Climate variability and water use on golf courses: optimization opportunities for a warmer future

ABSTRACT

Global freshwater resources are under ever-increasing pressure that is anticipated to be exacerbated by climate change. Increasing demands for water use will require tourism to improve and disclose its monitoring and reporting, particularly for water-intensive activities such as golf tourism. Using a sample of 129 courses from Ontario (Canada), this is the first study to examine golf course characteristics that influence water use variability (e.g. dominant soil type, ownership type, and age of course). By establishing “best in class” water use efficiency among common types of courses, potential water extraction savings of 35% are identified (or 6.75 billion litres annually). Importantly, the study also accounts for the influence of climate variability on water use by comparing a climatically normal season (for the 1981–2010 period) with an anomalously dry and warm season to examine the potential impact of future climate change on water use (i.e. reduced precipitation and higher temperatures). Average water use effectively almost doubles during an anomalously dry-warm season (increasing from 59.6 to 94.2 million litres), accentuating the importance of achieving potential water use efficiencies. In addition to best management practices, the need to reshape public perceptions of golf course aesthetics is also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Water
• golf
• tourism
• sustainability
• climate change
• management

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canada Research Chair program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. GEO is an UK not-for-profit organization. The GEO certified ecolabel “demonstrates that the golf venue is managed year round to high sustainability standards, with efficient resource use, community benefits, and responsible management” (GEO, 2015, p. 2). Retrieved from https://www.golfenvironment.org/assets/0000/6053/European_Tour_Green_Drive_Brochure.pdf.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daniel Scott

Daniel Scott is an university research chair and a professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. He has worked on the human dimensions of climate change for 20 years and been a contributing author and expert reviewer for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Third, Fourth, and Fifth Assessment Reports.

Michelle Rutty

Michelle Rutty is an assistant professor of sustainable recreation and tourism in the Department of Community Sustainability at the Michigan State University. Dr Rutty's research bridges social and natural scientific approaches to better understand the relationship between climate (change) and tourism.

Carly Peister

Carly Peister is a recent graduate of the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. Carly is a certified golf teaching professional and an irrigation efficiency consultant for Ontario golf clubs.