A sensible future for golf: naturalizing the golf course

In the field of Golf, which in addition we still find a very negative public opinion on what affects the environmental issue, this becomes even critical.

Adaptation to the budget, energy efficiency, social awareness of global warming and the need for rational use of water, open an opportunity to focus the maintenance of golf courses to naturalization (which perhaps never they had to leave).

We understand naturalizing to replace turfgrass areas with high demands for irrigation during the summer period, by native plants and vegetation, or by those best suited to the local climate, so that the golf courses stay adapted to the region where they are established.

The image of the Masters each year is fantastic, but it should not make any generalized trend that could be wrong, in the same way that the dishes of the best chefs in the world can be sublime, but are not actually the daily basis of the gastronomic culture of a region. It is true that every golf course has its own history and its image but must adapt the quality standard to the type of customer and the economy that sustains it.

Therefore, the right direction is by eliminating or restructuring of anything that might be accessory and ornamental. You have to decide which is the priority: A golf course is a sports field. Part of "idyllic garden" should be reserved for those locations where weather can afford it. We also have to understand that there may be a garden away from the "leafy, green and flowery" concept. This idea starts by reducing watering zones, at the same time than mowing areas and outrough areas.

• The main objectives to achieve are:
• Control and savings in water use, energy demand and in the fuels.
• Improving the main areas of the game: Greens, Approaches, Fairways and Tees.
• The economic sustainability of the business.
• Social and environmental "reconciliation" with ourselves and with the others not involved to the world of golf, with the proper use of natural resources.

A first step towards naturalization the golf course is the start of golf sustainability.