The best course is a well-kept one

According to Spain’s Royal Golf Federation, in 1990 there were only about 45,000 golfers in the country. By 1996 this had more than doubled to 100,000, and in 2006 we were talking about 300,000. The reality is that Spain is the top destination for golfers in Europe and the second favorite worldwide after the United States. Amateurs of the sport choose Spain for the quality of its 450 courses spread out all over the country. The climate, which allows them to play all year around, and the high standard of hotels are other important factors.

A study by Aguirre Newman points out that Spain welcomes one million foreign tourists a year whose main motive for visiting the country is golf. This holiday activity generates annual revenues of some 1.2 billion euros, an average of 1,200 euros per player per stay.

Meanwhile, the golf courses bring increased economic activity to the region in which they are located. But the most important element in playing golf is contact with nature, so one of the golf club’s biggest assets is its natural surroundings. The players stroll around the course without impacting on the environment, coexisting harmoniously with the flora, fauna and nature around them.

Management model

ACCIONA Service has created its own model here through which it achieves the best in sporting and managerial quality. With 50 years of experience in end-to-end management of services, the company is able to contribute value as a provider of global solutions. Based on the management of its team of excellent professionals, state-of-the-art technology, optimization of the waterenergy axis, and sustainability of the surroundings, it introduces criteria of efficiency and economic savings, while improving the environmental quality of the golf course’s natural resources.

Maintenance is considered by many players to be ‘the’ key factor, even ahead of course design

The role of the greenkeeper is an essential element in ACCIONA’s model. The greenkeeper is responsible for the condition, maintenance, care and management of the resources of a golf course. The greenkeeper’s main aim is to keep the course in the best condition for playing the sport all year round, managing the budget estab lished and caring for the environment. He must make use of technological advances (satellite-controlled water ing systems, all kinds of automatic devices and new machinery) and combine various disciplines, from the scientific area to environmental management, horticulture to human resources, teaching, meteorology and public relations, to name a few.

Key factor

Course maintenance is considered by many players to be the key fac tor, ahead of even the design of the golf course.

Keeping of golf courses has thus become a career in its own right, one which has to coexist with the practice of the sport, without interfering with it. For this, the greenkeeper plans work on the greens, their fringes, the tees, fairways and roughs thoroughly for the short, medium and long terms.

ACCIONA Service provides an end-to-end management solution for golf courses and associated activities by contributing added value

ACCIONA Service takes care of the maintenance of several golf courses, among which the best known are Almenara Golf in Cadiz and Vallromanes Golf Club in Barcelona.

One of the pillars of the ACCIONA Service model is its commitment to sustainability and the technological innovation optimizing water and energy consumption, protecting biodiversity at the golf courses, performing sustainable waste management, working towards the environmental integration of the courses and applying computerized watering, preventive and corrective maintenance, and incident management procedures. These are just some of the tasks that see golfers returning time and again to the well-kept course.

GREENES FIT FOR INSPECTION. BASIC MAINTENANCE TASKS

Greens are the crown jewels of golf courses and need meticulous maintenance. A golfer demands that the greens are in a perfect state to get his or her best putting game going. The hardness of the green surface and the speed of the rolling ball are the basic parameters ACCIONA Service considers when it draws up its maintenance plan.

• Cutting: Optimum frequency and height of the cut maintain the grass dense and healthy, helping the trajectory and speed of the ball.
• Rolling: Frequent rolling keeps the surface of the greens uniform and firm. Combining cutting with rolling is a good method to increase the speed of greens.
• Aerating and pricking: For correct drainage and high grass quality.
• Gravelling: The incorporation of sand after the pricking, or on a regular basis, will provide firmness in the putting surface.
• Application of growth regulators: Helps prevent the proliferation of Poa annua, an undesired variety of grass that slows down the green.
• Watering: Occasional, but profound, watering, together with localized watering in dry areas, will make for less succulent grass, keeping it healthy and favoring the trajectory of the ball.
• Fertilizers: Fertilizer should be applied depending on the results of both soil and foliation analyses.
• Change of flag position: Regular repositioning of the hole achieves the distribution of traffic across the green.
• Application of phytosanitary measures: Our philosophy is focused on performing preventive maintenance, since, if the grass is kept healthy, the risk of disease diminishes. We resort to fungicides in one-off cases where corrective actions are required.