12,000 Square Miles Of Earth - Why Sustainability Matters In Golf

Monday 3 October marks the start of Sustainable Golf Week. Hosted by the GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf. The week will throw a spotlight on the requirement for sustainability within golf as well as highlighting and celebrating achievements in the area and going on to promote what still needs to be done. Here we consider some of the key reasons why sustainability matters to golf. The message on the first day of Sustainable Golf Week is that we currently face, “Our Biggest Team Challenge” and this is why:

The Wider Picture

We now are very much more aware that the requirement to act on the environment and issues around sustainability is upon us now, rather than being a target for the future. In all areas of life, initiatives to promote sustainability must be put to the forefront.

By 2050 it’s estimated that as much as 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas, adding greater pressure to the land. The number of extreme heat days (over 90 degrees) in regions where golf is played is on the rise, as is the instance of droughts and water deficits.

At this point more than a million plant and animal species are considered threatened with extinction and there is continued pressure across the globe for regulation of the use of chemicals in urban and ecologically sensitive areas as well as public spaces and sports grounds. Golf is playing a leading role in considering how sport can be more sustainable.

Why is sustainability so important for Golf

There are now more than 38,000 golf courses in 206 countries across the world. They take up, roughly, a staggering 12,000 square miles of land. To put that in context, that's around the size of Belgium, or the State of Maryland. These courses are played on by 66.6 million golfers. The scale of our sport demands that we take a proactive approach to maintaining our playing areas and the infrastructure that supports the game in a sustainable fashion.

Studies have shown that golf courses can support greater diversity and greater numbers of bird species than other urban green spaces. In towns and cities, golf courses provide valuable green spaces delivering ecosystem services like water filtration, air purification, pollination and cooling – these improve the living conditions for people as well as wildlife.

Golf can be a significant consumer of water at a local level, although the game is not a large overall consumer of water. But facilities are increasingly moving to recycled and reclaimed water sources while also switching to more drought-tolerant grasses and super-efficient irrigation systems.

And golf looks to promote community sustainability as well as environmental sustainability. Courses, clubs, tournaments and those in the administration of golf are increasingly reaching out into communities to provide education, promote charities and generally push golf as a hub for a sustainable community.

In the wider public, golf is often viewed negatively when it comes to sustainability but  the sport is working hard to overcome that image...

What’s being done

There have been significant efforts to research and understand the environmental impact of golf and increasing numbers of clubs, tournaments and golf facilities are using Sustainable Golf Indicators to track and measure progress.

The GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf has teamed up with three large golf course architect associations to make a climate action pledge whilst also battling global habitat loss by creating over 582 hectares of native habitat in 11 countries and protecting over 1,500 hectares of open space in 18 different countries.

Through Sustainable Golf Week, the focus will be on different aspects of sustainability within golf. Here’s the schedule:

Monday 3rd: Our Biggest Team Challenge

Tuesday 4th: Golf Courses of the Future

Wednesday 5th: Big and Visible – The Professional Game

Thursday 6th: Golf, Cities and Land

Friday 7th: Moving Day

Saturday 8th: Highlights of the Week

Sunday 9th: Driving Further

Visit the Sustainable Golf Week and GEO Foundation to find out more.