34 Early agronomic input in a golf course project is vital to protect both the budget and architect’s vision, as John Clarkin from Turfgrass explains. The most expensive mistakes are rarely the ones you can see INSIGHT JOHN CLARKIN In golf course development, people naturally focus on what they can see. They look at the bunker shaping, the green surrounds, the sightlines, the scale of the landforms and the way a hole sits in the landscape. That is understandable. Golf course architecture is visual, strategic and emotional. The finished product has to look and play in a way that reflects the architect’s intent. But in my experience, the long-term success of a golf course is rarely decided by the visible five per cent; 95 per cent of what makes a golf course great comes from underground. Drainage, rootzones, irrigation, bunker construction, material selection, soil movement, compaction and water movement all sit beneath the surface. The grass is what everyone sees, but the grass is only the final expression of what has been built below it. If the underground work is wrong, the finished surface will eventually show it. That is why agronomy and construction specifications need to be part of the conversation from the beginning. By then, choices may already have been made that are expensive, disruptive or sometimes impossible to correct properly. A golf course is a living organism. Golf courses have a lifespan. They change every day with weather, traffic, irrigation, disease pressure, shade, tournaments, wear and maintenance practices. A green may look excellent on opening day, but the real test is how it performs in year five, 10 and 20. The architect’s vision is most important. But that vision depends on the course being able to perform. If a green does not drain, if a bunker fails, if turf quality declines or if the maintenance team is constantly fighting the infrastructure, golfers do not separate those issues from the design. They simply say the course is not good enough. Members, owners and guests notice conditioning more than almost anything else. They may not understand why a surface is poor, but they know when it is inconsistent, wet, weak, soft or difficult to play from. Human nature being what it is, the
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