The KGA, like so many Indian courses, has become a priceless green lung for the city
With sustainability initiatives becoming all important in the golf industry around the world and in India, India Golf Weekly recently interviewed Troon Golf’s Coman Mulry, currently Karnataka Golf Association’s Golf Course Superintendent and Troon’s in-house sustainability expert, Clinton Southorn. Here are a few highlights.
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Name a few environmental benefits that golf courses bring to a city.
With KGA being located in an urban area, the golf course offers a host of environmental benefits like, wildlife sanctuaries, preserved natural areas within the urban environment, supports plants and wildlife native to the area, protects water resources, filters stormwater runoff and improves air quality. The course also has storm water drains entering the property from the surrounding neighbourhood which passes through our lakes and waterways.
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Tell us about the trees at KGA .
The golf course is heavily tree lined which gives a great definition to the golf holes. There are approximately 3,500 trees throughout the course. We have a wide variety of flowering trees including Cherry trees, Acacias, Jacaranda, Rain trees, Mahogany, Silver Oak, Ashoka, Royal Palms, Coconut, Flame of Forest , Tabu Beas, Sisso, Neem, Cassias tree, Golden Melaleuca. The trees on the course provide excellent filters for urban pollutants.
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The course was built on a lake bed – tell us how that came to be?
In 1973 a group of golfers formed the Karnataka Golf Association, with the primary objective of designing and constructing a championship golf course in Bangalore. In 1981 the then Chief Minister took an interest in handing over 125 acres of land to establish a golf course of international standards. Later in 1986, Sri Ramkrishna Hedge, Chief Minister at the time made the necessary changes at the time to transform the old Chalaghatta swamp into the golf course. KGA has made large investments to develop the marshy tank bed into a golf course which has been built to international standards. The course was originally designed by 5 time British Open champion Peter Thompson of Australia, and redesigned later by Howard Swan of Swan Golf Designs, UK.
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KGA is full of birds. Can you name a few ?
Parrots at KGA
Considering its location just off the old airport road and only 20 minutes from the city centre the course has a variety of wildlife including Black headed Munias, Grebes, Pied Kingfishers, Black Cormorants, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Common Myna, Spotted Owlets to name just a few.
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Where does KGA get its water ?
Fairway No.18 at KGA
To irrigate the golf course we use treated effluent water supplied from the BWSSB. The club has its own dedicated supply line running from the treatment plant in Bellandur to the golf course. In addition to this the water also passes through a tertiary treatment plant and a filter system in our pump station at the golf course. Golf courses are good areas to irrigate with recycled water. In addition to making good use of a poor water source the turf serves a vital role in cleansing nutrients and contaminants from the recycled water as it moves through the soil. We also utilize an on-site weather station and soil moisture meters to determine accurate daily irrigation needs which reduces over watering.
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You have enrolled KGA in a GEO program – what does that mean ?
Yes we just recently enrolled, and we are looking forward to getting started with the program. Joining GEO OnCourse is one of the ways we are showing our commitment to fostering nature, conserving resources and becoming more sustainable. In fact the club is already pro-active in these areas with a Waste Management Unit onsite for composting the food waste generated from the clubhouse and for segregating the recyclable waste. The roof area of the golf course maintenance building also has solar panels installed which give us significant monthly cost savings on our electric bill.