Club Management - March/April 2008 - (Page 31)

Golf/Sports & Recreation Management By Charles D. Dorn, CCM Groundbreaking Project Measures Environmental Data for Golf Courses organization, The Environmental Institute for Golf and The Toro Foundation. The goal of this multiyear project (to be completed in 2009) is to collect information from superintendents on their courses and practices. The results of the project will be to: • Document environmental progress and determine the future direction of GCSAA’s environmental programming. • Identify key issues for potential research projects. • Respond to government inquiries, answer questions about environmental issues and promote the efforts superintendents make on their courses. • Provide a solid base for comments on proposed regulatory issues that may impact the golf industry. The ﬁrst phase of the project surveyed superintendents on golf course land use characteristics, and phases two, three and four focused on water use and conservation; fertilizer use; and pesticide use. More surveys are planned with possible focuses on general topics such as environmental practices, wildlife and habitat, energy use and waste management. “These surveys are, ﬁrst and foremost, to provide an accurate description of what a golf course is and what management practices are used on a golf course,” said Clark Throssell, Ph.D., GCSAA director of research. “A lot of people take shots at golf courses, and it’s been really hard for us to come back and address those concerns because we haven’t had the data well-managed golf course provides substantial community beneﬁts. Healthy turfgrass is an excellent ﬁlter that traps pollutants; trees and turfgrass on a golf course produce vast amounts of oxygen while cleansing the air of pollution and cooling the atmosphere; and golf courses provide community green spaces that offer not just recreational opportunities for people but key sanctuaries and habitat for wildlife. But one of the challenges in demonstrating golf’s relationship with the environment has been a lack of centralized and uniform data for the features, practices, inputs and outputs associated with golf courses. In 2006 the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America launched the Golf Course Environmental Proﬁle Project with funding from GCSAA’s philanthropic A Go to www.eifg.org/programs/GCRPfullreport.pdf for the complete Golf Course Environmental Proﬁle Project study, including narrative, graphs, charts and tables. MARCH/APRIL 2008 • 31 http://www.eifg.org/programs/GCRPfullreport.pdf http://www.eifg.org/programs/GCRPfullreport.pdf

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Club Management - March/April 2008

Club Management - March/April 2008 Contents President’s Message Board Governance Technology Human & Professional Resources 2008 CMAA President Peter Homberg: A Profile in Courage, Perserverance Welcome, CMAA 2008 Board of Directors Club Events: Bring Magic to Your Members Club Adopts 'Dependent Parent' Membership Policy Paving a Path to Success Groundbreaking Project Measures Environmental Data for Golf Courses Paradise Preserved HFTP Insight New Directions Global Outreach Products and Services Marketplace Advertiser Index/Advertisers.com Club Wrap

Club Management - March/April 2008

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