If "organic golf" means not a single drop of chemical ever touches a leaf blade, then the only true organic golf course in the United States is likely the Vineyard Golf Club, on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., whose stringent program successfully carried out by superintendent Jeff Carlson has been well-documented in this magazine (May 2008).
I recently came upon another truly organic golf course just across the Canadian border, in Grand Forks, British Columbia. The year-old Granby River Golf Course advertises itself as "Proudly Organically Controlled," and its owner-superintendent, Philippe Thevenaz, is passionate about being environmentally responsible. He's a man with a mission.
Thevenaz (pronounced tev-en-aw), 58, was in the wine business in his native Switzerland during the 1970s and '80s. His vineyards were organically managed, because any trace of chemicals in grapes makes it difficult to control fermentation.
Thevenaz and his wife, Joyce, moved to British Columbia in 1990, where he built log homes, and they raised 190 head of cattle on an "organic ranch" set in a lovely river valley ringed by mountains. A few years back, the couple formed a corporation, sold stock and converted their ranch into Granby River Golf Course. Pledging to operate it without chemicals made it much easier for Thevenaz to obtain governmental permits.
Like Applewood, Granby River has bluegrass fairways and bent-grass greens. Tees and greens are cut a little higher than at Applewood, but the turf is lush and sparkling green, juxtaposed against large areas of tall, tan native grasses, conditions certainly suitable to its green fee ($40 Canadian). Again, it's hard to believe a golf course can look and play this good using homemade remedies and witches' brews. But it's true.
"We haven't used an ounce of any pesticide, herbicide or fungicide," Thevenaz says. "We fertilize fairways using composted turkey manure. We fertilize our greens with a compost tea that's a blend of bone meal, blood meal, kelp and humate, a refined carbon to encourage root growth. We brew the tea, supplied from a firm in New Brunswick, for 24 hours, then mix in the organics and apply it in liquid form.
"To fight disease on the greens, we apply a solution of garlic extract. It's not that expensive, about the same price per gallon as a pesticide. To fight grub worms, we apply rock glacial dust. It's abrasive; the worms choke on it."
One of the great myths of organic golf is that it works only in niche areas, at high altitudes where insects, weeds and disease are less common. Applewood is indeed a mile high, and Rusch admits that ants burrowing into green collars are his main pest problem. But Granby River is just 1,700 feet above sea level, and the Vineyard sits on an island in the Atlantic.
"Climate is helpful, but it's not as big a factor as one might think," says Carlson. "In the six years I've been doing this at Vineyard, commercial suppliers have been making great strides in producing organic solutions for fungus, disease and insect control."
Based on these courses, my conclusion (admittedly not scientifically based) is that it doesn't matter where the course is located. (OK, pure organics might never work in hot, humid, Florida. But the recent introduction of brine-tolerant paspalum turf has certainly reduced some chemical applications.)
Applewood (left) plants its roots above a brewer's aquifer. Granby River has its roots in the wine industry.
What matters is who is in charge. To reduce dependency on chemical applications, to become mostly chemical-free or to go entirely into pure organics takes a special superintendent, one who is imaginative, open-minded and willing to experiment. And it takes a supporting group of tolerant golfers (customers or club members) willing to accept a few weeds, a few brown spots and conditions that change with the seasons.
- Text Size:
- Small Text
- Medium Text
- Large Text
