Management

The long term sustainability of a golf development is determined by consistent and continual improvement in management.

The sustainability agenda represents a huge opportunity for successful long-term golf facility management and should be embraced for the way it can drive business performance, golf course profile and profit. Developing a sustainability-based management plan allows golf course management staff to layout their plans for water, energy, landscape and ecosystem, environmental quality, products and supply chains, and people and communities.

Inherent in environmental management are a great many no- and low-cost ways of generating meaningful efficiencies. For example, a golf course in Florida in the United States irrigates between midnight at 6:00 am. This timing coincides with both the lowest wind speeds in the area, the least evaporation, and off-period utility pricing, thus saving the facility an estimated $6,000 in electrical costs.

Every acre of turf that can be less intensively managed represents tens of thousands of dollars saved. Observing the game may indicate where maintained turf is currently located but may not be required — such areas can be returned to their natural state. At one golf course in the U.S., for example, 11 acres of landscaped areas have been modified to low-input designs with native and drought-tolerant plant material. In addition, many new areas of rough grassland have been introduced, further reducing the overall irrigation coverage.

During drier times of year, zones might be programmed to reduce irrigation. A course in Virginia in the United States prolongs its water supply during dry periods by reducing irrigation by 50 per cent or more. They’ve found that keeping fairways and roughs somewhat dry under normal conditions allows the vegetation to adapt better to drought.

Even simple policy decisions, linked to light-touch staff and customer communications, can lead to significant reductions in maintenance budgets. Communicating a golf course’s sustainability efforts helps customers appreciate the environmentally friendly design and construction of a site and sets its current maintenance programme in context, allowing them to be part of the solution. A course in Nebraska in the United States developed a golf course pocket guide in cooperation with the Natural Resource Conservation Service to educate golfers on the sustainability efforts at the course.

Tournaments can be greener too. The 2010 Ryder Cup left a significantly lighter environmental footprint thanks to a pioneering Green Drive. Coordinated activity among sponsors, contractors and suppliers contributed to a carbon footprint reduction of 31 per cent and an 87 per cent re-use and recycling of waste.

The GEO OnCourse™ programme provides a comprehensive and yet streamlined step-by-step guidance and best practice checklists for sustainable golf facility management. Through this programme any golf course can demonstrate its sustainability and give staff the confidence and credibility to promote its sustainability efforts by achieving GEO Certified™ status. The certification further differentiates the course and provides another unique selling point for the club, locally to globally.

Environmental and social performance is a continuum, not a destination, and common issues can bring facility decision makers together around positive shared goals. It is important to realise that every achievement drives a positive profile for the facility and the professionals that manage it.

Existing golf courses should sign up for the GEO OnCourse programme, which provides details on how the principles described in this document can be carried over into daily operations once clubs are up and running. The programme provides numerous ways in which existing golf clubs can improve procedures and processes in ways that are both cost effective and environmentally sensitive.