Brown is Green for Spain’s Eco-Golfers

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the average golf course uses the same amount of water annually as a town of twelve thousand people. As Spain has endured its worst drought in 60 years this summer, Paco Lopez, a golf teacher and environmentalist has opening the country's first golf course that uses no water at all.

The greens at the Quijorna Golf Club, situated twenty kilometers outside Madrid, may not be that “green” in color, but are certainly “green” in concept, compared to Spain’s other 300 or so other courses that are using up valuable water resources in a time of widespread shortages.

Lopez is promoting a new eco-golf concept that utilizes the natural local environment, rather than trying to recreate the links courses of Scotland. "You only have to look at the origins of golf to realize that it was played in natural environments," he said. "In a country like Spain, with such a dramatic lack of water, we are proposing a new and different way of doing things," he said. "The idea here is not just to enjoy the sport and take exercise but also to have contact with real nature and incorporate the idea of sustainable development."

Currently a nine-hole course, the greens have been replaced with "browns". Greens may be added later, when the course is extended to 18 holes, but only these and the approaches would be watered - requiring between 5% and 10% of the water of a conventional course.

Reference:
Guardian Unlimited: http://www.guardian.co.uk/0,6961,,00.html