Golfing green
Going Green in Cranbrook, B.C. asks:
Many of my friends and family golf—but I don’t believe in it. I believe golf is an environmental disaster. Golf courses have excessive water usage, they use pesticides/herbicides that drain into the water table and creeks nearby and they use numerous gas and motorized pieces of equipment to maintain the course. I think all this adds up to an environmental faux pas under the guise of being an ‘outdoorsy and clean’ activity. Can you, Golf Gal, defend golf from an environmentalist stand point?
To answer the question of Going Green, I sought the insight of golf course architect Les Furber and did some research for sound green golfing options.
Sometimes I can promote golf as a green activity—and with increasing frequency.
The UN estimates that golf courses use about 9.5 billion litres of water daily. Golf courses in the Bahamas have a negative impact on coral reefs, due to the leaching out of fertilizers, which disrupt the nutrient-poor conditions in which the reefs naturally thrive. These things I cannot defend. As Going Green is aware, environmental destruction and water waste is extremely uncool.
The good thing is, the golf industry is not immune to the trend toward increased environmental consciousness. Everyone wants to feel good about their positive environmental impact—including golfers. Course designers and superintendents are compelled to improve course designs and maintenance practices. Bottom line: to ignore the environmental movement and the demand for greener practices would be bad for business. Renowned course designer, Les Furber, spoke of this evolution.
“Environmental awareness has increased in recent years and we hope to be stewards of the environment with our designs—to reduce water and chemical use and to minimize our earthwork requirements as much as possible,” said Furber. “ We promote the use of more drought-tolerant grasses and the establishment of conservation areas throughout the golf course property.”
When Furber speaks of reducing earthwork, he is referring to his inclination to follow the natural contours of the land when designing a course. For Furber, this is both an environmental and an aesthetic impulse. “The art of creative design…lies in the ability to…adapt your design philosophies to fit the landscape rather than transform the landscape to fit your design ideas,” said Furber. “We strive to maintain and preserve as much of the naturalness of existing contours and vegetation as possible to attain a look of a mature golf course that has existed for many years.”
Audubon International has created an initiative for golf courses to strive toward excellent environmental practices. A select few courses have achieved the standard, and have received certification. Going Green can feel good about riding her bike to one of these courses, buying some second-hand clubs and playing a few rounds in an organic, wildlife-friendly setting. Also, Going Green can become a Green Golfer by joining a growing movement of golfers who demand and promote environmentally friendly golf practices.
A closer option is Granby River Golf, a new course near Grand Forks that has sound environmental practices—including making their own organic fertilizer.
Thank you for promoting green practices, Going Green. I hope you will consider becoming a Green Golfer!