Golf Course Profile Describes Turfgrass, Landscape, and Environmental Stewardship Features

Abstract

The golf industry does not have comprehensive national data on the property features, management practices, inputs, and outputs associated with golf courses. A series of surveys will be conducted to collect the data necessary to develop a national golf course environmental profile. This was the first survey of the series and the objectives were to determine total acreage of a golf course, land-use characteristics, acres and grass species of each component of the golf course, acreage dedicated to natural resources and environmental stewardship practices. The survey was sent to 16,009 golf course facilities’ superintendents in the United States. Golf courses were stratified by agronomic region, course type, and number of holes to ensure all types of golf courses were represented in the results. Results indicate the total acreage of an average 18-hole golf course is 150 acres, of which 100 acres (67%) is maintained turf. Cool-season grasses are grown on 66% and warm-season grasses are grown on 34% of all maintained turf acreage on golf courses. The remaining acreage is comprised of non-turfgrass landscapes (16%), water bodies (7%), buildings (4%), bunkers (3%), and parking lots (3%). Approximately 44% of golf courses have increased the non-turfgrass landscape areas by nearly 10 acres over the last 10 years. Over the last 10 years, an average of five environmental improvements have been made on 18-hole golf courses, while those golf courses that participated in voluntary environmental stewardship programs have made an average of seven improvements. These data provide an accurate portrayal of golf course land use to guide golf industry agronomic and environmental initiatives and establish a baseline that can be compared to data from future surveys to monitor industry change.