POSTER: Golf and the Environment (download pdf)

Partnering with Golf Courses to Teach Best Management Practices

1. Place buildings and fairways within landscapes to protect critical areas from off-site water quality problems.
2. Protect and enhance wetlands to increase their benefits to humans and wildlife.
3. Establish or maintain buffer or riparian areas to protect the quality of small headwater streams.
4. Reduce erosion through an erosion and sediment control plan that includes construction phasing.
5. Manage runoff to prevent sediment from entering streams and wetlands.
6. Choose a cluster design for new residential subdivisions to preserve greenways and other natural amenities.
7. Use panoramic vistas and open spaces to provide a unique setting for many recreational activities.
8. Golf courses are an attractive way to reclaim landfills, abandoned mines and quarries.
9. Golfers have many opportunities to limit their impact on natural resources while enjoying a round of golf.
10. Timed irrigation, water reuse and native plants help conserve water and reduce operating costs.
11. Courses designed around natural features provide unique challenges and protect vital resources.
12. Constructed wetland systems receive and filter runoff from upland areas before releasing it to streams.
13. Reducing our dependence on pesticides protects animals living in streams and upland areas, thus maintaining biodiversity and improving water quality.
14. Applying fertilizers only as needed and at appropriate times helps reduce nutrient loss to receiving waters.
15. Conserving and reusing irrigation water helps maintain minimum instream flows for fish and other aquatic animals.
16. Sharing our environmental interests and concerns with other golfers is good stewardship.
17. Teach your maintenance crews how to use, store and properly dispose of hazardous materials.
18. Create or maintain forested buffer zones, riparian corridors or other vegetative practices to treat runoff.
19. Careful management keeps our lakes clean and healthy.
20. The wise use of lands and other resources benefits everyone – golfers, the community and all of nature.

As Golfers We Should

1. Recognize that golf courses are managed land areas that should complement the natural environment.
2. Respect designated environmentally sensitive areas within the course.
3. Accept the natural limitations and variations of turfgrass plants growing under conditions that protect environmental resources, for example brown patches, thinning, loss of color.
4. Support golf course management decisions that protect or enhance the environment and encourage the development of environmental conservation plans.
5. Support maintenance practices that protect wildlife and natural habitat.
6. Encourage maintenance practices that promote the long-range health of the turf and support environmental objectives. Such practices include aerification, reduced fertilization, limited play on sensitive turf areas, reduced watering, etc.
7. Commit to long-range conservation efforts, for example efficient water use, Integrated Plant Management, etc., on the golf course and at home.
8. Educate others about the benefits of environmentally responsible golf course management.
9. Support research and education programs that expand our understanding of the relationship between golf and the environment.
10. Take pride in our environmentally responsible courses.

POSTER Descriptions: to help you decide on what poster — here's a PDF that has a description for all 7 posters.

Below are a couple questions asked by customers that you might find useful:

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• Fedex/Kinkos: https://www.fedex.com/en-us/office.html
• Costco: https://www.costcophotocenter.com/
• Walmart: https://www.photoprints.app/
• Sams Club: https://photo.samsclub.com/home.aspx

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Open your PDF file in Adobe Acrobat. Go to FILE, click on Export To, choose Image, choose JPEG and save your JPEG file. Some photo centers will not accept PDF files, so you may need to convert to JPEG.