Justin Timberlake and his Mirimichi golf course in Memphis are getting a lot of ink in recent days since JT unveiled the $16 million Green makeover that made his course the first in the United States to be designated an Audobon International Classic Sanctuary.  That designation means that Mirimichi display elements of outstanding "wildlife conservation, habitat rehabilitation and enhancement, water conservation, and water quality protection."  As Fast Company writes, Timberlake is hoping to have all buildings at Mirimichi receive the highest LEED certification for Green building efficiency by 2011.

Golf has long been critcized as a sport that does more harm than good to the environment.  With the tally of American golf courses that are classified as AICSs now at one, what does Mirimichi say about the rest of the golf world? 

Golf courses are often designed these days more by the claws of a tractor than by a designer's imaginative use of existing land.  Following the golden age of course design prior to World War II, golf course design and architecture shifted to place heavy emphasis on moving a lot of earth to shape land to fit a proper course.  In the era of Alister Mackenzie, the equipment was not available to do so readily.  Moving earth was not much of an option for him.  The shovel is pretty inefficient.

Non-native plants are planted at a host of courses, creating negative ecological conditions for plant and animal life.  Trees are cut down instead of transplanted.  Grasses are generally not native to the ecosystem of the course, requiring extra money , grass, and fertilizer to maintain.  That fertilizer is usually not environmentally friendly and is included in runoff from rainstorms that pollutes area tributaries and waterways - eventually resulting in algae bloom and killing animal life.

And don't forget all that water.  At year end 2008, the National Golf Federation said there were 15,979 courses in the United States that cover around 1,504,210 acres of land.  80% of that irrigated land.  Each day, American golf courses use 2.08 billion gallons of water to maintain that green we love so much.  Among the five major water sources used to irrigate that land, only 12% of US courses use recycled or recaptured water.  When asked why that total is so little, the majority response from course superintendents was that there was no source for recycled water even available to them.  Another 30%, though, showed ignorance of the issue is saying that other available sources were more than adequate for them to entertain using recycled water.

What is that water used to do?  Well, here may be the most troubling statistic.  Of the 80.7 irrigated acres on the average American golf course, almost 42% of the land irrigated is rough.  Rough.  The stuff that could just be left to grow on its own.  Meanwhile, putting surface acreage makes up just 4.6%.

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America conducted its first survey in 2006 - called Property Profile and Environmental Stewardship of Golf Courses - that began to catalog environmentally friendly course maintenance processes.

The news in the reports about improved environmental practices is somewhat encouraging given where golf has been as an environmental steward.  45% of courses are responding by adjusting their fertilizing practices.  69% are keeping turf drier than they did in the past.  One-fifth of course superintendents say they are watering fewer acres.

On the downside, just 7% of courses have their irrigation systems audited by a professional.  Only 15% of courses are switching grass and plants to those that are more tolerant of average rainfall totals in that part of the country.  A single percent of courses use soil sensors in conjunction with irrigation systems to better identify when grass needs water.

Bottom line is that Mirimichi represents 0.00625% of all American golf courses.  Other courses are recognized by the Audobon society with a Gold Seal, but fall short of Mirimichi's accomplishment.  A course in construction now - Isla Viveros in Panama, which we have profiled - is looking to go all green.  Still, the industry has been slow, if not unresponsive, to many environmental challenges that we impose on the planet by playing the game we love. 

Meanwhile, there is growing sentiment that golf courses should be more environmentally friendly.  A 2007 Golf Digest survey suggests that 41% of golfers think that "a golf course should only be enough to keep the grass alive, not make it green and lush."  The number should be higher, but it is a start.

There are almost 16,000 courses in the United States that could follow the LEED of Mirimichi.  It will not happen overnight.  The golf industry, course owners, and superintendents have to work together to make serious investments in their courses to ensure more sustainable course ecology.  Golfers have to care enough about the environment to encourage the kind of stewardship necessary to make golf a greener sport.

Perhaps a final statistic will help start the conversation.  Sin City - Las Vegas - covers 150,000 acres of what should be pure desert with two feet of water drawn from the Colorado River to irrigate its courses.  That is the same acreage of the wetlands of the Colorado River - receiving just 0.1% of the water it used to get.  Perhaps Las Vegas is the Garden of Eden, but it is not the only garden that needs water.