Interest in golf and golf course developments has increased considerably in
recent years. The reason for this growth is threefold: babyboomers are now making
golf the game of choice; women, who in the past were only allowed to play
at restricted times or even banned entirely, can now play at almost any time, and
presently account for approximately 50 percent (once only 10 percent) of all new
golfers; and young people are beginning to take a keen interest in the game.
Today, about 200,000 golfers are playing on approximately 85 golfing facilities
within the Lower Mainland. By 2011, it is estimated that 318,000 golfers will be
playing on 119 golf courses. With a projected demand of an additional 34 golf
courses over the next 15 years, locating suitable golf course development sites may
be difficult, as local and provincial authorities are cautious about these 150 acre
land uses that cause many land use and environmental conflicts.
Golf course developers are commonly confronted with seven main
concerns from the public and local government when a new development is
proposed. The most heavily scrutinized of these concerns is the loss of agricultural
land, the loss of wildlife habitat, and the amounts of chemicals used on golf
courses. These are followed by increased water consumption levels, errant golf
balls causing injury or damage, unwanted urban growth following these
recreational developments, and lost recreational opportunities to non-golfers in the
community. To varying degrees, these concerns can stall the golf course planning
process, or even cause a municipality to reject an application.
The golf course concerns were assessed in this thesis to discern how
significant the issues are, and how planners and developers throughout North
America are addressing them. The analysis is based on information gathered from
public meetings, interviews, municipal planning reports, a general literature review
and a case study. The result of the analysis is a set of planning guidelines designed
to promote better golf courses. If the planning guidelines outlined in this thesis are
followed, future and existing courses can become functional, environmentally
sensitive and aesthetic land uses, characterized by:
• sites that do not conflict with an Official Community Plan;
• land fill sites reclaimed into a working recreational land use with native
vegetation and wildlife;
• chemical turf care management plans;
• comprehensive construction plans to protect against erosion and plant
damage;
• protection zones for sensitive on-site habitats;
• mixtures of native turf grass, plants, shrubs, and trees within the site;
• nearby secondary sewage treatment plant to provide effluent for irrigation;
• drainage systems that feed excess water into retention ponds for re-use;
• designs that provide park and recreation space (where feasible) within the
site;
• proper setbacks or buffering spaces between the playing areas and nearby
housing (where applicable);
• multi-teed target-style golf course design layout for all skill levels.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/5756 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Watson, J. Stephen |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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