17 new projects included as part of USGA’s 2023 Davis Grant program

The USGA has included 17 new sustainability projects for 2023 as part of the Mike Davis Program for Advancing Golf Course Management, a program that invests approximately $2 million in grants annually. Consisting of more than 70 new and ongoing research projects in 2023, the initiative continues to be the largest private turfgrass and environmental research effort in golf.

As part of the USGA Green Section, these research investments total nearly $50 million since 1983. The Davis Grants engage university researchers and scientists in the effort to optimize natural resource use and playing conditions. Research from the program has helped to deliver stress-tolerant and higher quality turfgrasses and has enhanced all aspects of holistic management – from constructing and managing putting greens to monitoring for and controlling troublesome diseases.

“It’s not enough to simply love this game and celebrate its current growth,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said. “We’ve got to respect the game enough to truly care about how we leave it for the generations that will follow us. We all need to appreciate the importance of improving golf’s sustainability footprint and be committed to identifying new ways to reduce golf’s resource consumption.”

Some notable projects being funded in 2023 include an effort at New Mexico State University to validate soil-moisture prediction with strategies such as satellite-based sensors, which could eventually reduce manual collection of soil-moisture readings. A new study at Rutgers University is evaluating the feasibility of using warm-season grasses in Northern regions, including the financial implications. The USGA is also working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to further characterize the drought tolerance of native grasses that also tolerate salty irrigation water.

Overall, the USGA’s investment in golf course sustainability saves the industry an estimated $1.9 billion annually, including:

• $201 million from advancing irrigation with efficiencies in turfgrass water use
• $529 million from advancing irrigation scheduling with soil-moisture meters
• $469 million from advancing naturalized rough

The complete list of current research projects, in addition to this year’s call for proposals and all other information related to the Davis Grants, can be found here.