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The Greening of the Golf Greens

November 21, 2007 - PORTLAND -- Gene Pierotti walks toward a stream near the 17th fairway at Riverside Municipal Golf Course, and looks down at a wide strip of bushy grass that clearly hasn't been mowed all summer. Pierotti is the guy in charge of keeping the course beautiful, and he likes what he sees. Portland's popular municipal golf course has been expanding no-mow areas like this one as part of an effort to keep polluted runoff out of waterways and reduce impacts on the environment. Pierotti's grounds crew also is planting young trees and shrubs, limiting fertilizer and pesticide use and making improvements to prevent pollution from drips or spills while fueling maintenance vehicles.

"There's just an awareness now - it's the right thing to do," Pierotti said.

These days, all kinds of enterprises are touting their efforts to go green, shorthand for reducing environmental impacts. Now Riverside is one of a handful of public and private golf courses in southern Maine hoping to become some of the first courses in the state to be certified "green" through Audubon International's Cooperative Sanctuary Program. While many consumers may not be sure what to make of the green label, conservationists say the trend has opened a door to changes in industries that have not always made environmental protection a priority.

"We will work with anybody that is willing to work toward improving their environmental footprint," said Joellen Zeh, who reviews golf courses for Audubon and recently visited Riverside and other Maine courses.

"We find that a much more helpful way to move forward than telling people they're bad." Audubon International, which is not afliliated with the National Audubon Society or Maine Audubon, is a non-profit environmental education organization based in Selkirk, N.Y. It bas registered more than over 2,200 golf courses since its certification program began in 1991, according to Zeh.

There is only one Audubon certified golf course in Maine - Portland Country Club. Several others are now working toward certification: Riverside, Falmouth Country Club, Sable Oaks Golf Club in South Portland, Val Halla Golf and Recreation Center in Cumberland, Sunset Ridge Golf Course and Rivermeadow Golf Course in Westbrook. It can take a few years of gradual improvements to get certified. Riverside began last year and is already well on its way to meeting the standards, Zeh said. Registered golf courses pay annual dues of $200 to be in the program.

Some improvements such as planting trees or putting a roof over the fuel pump cost money, while others such as reducing pesticide use and mowed areas save money. Riverside and other nearby golf courses are getting financial help and technical support from conservation groups who see the effort as a way to protect and improve the Presumpscot River. The Casco Bay Estuary Project and Presumpscot River Watershed Coalition are using part of a $740,000 federal river-cleanup grant for the golf course program. Riverside is a key part of the effort because it sits on a 250-acre parcel of rolling bills directly next to the river, and the streams and ponds that serve as water hazards on tbe course drain directly into the Presumpscot.

Forrest Bell, an environmental consultant and a member of Presumpscot River Watch, said it's impossible to know what effect the golf courses have on the river because pollution comes from so many different sources. Golf courses, however, are considered a potential threat to nearby waterways because of runoff that carries nutrients from fertilizers and toxic chemicals from pesticides. Bell, who is a golfer, said he started thinking about those impacts about 12 years ago wben he found dead birds in a golf course pond at an out-of-state course.

"I actually started to feel guilty" about golfing, he said.

Bell is leading the effort to green Riverside and other golf courses, providing advice and steering grant money into tree planting and other projects. The golf courses provide the labor.

"I think it will catch on," Bell said.

He said he hopes the certification becomes as well-known in Maine as in Florida, where golf courses promote it as a way to attract golfers away from competitors that aren't certified. The efforts at Riverside seem to be saving as much money as they are costing, Pierotti said. He also thinks certification could make the course more attractive to some golfers.

"Given the recent increase in consumer consciousness about climate change, which kind of filters out to all things green, it's not surprising that firms are increasingly looking at these issues," said Nancy Artz, a marketing professor at tbe University of Southern Maine's Scbool of Business.

The efforts can shape a company's or industry's image, but may not directly generate more customers.

"All of the surveys have shown that consumers have an interest and a care in the environment, but whether they actually will do something about that is anotber story," Artz said.

A green label is seen more as a tie-breaker, something that tips the balance between companies or products when cost, convenience and other factors are equal, she said. Green claims can be confusing for consumers because tbere are no uniform standards, as there are for organic food labels or energy-efficient appllances, she said. A growing number of third-party certification agencies, such as Audubon International, are offering standards, although tbe quality of those programs can vary, too.

Consumers also have become wary of "greenwashing," which is the use of environment-friendly marketing claims to sell services and products that are anything but, Artz said. Golfers at Riverside last week sounded pleased about tbe changes. Susan Johnson, who was playing a round of golf with her son, said she always wonders about the effects of fertilizers and pesticides on golf courses when she plays. She doesn't use them on her own lawn and thinks reducing the use of chemicals, and planting buffers is a great idea.

"If each golf course did it, what a big impact it would have," she said.

Her son, meanwhile, said he's all right with the changes, as long as golf courses keep tbeir nice green fairways and putting greens.

"That's the whole point of golfing," Greg Johnson said, "the greenery and the scenery." "There's just an awareness now - it's the right thing to do."


SOURCE: KENNEBEC JOURNAL

DATE: 11-05-2007

Lakes:
Regions: Sebago


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