Sustainable Golf Courses: A Guide to Environmental Stewardship (2005)

 

Improved environmental management has been a clarion call within the golf maintenance industry for many years now and around the world golf clubs, golf organisations and trade companies that serve its practitioners are proactively minimising the impact their operations have on the environment.

The AGCSA is one such organisation that has been at the forefront of this with the launch of the recent Australian Golf Environmental Initiative and establishment of the Australian Golf Environment Foundation. Likewise through the development of e-par, Australian superintendents now have access to one of the most comprehensive and golf specific environmental management systems available to the industry.

Another organisation that has driven home the green message for many years has been Audubon International. The US-based organisation was founded by Ronald G. Dodson and in conjunction with the United States Golf Association formed the Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, with a number of Australian clubs achieving certification.

A prolific campaigner for the environment, in 2000 Dodson penned Managing Wildlife Habitat on Golf Courses which provided golf course managers with a practical framework for environmentally sensitive land management practices. Dodson followed that up with this edition’s review subject Sustainable Golf Courses: A Guide to Environmental Stewardship which was published in 2005.

Complete with a foreword from the legendary Arnold Palmer, the 288-page hardcover book aims to serve as a reference for all those involved in planning and constructing new golf courses, and those involved in the management of golf courses, to help meet the economic, ecological and social issues facing golf.

One of Dodson’s key messages is that the game of golf and golf courses can be a catalyst for change, bridging the gap between what is thought of traditionally as ‘development’ and what is thought of as ‘sanctuary’. Dodson firmly believes that golf can be a true agent of change in the way society lives, works and recreates.

Dodson also expounds the virtues of returning the game to its roots. That doesn’t necessarily mean shunning new technology; rather we should remember that the true game of golf was played in nature. Dodson laments the machine age which in some instances has seen new golf courses designed with little attention to the natural landscape, cutting through wildlife habitat and changing the natural course of watersheds.

Full of useful information that can be applied to numerous environmental issues that can present themselves to superintendents, Sustainable Golf Courses demonstrates that with a bit of forethought golf courses can provide many attributes of a nature reserve. The book contains a range of interesting case studies as well as environmental research articles from the USGA.

Dodson begins the book by asking the question – Sustainable golf courses – an oxymoron? – before putting the case for sustainability and the idea of sound economics based on ecological facts. Following chapters look at establishing an environmental philosophy and ecological principles before Dodson embarks on the topic of new golf course development and the many environmental issues that come with their construction. A chapter is devoted to wildlife habitat and water quality and conservation issues, while the importance of outreach and education is also discussed later in the book.