"Nothing would advance the public’s embrace of naturalistic golf course maintenance more than to see more diversity in tournament course preparation"

Brad Klein also thinks that any talk by the USGA about using less water and brown golf can only happen with help from tournament venues and the PGA Tour.

But the biggest aid toward public perceptions of “brown is good” in golf would be for the PGA Tour to hold its tournaments on such courses. The PGA Tour and its affiliated TPC Network do a good job of managing their courses in sound ecological ways. But the visually seductive imagery of crosshatched mowed, lush green fairways and wall-to-wall green still panders to the misleading perception by the majority of golfers that anything less than green is flawed.

Nothing would advance the public’s embrace of naturalistic golf course maintenance more than to see more diversity in tournament course preparation: everything from mottled, multihued greens with diverse grass types to scruffy-faced, wispy bunkering edges and tall, wildflower roughs. Better yet, how about a tournament course in the South or Southwest played on dormant Bermudagrass? The trend already is strong and gaining momentum due to improved warm-season turf. Nothing would do more to make a strong case for “brown is better” in golf.