Golf Courses

Golf courses are a little harder to maintain organically because many golfers think that all golf courses should look like Augusta National Golf Club looks during the Masters Tournament every spring. Wanting to be like that golf course shrine is one of the biggest problems we have in getting more golf course to use natural organic techniques. It has created an aversion to weeds of any kind. On the other hand, there is no reason why all golf courses can't be maintained organically, especially with regard to fertilizer, and still have extremely high-quality turf.

Terra Verde Golf Course – Arlington, Texas

A total organic program without weeds can exist—it simply takes more maintenance and a higher budget to do it. Wanting to be like Augusta National is fine—it's just that most courses don't have similarly unlimited budgets. The start perfection of Augusta National is impressive, but it really doesn't make any sense for the average golf course. There are more costs to factor in than just the fertilizer and pest control products. The hidden costs to society exist in pollution, erosion, exposure of people to very toxic chemicals, health problems, and so on. What does make sense is to have more biodiverse turf, especially in the fairways and roughs, and to use a lot of wildflowers and native plants in out-of-play areas to reduce the overall costs, especially the cost of water. Water is the single largest cost in most golf course budgets.

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