Golf’s old-school obsession with perfect, manicured fairways is starting to look straight-up ridiculous. The planet’s burning up, droughts are getting real, and yet some courses are still out here chugging water like it's unlimited, overusing chemicals. Not all golf courses are the problem, but the ones ignoring sustainability? Yeah, they’re the issue. The game doesn’t need picture-perfect greens—it needs real, playable spaces that work with nature, not against it. Time to rethink what a course should be.
Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword!
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As Al Gore and other climate leaders emphasize, the future depends on reducing waste, conserving resources, and rethinking old habits.
Meanwhile, urban golfers are making moves—smacking shots off concrete, asphalt, sand, snow, whatever. So why is mainstream golf still clinging to this fake green fantasy? And what’s it gonna take to break that mindset?
The green illusion
For decades, golf has sold this polished dream: flawless greens, fairways that look like carpets, not a single blade of grass out of place. That might've made sense in Scotland, where the game started, but now? It's just a flex—one that comes with a crazy environmental price tag. In hot, dry places, keeping courses alive means drowning them in water, chemicals, and cash. And for what?
Golf course next to Las Vegas, see the contrast between the green and the desert.
Golf’s water addiction
Some of the worst offenders are still acting like it’s business as usual:
Las Vegas, USA: Smack in the middle of the desert, yet golf courses are gulping down millions of gallons of water a day. Meanwhile, Lake Mead—the area’s key water source—keeps hitting historic lows. (Golf courses in Nevada use a lot of water, 236 million gallons annually in 2020. And, unlike water used indoors, this water cannot be reclaimed and sent back to Lake Mead)
Dubai, UAE: They’re literally building courses in the sand, then pumping in water 24/7 to keep them green. And a lot of that water? Comes from energy-sucking desalination plants that make the whole thing even worse.
Palm Springs, USA: This golf paradise has over 130 courses, each one draining the Coachella Valley’s underground water reserves at a brutal rate. That “forever” water source? It’s running out fast.
Courses that get it right
Not every course is stuck in the past. Some are proving you don’t have to force nature to play along:
Bandon Dunes, USA: They use native fescue grass that thrives with less water—because it just makes sense.
Tara Iti, New Zealand: Built to work with the land instead of trying to control it.
The Loop, USA: A reversible course in Michigan that cuts water use by embracing the natural terrain.
Lofoten Links, Norway: Rugged, raw, and all about that wild coastal energy—why fake it when the real thing is better?
Alice Springs Golf Club, Australia: Sitting right in the Aussie outback, this course embraces the desert landscape instead of fighting it.
Time to rethink golf
Urban golfers have already flipped the script. Street golf, beach golf, snow golf, abandoned-lot golf—it’s all game. So what’s stopping mainstream golf from evolving?
Change the Mindset: Teach golfers to respect different landscapes instead of forcing nature to fit a mold.
Redefine Status: Make sustainable courses the new flex—because real ballers don’t waste resources.
Regulate & Restrict: When water gets tight, courses will have to adjust whether they like it or not.
Embrace the Wild: Let nature shape the course. Perfection is overrated.
The future of the game
If golf doesn’t adapt, it’s gonna get left behind. The real ones already know: it ain’t about the grass—it’s about the skill, the creativity, and the culture. Time to let go of the green obsession and step into the future.