The Natural Resources of Golf: A Natural Resources Curriculum Utilizing Ecological-Based Golf Course Management.

THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF GOLF A NATURAL RESOURCES CURRICULUM UTILIZING ECOLOGICAL-BASED GOLF COURSE MANAGEMENT -Abstract- There is widespread perception that golf courses are vast expanses of grassland that consume a disproportionate amount of non-renewable and natural resources for any benefit they might provide. Quantitative assessments of the natural capital of the golf course landscape reveals significant contribution toward the ecosystems services required for human existence. The incongruity between perception and assessed value could lead to land-use decisions that unknowingly compromise the ecosystem value afforded if a golf landscape was eliminated and furthermore dismisses the value a golf course could provide in utilizing and improving the quality and services of marginal land. Consequently, a comprehensive effort to improve the public understanding of golfÕs natural capital is required. A curriculum development project was initiated at Cornell University that identified golf courses in the United States that voluntarily aspire to the highest level of environmental management that maximizes ecosystems services through ecologically based management of the natural capital. The newly published national Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resource (AFNR) content standards provided the lens through which a collection of case studies was created. These case studies were developed as student centered approaches to content delivery that incorporate assessments as well as diversified projects and laboratories that will expose students to golf courses and the ecosystem services they provide. Each case study highlights a particular management strategy or construction method as implemented to protect the natural capital possessed by the course, which aligns to student learning objectives outlined within the Natural Resources pathway of the national AFNR content standards.