Efficient water use and management can be positively influenced by golf course design, according to ASGCA president Bruce Charlton.

"Experienced golf course architects bring a lot of knowledge to the table about how a golf course can be designed or renovated to use water efficiently and make sure that the water that is used is managed properly," said Charlton, president and chief design officer of Robert Trent Jones II. "This goes beyond things like using recycled water and looks at aspects like topographical characteristics, how water flows naturally and grass varieties." The recently published third edition of ASGCA's An Environmental Approach to Golf Course Development has explanations of design tenets used by members and case studies that illustrate examples of efficient water use practices.

Examples of ways design can influence water use and management include employing non-irrigated natural areas to reduce the amount of water consumed throughout the life of the golf course, and the incorporation of natural runoff patterns as well as wetlands to help capture and filter potential contaminants and allow for water to replenish aquifers.

Readers are invited to visit the ASGCA site for more information and to obtain a copy of the Environmental Approach to Golf Course Development report.

This article first appeared in issue 15 of Golf Course Architecture, published in January 2009.