Greening One of America’s Favorite Pastimes
by Beth Gray
Even if you are not a golfer, it is likely that you know at least several people who enjoy the game. In the United States, golf has a tremendous economic impact. According to the 2007 Golf 20/20 economic impact report, golf was a $76 billion industry. Golf courses have come under close scrutiny within the environmental preservation community. The volume of water needed to keep courses looking green and lush is tremendous and many courses use various pesticides and other chemicals which can harm the environment. The typically large amounts of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers used on most golf courses create substantial concerns regarding run off into local rivers and lakes.
Several golf courses, however, are beginning to acknowledge these issues and many are changing their ways to be more diligent stewards of our delicate environment. San Francisco’s Harding Park, a Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) golf course, is one example. Administrators at Harding Park employed a team of entomologists and other scientists to help determine ways in which they could reduce water and pesticide usage while still maintaining a golf course that people would like to visit. An article in Science Daily details how Harding Park is greening their operations and one of America’s favorite pastimes.
Groundskeepers at the course now “use microbes to knock out fungus, they use soap to get rid of weeds, they hand pluck wild daisies, flush out moles with hoses, and use traps to catch cockroaches.” Thanks to these efforts, Harding Park holds the unique distinction of using “much less chemical pesticides and fertilizers than any other golf course in the U.S.” As a city-owned golf course, Harding Park must abide by San Francisco’s stringent pesticide-reduction rules.
Other courses across the country have followed Harding Park’s lead and are also moving towards a more eco-friendly golf experience. Greenopia.com has a listing of the “Seven Most Gorgeous Eco Friendly Golf Courses.” Included in the list are Tournament Players Club in Dearborn, Michigan; Isla Viveros in Panama; Vineyard Golf Club in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; and, The Old Collier Golf Club in Naples, Florida.
Tournament Players Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus, stands out as a shining star among this group. Ford Motor Company initiated the plans for this course on what was once a dump site in Detroit’s suburbs. With the help of Audubon International, an organization that helps golf courses protect the environment while still providing an enjoyable golfing experience, Ford managed to create a beautiful and eco-friendly course. The course sits on a flood plain so it uses less water than most other courses and is not only a championship course but also a certified wildlife refuge.
Vineyard Golf Club is another stellar example of how to green the game of golf. A links style course, it is designed to “take advantage of the land it sits on rather than changing it.” Additionally, the course is planted without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. These efforts have paid off: the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America awarded the course’s superintendent, Jeff Carlson, the President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship.
The next time you’re in the mood for a round of golf, I encourage you to take a minute to think about the environmental impact of this popular leisure activity. Perhaps you will consider playing a course that has proven its respect for the environment by taking steps to reduce the usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and even water.
Tags: Audubon International, Ford Motor Company, golf, Golf 20/20, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Greenopia.com, Harding Park, Isla Viveros, Jack Nicklaus, President's Award for Environmental Stewardship, Professional Golfers' Association, Science Daily, The Old Collier Golf Club, Tournament Players Club, Vineyard Golf Club
