Green fairways, healthy turf, and optimal playing conditions—even during long dry spells. This is becoming an increasing challenge for golf course operators. That’s because extensive turf areas require a lot of water—and irrigation needs rise even further during hot, dry summers. Long-term solutions, therefore, don’t just kick in during the next dry spell, but well before it.
Golf courses require significant amounts of water to irrigate their turf. The actual amount needed depends heavily on the climate, location, and area being irrigated. In Western Europe, the annual water requirement for a golf course is estimated to be around 50,000 m³. In Southern Europe, the annual water requirement for an 18-hole course with a correspondingly large irrigated area can range from 200,000 to 300,000 m³.*
This makes one question increasingly important: How can we use our existing water more efficiently?
* [ETC-BE Report 2025/1]
Don’t Just Water—Store Water in the Root Zone
It is not just a matter of how much water is applied to a lawn. It is equally important how long it remains available where the grass can actually absorb it.
This is exactly where POLYSORB comes in. These water-retaining granules can absorb and store more than 300 times their own weight in water. Under optimal conditions, 1 kg of POLYSORB can bind more than 300 liters of water.
When it rains or the soil is watered, the granules absorb water, swell, and form small reservoirs of water in the soil. As the surrounding soil dries out, the stored moisture is released and becomes available to the roots.
The next time it rains or the irrigation system is activated, POLYSORB can reabsorb water. This process of absorption and release repeats itself over a period of approximately 3 to 5 years.
The goal here is not to completely replace irrigation. Rather, it is to use existing rainwater and irrigation water more efficiently and keep it available in the root zone for a longer period of time.
Retrofitting Golf Courses with Water Storage Tanks
But how do you incorporate water-retaining granules into a golf course whose turf has been in place for a long time?
This is exactly what a recent field application at a golf course in Slovakia demonstrates. There, POLYSORB is applied precisely into the soil in a single pass using a slitting machine. The machine is equipped with a granule spreader into which POLYSORB is loaded. As the machine cuts narrow slits in the existing turf, the granules are dispensed directly into these slits via hoses, thereby delivering them precisely to the root zone.
The key advantage: The granules are applied and worked into the soil mechanically in a single step. There is no need to completely redo the entire lawn. The existing turf is largely preserved and can quickly regenerate after the mechanical treatment.
What savings can this result in?
- less water for irrigation, since existing water is used more efficiently
- Lower energy consumption for pumps and irrigation systems
- Reduced labor and operating costs for irrigation
- Fewer irrigation cycles during longer dry spells
Polysorb at 16 golf courses in South Korea
The potential of this application is now also being demonstrated in practice on an international scale. In addition to the trial in Slovakia, POLYSORB is currently being tested by a customer at a total of 16 golf courses in South Korea.
The field trials are intended to demonstrate and document the potential that additional water storage in the root zone offers for golf course irrigation management under various site conditions. The findings from the various golf courses will thus provide valuable data for the large-scale use of water-retaining granules on intensively used turf areas.
Plan ahead now for the next dry summer
Early fall, in particular, offers ideal conditions for retrofitting existing lawns.
The extreme summer heat is subsiding while the soil and grasses are still active. This allows the turf, which has been stressed by the aeration, to regenerate. At the same time, fall rainfall or irrigation ensures that POLYSORB can absorb water in the soil.
With an effective duration of 3 to 5 years, this measure is not limited to the coming summer. The granules can repeatedly absorb and store water over several growing seasons and release it again as the soil becomes drier.
After all, sustainable irrigation management doesn’t begin only when fairways and lawns are already experiencing drought stress.
The next dry summer begins in the soil—and the preparations for it start today.
