Volume 1, Issue 1 September 2003 Steven Jay Porus, Publisher sjporus@unlaccess.com
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Volume 1, Issue 1 September 2003 Steven Jay Porus, Publisher sjporus@unlaccess.com
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 Ten Assets of Golf in a Resort Community Golf is one of the most important amenities to resorts and residential communities, offering a variety of assets to a planned development. With resort communities sprouting over much of the Western U.S., golf will continue to be an element that developers will consider enhancing their resort or second home community. Listed are ten assets that golf courses often add to a project and local community.
The average 18 hole golf course encompasses 120 to 200 acres. Depending on water availability, most of this acreage is utilized in turf and landscaping uses. For arid courses, the turf allocation is 80 to 90 acres mixed with native vegetation. The manicured, expansive fairways of a golf course offer the natural look homeowners desire, often in stark contrast to the asphalt and concrete of modern day sprawl. With fire hazard and fire insurance claims rising in the area, golf offers a unique asset to residential and municipal planners. Golf courses with 18 individual holes are often scattered throughout a planned development in order to obtain the maximum amount of frontage for residential value. These numerous well-irrigated golf ‘corridors’ provide an excellent system of firebreaks throughout a community. Real estate values vary across the Western U.S., however most developers and real estate agents will attest to a 20% to 40% increase in home value when golf is adjacent to the property. Thousands of golf courses have been built worldwide since WWII within residential communities as developers realized the potential for property value enhancement. The number of golf courses located on ‘brown field’ sites continues to rise. Golf has always been used on low-yield agriculture and flood plain sites, thus creating a higher use. With urbanization continuing, developers and municipalities are finding that redeveloped brown field sites such as landfills, industrial sites, and closed military bases are quite suitable for golf development. Mixing residential components in and around these brown field golf sites is a challenge that many cities are pursuing. The central focus of the golf course has been the clubhouse since the early days of golf in Scotland. The golf clubhouse has evolved into the social center of many communities. Dining, weddings, conference facilities, and other recreational amenities are among the activities found at modern day golf clubhouses. 150 acres of turf and landscaping provides an obvious asset to air quality management in a planned community. Just as with the need for fire prevention, golf easements will increase in the search for air quality mitigation from municipalities in the dense urban areas of the southwestern states.
Golf courses require marketing and advertising in their business plan as with any business venture. With the marketing of a residential community, the traffic generated by a golf course can produce positive benefits to the residential sales within a development. Golf will prove to be a healthy and wise choice as the main amenity to residential developments throughout the United States and countries worldwide. These ten assets are among the many offered to residents in a community fortunate enough to have a golf course located within view.
 Tree Selection BY JANET HARTIN, Environmental Horticulture Advisor, UCCE Trees contribute to the well being of urban environments in many ways. In addition to improving aesthetics, trees improve environmental integrity and reduce energy requirements and costs, and have even been found to reduce stress. Specimen trees buffer high temperatures and provide shade during the summer and can reduce certain pollutants. Studies indicate that correctly placed shade trees, windbreaks, and foundation plantings can reduce heating and cooling costs by 25-30 percent or more. Placing an effective windbreak along the side of the house where winter winds are strong can provide shelter from cold winds, and therefore reduce heating energy needs. Planting a diversity of tree species rather than a single monoculture offers not only aesthetic appeal and intrigue, but also reduces the chance of an opportunistic disease or insect species causing significant damage to the planting. Also, consider consulting reputable wholesale nursery catalogs and personnel for new desirable tree cultivars that may be more disease resistant than their predecessors as well as offering such attributes as more attractive flowers, a longer flowering period, less objectionable fruit production and/or drop, and reduced maintenance and water requirements. Selecting the right landscape tree for a compatible location is crucial to the long-term success of the planting. Factors to consider include:
 CENTRALIZED IRRIGATION: What is a Centralized Irrigation System?
