Invest in infrastructure (Design column)

In my first column for Golf Course News, I expounded on what to expect from a long-term master plan. The following excerpt is from that column:
“… Unlike buildings, where shifting foundations or leaky roofs are painfully obvious, golf course problems are often ignored. Many think golf courses are natural, and take care of themselves. In many cases, the superintendent masks problems too well by keeping the course in great shape. Clubs that have invested substantially in the past may mistakenly believe that the course is set for life.”

When Tom Marzolf took the reins as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects earlier this year, he crafted a similar presidential message to encourage golf courses to plan ahead for recurring infrastructure costs. That’s right, recurring costs. As he summarizes on the ASGCA Web page:

“Golf course decision-makers need to think carefully about recurring costs of their infrastructure. Golf courses evolve, in a sense live and breathe, so course managers are wise to consider the life cycle of their golf course, paying particular attention to recurring costs of items like irrigation, drainage and bunker sand. These items have specific life expectancies, which enables managers to plan ahead. Doing so improves the golf course and can even save money in the long run, especially if it’s done in the context of long-range master planning.

“Golf clubs have responded to competitive pressure in the marketplace, changes in clientele and technological advances, and successful golf course managers have elected to remodel their facilities. However, as they examine these issues they also need to consider the functionality of the layout: how water drains, bunkers perform and cart paths hold up are essential to the long-term success of a golf facility.”

Marzolf has detailed the expected life cycle of various golf course components:
• USGA greens – 15 to 30 years
• Other sand based greens – 15 years
• Bunker sand – five to seven years
• Irrigation system (good quality) 20 to 25 years
• Irrigation system (lower quality) 15 to 20 years
• PVC irrigation pipe under pressure – 15 to 30 years
• Cart paths (asphalt) – five to 10 years
• Cart paths (concrete) – 15 to 30 years (or longer)
• Practice range tees – five to 10 years
• Tees – 15 to 20 years
• Major drain pipes (PVC) – 15 years
• Major drain pipes (corrugated metal) 15 years
• Bunker drain pipes – five to 10 years
• Mulch – one to three years.

I hate to say it, but I have been around long enough to see a few completed life cycles. I know things wear out and know rising standards – whether self-imposed maintenance standards or outside standards, including environmental protection regulations or competitive improvements to conditions at nearby courses – ­often require changes before the end of the useful service life of golf course components. Infrastructure needs to be repaired, replaced and upgraded every chance one gets.

A few things stand out on that list. First, the adage “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right the first time” applies. Spending a bit more, which is difficult in lean economic times, saves funds in the long run. Prime examples are:

• Using concrete cart paths rather than asphalt and pouring them 5-inches thick rather than 4-inches thick for added strength. Using a gravel base and rebar or fiber mesh for proper strength ensures your paths will last a long time.

• Designing an irrigation system pipe to lower velocities (i.e. bigger pipe) may double its service life. If an irrigation plan has many 3- and 4-inch main lines, I’d be wary. Ask an irrigation designer what the maximum flow velocity is – 4 to 5 feet per second is good. Anything higher will likely shorten the life of a system. Don’t do it.

• Properly installing plastic drain pipes. Plastic pipes should have unlimited service life, provided they’re installed on gravel beds and properly compacted. There’s evidence they crush quickly otherwise.

• Installing drain pipes of proper size. Superintendents often have designed drainage systems around the small equipment they have to install it. While golf courses don’t present health, safety and welfare issues requiring huge drains, most golf course drains are undersized, and slow drainage gradually weakens turf.

• Using USGA greens construction. I’ve been using modified USGA greens, and they provide good results. However, there are drainage problems when gravel layers and other options are taken out to save money.

While many recent renovations have been spurred by stagnant rounds and greater competition, causing courses to focus on upgrading their look and appeal, it’s obvious that without the proper infrastructure, it’ll be just as difficult to maintain those improvements as it was in the past. Course degradation begins the minute the ribbon is cut on a newly renovated course – unless you spent wisely on the infrastructure to maintain that look.

Seeing these numbers from similar experiences of other ASGCA members puts golf course infrastructure in a new perspective for course managers. It shows that every course should have a different master plan. Just because the course down the street has a new look, it might not have invested wisely; or maybe they have, but it’s wise to invest solely in upgrading only the infrastructure.

In many renovation projects, I recommend investing solely in infrastructure, especially when a course has major infrastructure problems. A dollar spent on cart paths, drainage and irrigation is almost always a dollar saved down the line. It’s harder to explain or justify the economics of that beautiful new bunker. As much as architects like to redesign courses in a new model, aesthetic improvements don’t always attract enough new play to justify their expense, whereas intelligent infrastructure investment usually does. The best defense against lean economic years is to design and build a golf course that has good bones.

In these cost-conscious days, intelligent investment should be the mantra for golf courses – new and old. Design styles come and go, but good infrastructure will never go out of style. GCN