Reducing golf course operating costs by 300%


By: September 30, 2009


When golf courses are closing all around the world (only in US: 71 golf courses were shot down in the first half of this year) we are always happy to find solutions how we can reduce operating costs. This is important especially when aware of the fact that 20% of world population has no access to safe water (drinkable) and 3 billion people's sanitation problems are unsolved. That is why I was happy to read that synthetic turf maintenance costs are two to three times less than natural turf, since no mowing, irrigation or chemicals are needed.

Other benefits of synthetic turfs can be utilized for about 3,000 hours of play per year, with no "rest" required. The life-span of synthetic turf can be up to 10 years, but in worse case 7-8 years. If it is still not convincing enough then we can also tell about synthetic turfgrass is good against allergic symptoms. 

Turfgrass manufacturers do not have to worry about spread of synthetic turf based golf courses. In US, only 5% of golf courses are made of synthetic turfgrass. In Europe the situation is not different. Here are some synthetic turf manufacturers:

  • Europeangolf.co.uk
  • FiberGlass International: www.fgi.com.au
  • Waterlessgrass.com
  • Fieldturfgolf.com
  • Easyturf.com
  • Jacksturf.com

During the Golf Expo last weekend I met with Arnoud Fiolet, the owner of Europeangolf.co.uk. we talked about their latest projects in Europe. In this year only in Europe they built 40 golf courses with synthetic turfgrass.