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Golf and Sustainability
Sustainable Development is central to public policy throughout the European Union. It embraces three dimensions: economics, environment and social aspects. Golf is relevant to all three. Golf represents an important sector in Europe:
ECONOMIC:
- 6000 golf courses and 6 million golfers Employing tens of thousands of people via facilities, developments, suppliers and manufacturers,
- Regional economies heavily reliant on golf tourism
- High turnover professional events such as the European Tour, Open Championship and Ryder Cup
SOCIAL:
- Popular and healthy sport and
- Recreation that can be enjoyed by men and women from childhood to old age
- Imbues principles of respect and sportsmanship
- Increasingly accessible to all
- Televised events attract global audiences of millions of people
During the 1990s the number of golf courses in Europe increased by 80%, and the number of golfers by 110% (source European Golf Report - Golf Research Group). Despite a general economic downturn in the early years of the 21st Century, experts predict continued strong growth in the European golf sector. Significant growth areas are anticipated in golf tourism, notably around the Mediterranean basin, and in Eastern Europe as the economies of the new EU member states expand.
However, golf does not exist in a vacuum. It cannot simply grow at will without any reference to the society, culture and environment within which it is situated. In Europe today, any major activity, be it agricultural, industrial, domestic or recreational, needs to be keenly attentive to environmental and social issues. Golf development is no exception. Indeed, such is the significance of these issues that the future success of the European golf sector will be greatly influenced by how well it responds to the challenges of environmental responsibility and sustainable development.
To people on the outside, it is easy to see golf courses as being overly large areas of land given over to the exclusive use of a privileged few. Add to this the evident use of large quantities of irrigation water and the perceived use of large quantities of artificial fertilisers and pesticides; it is not difficult to understand why so many people view golf as being environmentally and socially unfriendly. This perception is wrong but the sector needs to do much more to improve its environmental performance and put the facts before the public.
Public concern about the environment is now and will in future be increasingly backed up by legislation. The golf sector, like any other, is very much affected by environmental and health and safety legislation. This is being experienced in many parts of Europe through increasingly restrictive regulations on the use of chemicals and water, and protracted land use planning processes. In turn this is impacting on the cost of developing and managing golf courses, and on the playing quality of these courses. Therefore, in a very real way, environmental and social pressures are having an increasingly strong bearing on the securing of planning permissions for the development of new courses, and on the economic performance of the golf sector.
Golf has much to be proud of; there is plenty of evidence of the environmental benefits of well managed golf courses. There are numerous opportunities for improving environmental performance still further. Given sufficient commitment and openness, golf has the potential to become part of the solution to a sustainable future.
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