Study #1 - Malibu Country Club - Malibu, CA.

Greenway Golf assumed full management of Malibu CC in March 2006. At the time we took over for the new ownership the course maintenance had been very poorly managed on behalf of a Japanese company.

The golf course had several issues with a multitude of different grass species. The greens were 95% poa with an underlying foundation of bent grass. The fairways and greens surrounds were a combination of kikuyu, rye, poa and bermuda. The equipment was in a complete state of disrepair and it had been several years since any new equipment had been purchased. The irrigation system was an antiquated block system without a central control.

The primary issues at Malibu were a scarcity of water and very stringent environmental guidelines as the property is located in the Santa Monica National Recreational Area that is a division of the National Park Service. There is a watercourse Trancas Creek that runs through the property that originates above the golf course and ultimately empties into Malibu Bay. For these reasons, it was important for us to conserve water and to apply chemicals sparingly.

In order to conserve water usage we promoted bent grass on the greens through Greenways proven cultural and nutritional methods. Bent grass uses about half as much water as poa. In addition, we promoted a mono stand of grass on the fairways that is less dependent on water and more disease resistant.

In eighteen months we were able to convert the greens to over 90% bent grass from 95% poa and the fairways are approximately 90% kikuyu. The water usage is about 40% less than that of the prior ownership and we have reduced chemical and fungicide usage by approximately 76%.

Mark Massara the President of the Sierra Club has closely followed our work at Malibu CC. He recently described our company as a “revolutionary” golf company because of the major reductions in fertilizers, chemicals and water while achieving far superior playing surfaces.