Monday 3 October marks the start of Sustainable Golf Week. Hosted by the GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf. The week will throw a spotlight on the requirement for sustainability within golf as well as highlighting and celebrating achievements in the area and going on to promote what still needs to be done. Here we consider some of the key reasons why sustainability matters to golf. The message on the first day of Sustainable Golf Week is that we currently face, “Our Biggest Team Challenge” and this is why:
The Wider Picture
We now are very much more aware that the requirement to act on the environment and issues around sustainability is upon us now, rather than being a target for the future. In all areas of life, initiatives to promote sustainability must be put to the forefront.
By 2050 it’s estimated that as much as 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas, adding greater pressure to the land. The number of extreme heat days (over 90 degrees) in regions where golf is played is on the rise, as is the instance of droughts and water deficits.
At this point more than a million plant and animal species are considered threatened with extinction and there is continued pressure across the globe for regulation of the use of chemicals in urban and ecologically sensitive areas as well as public spaces and sports grounds. Golf is playing a leading role in considering how sport can be more sustainable.
Why is sustainability so important for Golf
There are now more than 38,000 golf courses in 206 countries across the world. They take up, roughly, a staggering 12,000 square miles of land. To put that in context, that’s around the size of Belgium, or the State of Maryland. These courses are played on by 66.6 million golfers. The scale of our sport demands that we take a proactive approach to maintaining our playing areas and the infrastructure that supports the game in a sustainable fashion.
Studies have shown that golf courses can support greater diversity and greater numbers of bird species than other urban green spaces. In towns and cities, golf…
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