Episode Summary:  This episode is an excerpt from a past episode on Golf Courses and Climate change

In this episode, we discuss Golf Courses and the issues that arise from their construction and maintenance, as well as having a conversation with Carbon Almanac Contributors Tania Marian, Olabanji Stephen and Sam Schuffenecker, a keen and talented Golfer.

Tania, Olabanji and Sam discussed how maintenance and care of golf courses pose environmental problems, how golf clubs are responding to this and what further steps can be taken.  

Click here to listen to the full episode on Golf Courses

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You can find out more on pages 202, 210 and 234 of the Carbon Almanac and on the website you can tap the footnotes link and type in 218, 108, 254 and 105

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Featuring Carbon Almanac Contributors Tania Marien, Olabanji Stephen and Sam Schuffenecker

From Riverside, California, Tania is an independent environmental education professional and hosts and produces The Talaterra Podcast.  

Olabanji is from Lagos Nigeria, He’s a Creative Director and visual designer that helps brands gain clarity, deliver meaningful experiences and build tribes through Design & Strategy. He founded Jorney - a community designed to help people stay productive, accountable, and do their best work. 

Sam is from upstate New York and started playing golf following success as Hockey Player, she is involved in Project management and Podcasting.

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.

And I think when people talk about the environmental impact of golf courses,

it's many things water use is top of mind.

Uh, the amount we mow and manicure the space and the

natural habitats that we destroy.

And then the positive aspect of a golf course is if the land is taken care

of, it can actually sequester carbon and yeah, and I believe it's wet lands.

Sequester a lot of carbon as well.

So yeah, it's all about a balance.

And I don't know if one of you wanna talk about it, but I learned that in Iceland,

they're actually measuring the carbon.

Output whether carbon negative or carbon positive, every

single golf course in Iceland.

I mean, that's really great.

And, and I think that's an answer to leaky question, and I think

you answered both both questions.

I mean, the first being loans are really bad for the environment.

So, I mean, leak is wondering what good will, um, the golf course be.

Lawns are bad for the environment, but then the lesser, the mowing, the more,

um, carbon the lawns can sequester, which is really great considering actually

that we need all we can get right now.

I think the final thing we need to talk about here is can, can

we actually play on brown lawns?

Is that possible or is it boring for golfers?

I don't think it's boring.

No, you can definitely.

I mean, I don't know if this is because we don't let it happen.

I've never played on a hundred percent brown lawn area.

There are patches here and there, uh, due to water stress.

And I know in California it's way different.

And I, I, uh, haven't really, I've played in California once and I

definitely prefer like when you're in.

California, you kind of wanna experience California and the desert.

Uh, I played in, uh, Palm Springs and like the desert atmosphere was

something that I was there to experience.

So to me, you know, I don't expect the lush rough and fairway.

And plus your ball goes farther.

When it's, when it's dry like that.

Yeah, for me, the action point here is really just have the conversation.

I mean, I've learned a lot from having this conversation with you and, and Tanya.

So my take home here is, is, I mean, talk about this more and, and I think

we should probably do this again, cause we need to talk about this more.

Especially with people in the golfing community.

Yeah.

And, and Tanya, what, what would be your, your action point?

I mean, what would you say about this at the moment?

Water is top of mind for me here, living in California.

I don't wanna keep harping on water, but that's . Yeah, that is just where it's at.

For me, that is what's in front of my face.

And, and, you know, one of the things that the article mentioned

yesterday was that golf courses who, you know, that are using.

Recycled waste water are.

Um, falling under the restrictions, you know, the changes they don't

need to make quite the changes, but everyone is being tracked.

These large landscape areas, they're being monitored, um, to come up

with some alternative plan because homeowners now in certain parts of

the state can only water twice a week.

And the large landscape areas like a golf course can come up with another

plan and also, and added to that.

They need to reduce their water usage.

By 5%, you know, compared to their historical uses.

But the folks, the courses that use wastewater recycled wastewater

don't have to at this point, uh, but you know, come September.

Things may change more if changes aren't made between now and September.

So the water district says, and the state says, so what

do, what I take away from this?

I think that there, there needs to be a lot of work, a lot of

fine balance between recreation and natural resource management.

