The importance of drought management in a drowned city
A couple of months ago, I received an invitation from a colleague of mine, Matthew Bywater – Manager of Pacific Rim and South America for Aquatrols – to speak at a seminar he was helping to organise in Bangkok, with the topic to be ‘Managing turf in drought conditions.’
Interesting topic choice for Bangkok I thought to myself! But I’ve known Matthew for about 20 years and trusted there must be a reason for it, so I happily agreed. And I’m glad I did.
It turns out Matthew’s right hand man in organising this seminar was Matee Suntisawasdi, Managing Director of Procrop, the local go-to man, translator, and all round gentleman and good guy.
Matee quickly informed me that while Bangkok receives between 3-4m of rain annually, there is very little infrastructure to store water, and when the dry season comes early, many courses are left struggling for water during the consistent heat.
The fact that much of Bangkok is actually below sea level only complicates water storage options, so managing through drought conditions is very relevant at times.
As soon as I met Matthew and Matee at the airport, we were off to Summit Windmill Golf Club and Residence to meet General Manager William Pang, Superintendent Narongchai Boonnak and his Assistant Nuttakorn Karndamri and talk through some issues they were having with their greens, as well as admire the Zoyzsia tees, fairways and surrounds.
Myself, Suvit and Matthew admiring the newly reconstructed practice bunker.
What was different about this course visit is that we were doing it at night while golfers were still playing, as lighting throughout the course allows golf to be played until 1am, 6 days a week to escape the heat, and for 120,000 rounds to be clocked up annually over the 18 holes!
Matee had organised about 50 of the local (up to 200km away) Superintendents and course owners to attend the seminar at the beautiful Green Valley Country Club the next day, where Matthew and I spoke through Matee’s translation, and they were very appreciative of our time, listened intently, taking notes and asking some great questions.
Speaking about drought management in a city that receives 3-4m of rain annually. https://t.co/haABdMNXW9 pic.twitter.com/lp7BHlQcYW
— Turfwise Consulting (@TurfwiseMedia) November 17, 2015
I learned that turf education is limited throughout Thailand (and Asia in general), so whenever someone visits to share their own experiences, they see it as a great opportunity to learn more.
When explaining how dry much of Australia was, the expressions on the faces could be summed up as disbelief, until one gentleman asked me “Do you want to move Thailand? It’s green here!”
At one point Matthew and I must have left them shaking their heads as we raced out of the room during one of the breaks to try to get a photo of an enormous water monitor, something that obviously wasn’t too special for the locals as they simply kept practicing their putting and warming up on the first tee while this dinosaur swanned around!
A water monitor casually strolling across the Green Valley Country Club green in Bangkok.
The morning rounded out by looking at some trial work Matee and his company are doing with soil surfactants, with his assistant Suttinun Chumdaeng holding court during a great presentation.
Another course visit followed to Muang Kaew Golf Club, where we met with Superintendent Suvit Suansarn, who proudly showed us his newly constructed revetted practice bunker. Turns out his owner visited Scotland recently and liked what he saw! Suvit and his team had done a great job, and he listened intently as we talked about this to consider before embarking on transforming every bunker on the course.
Again we saw some beautiful Zoysia tees surrounds and fairways, and talked about the challenges of managing ageing greens.
Before my flight home, Matee took me away from the frenetic pace of downtown Bangkok, and proudly showed me around the ancient city of Ayutthaya, former capital of Thailand. The 400 – 500 year old temple ruins (some restored) that are littered throughout the area, and still highly respected today, give a great insight to the culture of the Thai people and have to be seen to be believed.
A world away from the heaving mass of Bangkok is Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand.
While we chatted for a good portion of that day about turf and education, listening to Matee share some insights to his life, family and faith was a privilege and made for a great day.
So to Matthew and Matee, thank you so much for the opportunity, as it is always very humbling to be asked to speak to colleagues, and I learned a lot from my brief time in Thailand.
Matee is planning to attend out national conference in June (as he often does), so if you see him at any point, take the time to welcome him and have a chat. You will be richer for the experience.
