There are countless stories that are a mouse click away that slam golf and everything it is about, from how they allegedly waste water to poisoning the soil with pesticides and fertilizers to handling animals that root in the soil. The reality is few if any of those stories perpetrated by mainstream media are based in fact, and superintendents are far ahead of the curve when it comes to environmental stewardship. To that end, when it comes to communicating the sustainability efforts of a golf, the best choice to convey the message is in the mirror.
"For me, it's vitally important to show the world and our community that we are stewards of the land," said Paul Carter, CGCS at The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay in Harrison, Tennessee (at right). "We sit on 660 acres and we maintain 125 of that. Three-quarters of the property is the residence for the wildlife here. It's their home, we just come out here to play.
"We have to be conscious of what we do on the property and the only way to let people know what we're doing is to tell our story."
Stewardship is something Carter wears on his sleeve at Harrison Bay. The property has been certified in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf since 2008, and the course became known around the globe 12 years ago when a video camera perched atop a tree showed the parenting skills of bald eagles to viewers around the world.
Since then, visitors, many of them non-golfers, descend on Harrison Bay each winter to get a close-up view of the eagles in their natural habitat as well as the golf operation at work. The eagle cam will return next year after taking a year off to update the set up with new equipment.
"We have the Friends of Harrison Bay State Park who monitor our bluebird boxes, and every Tuesday after the eagles hatch we open the 11th hole for people to photograph and view the eagles," Carter said. "We do that for about three months, those are people who never play golf. They get to see us maintaining the golf course, and we stop and talk to them because we're spokesmen for the golf course. We try our best to put that out there by inviting the community on the golf course and see what we're doing.
"Being in front of people and telling our story is vitally important."
In Greenwich, Connecticut, Jim Pavonetti, CGCS, is a mouthpiece for Fairview Country Club as well as a handful of other private clubs in the town.
Earlier this year, Pavonetti was named a winner of the GCSAA Environmental Leaders in Golf Award at Fairview, which has been a certified Audubon property for 13 years. This year was the ninth time Pavonetti has been an ELGA winner since 2006. He submitted his work at Fairview for a sustainability award given by the Greenwich Sustainability.
Although he did not win the award, Pavonetti did not walk away empty handed.
"I didn't get it, but I got invited to be on the committee," Pavonetti said. "Now, I get to represent golf and the interests of eight private clubs in one town."
The committee includes a diverse cross section of Greenwich residents, including engineers, local leaders and concerned citizens.
"It's nice to have a voice," Pavonetti (at right) said. "And if they're going to pass an ordinance that would affect golf, I can try to change that or at least talk to them about it."
Pavonetti sees his place on the committee as an avenue to communicate what he and other superintendents in Connecticut do for the environment.
"This is me getting out of my comfort zone," he said. "This is the opposite of me, but I'm doing it, and when I speak, everyone stops talking and they listen to every word."
Indeed, others on the committee recognize Pavonetti's expertise. A woman on the committee who is committed to keeping natural grass fields throughout the town comes to him for advice as a turfgrass expert.
Among Pavonetti's goals while on the committee is to promote smart water use among non-golf constituencies.
"My focus is protecting water quality and water conservation," he said. "You can drive through my town or your town and see sprinklers running in every office park when it's raining. Golf courses aren't doing that. It's residents of the town are doing that."
Pavonetti says not to discount the importance of government outreach efforts.
"Some of the most important things in my New York and Connecticut days were to go lobby and sit with legislators, explain some of the bills that were coming up and how they were going to affect golf, and how those bills may or may not be based in science. Legislators are pressured by the public, or the media. If they approve a new pesticide, there are those who will turn it around with no education even though new products are 10 times safer than the old ones that are less desirable.
"Politicians promise voters, especially on Long Island, that they won't allow any more pesticides. That sounds great to a homeowner, but those decisions are not educated decisions."
That's why, as Harrison Bay's Carter says, it's best to look within to communicate what you do.
"Nobody tells your story better than you," Carter said. "So, don't let anyone else tell it for you."
