Successful Meetings - November 2008 - (Page 46) Golf Meetings > Green Your Golf bad shape when the golfer can go across the street to a manicured golf course. We know that golfers enjoy the fact that we’re trying to do more and use fewer products, but the reality is you still have to offer the conditions people expect,” he says. Some regulations have already begun to change how supervisors manage their courses, after some very public environmental disasters. The use of the insecticide diazinon was banned in 1988, due in part to a private course in Hempstead, NY, which overapplied the chemical and killed at least 700 Atlantic brant geese. But while the Environmental Protection Agency may swoop in after a tragedy with new rules and regulations, the lack of a clear standard on what makes a resort green, or not, could be holding back properties from fully pursuing new initiatives. Rather than looking for one central authority on green during site selection, planners may want to look into local or state guidelines for environmentally friendly properties. “The industry has been looking for a certification,” Mauna Lani’s Glickman says, “and what I’ve noticed, because there hasn’t been an umbrella organization that’s been meaningful to the industry, is that a lot of states are going to a model of developing their own green program.” uct that they say will work; but you have an investment to protect. You can’t let your greens die.” TEE’D OFF Without comprehensive legislation forcing courses to adopt green practices, Ward says it’s difficult for individual resorts to be competitive. Government action is “essential,” he says, but regulations need to be state- or province-wide or even national, as city and community laws could hurt properties that have to follow rules their competitors can avoid. “Everyone has to have the same tools available. There’s no point for us being in The Green Lining If courses act as environmental stewards, there is the opportunity for them to actually benefit nature. The vast expanses of green grass and trees act as “air conditioners” and produce large quantities of oxygen while cleansing the air of pollution. Turfgrass can trap and hold pollutants in place, acting as a catch basin for residential and industrial runoff, according to the GCSAA. Golf courses can also be built on environmentally damaged sites, like landfills. And golf course managers, who often cite their love of nature for their career choice, continue to push new and innovative soluBarton Creek Austin, TX tions to environmental problems. Products like biodegradable golf tees are already on the market, from companies like Eco Golf in Indiana. The biopolymer technology also helps to save “millions of trees” that are cut down to create the more than 2 billion golf tees used in the United States each year. At Austin’s Barton Creek Resort, Club & Spa (another of Golf Magazine’s top 10 green award winners), innovation in environmental responsibility isn’t a choice, it’s essential. The resort sits atop the Edwards Underground Aquifer Recharge Zone, the source of filtered drinking water at the property. “Anything that touches the ground could possibly end up in our drinking water,” say representatives, so the property employs an on site environmental assurance manager responsible for maintaining green initiatives. The water hazards on the golf courses act as rainwater capture stations for natural irrigation. The courses also use effluent water from the resort and surrounding residential communities, which is treated and stored on site. Areas around water bodies are designated “no treat zones,” and native vegetation is established at the perimeters of the ponds to act as a buffer against impurities. Instead of chemical algae treatment, ponds are cleaned by hand, and the turf areas actually benefit the environment by aiding in flood control and acting as a natural water filter. The innovative approach continues in pest and weed management, where golf course managers rely on daily scouting and a combination of “cultural, physical, biological, and chemical control strategies.” This includes environmentally sensitive fertilizers with slow-release organic products that are selected when available. NOVEMBER 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 46 successfulmeetings.com http://www.successfulmeetings.com
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