Amongst a host of other issues facing golf course superintendents and the golf industry these days is the negative stereotype that many people have about the golf industry. I would have to say that the majority of the population believes that golf courses are bad for the environment. Those who are involved with the industry, particluarly on the maintenance side know that this type of blanket misperception is not only wrong, it is detrimental to the good things we are doing.
As the growth of the game slows down with the aging baby boomers less able to play golf we must find new ways to attract younger generations to our courses. One of the problems with this being the fact that many younger people believe that playing golf is supporting a degradation of our environment.
Everyone who is employed in the golf industry needs to work together in an attempt to spread the good word about what golf courses do to benefit the environment. In general people do not realize that superintendents these days are using less pesticides than before and the ones being used are of lower toxicity. Water consumption is going down, fertilizer use is declining while organic fertilizer use is on the rise, turfgrass is a tremendous carbon sink with a fantastic ability to provide oxygen (better than trees).
As many of you may know I have been a regular contributor to Inside Golf magazine for about a year and have recently taken on a position as Associate Publisher. To do this I must not only continue to contribute articles but I must also collect articles about golf course maintenance, design, construction and environmental issues.
I am interested in hearing from any of you who would like to contribute an article to be published in the online magazine. If you would like to get your word out about the positives of golf courses please let me know and I will do my best to have your article posted to the Inside Golf website.
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