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Using peat-free compost to topdressing fairways of a golf course

Using compost as a turf topdressing, in both maintenance and renovation procedures is popular throughout the United States. The popularity of this same application has also grown substantially in the United Kingdom, along with the expansion of compost production (volumes). In both cases, topdressing has proven to be a valuable and long-term market for compost products, as well as beneficial for sports pitches, golf courses, and amenity, utility and home grass. To-date no research has been conducted in Ireland regarding the use of compost as a turf topdressing, and interest in this method of compost utilisation has grown.

The K-Club, a prestigious and environmentally minded golf course, made it known that it was interested in identifying new methods to sustainably maintain their golf course turf. The K-Club operates two courses, the Smurfit Course – which is a links style course, and the Palmer Course – which is a more conventional woodland course. The Smurfit course turf is ‘starved’, as far as fertilisation and possesses and more sandy soil, while the Palmer course turf is fertilised more conventionally and possesses a more fine textured (clay, silt) soil. The K-Club is a unique golf course in that it heavily core aerates (5/8” hollow plugs) and topdresses its fairways each year with sand as a means of improving soil quality and improving playability. The overall goal of this practice is improve fairway drainage, allow play after rain storms. However, this practice also makes parts of the fairways somewhat droughty.

As a means to trial the use of compost as a turf topdressing on both types of soils, a unique location on the golf course was provided. The two trial plots were located on opposing sides of the golf courses driving range. One side of the fairway possessing a more sandy soil, while the other side possesses a more fine textured soil.

Project Team

  • Gerry Byrne and Eugene Hennessy, K-Club management – Maintenance of the trial site and hosts of the compost use trial
  • Ron Alexander – R. Alexander Associates, Inc. – Project manager
  • Percy Foster, Cré – Compost Association of Ireland – Business manager & co-sponsor of trials
  • Kevin McCabe, Enrich Environmental Ltd.-Technician – Set-up of Trials and monitoring
  • Gerry Bird and Avril Rothwell, OCAE Consultants Limited – Set-up of Trials and monitoring
  • David Lawson, Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI) – Input on experiment design, monitoring techniques and review of final report
  • Ian Garner, WRAP – Co-sponsor of compost use trials