There are many sports in which the object of the game is to hit a ball with a club or a stick, but golf is unique. First of all, it is played over large expanses of land; second, the objective of the game is to get that ball into a hole in the ground using the fewest number of strokes; and third, the players do not influence one another’s scores, only their own.
Ever since those rough and ready Scots began chasing feather-stuffed leather balls or round pebbles around the rugged east coast of Scotland (according to some), golf has had a very close relationship with nature. Following the rabbit runs and fox trails among the dunes and moorlands, withstanding the often gale-force winds and generally dismal weather, scaring up the odd grouse from the heather, an early golfer could definitely be seen as “man in nature.” No artificially prepared surfaces or strictly regulated-size playing fields, no fees, no starting times, no plaid slacks (okay, perhaps plaid kilts), not even a clubhouse for these intrepid sportsmen-at least not until hundreds of years after the emergence of the game from the Celtic mists.
The 19th century saw the establishment of hundreds of private golf clubs throughout Europe, most notably in Great Britain. The United States Golf Association (USGA) was founded in 1895, as were the official American Amateur and Open Championships. By the turn of the century, there were over 1,000 golf courses in the US. However, the terrain of this continent did not lend itself so naturally to the pleasures of the game, and golf course design came to the forefront to add depth and challenge to this evermore popular sport.
With over 16,000 golf courses across the country and new courses opening at a rate of more than one a day, golf has indeed become a major industry in the US. High-profile tournaments broadcast around the globe, increasing corporate-sponsorship initiatives, the massive marketing push in all sectors of the industry, and growing numbers of baby boomers taking up the sport have made it a focus for controversy of all sorts in recent years. It was inevitable that one area of heated debate would be the environmental impacts of golf courses.
Turfgrass areas, such as golf courses and athletic fields, are subject to intense management practices; the application of such chemicals as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers to golf courses is estimated to be at around 20 million lb. a year, according to research from the University of Kansas. Golf courses are traditionally sited in varied terrain, and the natural landscape features surrounding the fairways and greens are part of the draw for millions of golfers. Because the courses are often adjacent to lakes, streams, or rivers, the potential for surface-water contamination is real and constant.
In addition, soil quality and habitat are affected by golf course management practices. Few creatures can sustain themselves on a mono-diet of manicured turfgrass. Native plants provide food sources for native fauna, and when we displace the native vegetation with artificially managed turfgrass, we displace the birds, amphibians, and mammals who feed and make their homes there.
However, golfers and environmentalists need not be at odds. In fact, there is a growing awareness and a concerted effort on the part of the golf course industry to incorporate sustainable environmental principles into every new and existing golf course development in the country.
EPA joined an existing initiative of major environmental and professional organizations to advance golf course environmental responsibility in 1995. The result of this collaboration was a carefully drawn-up set of “Environmental Principles for Golf Courses in the United States” that was endorsed by the participating organizations. The principles are designed to educate and inform both the public and the relevant decision-makers and help set goals for environmental performance. These voluntary principles assume regulatory compliance and address such issues as planning and siting, design, construction, management, operations, and the role of the golfer. Subsequent initiatives have led to pilot programs to monitor fertilizer, pesticide, and water use at 50 golf courses across the country.
Another initiative that has had encouraging results is the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program through Audubon International (a nonprofit organization not affiliated with the National Audubon Society). Since 1994, about 200 courses have completed the six-phase certification process, and some 2,000 courses are currently applying for certification. According to Jean Mackay, education director with Audubon International in Selkirk, NY, the organization “seeks to encourage and reward water-quality, integrated pest management [IPM], erosion control, water conservation, and habitat creation and preservation on golf courses. Our aim is get all those things working together.”The program is voluntary and cooperative. When a golf course registers for cooperative sanctuary status, Audubon begins a Resource Inventory and Environmental Planning process to assess current site conditions and assist property managers in defining goals and objectives. Over the next few months or years, projects in each key environmental area-planning, public involvement, wildlife and habitat management, water quality and conservation, and IPM-are implemented and documented to culminate in certification. With the financial and moral support of the USGA Green Section, the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program has begun to make some headway in promoting ecologically sound land management and the conservation and protection of natural resources on golf courses.
