Managing Water Features on Golf Courses

Golf course ponds and lakes play an important role in both course aesthetics and function. They contribute to course identity, provide irrigation support, and influence how players experience the landscape. However, these water bodies are also dynamic systems that respond to nutrient inputs, seasonal changes, and surrounding land use. Without thoughtful management, nutrients can accumulate in the water, leading to excessive plant and green overgrowth, as well as changes in water clarity.

Nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen enter golf course water features from multiple natural sources, including runoff, sediment, and organic matter. When these nutrients accumulate faster than they are cycled or bound, the conditions can shift toward greener, cloudier water. Managing nutrient availability is one way to support clearer, more stable water conditions over time.

A proactive nutrient management strategy often includes:

• Monitoring water quality at key points throughout the year.

• Evaluating how irrigation patterns influence water levels and circulation.

• Identifying areas of shoreline erosion or runoff that may contribute to the water.

Algae Armor can be used as part of a broader management plan to bind available nutrients in the water column. Because Algae Armor is mineral-based and biologically inert, it works by attaching to phosphorus that would otherwise remain available in the system. This supports clearer water conditions by limiting the nutrients that drive rapid green overgrowth.

For golf course superintendents and grounds teams, the key is consistency. Small, well-timed management steps throughout the year often have a greater long-term impact than large corrective actions taken only after visible changes occur. By understanding how nutrients move through the landscape and into water features, course managers can maintain water that complements the course’s design and play experience.