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Post Date: Friday, July 22, 2022 |
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 Sustainability efforts building long-term success across Troon
By Tom Mackin
Sustainability. There’s a word you’ve probably heard more and ore lately when it comes to golf courses. But what does it mean, exactly?
“I’ve noticed sustainability gets used frequently as a synonym for ‘environmental efforts,’” said Brianne Kenny, Manager of Environmental Science at Troon. “While those are important aspects, they are just one of the three traditional pillars of the sustainability concept. The other two pillars are social and economic. It’s important to remember these three together.
Kenny knows there is already a demand for sustainable practices from golfers, the golf industry, and especially from the public. “Beyond demand hough, the point of sustainability is to find ways to keep good environmental, social, and financial health.”
After three years in her job, Kenny has been pleasantly surprised to find out how much people throughout the world of Troon genuinely care about the impact they have on their surroundings, both professionally and personally. “I’ve encountered many members, managers, and employees who are engaged and looking for ways to improve,” she said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but having the caring, awareness, and curiosity from people across the company is how we eep moving forward.”
Here’s a small sampling of programs across the Troon portfolio that are having an important sustainability impact on and off the course.
BallenIsles Country Club - Florida
You’ve heard of island greens, right? How about a Bird Island? That can be found in the middle of a pond on the East Course at this club in Palm Beach Gardens. It serves as a breeding ground for a colony of White Wood Stork, North America’s only native stork, whose nesting sites are slowly diminishing due to urban development.
“Having an established rookery on site allows us the opportunity and responsibility to help protect and grow one of nature’s beautiful species,” said Director of Argonomy Michael Stevens. “Bird Island provides nesting birds and vulnerable chicks protection and availability to food sources during critical times and their annual cycles. It’s with this understanding that we continue to focus on the future of Bird Island and its native residents.”
BallenIsles is also in a constant state of water usage monitoring and adjusting based on daily field and environmental observations, according to Stevens. The center of the irrigation output is based around Evapotranspiration (ET), with the primary goal being to recharge the root zone’s moisture needs after daily loss due to plant uptake and what’s evaporated throughout the day. “We have seen that moving away from a baseline of ‘default run-times’ across the board and embracing the plant’s true needs as related to ET provides the most efficient use of watering practices leading to conservation long term,” he said.
Additional attention is given to “micro-ciliates” on the property where varying soil types and shaded environments create varying watering needs. In these areas, specific inputs and adjustments such as hand watering, wetting agents, nozzle swaps, subsurface drainage, soil modification/organic introduction, and additional irrigation heads pay a key role in ensuring the most efficient and highest levels of conservation are achieved.
“While additional irrigation heads seems like more water would be used, the opposite is actually true,” said Stevens. “More heads allows us the chance to put water exactly where it’s needed and minimizes the need to potentially ‘overwater’ unnecessary areas just to provide enough water to one location. During each improvement to a golf course, careful consideration should be given to the irrigation design to ensure the most uniform coverage possible.”
To read about additional courses and view the entire article click here.
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