Golfpreserves and the Allied Golf Associations of Colorado initiated the Colorado Golf Carbon Project, a project that will develop a carbon emissions data collection system as well as document the carbon sequestered at participating golf courses. Research partners participating in the development of the project include Colorado State University and the USDA-ARS.
The Allied Golf Associations of Colorado includes the Colorado Golf Association, the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendent’s Association, the Colorado Section of the PGA, the Colorado Women’s Golf Association, the Colorado Chapter of the Club Managers of America and the Colorado Chapter of the Golf Course Owners Association and is supported by the USGA Green Section, Audubon International as well as the International Sustainability Council.
“The Colorado Carbon Project will provide valuable environmental information that will help shape the golf industry for the future as well as creating the funding for future research and development” says Golfpreserves’ Noble Hendrix.
The core objective of the Colorado Carbon Project is twofold:
• To develop a carbon emission and carbon sequestration data collection system for golf courses of Colorado. Results documenting the total carbon effects of sequestration and emissions will be published in a peer-reviewed journal publication.
• To document the sequestered carbon at Colorado’s golf facilities on an annual basis and create marketable offsets, thus creating a self-sustaining funding mechanism for this and future projects aimed at improving conservation and environmental stewardship at golf facilities.
The creation of the pilot project has been a joint effort spearheaded by the USGA Green Section, the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendent’s Association and Golfpreserves.
“Colorado’s allied golf associations believe that resources from a diverse group of stakeholders make the Colorado Golf Carbon Project an undertaking that will provide valuable environmental information,” says Joe McCleary of the Rocky Mountain Golf Course Superintendents Association. “There is no doubt that the information generated by this project will have a lasting impact on the management of energy, water and other environmental issues encountered by golf courses and other businesses in Colorado and throughout the United States.”
Mike Kenna, Ph.D., director of USGA Green Section Research, says the USGA supports the entities that are providing their time and expertise on the project.
“This is a great project and will provide important information at a time when climate change legislation is being addressed,” he says.
The Colorado Carbon Project is also supported by Audubon International and the International Sustainability Council.
Participation is ongoing and the project is expected to be initiated by January 1.