River Course on Kiawah Island: Environmental Management Program
Boasting 337 golf courses, South Carolina is one of the most popular golfing destinations in the country. With its ruggedly contoured coastline and gentle climate, it is a golfer’s paradise. The 3,000-mi.-long network of waterways and half-million acres of saltwater marsh are an irreplaceable home to fish, birds, and shellfish. Critical concerns of the South Carolina Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management are possible runoff and leaching of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. The agency has developed a very practical set of easily implementable standards and regulations that make it much easier for golf course developers to include compliance in their construction plans right from the beginning.
Deborah Hernandez, an engineer with the agency, explains, “We started being concerned about golf courses a number of years ago. Most golf courses are located in sensitive areas adjacent to waters where shellfish are harvested, and we were concerned that our requirements then were not sufficient. We developed a set of rules that apply specifically to golf courses. We required extra setbacks, recommended buffers of native grasses and plants and the routing of drainage from greens and tees to interior lagoons, prohibited the spraying of effluent on areas adjacent to marsh, and required IPM and nutrient management plans.” The agency also funded research to evaluate whether there were measurable impacts from golf courses and conducted comparative studies.
The River Course on Kiawah Island, designed by legendary golf course architect Tom Fazio, is an example of the efficacy of the agency’s cooperative approach. Constructed in 1996 as a private residential and resort community near Charleston, the carefully thought-out building and development guidelines have contributed to a very real sense of community. Ray Pantlik, director of development for the golf course developers, KRA L.P. in Charleston, points out, “We wanted people to know that what they were buying is being within the community, not just a house on a particular green.”
The agency worked closely with the developers on all phases from construction to postopening operations. Because the course was being built along a river that contained shellfish beds, the agency issued permits with 15 special conditions. One of the key things addressed at the River Course was an alternative to traditional edge treatment that takes irrigated turfgrass right up to the marsh edge. Buffer zones and the use of natives grasses on dune plantings have proven to be a practical and environmentally sound solution. The River Course has since been fully certified as a member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary program. Pantlik remarks, “Certainly the Audubon certification has been a real plus to us. We feel that the market we appeal to is astute enough to perceive that the certification makes us stand out from the crowd.”
Battling a Hurricane at Barefoot Landing
A little farther down the eastern seaboard lies the famous resort of Myrtle Beach, SC. In September 1999, Hurricane Floyd blew into town and did more than $9 million of damage at the new Barefoot Landing Resort development, dumping some 24 in. of rain in 24 hours on the newly opened site. The resort will eventually boast four 18-hole championship golf courses designed by such top golf course architects as Pete Dye, Tom Fazio, Davis Love III, and Greg Norman. A week before the hurricane, Joel and Lee Hammonds of a First Step Erosion Control in Pelzer, SC, were contracted to stabilize 4-5 ac. of highly erodible ground on the site of the Greg Norman course.
According to John Sitton of TurfMaster Technologies at Pendleton Oil Mill Inc., distributors of Soil Guard, in Pendleton, SC, this critical site is located above a steep, 2:1 bank that slopes directly down into an inland waterway. “We went in on September 14 and hose-applied the Soil Guard with a truck-mounted Finn 1,700-gallon HydroSeeder at a rate equivalent to 4,000 pounds per acre with fescue and browntop millet. While applying the second load, the approaching hurricane forced us to abandon the site and evacuate.” Four days later, Joel Hammond returned to survey the damage, and to his surprise, the Soil Guard had not only held in the critical areas and stabilized the bank, but the browntop millet had germinated! After seeing the results, the developer contracted with Hammonds to use Soil Guard to stabilize a significant acreage of sprigged native grasses on both Norman’s and Fazio’s courses. “We had also done some work prior to Hurricane Dennis down at Litchfield Beach, and it held up amazingly well too. I guess these hurricanes are proving to people that these new products really work, even in adverse conditions,” says Sitton.
A Blanket Solution at Longaberger Golf Course
Set in the rolling and wooded landscape of east-central Ohio, the Longaberger Golf Course is an Arthur Hills-designed course of about 500 ac. that opened in 1999. During construction, which began in October 1996, traditional construction erosion control methods were used-mainly shaping and grading to divert the water, sediment basins, and silt fence installation. However, when seeding commenced on the practice driving range in July 1998, two washouts in a matter of weeks brought the bulldozers back, and grading on part of the range had to be done all over again.
