Being an architect isn’t easy as you are supposed to excel at many, sometimes disparate, things. In theory, you have to be able to envision, connect, and then build eighteen holes of the sort that are playable for an eight to an eighty year old. You are supposed to be an expert with soils, grasses and irrigation systems not to mention land plans and local environmental issues. You also need to be a master communicator to those that will help do the in the dirt work. Throughout it all, you are supposed to work in the most cost efficient manner possible. The list goes on and on. At some point, it’s a bit silly to think that an architect can know and do it all for his client.
That’s where the Larkin Group comes in. According to its founder Owen Larkin:
“Our business mission is to help lead the golf industry in sustainable practices to build new courses, renovate existing ones and guide courses in using more environmentally benign systems that protect the land and those who spend time on a course or live adjacent to it. We will help our clients address the increasingly strict regulations on water and product use, and institute sustainable management practices that will allow those clients to stay in business as responsible neighbors.”
Be it better water practices or the use of composted fertilizers, the Larkin Group can advise ownership groups on a wide range of subjects. For instance, they were part of Gil Hanse’s winning Rio Olympic bid. In addition to sorting out the water supply issue, they are right now evaluating what turf will work best under Rio’s cloudy winter weather conditions when the Olympics are held there in August, 2016.
The key is sustainability. Though everyone trumpets it now, hindsight shows that not near enough was done during the course construction boom to illuminate how important sustainability is in protecting the game. By the time of the 2008 meltdown, a lot of damage had been done that could not be unwound quickly. We are all now mopping up that mess. Owen’s makes a great point when he writes that, “Golf got a double whammy with less player participation and more costly regulations.” How true, how true and course owners continue to flounder to this day trying to develop a model that works against the current economic and environmental backdrops.
From Owen’s perspective, sustainability ... “boils down to three things: the quality of the golf course, the economics of the business and the soundness of the management practices. You must pay attention to all of these to have a successful project.”That is straightforward enough to where who can argue? However, the key is in the delivery. This month’s Feature Interview touches on many of the issues (some of which are complex) that need to be addressed in order for a course/club to be on the path to sustainability.
Sadly, sometimes golf with its pesticides and chemicals is seen as a net negative in the neighborhood but folks like Owen are doing all they can to help show how golf properly done can be - and is - the net positive to the environment that you and I know it should/to be.
Cheers,