Ahead of His Time: Golf course superintendent among first to paint grass in Nevada
Full interview with Mike Donahue, Superintendent, Las Vegas
Growing grass out west is a whole new ball game with Endurant. Reducing water, labor and chemical usage, Endurant users overcome the oddity of the idea of painting grass for an overall win.
Some pockets of the country and the world have been painting grass for years, while for others the practice is new. Among those to first combat the question in the Western U.S. of “why in the world would you paint grass?!” was Mike Donahue, of Las Vegas, Nevada.
“People often do things just because it’s the way we’ve always done them,” says Donahue, as he shows off one of the courses he manages.
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Mike Donahue, Golf Course Superintendent, Las Vegas, Nevada uses Endurant Turf Colorants instead of overseed.[/caption]
Now, as Endurant is celebrating its 10
th Anniversary and is about to kick off a contest where turfgrass professionals show off their courses and the benefits of using Endurant, we take a look back at the painting experiences shared by Donahue over the past couple of years.
“I don’t think there’s a superintendent in the United States who actually wants to overseed,” says Donahue. “It’s hard on equipment, hard on the guys; the weather is always fluctuating. Nobody really wants to overseed,” he says.
What’s interesting is that some people will keep overseeding simply because it’s always the way things were done.
Also, there is a perception out there that painting isn’t natural and thus less environmentally friendly. Actually, Endurant organic turf paints present huge savings in water usage and in harsh chemical usage.
“I spend more money on water in a month than I spend on paint all year,” says Donahue.
While some superintendents may be reluctant to try painting grass, poor turf quality due to overseed led Donahue to easily make the switch.
“This is links golf, so in the winter, I want it firm and fast. I want the ball to bounce and roll. I don’t need to overseed to get that,” says Donahue.
“Using Endurant on Bermuda grass, the ball runs,” he adds.
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Endurant Turf Colorant pops on dormant Bermuda grass in Las Vegas, Nevada[/caption]
While almost all players, members, owners and managers enjoy the benefits, every once in a while a player questions the use of paint on grass.
There’s often a relief once there’s an understanding that the grass is still real, it’s still very alive and the usage of the Endurant colorant requires fewer resources while improving playability.
Much more work, water and chemical treatment goes into overseeding with rye grass compared with painting a dormant Bermuda grass.
“Most reviews say it’s great,” says Donahue, who also described Endurant as the “best paint he’s ever used.”
The popularity of painting turf differs coast to coast.
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In the past few years, painting grass became less of an oddity as west coast turf managers needed creative ways to conserve water. Endurant Organic Turf Colorant is a favorite for its natural color that fades on tone, unlike other brands on the market, retaining a natural shade of green[/caption]
“The guys in the Southeast, I see everyone on Twitter painting. Everyone there is doing it, like it’s normal,” said Donahue in 2018, about three years after he began using paint.
One of the great benefits to grass paint, in addition to water savings, is avoiding the transition and competition challenges of overseeding.
While on one of the courses that Donahue manages, the water comes from a water treatment facility next door offering lower rates, water rates are much more expensive in the area overall.
“Go to the valley, where you’re buying city water, I spend $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 a month on city water,” says Donahue.
So with rising water costs, users of Endurant began sprouting up all over the valley in the past two to three years especially.
Life Before Painting with Endurant
Donahue used to put out seed at the end of August, when it was about 110 F.
“I would get about two weeks, so my overseed was always marginal at best. The vast majority of the golf courses are in the same boat here," said Donahue
All that labor and expense of overseed was to avoid the look of dormant Bermuda, but benefits were really only seen for a few weeks.
“As a superintendent here, if I can keep my Bermuda green until mid-November and I’m greening up in February—or say even mid-November to mid-March—you’re still only talking three to four months. What’s the point of overseeding?” he continued.
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Endurant adds wow factor to dormant turf grass, saving money, water and time while decreasing transition challenges and increasing playability.[/caption]
If you overseed, it tears up the course and it’s closed for three to four weeks.
Then it re-opens with cart-path only traffic and playing conditions aren’t great.
His golf course is as busy or more in the summer as it is in the winter and the summer conditions were notoriously poor after overseeding because the transitions were so bad, he said.
Transitioning from Overseed to Painting
“Superintendents are converting to paint due to water. Between cost, transition issues and really the fact you overseed for no reason,” says Donahue.
“I need the grass to be good for 12 months. By painting, I’ve eliminated transition issues. My Bermuda stand is better. It greens up faster,” he adds.
As the industry adage goes, "the better your overseed, the worse your transition, and the worse your overseed, the better your transition."
“To get a good overseed you’ve got to beat up the Bermuda. Bermuda doesn’t like to be beat up here,” says Donahue.
Nearby superintendents are also painting on Bermuda, as well as on bentgrass greens. A few will still overseed.
Sure overseeded rye grass can be pretty and fluffy, says Donahue.
“Look at it in terms of playability. I’d put the greens painted with Endurant up against any greens. They’re that good and they’re dormant. People don’t even know it’s not overseed,” said Donahue.
“You can’t tell me fluffed up rye grass is a better surface. The ball rolls faster on a dormant surface. Period. If you manage your Bermuda going into the fall, you can get it so it’s kind of fluffy too,” he said.
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Endurant makes turfgrass management easier and less expensive all year long, coast to coast and around the globe.[/caption]
Greener Grass: Early Green Up Using Endurant Colorant
Endurant has another benefit as the grass recovers sooner after winter dormancy.
Green up begins in February after using Endurant FW or darker. Chlorophyll increased and active growth continued with recovery by April instead of May.
“The darker paint does bring in more heat, a few more degrees, “ said Donahue.
As he showed off one of the best pictures of turf paint looking like overseed, he shares a highlight from a February a couple years back: “We had a defined and clean rough, too,” Donahue described.
“I want to make sure people don’t ever question what we’re doing here. I want people to see. Look at this viable option of Endurant,” he said.