The practice driving range is situated in a bowl-shaped depression, and the watershed that drains through the range is about 150 ac. “We get a lot of running water through there when we get a storm,” states Mark Rawlins, golf course superintendent at Longaberger. “When it washed out for the second time last summer, that’s when I said we had to do something or we’d be fighting this thing forever.”
The choices were narrowed to sod or erosion control blankets. “The blankets cost us about half the money the sod would have cost,” says Rawlins. North American Green mats had been used successfully on other portions of the course, so they decided to install them on the practice driving range. “We used two weights of straw mats and used a heavy-duty straw and coconut fiber mat on the more sensitive areas. They worked great. This time we didn’t have any washout despite the fact that we had a very heavy rain about five weeks after installation. By then, the grass was up, but it wasn’t established yet. I’m sure it would have washed out if those mats weren’t there,” he observes.
Blackstone National: Seed Versus Sod
The Blackstone National Golf Course in Sutton, MA, is an 18-hole course designed by Rees Jones and Keith Evans and built in 1996-97. Basically, a valley runs through the middle of the property, and elevation changes over 100 ft. occur on either side of this valley. There are many 2:1 and 3:1 slopes, and erosion problems had to be addressed from the beginning. Swales, bales, and erosion control mats have been used to slow down the water on various sections of the course, but the majority of erosion problems were dealt with when shaping the course during construction-care was taken in diverting the water, slowing it down, and putting in break points during grading so that no huge channel of water could form.
J. Snyder, superintendent of the course, was looking for an alternative to the sod originally specified around greens, bunkers, and inner roughs when he met Bob Arello of Hydrograss Technologies in North Oxford, MA, who suggested using EcoAegis, a 100% sterilized wood-fiber mulch bonded fiber matrix (BFM) that can be applied using conventional hydroseeding equipment. “We could put seed down for half the price of sod,” explains Snyder, “but I wanted to seed mainly because there’s no better way to build a stand of grass; you get exactly the variety of seed you want and the population that you want.”
The BFM was applied on the course using a flexible-backing board to cut around the greens and sharply define the border between the bent grass on the greens and the bluegrass and fescue used on the inner rough. “Following the architect’s specifications, there were specific grasses for each area,” says Snyder. “Members always want to get out on the course as soon as possible. If you seed the area, it’s going to take longer. If you sod it, the members can get back on the course more quickly. But no matter how good the sod company you’re using, I’ve found that you just can’t produce a good-quality sod using fescue-it will just fall apart. By using the EcoAegis, however, I got exactly the mix of seed that I was after.”
Olympia Fields: Shoring Up a Streambank
Another course certified by Audubon International is the Olympia Fields Golf Club in Olympia Fields, IL. Butterfield Creek runs through this 36-hole course. People still remember the days when they could just hop over the creek, but erosion has taken the streambed down 6-8 ft. below normal grade level, and the creek averages 15-20 ft. wide these days.
“I’d say about a third of our golf course is in the floodplain of Butterfield Creek,” says Dave Ward, the golf course’s superintendent. “Through the years, some mechanical erosion controls like riprap and channelization were carried out, but as the stream has deepened and widened, we have had more frequent flooding events. At first, I didn’t think the hard armor would work, but it’s held the creek and worked very well. Silt from upstream has come in and filled the crevices, and now in some places it looks like a natural creek even though there is a riprap backing to it.”
As part of the Audubon program, native plants were used along the bank to stabilize areas that were unprotected and still had the potential for erosion. They’ve put in sedges, cord grass, iris, and a range of prairie plants, such as big bluestem, and little bluestem in the mezic areas, where air temperatures and evapotranspiration are lower, moisture supply is more readily available, and humidity is higher. “We’ve done some habitat establishment as part of the certification program, so there are areas that are left wild and in a natural state. Now, some members still have a fixation with courses looking like Augusta National, with everything trimmed to the nth degree, but others like the wilder look.”
Ward is enthusiastic about the Audubon program and believes that it is a positive step for the image of golf and golf courses. “More than anything else, though, it gives you a focus. You start to focus on what is the best way to do things for the environment and how to make areas better for wildlife. We’ve identified some 107 different species of birds here, and we participate in the Birdwatching Open. I write about these things in our club newsletter, of course. Some people find it interesting and say that it adds to the pleasure of the game, others are just interested in making the best shot.”
