Blending Turf & Grass
This is a great example of a blended grass/artificial turf short game facility in Stockton, California.
The client, Stockton Golf & Country Club, wanted to redo their entire around the clubhouse area to better utilize available space and provide their members with something new and exciting.
San Joaquin County came to the board of Stockton and told them that their water rights would be significantly reduced over the next 10-years due to the ongoing droughts in the area. Their GM, Rick Schultz, in company with the club’s president, knew they had to do something. So they came to us for ideas.
Their laundry list of requirements were:
Extend the current grass putting green to reduce wear and tear
Add an artificial tee line to reduce maintenance and water requirements for the range
Create a multi-use space for member activities and event operation
Their only solution was turning to artificial turf.
After consulting with Stockton and coming up with a game plan, the first thing that was done was the extension to their current grass putting green. 1,500sq/ft of real grass was added and blended into the 140ft artificial turf tee line we installed on the range. Based on the above picture, you can barely tell that the artificial tee line is there, a perfect turf color match.
For their multi-use space, we installed two full rolls of fairway grade turf (3,000sq/ft) on a flat base that they could use as a chipping area for the artificial green, or for weddings, banquets, cart staging, or games like bocce ball, lawn bowling and soccer. This low maintenance space will save their superintendent time, stress, water, and a huge chunk of their budget versus trying to repair real grass after such an event.
Then we installed a 750sq/ft artificial putting/chipping green at the top end of the multi-use space, so players could practice and warm up on that surface if the grass short game areas were busy or closed for maintenance. Despite being California, Stockton experiences a fair amount of frost delays, greatly helped by installing an artificial green/tee that you can use 365 days a year regardless of the weather. So far, reports from the club have told us that the members love the playability of the artificial green, some even prefer it to its grass counterpart, and would look to us to replace the on-course greens if the water ever got shut off completely.
We tied in everything with artificial rough turf as a border blender to the surrounding landscaping, and the facility was open and ready to play that same day, no waiting for a grow-in with us.
All in all, it was a very successful project and great example of blending the modernism and technology of artificial turf with the tradition of real grass. Artificial makes so much sense where you can use it, and these types of blended facilities will continue to grow in popularity into the future.
