Golf is uniquely poised to lead sustainable development for the next century and beyond. The field of sustainability has been around for just under a century, believe it or not (while golf has been around for nearly five times longer)…

The world of “SUSTAINABILITY” spans a sprawling of acronyms, frameworks, and buzzwords. I felt called to the worthwhile goal of boiling those buzzwords down to the essential meaning behind them, especially after passing my recent test: I became a certified Sustainability Excellence Associate through the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP). I pursued this so that I could deepen my knowledge in the key historical context of this field I have devoted my career toward.

In studying for the ISSP-SEA exam, I returned to a number of useful concepts that I wanted to pass along to our audience of fellow professionals in sustainability and golf, starting with the definition of sustainability:

What is sustainability? What is sustainable development?

First, the “textbook” definition:

The United Nations’ Brundtland Commission famously defined sustainability in 1987:

“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

For important historical context on this idea, consider that humanity survived multiple World Wars, genocides, and other potential apocalypses after the turning points of the Industrial Revolution and Modernity. We’ve come a long way! It’s actually quite hopeful to consider that planetary collaboration was born within the last 80 years from the risks of large-scale conflict.

Second, “weak” vs “strong” sustainability:

Sustainability concepts always include multiple stakeholder perspectives and needs (for example, the needs of business/economy, government/society, and nature/ecology). However, weaker definitions of sustainability suppose that we can trade economic growth 1:1 with natural degradation, or that layers are interchangeable. In reality, they are interdependent, and societal flourishing nests within economic growth, which nests within the ecosystem services of nature and natural resources (air, water, food, etc.) – we owe our collective existence to the stocks and flows of nature.

We can revisit here a distinction between “sustainable” business and “regenerative” business. Where weak sustainability sees trade-offs, limitations, and ways to “do less harm”, strong sustainability (or regenerative business) sees leverage points, interconnections, and ways to “create more good” (building the stocks and flows from which we originate in the physical world).

Essentially, sustainability boils down to the integration of core needs.

Sustainability comes back to ONE SIMPLE IDEA:

We want to meet our needs (today), but we want to do so in a way that doesn’t harm (or rather, even improves) our ability to meet our needs in the future. Furthermore, we have a variety of needs through which we evolve in our course of human (and spiritual) development, which we can think of in terms of “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”:

The framework is far from perfect, but it’s widely accepted in discussions of universal human needs. Think of these as psychological “First Principles” when it comes to designing solutions, products, and services that people will enjoy. Why do we buy a car? Partially because of the security and basic freedom of transportation that it brings, and partially for the respect of others. One of the most successful car brands of all-time has been Tesla Motors, which produced a dominant fleet of electric vehicles by appealing to multiple essential needs (e.g., it’s the safest car, but also the fastest).

How can we collectively (and individually) address sustainability?

In other words, how can we cooperate in such a way that we help one another meet one another’s needs while integrating the past, present, and future of humanity?

It’s no small task, but solutions come from many places: legislation, engineering, lifestyle changes, business model design, shifts in mindset, the private sector, the public sector, etc. Generally speaking, what successful approaches in sustainability all have in common is that they honor the priority of natural health, and they address systemic balance.

The ISSP Sustainability Excellence Associate curriculum discusses this at first with the following equation:

I = P x A x T

Impact (Ecological Footprint) = Population (People) times Affluence (Consumption) times Technology. The latter is arguably the most important in that equation, for technology has the ability either to multiply consumption (as in the case of fossil fuel-driven technologies) or to divide net consumption. In the case of clean technologies (including ecologically designed landscapes or golf courses), we can continue to increase population and affluence, but without increasing (or even while decreasing) net impact.

In other terms:

Reduced Impact = (P x A) ÷ T

We can reduce ecological footprint without even thinking about methods of “population control”, nor pinching pennies (reducing standards of living in order to reduce impact).

The ISSP-SEA curriculum also touches upon the concept of Doughnut Economics, through which Economist Kate Raworth has developed a framework to say the following:

We need economic growth and development in order to meet basic human needs (while avoiding the social catastrophes of the 20th Century), but we also need to balance that growth in order to stay within the limits of planetary and ecological boundaries:

Again, clean technologies and regenerative innovations allow us to create that balance. Great! Through systems-oriented design, we can “have our doughnut and eat it too”.

Here’s Where Golf Fits In

Healing Landscapes

The game of golf comprises 5.2 million acres across 38,000+ diverse golf courses (and unique landscapes that span all elements of nature).  Through regenerative design, golf can create ecosystem services that heal the land, water, and other resources upon which the game depends.

Modeling Regenerative Business

The business of golf connects to business at large: an estimated 90% of Fortune-500 CEOs play golf, and the game’s major sponsors are the world’s largest (and unfortunately, most polluting) industries. How can golf CHANGE BUSINESS toward a cleaner approach that keeps civilization within planetary boundaries? By proving that it’s profitable. The ISSP curriculum covers the essential sources of business “return on investment” for sustainability initiatives.

All of these apply to golf:

• Purpose Fulfillment: positive impact on people and meeting higher order “needs” through work (and play)

• Opportunity Capture: boosting revenues and/or reducing direct costs

  • Revenue and market share growth

  • Savings on operational expenses

  • Savings on HR expenses

  • Lower cost of capital

  • Higher asset values

  • Higher market value (or community value) to investors (or authorities)

• Risk Avoidance: avoiding unwanted futures, potential harms, and indirect costs

Golf courses are businesses too! So, they have to make money (profit is basically “economic sustainability”, and it addresses “survival” needs). When golf courses can meet the core needs of players or community members, add ecological value to their surrounding landscapes, AND make a lot of money doing it, then they pave the way for a next century of truly sustainable development.

Evolving Mindsets and Lifestyles

The next wave of evolution in sustainable development isn’t from AI, nor even from clean technologies, but through INNER technologies. Psychological safety, self-awareness and self-actualization are at the root of flourishing and sustainable societies.

Let’s come back to this equation:

I (Impact) = P (Population) X Affluence (Consumption) X Technology

Sustainability theorists propose that technology is the one way to reduce impact. By that, they mean clean technologies like renewable energy will help us raise standards of living for a growing population. That’s important! Yet, this approach misses how INNER technologies – or collective shifts in consciousness through buying behavior, design of “circular” products and services, and ultimately contributing to the enrichment of ecosystem services (or merely “appreciating” nature) – can further integrate population growth with positive net impact.

What uniquely positions golf to lead sustainable (or regenerative) development? It spans a vast global landscape of 5 million acres capturing all of the world’s most powerful people who play it, and yet, as Bobby Jones once said, the entirety of the game exists in between its participants' ears. 

Golf is where sustainable development meets human development.