Enhancing golf and the environment - course design
Members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) believe in taking a proactive approach to designing golf courses that are both challenging and environmentally friendly. ASGCA members are involved in every step of the design process, from analyzing environmental impact statements to conducting tree and water tests to preparing appropriate documentation for use in public hearings before regulatory agencies to working with park and recreation managers on maintenance schedules. When designing a new golf course or redesigning an existing layout, architects consider potential environmental impact issues during the planning and design phases. In fact, many ASGCA architects work hand-in-hand with the New York Audubon Society to develop certified sanctuary programs.
The increase in the number of people playing golf has generated strong demand for more public courses. According to The National Golf Foundation:
* Twenty-eight million golfers played 505 million rounds of golf in 1992, up from 479 million rounds the previous year.
* Of the 354 new courses opened, 81 percent were daily fee or municipal. Only 67 of the new courses are private.
* Golf among households with annual incomes less than $35,00 grew a healthy 12 percent in rounds played and a 5.3 percent increase in the number of players.
Clearly, golf continues to be a major pastime that shows no sign of slowing. Herein lies the challenge to keep pace with demand and build a better community environment at the same time. Consider the environmentally sensitive designs in the following examples:
Gravel Pit Transformed
The Greystone Golf Club in Romeo, Michigan, is a shining example of how we can reclaim and convert wasteland into a beautiful addition to the surrounding community. Operated as a gravel pit for 50 years, the 255-acre eyesore has been transformed into a community asset. Mining operations left the land stark and barren with severe topographic changes, isolated wetland pockets, diverse soil profiles and a 30-acre lake. The diverse soil profile was the primary environmental and design concern. During mining operations, portions of the site were stripped of native soil and replaced with silt and clay waste products. In many cases, mine tailings had been dumped on top of the native topsoil, creating a wasteland where only the hardiest weeds could gain a toehold.
Besides presenting an agronomic problem for growing healthy turfgrass, the diverse soil profiles also affected a proposed nearby real estate development. The soils in the areas planned for residential use consisted of mainly slits and clays and were unacceptable for an on-site sewer system. The mining operation left undisturbed some isolated wetland pockets scattered throughout the site. Because wetlands are a vital part of the local ecology, workers made every effort to preserve them.
Architects carefully routed the golf course around and between the existing wetlands. Buffer zones with natural vegetation reduced the risk of contaminating wetlands with surface runoff from the golf course. During construction, workers erected fabric-erosion fencing along the wetland boundaries and seeded and mulched adjacent areas to prevent any erosion from occuring in the wetlands. Various forms of turfgrasses, tree plantings and other vegetation also minimized runoff. Large spoil mounds –remnants of the mining operation, were used as dramatic elevation changes for tee complexes. Similarly, architects turned other mounds into greens complexes. They routed fairways around the mounds, while carving bunkers out of the spoil deposits, creating a natural, flowing golf course.
Golf Course Tops Landfill
In 1982, the city of Santa Clara, California, undertook an ambitious public project to develop a municipal golf course, convention center and hotel atop a city-owned landfill. The landfill itself was bisected into east and west sectors by Lafayette Street, a six-lane thoroughfare. The west side, closed and capped in the early 1970s, was virtually flat with no surface drainage or vegetation. The east side, capped in 1982, was a square-shaped piece of land with a three percent gradient radiating from the center, producing a dome-like appearance. Soil borings showed that a clay cap covering the refuse varied in thickness from a few inches to a few feet. A properly built course needed a uniform, three-foot clay cover.