I was involved in the design and construction of a high end golf course in the county where I live. It uses gray water from a nearby horse racing facility and the club house to water the greens (it is a links course and the “fairways” are minimal). What pesiticides and herbicides are used are applied by a high paid professional course manager, and it is not in the course’s economic interest to waste the stuff. The carts are electric.
For what it is worth, the course is also a bird sanctuary and has a certification of the “eco-friendliness” from the Audobon Society.
Yeah, but what is it doing for the Malabar Large-spotted Civet? Nothing, right? You might comfort yourself with “grey water” this and “bird sanctuary” that, but if you’re not saving the Malabar Civet, it’s an ecological nightmare for sure. Hypocrite!
An old friend of mine was the greens keeper for his small, family-owned golf course.
The ponds were the source for his green’s water and the ponds filled from both rainwater and from below ground water. The well water didn’t have the flow rate for the watering needs so they’d do a slow fill on the pond and would rapidly draw from it with pumps at watering time.