Mr. Miller

Eco-Friendly Practices

Golf Courses Can Play an Important Role in Caring for Our Environment

Golf Industry Adapts Sustainable Approach

By Dean Miller, Director of Agronomy, La Quinta Resort & Club / PGA West

Golf courses have always been recognized for their natural beauty and serenity. Players feel as if they are worlds away from reality – with the silence broken only by the swish of a club or the warbling of a native bird. While it is often criticized for its abundant use of land and natural resources, the golf industry is answering back with sound programs that assist courses in measuring environmental sustainability.

According to the Golf and the Environment Initiative, an effort led by Audubon International in partnership with the United States Golf Association (USGA) and The PGA of America, golf has a unique role to play in caring for our environment – providing significant natural areas that benefit people and wildlife in increasingly urbanized communities across the country.

Industries around the globe, including the resort and golf industry, recognize sustainability as an essential business practice that feeds the triple bottom line: financial, environmental and social. As with any business, sustainability is challenging. In fact, running, managing, and maintaining a championship-caliber golf course with impeccably manicured greens and lush fairways takes considerable foresight, planning, resources, knowledge and manpower.

Realizing the many inherent benefits of a sustainable approach, the golf industry has steadily begun to adapt organic and sustainable course management practices – such as ensuring correct grass selection and minimal inputs of water, chemicals and fertilizer, and ideally reducing the carbon footprint through the most efficient use of resources and effective habitat management. This increased awareness of sustainability has also made the industry more collaborative – sharing best practices, implementing innovative solutions and highlighting measured progress.

For the industry to flourish, it must adapt such sustainable practices. To that end, a number of organizations, including Audubon International, The Environmental Institute for Golf and PGA of America, have joined forces in the sustainability movement.

According to the Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG), the philanthropic organization of Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, stewardship of natural resources is vital to the long-term health of the golf industry. The organization is leading a collaborative industry-wide effort toward a sustainable approach to golf facility management, and even recently launched a quarterly e-publication targeting golf course management, Sustainable Golf Management.

Ultimately, says EIFG, sustainability is about three “Ps” – people, planet and profit – ensuring profitable businesses while making decisions that are in the long-term interest of the environment and communities. According to EIFG, the focus is on continual improvement by professionally managing and conserving resources and inputs, and reducing waste while providing playing conditions that satisfy current – and future – golfers. The U.S. golf industry recognizes that the integration of environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic viability is a critical and never-ending goal, and embraces sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Virtually every industry today faces environmental scrutiny and challenges, whether from government regulation or public perception. The golf course industry realizes the need for a sustainability plan that is focused, organized, and fosters collaboration, unity, transparency and participation.

To that end, the EIFG’s strategic planning session has identified the following primary focus areas as key issues facing golf facilities today and into the future:

• Water Management (water use and water quality)
• Integrated Plant Management
• Wildlife and Habitat Management
• Golf Course Siting, Design and Construction
• Energy and Waste Management

Another trailblazer in measuring golf course sustainability is Audubon International, which in 2002 launched the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an award-winning education and certification program. To obtain certification, a course must demonstrate a high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas, including environmental planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, chemical use reduction and safety, water conservation, and water quality management.

The Audubon program is a valuable measuring tool for the industry’s ongoing focus on sustainability, as it is endorsed by the USGA and encourages golf facilities to protect the environment by enhancing precious natural resources and preserving wildlife habitats. Certification enforces operational practices that improve efficiency and minimize the impact of golf on the environment. With this in mind, growing numbers of resorts and hotels are seeking Audubon certification for golf courses throughout the United States, Africa, Australia, Canada, Central America, Europe and Southeast Asia.

