Stu Rowland said he anticipated an increase in the price of ryegrass seed, the one essential ingredient in overseeding desert golf courses, for this fall. But the amount of the increase was a shock.
“How much are you going to budget for next year?” said Rowland, the director of golf course operations at the 36-hole Rancho La Quinta Country Club and the president of the Hi-Lo Desert Golf Course Superintendents Association. “I increased 15 cents a pound because I thought it would go up. It went up 23 cents a pound.”
Along with variables like rain, nighttime temperatures and opening dates for membership play, desert superintendents are having to deal with the increased price of ryegrass seed in their overseeding formulas this year. Increases of 20 percent or more over last year are putting a strain on the budgets of courses and causing superintendents to consider options about what to overseed and how much seed to put on their courses.
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