Lean & Green: Best GEM Practices

Over the last several years, environmental considerations in the management of golf courses have become increasingly important.  Sustainable procedures that eliminate potential impacts to air, land and water resources are a hot topic – and will continue to be for the near future.  What this means for golf managers is clear – a finely manicured playing surface is just not enough to claim success in the 21st century.

As further proof of the golf course environmental management (GEM) program’s dedication to “caring for the game of golf”, we are launching a new feature within Lean & Green, Best GEM Practices. These proven, sustainable golf course management practices and procedures are vital for today’s managers in their quest for a positive triple bottom line.  We will be highlighting several Best GEM Practices on specific aspects of course management in future columns.  In launching this new feature, we thought it would be good to start by sharing a few basic Best GEM Practices relevant to most every golf course management operation:

• If you need help with a particularly difficult issue, consider calling a fellow manager or superintendent for advice. Many problems are recurring, and your peers may have already encountered – and solved the one bothering you.
• Know your regulators. Personal relationships can be magical in solving, or even avoiding, environmental concerns at your course.
• Closely examine all uses or occurrences of water on your property. Water is the key element in environmental management.  Ensuring properly managed wash pads, creeks, ponds, irrigation systems, emergency eyewash stations and drinking water distribution systems is giant step in the right direction. Consider compiling a Water Resource Management Plan to attain the highest sustainability level possible.
• Empower your staff.  Implement integrated pest management by training your employees as scouts. You may be able to avoid expensive curative pesticide applications through active scouting.
• Talk to your customers.  Regular, spontaneous communication with players, members and management builds positive relationships and trust.
• Quantify your sustainability and share your successes. One of the best ways to do this is to compile a GEM Plan for your facility.  Become a leader in your area.  We can help.
• Be prepared – and willing – to share anything about your operation with your customers, employers and community. If you need to hide something you are doing at your course, you are in the wrong business.

As demonstrated nuggets of experience and insight, Best GEM Practices can reinforce your efforts to create and maintain a quality, playing surface for your customers. Aggressively employed, they will assist in establishing your facility as a sustainable and profitable community amenity worthy of emulation. If you have any quality management practices you would like to share, please send them along.  Spreading the good word is our primary mission.

Bushman is the director of Ecodesigns International, a golf course management consulting firm.  Contact him at ecodesigns@satx.rr.com.