Sustainability Sets a Standard at La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA WEST

In Southern California’s Coachella Valley, which hosts over 140 private and public golf courses, La Quinta Resort & Club’s Citrus Course was the first to achieve certification through the Audubon International program in 2004. Since then, all of the PGA WEST private courses have achieved certification: the Arnold Palmer Course and the Weiskopf and Nicklaus Private Courses. The Greg Norman Course at PGA WEST and both the Mountain Course and Dunes Course at La Quinta Resort & Club are also certified. Certification for the remaining two courses in the La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA West family – TPC Stadium Course and Nicklaus Tournament Course – is pending final review.

Sustainability requires leadership, vision and strategy. Many of the sustainability practices at La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA WEST were implemented over the last few years because they are sound business decisions. Audubon International has provided the ideal measurement tool to complement sustainable practices at the property – providing additional tools and insight to enhance efforts and practices, and keeping staff focused on sustainability. Achieving certification lets the world know that the resort’s objectives and priorities focus on sustainable practices.

Highlights of ongoing sustainability methods at La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA WEST include:

Reduced Water Usage

• Mountain / Dunes have reduced water usage by 25% over the last two years by introducing No-Mow areas that cover just over 40 acres across both courses.
  
• Remaining courses have reduced water usage by an average of 5% to 10% by lowering the percentage of evapotranspiration replacement to the courses and the introduction of wetting agents on tees, fairways and greens.
  
• Lowered irrigation inputs by upgrading older irrigation heads with new ones and replacing irrigation nozzles with upgraded versions to improve water distribution coverage.
  

Energy Conservation

• Energy conservation has been realized with the installation of four new pump stations. The Nicklaus Tournament, TPC Stadium, Palmer and Dunes have all installed new pump stations that have a VFD drive and premium efficiency motors that have helped reduce electrical costs by over 20% per pump station.
  
• Motor efficiency testing has been in place on a bi-annual basis to track the overall efficiency of our pumps and motors so we can repair / replace the needed equipment to ensure energy conservation.
  

Recycling Programs

• A recycling program was put into place at all of our maintenance facilities, which includes on-course trash, lowering regular trash removal by 40%.
  
• All green waste is recycled at all our courses, including grass clippings, leaves, flowers and branches.

Fertilizer Programs

• All courses have implemented slow-release fertilizer usage in the fall and spring to help avoid run-off.
  
• Increased the amount of foliar fertilizers that are used on the tees, fairways, and greens to help with nutrient uptake into the plant and avoid run-off.
  
• These practices have helped us reduce the total amount of nitrogen on the courses and still get the same desired results.

Chemical Reduction

• Installed aquatic plants in lakes to help with shore erosion while these plants also help with nutrient uptake in the lakes, which improves water clarity and reduces the need for chemical treatments.
  
• Started a microbial program in our lake systems that naturally helps keep the lakes clean and helps to reduce the use of chemicals.

In the future, plans are to continue irrigation upgrades with new heads and nozzles, as well as analyze courses for more opportunities of no-mow areas and possible turf reduction with the installation of more native plants and grasses. Additionally, there will be continual expansion of the recycling program as well as education opportunities to have club members and resort guests help out on the course and at home.

According to the Golf and Environment Initiative, “golf courses offer numerous opportunities to not only provide pleasant places to play, but to protect drinking water; improve the water quality of our lakes, streams, and rivers; support a variety of plants and wildlife and protect our environment for future generations.”

The ultimate goal is that the entire golf and resort industry will continue to recognize the critical importance of sustainability and “stay the course.”

Dean Miller is the director of agronomy for La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA WEST, a world-renowned golf destination with nine championship-caliber courses designed by golf greats Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Pete Dye and Greg Norman. As the resort’s director of agronomy, Mr. Miller manages a staff of over 230 employees, including six superintendents, and is responsible for all aspects of golf course maintenance and landscaping for five public courses, four private courses and five clubhouses. He has helped implement all golf course sustainability methods, overseen all golf course renovations and construction projects, as well as developed maintenance practices that create standardization and consistency throughout all the courses. Mr. Miller can be contacted at 760-564-7674 or drmiller@pgawest.com Extended Bio...

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