Golf courses on National Trust land

Golf courses provide a valuable recreational and, in some cases, financial resource on National Trust land. However, the siting and management of many courses compromise landscape and conservation objectives. They also reduce the scope for wider access. Measures are needed to reduce conflicts.

Guiding principles

1. The National Trust recognises the pleasure golf brings to many people. However, golf courses on Trust land generally compromise other Trust objectives.

2. Where other National Trust objectives are compromised, (a) conservation clauses should be included in leases and subject to regular review, (b) the Trust's management objectives and their implementation should be discussed with the club, and (c) in particularly important landscapes or habitats, existing courses should be closed or relocated where opportunities arise.

3. New golf courses on National Trust land will rarely be justified, given the availability of more suitable land elsewhere.

Good practice

Conservation clauses should limit/proscribe fertiliser use, herbicide use, close-cut areas.
Safe and enjoyable use of Rights of Way must be secured.
Course-specific management guidelines should be drawn up in collaboration with clubs where they do not already exist.
Tree planting should be planned to minimise its impact on the landscape and local hydrology. Native tree species should be chosen wherever possible.
Monitoring records should be requested from clubs as indicated below.
Detailed management guidance is listed in the reference material outlined below.
Alterations to existing courses should be subject to written authority from the Trust to ensure that damage and disturbance to conservation and recreational interests are avoided.

Monitoring suggestions

Records of course management and levels of use.

Trends

Rapid increase in demand following the golf boom in the late 1980s. 3.1 million participants in the United Kingdom aged over 16 (Sports Council, 1994), representing 7% of the population. 1,830 golf clubs (9-36 holes) in England (English Golf Union, 1997).

Possible impacts

Major change to the character and topography of the landscape, ie contouring, bunkers, water features, greens and associated buildings and infrastructure.
Implications for traffic generation, access and rights of way.
Loss of habitats due to new and unsympathetic course development.
Loss of habitats due to intensive greenkeeping, ie fertiliser and herbicide applications, fertiliser run-off and spray drift contaminating water features.
Close cutting of fairways impoverishes species-rich grasslands and damages heathland.
Large-scale insensitive tree planting can alter the local hydrology and compromise historic landscapes.
Irrigation management and the construction of irrigation ponds may affect water tables in valuable wetland.

Contacts and liaison

The National Golf Union
The National Golf Centre, The Broadway, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire LN10 6PU

Welsh Golfing Union
Catash, Newport, Gwent, NP6 1JQ

Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
Royal & Ancient Golf Club, St Andrews, Fife CY16 9JD

European Golf Association Ecology Unit
c/o Environmental Golf Services, 51 South Street, Dorking, Surrey RH4 2JX

References

Brennan, Dr A. M. (1996). Living Together - Golf & Nature in Partnership. English Golf Union, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire.

Centre for European Agricultural Studies Consultants (Wye) Ltd (1988). Nature Conservation and Golf Courses: A report on the feasibility, scope and audience of guidelines for managers and designers. Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough.

Countryside Commission (1993).Golf Courses in the Countryside CCP 438. Countryside Commission, Cheltenham.

European Golf Association (undated). An Environmental Management Programme for Golf Courses. European Golf Association.

Fordham, M., and Isles, J. (1987). Encouraging Wildlife on Golf Courses. London Wildlife Trust, London.

Nature Conservancy Council (1989). On Course Conservation: Managing Golf's Natural Heritage. Nature Conservancy Council, Peterborough.

Sports Council (1994). Sport in the Nineties - New Horizons. The Sports Council, London.

Stubbs, D. (1989). Courses for Wildlife. Greenkeeping Management.

Stubbs, D. (1996). An Environmental Strategy for Golf in Europe. European Golf Association Ecology Unit, Dorking, Surrey.