Does the future of the golf industry lie in "green" golf courses?

Hidden among the perfectly manicured greens and Japanese-garden-like sand bunkers of North American golf courses, lurks a deep, dark disease. Chances are your father-in-law, neighbours, wife, cousin, even child, have been afflicted by this state of mind.

“It’s called Augusta Syndrome,” says Tim O’Connor, a golf and travel writer, “named after the home of the annual Masters tournament where every blade of grass appears cut to perfection and the water hazards are an unworldly blue.”

According to O’Connor, North American golfers have become so programmed that they equate a good course with “lush fairways, carts outfitted with GPS and coolers, and clubhouses larger than the West Edmonton Mall.”

Of course, just like that swimsuit model you’ve been eyeing enviously on the cover of Sports Illustrated, none of it’s real. Golf’s airbrushed greens come with the use of potentially harmful pesticides and the overuse of precious water; the courses themselves work hard to give the illusion of natural beauty, while displacing the native plants and animals of the area.

The problem with clinging to this cultural image of the pristine, green golf course is that it’s not sustainable for the environment and it’s not sustainable for the golf industry itself.

And of course, if you’re considering a career in golf, the one thing you want to be sure about is that the industry you’re preparing to enter is going to be thriving for a long, long time.

Sustainable golf courses, sustainable environment

In his research paper titled, "'Code Blue’ for U.S. Golf Course Real Estate Development: ‘Code Green’ for Sustainable Golf Course Redevelopment" David Hueber says that the golf industry is floundering with too many courses and too little golfers. There’s simply no demand for the massive courses that were built in the real estate boom of the 1990s—many of these courses are being forced to close as people realize the economic, environmental, and social sustainability costs are too high.

And Hueber should know—he’s spent more than 25 years as a high-level executive in the golf industry. He has served as vice president of the PGA Tour, president and CEO of the National Golf Foundation and has extensive golf course real estate development experience.

Hueber’s solution is simple: “green” the greens.

Although many in the golf industry seem to, at least, be paying lip service to the idea of building more eco-friendly courses, Hueber sees it in much simpler terms: redevelop what’s already been built. There are more than 16,000 courses in America already. Hueber re-imagines some of these courses as returning to the more simplistic designs of the 1920s, when golf was in its infancy. The courses were smaller, so by default used less water and took less time to care for, and the courses had a much smaller environmental footprint.

Hueber’s vision of green courses includes a definition of sustainability not only in terms of the environment, but also for the communities these courses inhabit and the economy they support. He writes:

Sustainable golf courses should require less water, less chemicals and less intensive maintenance. Sustainable golf courses should also cost less to maintain, so it should be less expensive to operate and lower the cost of green fees. Sustainable golf courses should be more fun for most golfers to play… Lastly, sustainable golf courses are more socially responsible in only using natural resources that can be replaced and/or replenished. Sustainable golf courses enhance the quality of life and well-being of a community, by preserving nature for future generations.

Walking the walk: creating green golf courses

Gary Browning, a Canadian golf course architect with more than 30 years experience, is also a proponent of getting golf courses back to a more natural state. Browning’s philosophy is never more apparent than in the course that placed his name beside some of the best in the business—Stewart Creek Golf Resort in Canmore, Alberta.

Consistently rated 4.5 stars by Golf Digest, this accolade-loaded golf course was built in the highly sensitive environmental area of the Rocky Mountain/Bow Valley Corridor and was over 10 years in the making.

Stewart Creek’s website boasts of a rugged landscape sculpted into “layered fairways and subtly sloped greens, with landing areas defined by pristine forest.” What this enviable description is missing, is the sheer amount of work that went into the actual golf course construction. There are good reasons it took a decade to complete Stewart Creek – Browning had to take into account:

• preserving and enhancing wildlife movement corridors
• instituting storm water management strategies to reduce or eliminate soil erosion, water pollution, and siltation
• selecting hardy, drought tolerant native grasses for non-play zones that also provide forage for grazing animals in the Spring and Fall
• conserving the natural landscape features
• creating wetlands, bio-retention ponds, oil and sediment traps.