Consuming disproportionately-vast quantities of water for the recreational pleasure of a small (typically elite) group of people, golf courses often become a first line of attack during droughts. But what if they could be appropriated in order to help mitigate the effects of a water shortage? The Playing with Fire: Golf takes a new Course of action Honorable Mention proposal is a proactive – incendiary, even – reimagining of the the role of golf courses in Southern California.

Playing with Fire: Golf takes a new Course of action, by Mark Faulkner

Fire has historically been a regular and natural presence in California’s environment. As the landscape becomes drier the threat to residents grows. Fire suppression can lead to greater fire catastrophe further down the line as fuels build up. The Wildland Urban Interface will continue to expand and California needs to plan for increased fire presence and to consider fire as a factor in design. 

Golf Courses have become a key recreation for residents across California. They are also water hogs that require high volumes of water to support lush green landscapes. With over a thousand golf courses across the state and each taking up about a hundred acres, the use of the water to irrigate golf course landscapes is not justified. The popularity of golf is not diminishing; golf courses need to adapt to the drier environment.

Golf courses are frequently located near residential development and are commonly built on undeveloped land, so their locations have strategic advantages. With this in mind, new potentials come into play. Prescribed burns are a common wildfire fighting tool: firefighters start a smaller fire that burns an area adjacent to an oncoming wildfire, and the burned land becomes a fuel break to the coming wildfire. The government of California calls for ‘Defensible Space’: a fuel break around the perimeter of a house consisting of plant removal within 30 feet and brush clearing within 100 feet. A golf course can provide such spacing around a community, not just a single home. This proposal calls to implement both of these strategies, buffers and burn zones for use within golf courses. that are repurposed for wildfire defense with minimal water usage. 

On this new course native grasses are planted over the fairway and burned when wildfire encroaches. The edges of the golf course are lined with a gravel ballast buffer zone with underground sprinklers to help prevent the prescribed burn from getting out of hand. Water required for landscaping is kept to a minimum at the putting greens, vastly reducing the water requirements. Golfers are provided an innovative new surface condition; burnt land and ash. 

This collective wildfire mitigation strategy approach creates a benefit. New developments can be designed in tandem with prescribed burn golf courses, creating dual performance landscapes.

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From the judges:

"100% On Board. Potentially amazing demonstration project." – GRNASFCK, experimental landscape studio

"I love it. Finally, I can take up golf without feeling guilty." - Jay Famiglietti, JPL Senior Water Scientist

Check out the image gallery for Playing with Fire's complete presentation.

Click here to see the other winners in both the Pragmatic and Speculative categories!