I think we need to have more different conversations.

and kind of take conversations, uh, where we've never taken them,

regardless of the sport, the activity, you know, it could be, you know,

single track, mountain biking.

It could be, you know, the golf of course, you know, fishing and hiking and yeah.

And all of that, I know again, because of the water issue.

Uh, a trail in Joshua tree, national park that's been closed

because of, um, the big horn sheep.

And they wanna just reserve that space and whatever water happens to be there for the

sheep and keep the people out of there.

So, yeah, there's lots to consider.

It's not, it's not quite an easy decision cuz there's so many stakeholders involved.

Yeah, they are.

Uh, Tanya, uh, what you said about recycled water is one of the, so.

And so I just wanna bring that lay.

A lot of other golf courses are looking at the parts of the golf course that

they're managing actively managing.

Like you said, like I've seen examples of some golf courses who aren't managing

every square inch of the driving range.

For instance, they're just putting targets out there and reducing water.

So there are solutions out there that we need to look at.

Um, . And the other thing that I think makes golf courses, an opportunity

to learn from is that there's really science, uh, and measurement and

data that could be used to learn how moisture can be retained and, and

used better throughout a golf course.

So I hope to see more of that in the future as.

All right.

Sounds great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sam.

Wonderful.

And we'll chat next time, Sam, what do you think the response of players

will be when really widespread changes are gonna happen on golf courses

before environmental reasons, you know, natural resource management.

Do you think there'll be more resistance or will people just go along with it,

especially, you know, given the fact that, um, already maintaining the course

is part of the practice, you know, with the, the seeds in the back of the

courts and a back of the cart and re uh, repairing divots and that type of a thing.

I think what I'm noticing is, I mean, before two years ago, and the start of

the COVID pandemic golf was on a decline.

, uh, it, it picked up picked back up again because people were looking for

something to do outdoors, but I think it needs to attract younger players.

And I think, and hope that the younger players will demand more

of a sustainable track to play on.

So I think it'll be acceptable, but also I think there's so

much opportunity to leverage.

The research and the data that we can look at to make golf courses more sustainable.

So we don't run into these problems in the first place.

I mean, that's my, that's my vision of, uh, a carbon, uh, beyond sustainable.

I heard on a podcast, the beyond sustainable golf course, that's

actually adding to the environment instead of taking away from it.

That's where I hope we can get.

And, and then water restric.

Wouldn't wouldn't be such a, such an issue.

Yeah.

And, and you know where horses are located.

There's especially out here.

There's so much urban.

Space.

And they're huge, you know, there's homes built right

around them and a lot of cases.

Yeah.

So I, I wonder myself how, how this will play out.

Cause some courses are built with the intention of keeping a natural landscape,

as you've said, and others are not, you know, they're, they're really part

the draw for a housing development.

And I don't know how.

Fix those cause that, you know, because then there's issues of the

homeowners and what they, what they want and the HOA and, and all that.

Right.

And I'll, there's so many layers of complex.

Yes.

That's a tough one.

I don't know if I have an answer for that in, in general, I feel like

people like me will be more forgiving, but I don't know how many people

like me there are out there, so,

I think it's been amazing having this conversation with M and Tanya.

I had such a great time and I mean, in summary here, it's, it's

about sustainable management.

So if we keep talking about sustainable management, drip by drip in bits, then

we can start making the change that.

That we need.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, thank you both for having this conversation

to reduce my carbon footprint.

I print, uh, I firstly.

Try to consume less in general, in my life, less plastic, less everything,

especially one time disposable things I don't want to consume or plastic bags.

I don't want to consume.

Plus I'm biking almost every day and I try to slow down my.

Actually life in general.

And besides I am also spear fishing, I, I try not to buy any

fish or anything from the market.

So I try to also produce as much as possible even in, in our balcony.

But this is marginal actually to tell you the truth and what else?

The, the most important I keep thinking is the biking actually.

So I try to, uh, use less gas.

In my life in general, and I try to live on the biking or walking on food, this

kind of more slower life in general.

I prefer, and I believe, and lastly, I also try to, uh, pay attention

to the clinic products at home.

Uh, I try to consume less, uh, harmful products.

To clean home or other things.

I try to make sure that I try to make, uh, make best products,

produ, uh, consume best products.

Uh, good for environment.

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