Earth Day

Earth Day is a holiday that we hold dear to our heart. There is nothing better than playing on a golf course with beautiful, natural surroundings.

Since 2006, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) has been conducting a groundbreaking project, the Golf Course Environmental Profile (GCEP), to develop a comprehensive environmental profile of golf courses in the United States. The surveys have provided critical data on land use, inputs, management of natural resources and environmental stewardship associated with golf courses.

In honor of Earth Day, Sunday, April 22, here are five ways golf courses have shown improvement in the past decade, as documented in the GCEP:

Energy Use: Annual median energy use at U.S. golf facilities has decreased 8.3%, this was primarily the result of a 31.4% decrease in consumption of electricity since 2008.
Nutrient Use: U.S. golf courses have significantly decreased overall nutrient use since 2006, including a 34% reduction in nitrogen, a 53% reduction in phosphate  and a 42% reduction in potash.
Pest Management: Golf courses have increased their reliance on non-pesticide pest control practices such as cultural control, plant growth regulators and biological control.
Land Use: The amount of maintained turfgrass on an average 18-hole golf course has decreased from 99 to 95 acres, with 46% of average 18-hole courses having increased natural area acreage.
Water Use: Use of recycled water increased by 32.7%. Recycled water now accounts for 25% of all water used on golf courses, thereby reducing the use of surface, ground and potable water sources.If you want to learn more about this project click HERE

This article courtesy of the National Golf Course Owners Association

March 2018

Don’t’ let the rain get in the way of your practice. There are a lot of things that you can do to improve your swing and get you ready for the better weather. Just make sure you do not hit the celling or the walls…may lead to some troubles that are not golf related.

To hit it farther, SLOW DOWN!

When taking practice swings at home (and on the range and course), slow down your speed. The idea behind a practice swing is to create a feel of what you are trying to do. You CANNOT change a position or create a feel when going full out…it is not how our brains operate.

When taking slow swings, you can feel what the club is doing and you are able to check your positions. Below are a few positions to check that will help with your impact and ball striking.

1. Setup- Make sure that your weight is under your shoe laces and you are well balanced and your arms hang down and are relaxed.
2. Takeaway- With a good core turn, stop the club when it is parallel to the ground. Check to make sure that the club is also parallel to your toe line. The other check point is that the leading edge (short red line) matches the sternum (longer red line).
3. Follow through- Also with a good core turn, go through the impact area and stop at waist high. Make sure that you turned through well and the leading edge matches the sternum, like on the takeaway, and the lead wrist is flat.

By doing this simple motion, SLOWLY, you will gain a better feel on how the body and club move through impact. Take this feel to the range and the course and, if done correctly, the ball will fly straighter and farther.