A Centralized Irrigation System is the idea of being able to monitor, trouble shoot and make changes to your Irrigation system from a remote location, with a consumer orientated desk top PC or Laptop Computer. Other components that make up a irrigation system but utilized and monitored by a Central Irrigation System are: 1. (POC) Points of Connections, which consist of Water Meters and Backflow Prevention Devices. 2. Main lines 3. Lateral lines 4. sprinkler heads (Sprays, Rotors, Impacts, Bubblers, Drip) 5. Master Valves 6. (RCV) Remote Control Valves 7. Flow Meters 8. Irrigation Controllers 9. Moisture Sensors 10. ET (Evapo Transpiration) Gage 11. Rain Buckets 12. Last but definitely not least the Central Irrigation Computer Software. . Steps Toward A System Implementation:
First thing you need to do is figure out if this is a new project such as a new School site or a new park etc. Or is this a retrofit project of an exsisting irrigation system. With both ideas you need to develop a plan of attack. For example if you are in charge of multiple sites such as several parks, you need to develop a priority list of which site you will work on first, second and so on. Get everyone involved such as City and park planning people, Landscape and Irrigation Architects and or designers, New Construction Supervisors, current landscape or Grounds supervisors and technicians, Landscape Management companies and supervisors (if being utilized), Manufacturers Representatives / Product Representatives and Landscape Contractors. Make list of and start contacting all your available resources, such as your Water Department Representative and industry contacts that can be a valuable assistance to you. Conduct regular site visits and meetings with all the people that are involved. This will help keep everything under control and allow you to stay on top of things. If this is a new or a Retrofit project you will need to figure out what components need to be purchased and installed. At each location I would make a list of components needed such as your Water Meter, Backflow Device, Flow Meter, Master Valve, Heads, Controllers. A lot of times if meet with various Manufacturers Representative. They can assist you in the education of certain products and product selection. You will also need to decide if any or all of the work will be done in house or with the use of contractors. Installation of all of your needed components. If designs have been drawn up for your project, make sure that your crew or outside contractor adheres to the plans and specifications for the particular project that you are involved in. Final Work with the Manufacturers field service technician to set up, train and implement your new or retrofitted Centralized Irrigation System. As you can see by the article, that if you just plan ahead and do everything in steps. You should be able to keep all of your new and retrofit projects under control.
 HydroSeeding 2003: Erosion Control & Turf Establishment Many If you are interested in learning more about hydroseeding, there is an excellent organization called the HTPA (Hydro Turf Planters Association). This organization consists of professional hydroseeding contractors who share information with each other all for the benefit of their industry. You can look up their website at www.htpa.org.
 SCTC's Turfgrass and Landscape Expo Wednesday's Free Classes include: Storm Water Management - Sponsored by CRWQCB, Plant Health Care - Sponsored by Sims Tree Health Specialists, and 2 Cycle Outdoor Power Equipment - Sponsored by Bee Tee Equipment. Thursday's Free Classes include: Micro Injection Training - Sponsored by Mauget, Soil Erosion Control Via Hydro-seeding - Sponsored by Finn Corporation, Golf Course Construction and Renovation - Sponsored by Tom Johnson Golf Design, and Centralized Irrigation Systems - Sponsored by Calsense. You can register online at www.turfcouncil.org You can call me at the SCTC office for Booth and competition space availability: 800-500-SCTC (7282), or email me at expo@turfcouncil.org If you would like to receive LandsMagazine, Click Here and put "LandsMagazine" in the subject line. Please include your full name somewhere in the message. To leave our list, Click Here and put "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. Please forward this issue on to friends and associates! Just keep the entire issue intact and unaltered. The articles in this E-zine are copyright by respective authors and have been reproduced with their permission. (c) 2003 Steven Jay Porus and Unlimited Access Co., All rights Reserved. |
Everyone is aware of the need for water conservation and reclamation. Golf courses have often used effluent resources from city water districts. Additional reclamation efforts for golf courses will include master-planned utility systems collecting storm drainage and treated effluent from individual residential components. Recycling water credits from each residence may become common to further the supply of water to the golf course asset within a community.
