Introduction
With nearly 37,000 acres of land devoted to golf courses in Virginia, golf courses provide abundant recreational opportunities to the state’s citizens and tourists, as well as valuable open space. Often located within large population centers such as Northern Virginia, Richmond, and the Hampton Roads areas, golf courses provide advantages over other types of development, such as habitat for birds and other wildlife, absorption of stormwater and its potential pollutants, oxygen from photosynthesis, and the cooling effect of evapotranspiration (ET).
Because 70% of the state’s golf courses are located within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, protection of water quality is of particular importance in the design, construction, and management of golf courses. The golf industry also seeks to protect water quality, conserve water, and provide habitat in order to enhance the environment on and near golf courses. The use of best management practices (BMPs) helps to achieve these goals, not only within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, but also statewide.
The guidance within the 2nd edition of Environmental Best Management Practices for Virginia’s Golf Courses was developed by the Virginia Golf Course Superintendents Association (VGCSA) in cooperation with representatives of Virginia Tech and Virginia governmental agencies. These BMPs emphasize water quality protection and water conservation and have been specifically adapted for golf courses in Virginia using current research and golf course superintendents’ experiences in implementing BMPs, in accordance with state and federal regulations.
Virginia’s golf course superintendents are cooperating to develop and implement BMPs adapted specifically to Virginia’s climate and environment. In addition to adherence to the state’s nutrient management regulations, the widespread adoption of these BMPs will result in lower nutrient loading to waterways, decreased pesticide usage and runoff, and improved water conservation. Furthermore, the voluntary adoption of these BMPs will help to achieve total maximum daily load (TMDL) goals established by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for the Chesapeake Bay. TMDLs define the amount of a given pollutant that a body of water can accept and still meet water quality standards.
Best Management Practices
An ecosystem is a complex set of relationships among the living resources, habitats, and residents of an area, including plants, trees, animals, microorganisms, water, soil, and people. Golf courses are one type of ecosystem that can be effectively managed to sustain a healthy environment for all of the ecosystem inhabitants. Management activities can protect and enhance the ecosystem, while other practices may have negative impacts. For example, the use of vegetative buffers near surface waters can remove nutrients from stormwater runoff and thereby improve water quality. Conversely, poor vegetative cover on a slope can result in soil erosion as well as airborne dust, leading to declines in water and air quality on and around the golf course.
Pollution Prevention
Best management practices reduce the potential for sedimentation, runoff, leaching, and drift –the mechanisms that can transport contaminants and impact water quality. For example, bare ground is much more likely to erode than turf. Therefore, following grow-in BMPs during course construction or renovation to quickly establish dense turf ground cover helps minimize erosion potential. Maintaining vegetated areas, such as filter strips and buffers, to slow down stormwater or excess irrigation allows infiltration and uptake and is another key BMP. Pesticide BMPs help superintendents follow state and federal regulations related to the storage, handling, transport, and use of pesticides, preventing point source pollution and minimizing the potential for nonpoint source pollution from these chemicals.
Understanding site characteristics is another key to preventing pollution. For example, steep slopes are more prone to runoff. Areas of the state that have a shallow water table are more prone to leaching.
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Water Conservation
Urbanization and severe droughts have reduced the supply of affordable and plentiful fresh water for irrigation in Virginia. Therefore, economic, social, and environmental pressures dictate that water is used wisely on Virginia golf courses. Conserving water begins with planning and irrigation system design to ensure that the golf courses do not burden public water supplies. Reducing water needs is one option for conserving water. New and existing golf courses can make an effort to convert out-of-play areas from irrigated, mowed turf to naturalized zones (tertiary management areas) that conserve water while attracting wildlife and enhancing aesthetics. Proper irrigation scheduling, careful selection of turfgrass species, and incorporation of cultural practices that increase the water holding capacity of soil are addressed through these BMPs, as well as considerations in the design, construction, and maintenance of irrigation systems.This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation. This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation.This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation.
Protecting Habitat
Golf courses can provide high quality habitat to a large and diverse population of birds, mammals, and other wildlife. These contributions are particularly important in densely populated urban areas, where golf courses can provide habitat and serve as refuges and movement corridors for wildlife in an otherwise fragmented landscape. Protecting ecosystem functions and air, water, and soil quality helps to protect wildlife habitat. In addition, wildlife habitat on golf courses can be enhanced through design features and considerations in maintenance operations.
The BMP recommendations in this publication protect ecosystem functions and therefore wildlife habitat. In addition, a number of golf courses in the state are certified through the Audubon International Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, a program based on site-specific enhancement of natural areas and wildlife habitats.
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Pollinators
Protecting bees and other pollinators is important to the sustainability of agriculture. Minimizing the impact of pesticides on bees, other pollinators, and beneficial arthropods is addressed in this document in two ways: providing specific guidance for pesticide applicators and promoting the use of integrated pest management (IPM) methods to reduce pesticide usage and minimize the potential of exposure. Superintendents can also directly support healthy pollinator populations by providing and enhancing habitat for pollinator species and by supplying food sources and nesting sites and materials.This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation. This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation.This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation.
Individual Facility BMPs
When golf courses adopt BMPs, they improve not only the environment, but also the quality of the golf course – benefits that encourage the voluntary adoption of BMPs. Specific incentives for Virginia golf courses to implement BMPs include the following:
- Reduced environmental impacts.
- Improved turf quality.
- Improved golf outing experiences.
- Improved worker safety.
- Efficient allocation of resources.
- Reduced maintenance expenditures.
- Recognition by club members and the community at large for environmental stewardship.
Because of limitations, such as budget, staff, clientele expectations, and management decisions, not all golf courses can achieve all of the best practices. Turf managers should understand that implementing BMPs will be a process that can be undertaken over time. Multiple approaches can be adopted to achieve the goals of the BMPs, such as reducing pesticide usage while maintaining turf health by implementing an integrated pest management program, using advanced technologies for precision pesticide applications, and/or spot-treating for small pest outbreaks.
In addition, planning for improvements over time and making even small changes that meet the goals of BMPs can be achieved. For example, while a sophisticated washwater recycling system may be too expensive for many facilities, blowing clippings off mowers onto a grass surface is easily achieved and markedly reduces the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus in clippings that ends up in washwater.
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Conclusion
This document was developed using the latest science-based information and sources. This resource is intended to be a living document. The Virginia BMP steering committee intends to review this information periodically. Therefore, the latest version of this document will be posted on the new companion website (address TBA). At the time of publication, the information was the most recent available. Some sources are updated regularly, and the reader should try to identify the latest version. In addition, regulations may change, and the reader should identify any changes since the publication date. This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation. This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation.This is the area to paste text. All section headlines are already linked up to the left side navigation.
