Q: Ace: I heard that the Keswick Hall golf course, bastion of the bourgeoisie (and better), was recently lauded for being environmentally sustainable. “Environmental” and “sustainable” are not the first two words that spring to mind when it comes to golf, so Ace me this: How can a golf course be “green” in more ways than one?—Rich Baffy
A: It’s true, Rich, that more often than not, golf courses suck water like vampires suck blood, and green their grass with quantities of pesticides that could de-bug small South American countries. Moreover, you’d think that those fortunate enough to pay their way through the golden gates of Keswick Hall would be thinking about more important things—like how foie gras compares to caviar—than the impact of their golf course on our natural landscape and wildlife.
But think again and move over Laura Ashley, ‘cause Peter McDonough, golf course superintendent at Keswick (and of no relation to internationally renowned green architect and Charlottesville resident, William McDonough), has gone above par when it comes to the greening of his green, Keswick Hall’s Arnold Palmer golf course. It took two years of work, but the course recently attained the status of “certified Audubon Cooperative sanctuary status”—one of only nine golf courses in the State and 411 golf courses internationally at that time to meet the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System’s stringent guidelines, according to Keswick Hall Public Relations Director Anne Hooff.
One of the ways McDonough meets these needs is through “airification,” or “punching holes in the grass,” since as McDonough says, “grass is no different from people, trees or animals: You need air to breathe.”
Another key component to his program is the limited use of pesticides based on an integrated pest management program that identifies the actual need for pesticides instead of “applying the products just because it’s the ‘time’ to apply them,” McDonough says. Moreover, for a different kind of (larger) pest control, he has kept 25 acres of “buffer zones” in which no fertilizers or pesticides are used around the perimeter of the golf course, or the natural streams that run through it.
But McDonough’s proactive approach to water management is what has garnered him the most recognition. He uses a computerized weather station attached to his computer irrigation system to compute heat and humidity. Combining those measurements with the average temperature tells you, as McDonough says, “whether you need five, 10, or no minutes of water.”
So whether you choose to take tea or tee off at Keswick Hall, your social conscience can rest assured: The gophers are dancing out there on the green with no Bill Murray in sight.