Golf courses are known for their use of pesticides, fertilizers and water, which is why they have a rocky relationship with environmentalists.  Pressure from the public has led some of the country’s major golf and associations to design programs and perform research to learn of natural ways they can maintain their beautiful greens.

Golf & The Environment Institute has resulted from the talk of environmental experts and major golf group representatives that took place fourteen years ago.  This institute has worked diligently since to persuade golf course clubs toward green-thinking environmental issues.  Since an estimated 20,000 golf courses exist in this country, this means much land is at stake.

Despite the efforts of major environmental groups, most golf courses still use chemicals to keep their courses in top condition.  Why?  The biggest reason is that the golfers themselves expect perfectly manicured greens.  Organizations are struggling to let golfers know that it is OK if a course has a few brown spots.

The only complete organic golf course in America is Vineyard Golf Club on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.  Amazingly, this course looks as good as any of the top golf courses in the country, but that is due to hard work according to Jeff Carlson, golf course superintendent at Vineyard Golf Club.  He says keeping these greens in top shape requires many extra steps, like whisking away morning dew.

In summarization, it sounds as though if organizations can convince golfers that the greens do not have to be immaculate for play, golf courses may become green sooner!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 4:05 pm and is filed under Greening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.