Managing the Turf of An Urban Golf Course: Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emission

Abstract

This study investigated energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission across various playing surfaces (e.g., greens, tees, fairways, and roughs) in an urban parkland golf course. The turfs of golf courses require frequent maintenance to ensure high aesthetic and play quality. Maintenance includes aeration, mowing, irrigation, and fertilization. The annual energy-based carbon footprint was found to be the highest for fairways, followed by greens, tees, and roughs. However, CO2 exchange in the grass was found to be the highest for roughs, followed by fairways and greens. The higher energy consumption in fairways might be attributed to intensive maintenance and its larger surface area. Higher values of CO2 exchange for roughs might be attributed to biomass as these areas of the course were mowed lesser than the other areas. The maintenance activities such as mowing, hollow tining, and irrigation were the most energy-demanding, while GHG emissions occurred primarily due to mowing, fertilizer application, grass clippings, and CO2 turfgrass exchange. Therefore, the strategies to minimize energy consumption and GHG emissions in golf courses include the use of electric-powered equipment and a reduction in the frequency of energy-demanding maintenance activities, including those that emit large quantities of CO2. Planting more shrubs and trees along the golf course might offset the emissions and thus, turn golf courses into a carbon sink for GHG emissions. However, sustaining a low carbon footprint is not always simple for golf courses as the expectations of golfers for aesthetics and play quality might need to be prioritized against environmental concerns.