Promoting sustainability in golf course management: an Australian perspective

Golf is one of the most popular sports and leisure time activities. There are many thousands of golf courses throughout the world and each year more are created. Australia has approximately 1,500 golf courses, mostly in urban areas. Golf courses have caused a number of environmental problems, ranging from clearing of native vegetation and habitat to excessive ,vater consumption and pollution. This article examines the environmental impacts of golf courses with a particular focus on water pollution and considers the effectiveness of the traditional regulatory approach to environmental management. The prosecution and conviction of an Australian golf course superintendent and operator is used to show the limitations ofthis approach. It is argued that, to achieve good environmental outcomes, it is necessary for golf course management to move beyond a compliance-based system to a pro-active strategy based on the principles of ecologically sustainable development. An actual case study is used to illustrate how innovath'e strategies can convert a traditional golf course into a sustainable ecological habitat while at the same time reducing expenditure on irrigation and maintenance costs.