How Green is a Golf Course?

Each May the Jacksonville area becomes the center of the golfing world when the PGA Tour’s flagship event, The Players Championship, makes its annual stop at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course. Golf enthusiasts from around the region descend on Ponte Vedra Beach to get a glimpse of the game’s greats amongst a natural setting of lush pine forests, sparking lakes, and rugged swampland. Although it may appear that golf is a sport dependent on a pristine natural environment, there are many aspects of golf course construction, maintenance, and management that are not very green—regardless of the color of the fairways themselves. The construction of hundreds of new courses across America during the last real estate boom, beginning in the 1990s, required the destruction of thousands of trees located in formerly undeveloped, natural areas. The subsequent installation of non-native grasses preferred by the golfing industry requires heavy maintenance to keep healthy. This means a lot of water. As fresh water becomes scarcer it is becoming more and more difficult to supply the heavy demands of golf course irrigation systems. In addition, course superintendents use large amounts of pesticides, fertilizers, and other contaminants to keep the grasses green. This may lead to pollution of groundwater systems, as well as adverse health effects for those handling the chemicals. Chemical usage may also have negative impacts on wildlife around the course. Fortunately, growing concern for sustainability is starting to bring serious changes in the golf community. Golf course superintendents and the PGA Tour are adjusting practices to help decrease their environmental footprint. “Organic” golf courses that attempt to use no pesticides or fertilizers are emerging. Superintendents have massively changed their irrigation systems to limit freshwater usage on the course. Some courses designed recently have been constructed atop brownfield sites, such as the TPC Scottsdale, which was built over a trash dump. The PGA Tour now provides recycling programs at all its tournaments, and events such as The Players Championship support environmental causes as part of their charitable efforts. TPC Sawgrass is also a member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses. The program stresses the idea that courses should be used as a place for people and wildlife alike to enjoy the resources of our shared natural surroundings. These green initiatives are a positive step in making golf a sport that adds to, rather than retracts from, a healthy sustainable environment. -Nick Barshel, Legal Intern