HOW A BASEBALL FIELD CAN TEACH GOLF COURSES TO BE HEALTHIER AND MORE SUSTAINABLE
By Harvey Silverman
May 18, 1961. My grandparents took me, not yet seven years old, to the Minnesota Twins’ first night game at Metropolitan Stadium. The memory is seared into my brain of walking up the runway to our seats and struck with awe at the sight of an incredible expanse of the greenest, flawless grass I’d ever seen, contrasted with the black dirt of the infield. I can still recite the starting lineup (my editor said not to bother). But I left Minneapolis shortly after the Twins moved into the ghastly Metrodome, lined with artificial turf. It wasn’t the same game.
Moving forward nearly 40 years, I’m at the San Francisco Giants new ballpark and again amazed by the beauty of a flawless expanse of green grass void of bizarre mowing designs and lines. The mandate of owner Peter Magowan made the field look as natural as possible.
And it still is today, despite hosting over 300 events a year (including 81 baseball games) that include headline concerts. There is a reason the yellow stains of dying blades are no longer present after concert stages are disassembled – and it’s all about the dirt. It’s really healthy dirt. The reason why is Parker Cohn and his company, Performance Resource Management (PRM), who I interviewed in my first Golf Business LIVE – Tech Talks.
Parker Cohn is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of San Diego. During his studies, he identified waterborne illness as the leading global cause of death. His innovation at university – an award-winning water purification system – garnered attention from venture-backed startups seeking his expertise. After gaining experience in the startup world, Parker founded Performance Resource Management. His company specializes in deploying cutting-edge technologies to enhance soil health, boost crop yields, and reduce water, energy, chemical, and labor inputs for farms, golf courses, and sports fields. Parker’s solutions address critical threats to global health and food security posed by Western agriculture’s water and energy infrastructure, offering significant strides in soil carbon sequestration and combating climate change.
The Soil Surgeon
PRM’s method combines a surgical and a holistic approach. Cohn makes medical references throughout his presentation that most people can understand and relate to. Thus, he tabs himself as “The Soil Surgeon.”
Soil represents one of the most diverse ecosystems on our planet. The soil biome is an interactive community of bacteria, archaea, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. Humans compromise soil health in three main ways. First, physical disruption of the soil’s profile through processes like tillage, core aerification, discing, and excessive compaction from use. Second, monocropping is an agricultural practice of growing the same crop year after year on the same land. It upsets the natural balance of soils, robbing them of nutrients while decreasing biodiversity (levels of bacteria varieties and microorganisms needed to maintain fertility). Third, synthetic chemicals and biocides, i.e., fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, anhydrous ammonia, etc., negatively affect the soil biome.
So here is what the soil surgeon diagnoses for the patient – the soil and turf or crops – and devises a cure.
Like a multi-faceted physical exam, Cohn begins by collecting the vital signs of the soil. As your doctor collects your weight, temperature, and blood pressure at the beginning of every exam, Cohn measures physical, chemical, and biological properties to diagnose biological deficiencies. From there, he identifies the leading cause of the biochemical imbalance in the soil.
He next designs a cure, a system consisting of appropriate biological mixtures of micro bacteria and fungi to correct the imbalances discovered in the exam. Think of this as a prescription. First, a drug that consistently produces the desired result (repeatable biology); second, a control system that manages the dosage and applies it through the irrigation system. Elliott says, “Parker’s prescription is just like taking your vitamins.”
The Patient
Oracle Park in San Francisco is honored annually by Major League Baseball for the quality and sustainability of its field. It is one of a kind under the leadership of Greg Elliot, Senior Director of Field Operations for the San Francisco Giants. I had the pleasure of being on the field with Elliot and Parker before a Giants game and spent three innings talking with him (I don’t recall who won the game). He first told me, “We have the same problems every golf course has growing and maintaining healthy turf. The changes and improvements we see on the surface come from the improvements we make beneath the surface.”
Elliot studies the same university research as his many GCSAA friends, but he asserts how difficult it is to get results from the lab and onto the field. The Giants field has a sandy loam-based infield and a sand-based outfield that require different methods and remedies to create the best possible outcome as a playing surface and for hosting events.
Elliot also detailed the cost savings the Giants have enjoyed (but have yet to use them to help secure a big-name free agent). Elliot uses one-third of the fertilizer he used to, no longer uses growth regulators or wetting agents, and reduced the use of pesticides by 88% and fungicides by 90%.
Cohn says, “We are treating the root cause of the issue - the soil - and managing it over time in a way that offsets conventional practices that deteriorate soil health. At a high level, our methods fall under the category of biomimetics. Our practice emulates natural and regenerative systems and applies it to conventionally managed soils on golf courses, farms, and sports fields.” (Biomimetics is defined as the imitation of biological processes from nature aiming to solve various biological problems).
The images are striking and, to me, convincing. Let’s take a look.
These images, captured from the old 15th green at Pasatiempo Golf Club, display an improved consistency of the soil profile due to increased soil health. Increased biological activity metabolizes thatch and eliminates layering in the profile. Lessening of organic matter (thatch, black layer, layering) results in a reduction in compaction and increased uniformity. Increased drainage and nutrient availability lead to more rooting, more efficient, and better-performing turf on the surface. This photo should challenge every operator to address the root cause of the problem that justifies aerification each year and how they could do things differently. As far as water goes, think of the depth of the profile as a water cup. The cup on the left is much less efficient than the cup on the right, as the cup on the right can hold over 2x water (and nutrients) as the cup on the left. This concept alone explains how PRM has secured six-figure rebate checks from local water districts by saving upwards of 35% in water on golf courses in Southern California.
Will golfers be happier with the results? Here’s a look at what every golfer yearns for – a better lie.
These photos were taken on the same day, in the same fairway, about 200 feet apart. The top image has the ball sitting atop a 4x8’ untreated control area.
The soil in the top image is compacted. A thick layer of thatch lies on the top of the soil profile. Compaction restricts the root zone and reduces water and nutrient efficiency. The soil in the bottom image is not limited by compaction, layering, or thatch, as these issues are eliminated by improving the health of the soil with BIOS (the generic name for PRM’s prescription).
The ball’s lie in the bottom image is 0.25 inches higher than the one on top. The difference in density and the color of the turf is plain to even an untrained eye.
Can you identify what is going on here? These last two images illustrate how healthy soil buffers, or mitigates, salt and bicarbonates caused by irrigating with reclaimed water:
On the left is the result of watering perennial ryegrass with reclaimed water for 25 years. Salts and bicarbs have built up in the soil profile above 9 dS/m, causing the ryegrass to burn out. The green line running through the dead patch is a drain line, where the salts can’t build up because they move out through the drain pipe in that area.
On the right, salts are getting pushed out of the root zone, reducing salt stress in the ryegrass. The soil is predominantly dead in the left image and alive in the right image. A healthy soil resists compaction, metabolizes organic matter, and drains well. The combination of reducing compaction and metabolizing layering and organic matter improves drainage. After only five months, this turf area looks like drainage pipes are installed beneath it because the soil is so healthy. However, no additional drainage was installed during this project.
Cohn concludes, “The biggest input is water. The greatest asset is soil. Simple as that.”
Personally, my biology education was limited to identifying plant types and doing frog autopsies. However, the eye test experienced at Oracle Park and the images included in this article have elevated my curiosity about how golf courses can better manage and sustain their turf for a better player experience and meet the demands of a healthier planet. Could “organic golf” be a term for the future?
If your soil needs a check-up, contact Parker Cohn’s team at team@thesoilsurgeon.com. You can also check out his website here. Then, be a bigger winner than the Giants.