Putting surfaces have been inciting howls of dissent from golfers wielding flatsticks since golf was first played on the linksland of Scotland, but they have been sites of protest for outsiders, too. The suffragettes, for example, would use acid to burn the words “Votes for women” across greens, and last year French environmental activists poured cement into holes, furious at the sport’s perception as a wasteful consumer of water in a summer of extreme heat in much of Europe and the U.K.
Those drought conditions also jeopardize the actual playing of the golf as well, of course, and the game in the United Kingdom faces a stark choice: intransigence and irritability in the face of these combined threats (a route that might plausibly lead to ruin for some clubs) or the bolder option of accepting the challenges ahead (a path that might even offer benefits).
It’s a grim quandary but one Jonathan Smith, founder of the Scotland-based GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, is not shy of facing head on. In fact, rather than be afraid, his ambition is to guide golf safely into this perilous future.
“Whether it is the U.K., Europe or globally, the extremes of wet and dry, flood and drought, are becoming more severe and more frequent,” he told Global Golf Post, adding that many courses in the U.K. face the double whammy: not flood or drought, but both.
“Governments need to respond and be seen acting,” Smith said. “In Europe, there are already water restrictions for golf, and in the U.K. water resilience strategies will become a legal requirement across all industries.” Specifically, the British Environment Agency requires sectors to demonstrate a proactive path to diversify sources and use water as efficiently as possible, while drought orders are becoming more stringent in terms of course irrigation.
“Golf needs to be open-minded, proactive and creative – to find the answers and build the future it wants.”
Jonathan Smith, founder, GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf
And then there is protection of the sport’s public image. “Naturally people will ask who needs water most,” Smith said, “and golf needs a strong case, one that demonstrates high-quality water stewardship, combined with demonstrating social, economic and wider environmental value of golf to the community.”
It’s a daunting prospect for some clubs, but Smith insisted it is one not without hope.
“Government and the public are putting the onus on golf, but there is a potential sweet spot,” he said. “Might housing or businesses near a course also be flood-threatened? What can the club do to alleviate that threat and also be prepared for summer drought? With clever control of topography, floodwater might not be a liability.”
Alongside others in the sport such as the R&A, greenkeeper and club-manager associations, expert advisers, researchers and suppliers, the foundation is eager to promote good practice in irrigation, responsible turf management, drought-resistant grass and focused watered areas. Smith is particularly keen on naturalization of courses as a solution with multiple benefits.
“It cuts energy, water, material and fertilizer costs, and man hours, too. If we let nature in, it pushes resource use down. It’s a huge win for the overall resilience, efficiency and popularity of golf courses.”
Paul Larsen, head greenkeeper at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, and a regular site of the Open Championship, has had to face all of these tests over the past decade.
“In 2013 we had the worst floods the area has had,” he told GGP. “We even wondered if it threatened our ability to host the Open. In fact, it’s never been that bad since, but every winter has been wetter than was typical. The cycle of too wet then too dry takes a heavy toll on the turf.”
A pure fescue course, Royal St. George’s has been presumed to have grass that was heat tolerant, stress resistant and didn’t need much water. “But in the 2018 drought we lost 60 percent of the fescue and a lot of the fairways,” Larsen said.
The club had a license with the British Environment Agency to take 21,000 cubic meters of water (about 27,500 cubic yards), which had always been sufficient yet no longer was.
“So we’ve built two reservoirs, the second this winter, and the first holds 32,000 cubic meters (about 41,800 cubic yards),” Larsen said. “We fill that in winter and use it from the spring onward. Last summer was the hottest ever and we lost no turf.”
Use remains tightly reined, with no watering of rough and nozzles that eliminate waste.
“We have no option but to be frugal because water is such a valuable commodity,” Larsen said.
Sustainable Golf’s Smith is keen to view the big picture.
“Traditional best practices are not enough, and in the past we might have been too narrow,” he said. “We need a landscape approach. Where is a course located? What are the weather patterns? Where is the water coming from? Where are the local catchments? Is there capital investment that can be tapped into? It’s here that really big wins can be identified.”
Without change, what is the future?
“I think there will be some sharp surprises for facilities that are dependent on potable water,” Smith said. “In the southeast of England, in particular, it’s getting significantly hotter and drier.”
With the inevitability of government restrictions to come, increased water prices and a wary public, he said: “The pinch point is spreading. For some, it is already here.”
To avoid such problems, Smith argued that a golf club ask itself how and why it uses water.
“To maintain the course, yes, but also to generate a whole host of social, economic and wider environmental benefits. It provides rural jobs, innovation, training, education, charitable giving and community outreach. There’s also urban cooling, carbon storage, biodiversity, the safeguarding of green space, ecosystems and pollinators, and actually it also attenuates water – a well-managed course slows it down.”
This is especially true in the north of England, Wales and Scotland, which is witnessing greater threat from winter rain. Bridgnorth Golf Club on the banks of the River Severn in Shropshire just west of Birmingham, feels defenseless in the face of annual flooding. Professional Steve Russell and his assistant Mike Whitehouse are permanently peering at rainfall and river depths via apps.
“Flood protection of towns upstream just forces more water our way,” Whitehouse said. “There is nowhere else for it to go. We’re at nature’s mercy.”
Remaining hopeful, Smith said: “GEO and partners have developed a free online program for sustainable golf clubs and courses (OnCourse) with a section devoted to water stewardship, but also guidance on other key issues like nature conservation, energy and community value. Through it, we provide clubs with sustainable-golf scorecards and carbon footprints, which identifies potential improvements. The sustainable-golf certification that comes with it allows clubs to really shout about their value in the community.”
Smith acknowledged that his notions of the future may scare some. He also insisted there are solutions: “Golf needs to be open-minded, proactive and creative – to find the answers and build the future it wants.”