The Environmental Impact of Golf

We all know golf courses as beautiful, and sometimes very tough, greenspaces to enjoy the great game of golf. Maintenance departments work diligently to put forth great playing conditions that provide positive and memorable experiences for members and guests. What you may not notice is the positive impact these same spaces have on the wildlife and natural landscapes.

Golf Course Superintendents love the outdoors, many of us are fishermen and hunters in our spare time. It is a natural feeling for us to take an appreciation and feel a responsibility to preserve the ecosystem that is within and surrounds the golf course. We do this by having naturalized areas that require less maintenance. These areas grow up tall and provide scenic improvements to the golf course and allow for an undisturbed habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. Naturalized areas, once established, receive minimal chemical intervention, and only require two to four mows a year for weed management. Naturalized areas promote grasses and wildflowers that are natural to the area.

Water conservation is another way Golf Course Superintendents express their environmental stewardship. You may think, there is no way golf courses conserve water with the number of acres of maintained turfgrass. Advancements in irrigation system technologies and research in watering needs for turfgrass, golf courses are not using as much water as it would appear. Golf courses use water out of necessity and we use many different data collection tools that help us determine when our turfgrasses are at the point of needing water.

The GCSAA worked with the 99 regional chapters to develop Best Management Practices for all 50 states. These BMPs help show how Golf Course Superintendents operate and have a positive impact on the environment through preservation and providing greenspace. Next time that you are out on the golf course, take notice of the wildlife you see, the flowers on the property and the pollinators that are enjoying those flowers. Without the golf course there, those living things may not have been present.