2007 Water Usage Comparisons

Water use on the golf course is always a hot topic among golfers. Many of our players feel that The Country Club is wetter than the other surrounding golf courses. This is simply not the case when you take the time to analyze the annual water consumption of the courses. For comparison sake we will look at three courses that are adjacent to each other and utilize the same water source Plum Creek Wastewater Authority (PCWA). These courses would be the Ridge at Castle Pines North, Castle Pines Golf Club and The Country Club at Castle Pines.
Each of us is in close proximity to each other and shares relatively the same terrain, climatic conditions, exposures and irrigated acreages. We each have our own set of unique problem that are specific to each golf course, but essentially we are very similar and statistical differences can be accurately compared.
Looking at the charts below you can see how in 2007 The Country Club statistically used significantly less than our neighbors.

When looking at the chart that shows a 13 year trend lines there are two key points to look at the first being in 2002. That is the year that our Bentgrass fairway conversion began and a gradual reduction in water usage started to occur. The next statistically important date was in 2005. This was the year that we changed to more efficient sprinkler heads on the greens and fairways. These heads applied water more evenly to the turf resulting in a reduction in water usage.