green spaces in a world that keeps building houses, shopping centers and parking lots.

I hope that by 2040, those who play golf and those of us who work in the industry won’t still be on the defensive. But I’m not convinced that will be the case.

Another hope is that in a few years, a golf course somewhere – not Augusta National or any of the other big-name courses that sometimes go to extremes to appear natural – will be designated a national park, somewhere visitors can see the best practices of agronomy and environmental science in action.

The past few years have seen remarkable advances in turfgrass, new science that makes courses stronger, more resilient, less thirsty and more playable. Thanks to genetics and breeding, we’re already creating grasses that are tolerant of less water, more traffic and higher temperatures. We already have some that tolerate high-sodium content. Perhaps by 2040, courses in desert areas will pull water from oceans rather than tapping into aquifers and other public water supplies. Maybe by 2040, grass will need little to no water at all.

Bet on this: In 25 years, we will have erased the color green from the golf spectrum. Brown will be the norm, and with almost no effect on the way we play and enjoy the game.

In some areas, real grass will be replaced by some yet-undreamt-of synthetic. High-use turf areas such as par-threes will be “planted” with pseudo grass that needs no maintenance, no water, no mowing. Watch for “faux trees” that can be unrolled like a window shade or accordion doors, or raised and lowered like umbrellas to make a course harder for the club championship, easier for the junior clinic. Not enough light getting to the sixth green? Lower the trees for a few hours.

Since golf is a game dependent on aerodynamics, we have a long history of adapting technology from the aerospace industry. It won’t take 25 years for superintendents to be flying drones over their courses, monitoring conditions and sending back status reports. Similarly, solar-powered and electric maintenance equipment will be controlled by sophisticated GPS units, rolling out of the barn on their own early each morning.

The changes won’t only come in agronomy. The ball washer will become an information source: While cleaning your ball, it will offer tips on how to best play the hole, recite the Rule options covering what to do when your tee shot sails out of bounds and send an order to the drink cart.

With drones, satellites and GPS units monitoring play, a loudspeaker in your cart will ask (politely the first time, not so nicely the second and third) to “hurry up, please,” while informing the other golfer in your cart that his ball is nestled under the leaves of the tree 210 yards down the right side of the fairway.

Which is soon to be followed by androids, holograms and other “avatars” taking to the course in our place. We’ll be back home in our man caves controlling their movements. Or, better yet, let the droid stay home and vacuum our faux lawn while we run out for a quick nine.

But one thing will not change: The Old Course will be exactly as it is. Forever and ever. Amen.
 

Editor’s note: A version of this article originally appeared in the August/September 2014 issue of The Met Golfer.

Tim Moraghan, principal, ASPIRE Golf (tmoraghan@aspire-golf.com). Follow Tim’s blog, Golf Course Confidential at http://www.aspire-golf.com/buzz.html or on Twitter @TimMoraghan