Ready for a 500-Year Flood Event at Bighorn
In Palm Desert, CA, Tom Fazio designed a breathtaking course. The Bighorn Golf Course incorporates natural rock formations, ravines, and a desert wash as strategic features of the course. The first five holes climb more than 1,000 ft. through the Santa Rosa Mountains before tumbling back down to the desert terrain and a more traditional layout of rolling hills, valleys, and water hazards. It is part of 515-ac. development called the Canyons at Bighorn and is one of the most expensive development projects to date.
Dennis Orsborne, who oversaw construction at the site, says, “Much of the costs on this site are literally buried-that is, the engineering and structural work is there, but it’s buried in the ground so that it can’t be seen. The whole aim was to make the site safe and secure, but also as if it had always been that way.”
The property is traversed by a natural desert wash called Dead Indian Creek that is a national waterway under the aegis of the US Army Corps of Engineers. One of the conditions for approval of the development was that this creek could not be disturbed or altered, and any disturbance would be remediated at the end of the project to restore the stream to its absolute natural condition.
“It has remained intact, but we had to work around it. We roped it off and made sure that none of our contractors even put a foot in the area,” says Orsborne. “Because it cuts through the middle of the property, we had to have some corridors or easements cleared to get the work done. We also built some temporary bridges.” The stream is engineered to withstand a 500-year flood. That might seem excessive, but as Orsborne explains, “It only rains about 3 inches a year out here, but when it does, it comes all at once. You’ve heard the term ‘flash flood’? Well, it fits. The creek drains the adjacent mountain and hills, so there could potentially be a lot of water flowing through that creek at one time.” They engaged a civil engineering firm to go in and calculate the potential water levels and forces, and then they set about stabilizing the banks so that if the water does ever come, they will hold. “We ended up developing a soil cement and riprap control program for the entire channel, putting it in place, engineering it, and then burying it with natural rock and soil materials so you can’t even tell it’s there,” describes Orsborne.The developers were also required to revegetate the creek area from a list of native plant species. In addition, areas of the course and the home sites were planted with some 4,000 trees, 56,000 shrubs, and 900 palm trees. The landscaping was carried out by Pro-Seed Landscape and Park West Landscape. One unique feature of the landscaping is that every single plant is on an individual drip. “Because of the sparse nature of desert planting, if we’d used overhead irrigation, we would have had erosion between the plants,” Orsborne points out.
Another erosion problem during the grading and construction phase, and one that is particularly sensitive in the arid Coachella Valley and adjacent areas, was dust control. Stringent PM10 requirements made it necessary to keep water trucks going constantly during the grading operations. “If we had any long-term exposed areas, though, we went in and used more permanent stabilizers there. Luckily, we had exceptionally good weather during the construction phase,” Orsborne says.
Dust control is also a major issue in the Las Vegas area, where development is proceeding at an unprecedented pace. The Red Rock Country Club is a private community in Summerlin on the outskirts of Las Vegas and includes two Arnold Palmer-designed championship golf courses among its many other amenities. The developers, Sunrise Colony, chose to work hand-in-hand with Midwest Industrial Supply of Canton, OH, to develop and implement a comprehensive dust control plan. The plan includes controlling wind-blown dust and erosion on the fairways pending seeding or landscaping, as well as other areas of this huge project that are subject to wind erosion, such as on building pads.
Bob Vitale, president of Midwest Industrial Supply, explains, “It’s all toward compliance with dust control plan requirements that are becoming more and more stringent. However, it also contributes to the developer’s bottom line in that any erosion damage to final-graded areas has to be reworked at great expense. It’s an issue of stewardship of the land and the environment, as well as sound economics and cost control for the whole project.”
The developers of Red Rock pride themselves on participation in developing industry standards to mitigate fugitive dust and sand. Soil-Sement, a liquid polymer that can be sprayed directly on the soil to bond particles together and create a hard yet flexible surface, was used on graded areas to keep down the dust during the construction phase. Another product, Enviro-Kleen, was used on heavy-duty areas such as roads and paths. Both products are enviromentally safe and completely nontoxic.
