What It Means to Make a Golf Course Green

By Jen Haley

Space hogs. Water pigs. Environment killers.

Between the pesticides and fertilizers and the vast amounts of land and water required, golf courses have never had a very good reputation among environmentalists. And for many years for good reason.

But now the golf industry is fighting back. It has teamed up with the environmental education organization Audubon International to create a certification program that helps golf course managers measure and minimize environmental impacts.

Crystal Springs Golf Course in Burlingame, California is one of six courses in the state that has earned certification under Audubon for its eco-friendly practices. Tim Powers, the golf course's superintendent, talked to BNET recently and said that going green was a no-brainer. "It's good for everybody, it's good for the wildlife, the community, your children who are going to follow you," he says. "You want them to be able to appreciate the land that we have."

Watch the video to hear Powers explain how he's bringing sustainability to the links:

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Crystal Springs sits on 32,000 acres of wildlife refuge. On any given day, golfers can catch a glimpse of wandering deer and bobcats, or birds hovering overhead.

To help conserve resources and protect the precious habitat, Powers and his team have taken several steps. They've limited the amount of pesticides, for one. "We only use fungicide on the greens, nothing on tees, fairways, and roughs. And so we do not treat the greens until we have three spots of disease on nine of the greens," says Powers. "We're scouting all the time, looking at it, keeping an eye on it."

The course reduced its water consumption by only watering areas that are crucial to play -- a new irrigation system reduced coverage from 98 to 75 acres. And Powers does something somewhat novel in an industry where pristine, emerald-green grass is the standard: When there's little rain in the summertime, he lets the course go brown.

It makes perfect economic and environmental sense. But Powers says brown grass has one other advantage for golfers: "It gets thin and adds terrific definition to the golf course."