Minnesota's golf courses working hard to stay green amid drought, extreme heat
HASTINGS, Minn. -- Our hot and dry summer is putting a majority of Minnesota in drought conditions.
It's providing a challenge to area golf course managers, who are looking to keep the greens just that.
At Emerald Greens Golf Course in Hastings, course superintendent Tom Furlong has a plan for the extreme heat coming up this week.
RELATED: Parts of Minnesota experience extreme drought for first time in 2023
"We'll syringe the greens," Furlong said. "We'll turn on irrigation heads."
Furlong maintains the course's nearly 400 acres.
"The golf course is in decent shape right now," he said. "We've been irrigating quite a bit at night. Not too much but enough to keep it nice and green."
Furlong says they don't irrigate nightly, but it's done regardless of the weather forecast.
It takes 800 gallons of water a minute for 3.5 hours, keeping within DNR water use guidelines.
When it does rain, the course captures as much of that water as possible and funnels it into an irrigation pond.
RELATED: Minnesota farmers dealing with more barn fires as a result of drought, heat
Furlong calls his work a balance between watering and clipping the grass -- a delicate dance that he believes keeps golfers coming back.
Emerald Greens says it and other golf courses will buy drought-resistant grass when they need more, which cuts down on water use.
