Stories, ideas and solutions to create a more fun, inclusive and regenerative world in and around golf
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Sustainability Spotlight: Goats at Rock Creek Park Golf
National Links Trust enlists the help of a herd of 40 goats to consume nearly 2 acres of invasive vegetation at Rock Creek Park Golf in NW Washington, DC. This project provided the organization and the local National Park Service staff with a new Integrated Pest Management System that was not only an extremely effective tool for managing invasive species but an engaging way to educate people about one of the most abundant environmental issues plaguing our natural ecosystems.
Olympic Spotlight: Le Golf National - How This Premier French Golf Club Leads Eco-Responsibility (Ahead of Regulations)
Le Golf National, located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup and also hosts the French Open annually on its Albatros Champions Course. Le Golf National is not only a renowned golf club in France, but it also walks the walks when it comes to sustainability. This comes as no surprise given how dedicated the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was to making the 2024 Paris Olympics the most sustainable yet.
Sustainability at Scale through Balanced pH
ECO2MIX is a safe & sustainable water pH management alternative for golf courses. Healthy turfgrass relies upon having lots of water, but the quality of that water is as important as the quantity of water. For optimal turf conditions, soil and irrigation systems must have balanced (or slightly acidic) pH, and ECO2MIX offers a carbonic acid solution that costs between 20-40% less than sulfuric acid alternatives.
Growing Greener Golf Courses (Part Two)
While most golf courses seek to be efficient and resourceful with their inputs, monocultural grass production (i.e., the model of a typical non-diverse golf course that requires significant inputs) can be inherently antagonistic to the principles of nature. Allen Williams of Understanding Ag, LLC can help us understand the principles of nature, and how those principles can become the best friends of natural, efficient, and sustainably profitable golf course management!
Growing ‘Greener’ Golf Courses (Part One)
If we cast our gaze from the conventional wisdom of golf course management over to the quickly ballooning adoption of regenerative principles and practices in agriculture, we may find ways, completely out of the box, to think about and manage our courses differently (and perhaps a lot more profitably).
Hemp in the Golf Industry: A “Fore”-father of Greenspace Efficiency?
Not all weeds are made equal. One weed (hemp) might actually become your most valuable source of cost reduction while generating multiple streams of revenue on the land your golf course isn’t currently using.
Sustainability Spotlight: National Links Trust Materiality Assessment
Municipal golf can become an inspiring cornerstone of how municipalities meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. In the latest edition of our Sustainability Spotlight Series, we are excited to share the process, results and methodology behind the National Links Trust’s first materiality assessment and stakeholder survey, and how we used the UN SDG framework to prioritize NLT’s current and future sustainable development programs in Washington, D.C.
USGA “Deacon” Maps Golfer Traffic and Guides Resource Management
USGA Deacon can help golf courses provide better golfer experiences while at significantly lower costs to the bottom line and the environment.
Sustainability Spotlight: The 122nd U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
The U.S. Open is America’s oldest golf championship and operated by America’s oldest governing golf body, the United States Golf Association. It is usually one of, if not THE, toughest tests of golf each year and features 156 of the best golf professionals and amateurs in the world. For our next installment in our Sustainability Spotlight series, we examine America’s national golf championship from our Driving the Green perspective and shed some light on the great things going on behind the scenes at this year’s tournament as well as some of the amazing golf history that has taken place at the host golf course.
Sustainability Certification Series: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
The GRI Standards are internationally recognized as the leading guide for sustainability reporting. They require rigorous and comprehensive disclosures to yield a host of external and internal benefits to organizations reporting on their social and environmental impacts.