The Rise of Eco-Friendly Golf Courses
The environmental challenges facing golf is very real and the sport is rising to meet them including the use of sports tech as a solution. Because of this global sustainability dilemma, THE Sports Techie community blog is willing to share the GolfOnline UK infographic created to share some of the steps golf course operators are undertaking in order to help our ecosystem and save valuable resources. Golf has been under attack for its effect on the environment for a while now so the the positive steps by golf underway to become eco-friendly is the kind of story we all need to read, share and be constantly aware of especially if you play or are in the business.
Sustainable Golf Course
Very few non-motorised sports come under fire as regularly as golf for their environmental impact. What is sometimes overlooked is the amount of work golf is doing to ameliorate the effect it has on the environment, and in some cases even endeavouring to be a positive force in landscape management.
This fact-filled infographic outlines the challenges facing golf and shows how a golf course can become more eco-friendly. Covered are methods clubs can utilise to manage courses organically, reduce their carbon footprint, help wildlife and move towards having zero water wastage. Peppered throughout are examples of where these practical methods have been put into practice by golf courses around the world. Finally the infographic looks at how you, as a golfer, can make a difference. Be it through your own actions or by helping your club be more eco-friendly in its management and practices.
The Rise of Eco-Friendly Golf Courses by GolfOnline.
Sports Techie, my brother loves golf and is a former manager at a resort near the wonderful town of Bend, OR where my parents live. He told me their golf course uses a local well as their watering source saving them lots of money compared to paying for public water.
I wrote a blog about Falcon Water Technologies, their Waterfree urinals and the rebate programs in California that help golf courses transition to water conservation practices by taking advantage of the “CA Shut The Flush Up” campaign because by installing water-efficient or waterfree urinals, up to 40,000 gallons of water per year/per urinal is saved a year. In order to save 88,000,000 gallons of water a year, each one of the 1,100 golf courses in California would need to install two waterfree urinals in their bathrooms.
The infographic states that each golf course uses 50 million gallons of fresh water a year the equivalent of a village of 1,400 people, while the land amount of all the course in the U.S. is roughly the size of Costa Rica.
Pesticides negativley affect all creatures, plants and tress alike but also enters into our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans causing fish, mammals and birds to die and become diseased.
The bottom line is every Sports Techie around the world needs to be conscious of their carbon footprint as does corporate businesses. Golf course buildings such as clubhouses are starting to deal with this by designing and constructing facilities that are local climate friendly. The use of efficient energy systems and smart lighting together with the introduction of wind, solar and geothermal energy options by proactive courses such as the Westchester Country Club might will have some front end costs to implement but the long-term money savings combined with helping to heal our precious environment makes these steps to save power, a true no-brainer.
Technologies are helping to save water by using software and algorithms to cut down on wastefulness. The Pebble Beach Company sponsors the Wastewater Reclamation Project that not only converts waste water into high-quality recycled water they also are doing their part to take care of Carmel Bay and the Del Monte Forest with discharge and irrigation procedures in place that produces 4 billion gallons of potable water.
The Vinard Golf Club located in Martha’s Vineyard is completely organic making them unique and a role model course. By becoming pesticide free, using organic products and allowing farm animals to graze the grass, courses worldwide can make a game-changing difference for all.
Wildlife share the Earth with people so courses like the Royal Birkdale Golf Club have changed out-of-bounds rules and areas, while tweaking water hazards to be more animal and fish friendly. Nesting sites have become a top priority in terms of allowing birds the right to live alongside a golf course as if it were a natural forest or park land.
Global golfers can do their part as well by encouraging golf course operators to be more environmentally practical, recycle garbage and water and to take advantage of native landscape if you are in a desert, rocky terrain or foliage dense land by designing the course to use less water and grass as was done at Oakmont Country Club.
My new friend named Cristian at the Marcus Autism Center is from Mexico and told me many villages around the country have less than 1,400 people so the next time you go golfing, remember to conserve water, demand that the course become eco-freindly and do your carbon footprint part to help with the global water epidemic.
As the original sports technology online community, sustainability continues to be a core value of Sports Techie.
Enjoy your next golf game and remember about water, the environment and wildlife when you par the course, hit your first hole in one or triple bogey the 18th green.
See y’all later in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world.
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