Golf Courses enhancing bio-diversity?

I must admit that I grew up with a strong anti-golf course prejudice. During the 7 year draught in California, my parents encouraged me to take fast showers (3 minutes max) and use small amounts of water for our garden. The presence of damp, green and pristine golf courses in my neighborhood seemed nothing less than water injustice.

While my Anti-Golf-Course stance has lessened (especially when I actually learned to play golf), I was surprised to discover that the Stockholm Resilience Centre has recently done a study of over 200 golf courses around the world, from the U.S. to Japan. Not only are many golf courses taking steps to stop using pesticides, but, often, golf courses enhance biodiversity and eco-system resilience. They can be designed and managed to support critical aspects of ecosystems such as pollination, natural pest control, and habitats for threatened species.

This is not to say that golf courses should be built on what is otherwise natural habitat - the researchers found that what mattered was what was there before the golf course came in. In urban areas, a new golf course would almost always enhance local bio-diversity. Not, perhaps, as much as a local community garden, but still, this is a good sign for the golfers out there.

And the next time an environmentalist like myself complains about golf courses, you can tell them that, really, golf course managers and conservationists should work together.