Vitale says, “As a vendor that manufactures and develops products and does the lab installation of the design that is quite specific to the project at hand, we can bring a lot of benefit to developers who have every reason and every right to expect performance of the product and reasonableness of cost. Ever so slowly in this industry, information and verification of claims made by vendors are being quantified in a way that the buyer can confidently work with a reputable vendor and know that he’ll get a product and application that will work.” With buildout projected to see 1,000 homes popping up, as well as a 42,000-ft.2 clubhouse, a 7,500-ft.2 sports club, nine lighted tennis courts, and an aquatic center with five pools, the Red Rock Country Club is subject to intense scrutiny by the public and by agencies. Both the Bureau of Land Management and Clark County Health Department have praised the developers for their environmentally responsible approach.
In Redmond, OR, a 54-hole golf course sits on the edge of some spectacular buttes overlooking the Deschutes River. The Eagle Crest course and the Eagle Ridge course offer the golfer views of the Cascade Peaks, ancient juniper-lined fairways, and rolling terrain opening to vistas of the Redmond valley and the Smith Rock State Park.
According to John Tronsom, superintendent of the course, there are limited erosion control problems in this high desert environment. As ever, during the grow-in period, things can get tricky. “We only get about 5 to 9 inches of rain a year in this high desert, but we do get big thunderstorms that can drop an inch or two at a time. Before the grass is up, that can be tough.”
Tronsom is a firm believer in keeping the turf in shape as the best erosion control measure. “Once the grass is there, those big storms can’t get a toehold. I like to use fescue in the catch basin, and we use a lot of different Turf Seed products here. I try to use a 20 to 30 percent rye grass mixed in with the bluegrass for a quick stand until the bluegrass comes in. The rye grass pops out in about five days, and it will hold things pretty well for about two to three weeks. Then once you’re up and growing, good maintenance practice prevents any erosion. If you have a healthy and mature stand of turf, you’re really set as far as erosion control here.”
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is comprised of 18 spectacular golf courses stretched across the state of Alabama-each one of them designed by legendary architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. One of these courses is the beautiful Capitol Hills Golf Course in Prattville.
Part of the land used to build one of three courses at Capitol Hills is owned by the federal government and leased to the State of Alabama. It was this parcel of land, a hardwood forest, that caught the attention of environmentalists eager to protect the wetlands, ponds, and river in the lowlands below the woods. Nial Fraser, construction superintendent, explains, “We wanted to keep everybody happy, so we protected the areas as we worked on them. We put up our silt fence, we installed our sediment basins, and we chose to sod the entire nine holes there. With wall-to-wall sod, we don’t have any erosion problems. Of course, we seeded the greens because they required a specific bent grass, and that’s where we used Profile, a kiln-fired clay that we mixed with sand. The theory behind it is that it holds the nutrients, so you get more life out of them; it retains enough moisture so that you don’t waste water; and it prevents leaching of chemicals into the soil.”
Building commenced in November 1997, and all three 18-hole courses were open for play by September 1999. “We used some flocculent in the sediment ponds and did a lot of curbing and piping to take the water where we wanted it to be,” Fraser says. They’ve used a number of erosion control products in different areas of the terrain. “We’ve used a lot of sod, some coco-fiber matting, and wire mesh underneath the sod, and we’ve hydromulched. I think there’s a definite advantage to putting in hydromulch every time you seed.”
It was a huge construction project, but one that went exceptionally smoothly. “Golf courses get a pretty bad rap during construction,” Fraser remarks. “You’re exposing dirt over a very large area for a period of time. But once the turf is in place, it stays put, and it provides great structure while simultaneously acting as an environmental buffer. We’re very happy with the quality of our turf and with its erosion control capabilities.”
Golf courses aren’t more prone to erosion than other types of development, they’re often just more susceptible to public and regulatory scrutiny. Any earthmoving activity should be managed with the utmost sense of responsibility and a commitment to do as little damage to the environment as possible. Sadly, this is rarely the case. However, golf course owners, managers, and members across the US are beginning to perceive the value of environmentally responsible construction and maintenance practices. There’s a real opportunity here to practice sound conservation principles as well as to ensure that the golf industry remains a viable and vibrant sector of the leisure economy.
About the Author
Kate Goff
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