A public access 18 hole golf course will entertain an average of 30,000 to 50,000 rounds of golf annually. That equates to over 200,000 hours of recreation resource for local residents to enjoy. Add in the teaching and golf clinics of a Practice Area, and the local golf facility becomes a major source of recreation activity within a community.
Residential golf courses will employ a work force of 20 to 80 employees in their maintenance and operation workforces. Often, the maintenance crews of a golf course will perform double duties in the landscaping areas of a residential community. The manicured streetscapes within a development are another plus to the enhanced perception of a development.
the past few years, exciting advancements in plant breeding of ornamental trees have resulted in selections with increased drought and pest resistance, aesthetic appeal, environmental adaptation, and improved structural integrity. In some cases, species once considered inferior have been greatly improved through the selection process, resulting in new cultivars with few of the disadvantages of their predecessors. In the future, greater use of molecular markers will be used to facilitate selection, as well.
Centralized irrigation has been in existence for several years, saving organizations such as Parks Departments, Public Works Departments, Golf Courses and others thousands of gallons of water every year. Whether you are responsible for the Development, Design, Installation and Implementation of a new Centralized Irrigation System or you have been challenged with the job of retrofitting your existing irrigation system to a Centralized irrigation system. The same thought always seems to emerge. "What have I just gotten my self into" and "What do I do next". Hopefully this article will assist in making heads and tales out of the complicated world of Centralized Irrigation Systems and help point you in the right direction.
inspection of all installed components. Once each component has been installed you could contact the manufactures representative to see if they could send out a field service technician to inspect and certify the product installation that has been done.
professional hydroseeding/mulching contractors throughout North America and abroad are under misconception that by hydroseeding and covering only 50% of the soil surface is enough to prevent soil erosion and produce good turf development. With today's new technologies, hydroseeding and hydromulching offer so much more than what sod and blankets can offer. Think about what is most important about growing new turf? Is it the topical growth, or is it what grows in the soil? Roots are what are most important; a plant with a healthy root system will outperform a plant with a shallow root system each and every time! This is why hydroseeding/hydromulching can benefit landscape professionals due to new products that can be added to their hydroseeders, all in a one step application! Contractors now can create the "Ideal Growing Environment" when seeding. New mulches that virtually eliminate erosion, soil amendments, wetting agents, organics, germination enhancers, the selections are numerous. All that's needed is, knowing what kind of soils you are dealing with, and if possible, getting a soil sample and having your local university run tests for you
Once you get your tests back you now can prescribe the necessary products needed for turf development. No longer is this a band-aid application, we are now introducing products needed to enhance soil conditions and promote root and turf development. Needless to say, the advantages are numerous...labor savings, watering, fertilization, and most important, product costs are at least 50% less than sod or blanket applications!
The future of turf establishment using hydroseeding equipment is now upon us, results across the U.S. and abroad using these new products are outperforming old means of seeding time and time again! The real key is making sure that when you hydroseed or hydromulch (they are the same, just depends on what part of the country you live in), that you cover the entire soil surface! This means using at least 2,000 to 2,500 lbs of mulch per acre, and when you seed more severe slope conditions mulch rates can go up to 4,000 lbs per acre. 
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: October 8-9,2003 at Fairplex in Pomona are the dates and venue for Southern California's Largest Indoor/Outdoor Green Industry Show. The Expo's features include: 170,400 SF Indoor/Outdoor Exhibit Space, Free Classes with CEUs, Irrigation & Equipment Demos, Landscape Competition and Showcase - Co-Sponsored by SCTC and LandscapeOnline.com, Nick Federoff and his Soccer Kick 'n Score Broadcasting Live From Expo on AdrenalineRadio.com, Education and Government, Pavilion, Antique Equipment Museum - Co-Sponsored by Cal Poly and Sims Tree Health Specialists, Irrigation Historical Museum - Sponsored by Basic Irrigation Parts/Valcon, Green Industry Job Fair, And Much More!