ERIN FLANNERY
Assistant Golf Course Manager
All golf courses need grass. And what does grass need to thrive? Water… and usually lots of it. So how does a golf course manage to grow grass and conserve water? Blacklick Woods Golf Course has figured it out, and has been awarded in the process.
This summer, the Blacklick Woods Golf Course was presented with the 2025 Ohio Water Conservation Excellence Award by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. This award recognizes the efforts we have made to reduce water usage, while setting an example for other golf courses, municipalities and developers in the region. This has been achieved by the incorporation of Zoysia, a warm season grass, into the fairways and tee boxes of the golf course.
Efforts to utilize Zoysia grass were started back in 2012. The experiment began due to the struggles to keep the fairway and tee box grass alive each summer. The 50-year-old irrigation system requires extensive maintenance to repair leaks, and lots of man hours are required for repairs and handwatering of areas that the irrigation system does not reach. The first 1-acre plot of Zoysia was planted, and five years later it was discovered that the grass thrived with zero irrigation or maintenance other than mowing.
As of 2024, all nine holes of the Learning Course, the three holes of the Practice Course, and multiple tee boxes on the Championship Course have been reseeded with Zoysia grass. Currently, Zoysia is slowly being worked into fairways on the championship course. The drought conditions of the summer 2024 were a real testament to the effectiveness of the Zoysia grass. Zoysia received zero irrigation during the drought but continued to thrive!
Several members from ODNR presented the award to the Blacklick Woods Golf Course on August 22. The award presentation included a two-hour tour of the facilities where the ODNR staff asked many questions. Their hope is to encourage other Ohio golf courses to incorporate Zoysia into their operations.
In the words of Golf Course Superintendent Mike Samulski, “Zoysia doesn’t die!”
Water will always have a place on the golf course. But through the efforts of the Blacklick Woods Golf Course staff with the planting of Zoysia, hopefully we can continue to keep more water out of the irrigation system and where it belongs… in the water hazards!