Michael S. Williams

Pomona, California 91767
(818) 425-6142

 

Stallion Mountain Country Club
Las Vegas, Neveda
Turf Conversion Project

Upon taking over management duties for this private country club we knew that the owners (26 of them) were about to make a decision on having their golf course go through a turf conversion. What this entailed was having a contractor remove remote areas of turf through out the golf course and replace it with decomposed granite (DG). This would decrease water useage over the course of a year while saving expenses on irrigation costs. Part of the owners incentive was a program that the water provider, Las Vegas Valley Water was offering a cash rebate per square foot of converted turf. I met with contractors to find the best bid based on experience and total cost. After one was selected the owners liaison met with us and gave the OK for the project.
A total of 60 acres were to be converted over the span of 7 months. Areas to be converted were outined and reviewed by the Superintendent to make sure all acreage was covered. Due to the large areas to be worked on, certain parts of the golf course were selected so the members would not encounter an entire golf course full of unplayable areas.

 

 

Selected areas to be converted were first sprayed with RoundUp to aid in the removal of the turf. Once the growing process was stopped and turf became off color and the marked edges were cut out with a sod cutter to define the area to be converted.

 

Besides marking turf areas to be cut out, irrigation components (heads, lines, valves) were staked for some of these would be relocated.

 

When an entire area was cleared of turf, any required landscape was added along with irrigation. Due to windy conditions during the project, dead turf was hauled off property to avoid any dust that may be an issue with the housing community that surrounded the golf course. When an area became ready, tons of DG were dumped at various locations to be used to cover the cleared area at a depth of 3". To accurately disperse the DG to the correct depth a special spreader was used.

 

 

The operator of this high tech spreader runs the machine with wireless remote where he has complete control over all aspects of the unit. By being near the area to be covered the operator can add or reduce the amount of DG being applied to meet the required depth. This is very vaulable especially near fence lines, drainage crates and golf course amenties where DG is not wanted.

 

 

Once the DG was spread the area was hand raked to make sure no uneven areas existed. Irrigation components were marked and the entire area was rolled with a commercial size roller to help compact the DG to avoid any moment from rain or windy conditions.

 

When a area was complete a representive from Las Vegas Valley Water would come out to the golf course to measure this area via GPS to get an exact square footage amount. This total dicated the amount of the rebate to be issued back to the golf course. After the entire golf course was converted the contractor was responsible for additional RoundUp sprays where the bermuda grass began to grow in the DG areas to keep them clean and crisp along with keeping a small supply of DG on hand for various needs. The project lasted 7 months and all parties involved were happy over the results. Golf course maintenance saved on mowing expenses, irrigation costs and membership grew.

 

15 Fairway Before
15 Fairway After