I just recently went to a meeting where we were joined by colleagues from the USGA and a discussion came up about the push for sustainability and the line that has been uttered many times recently about "brown being the new green". Like so many things, there is a problem and an opportunity with this slogan. How you as a manager adjust your management programs towards a more sustainable effort will help determine if this slogan is actually true.

So whats wrong with the slogan? Well first not very many golf course superintendents are going to keep their jobs if their courses are brown. Whether it is intentional or not, most of us are accustomed to seeing a great verdant course as one that is in good shape. Playability is king here, a fact that can sometimes be lost to some of my academic colleagues. If the course isn't providing high playability conditions it won't be long before the management will be looking for your replacement. "Brown" courses can be highly playable as many of us know when we've played a course that is in fantastic shape even though it looks dry, hungry, and firm. However, "brown" courses can also be in rotten shape; just think about the place that has gone over the edge and now you hear they're closing down to recover their greens. Those courses aren't playable, because if they were they wouldn't be closed. Finally, a "brown" course could also have turf in such bad shape that the grass isn't holding soil in place, using nutrients appropriately, or providing the cooling that goes along with a plant that is actively growing.

The opportunity to think about how this slogan can improve your management is in realizing that the slogan is just that - a vastly oversimplified statement. Does your course have to be "brown" everyday? Does it have to be pushed so far that everything is dormant? I think we all know the answer is no to these questions. So the slogan is oversimplified, but I think it holds a kernel of truth as well. What we can do is start communicating with our management that there is an array of colors that we can expect to see on the golf course at any given time, and those colors are going to change with the seasons. We can talk to our members, guests, and patrons and show them those colors. Some colors are various shades of green like those that we see on old bentgrass putting surfaces, other colors might be colors that are closer to those colors you might see in the autumn on trees, oranges, reds, purples, yellows, and of course browns. The key is to realize (and communicate...) that these colors aren't going to be observed all the time or all over the course at once. An added benefit to managing the turf this way is that you usually experience less biotic problems, like diseases. Lastly, having various colors present on the golf course presents an opportunity for the regular player to experience a different picture and environment each time they play. Imagine how awesome it would be if you could go into a museum and every time you went back the Monet was in different colors but it looked great every time you visited.

Let's try to begin that conversation with the folks that play our facilities, and start identifying where you can let the colors shine in! By making small changes in our management plans we can all help be a little greener by allowing our "true colors" to shine through. Till next month, here's hoping you have a restful holiday and enjoy some much needed time off!

Dr. Brandon Horvath is a column writer for Landscape Supply, Inc.'s LSI Connections, a newsletter that is sent to our partners in business once per month. Dr. Horvath is a professor and a plant pathologist for The University of Tennessee Turf Program.