Anyone talking about the challenges of climate change for golf takes a look down – at the grass. Grass is the essence of this sport. Healthy grass is the foundation of a high quality playing surface, which keeps the customers coming.
Climate change is accompanied by increasingly extreme weather in many parts of Europe: sometimes there are long periods of drought, sometimes extremely heavy rainfall, then flooding again. Grass doesn’t particularly like any of this. Added to this are warmer winters and more humid air. All of this combined is not good for golf: no matter where you look, the challenge of guaranteeing a consistently good playing surface is becoming greater because the consequences of climate change also encourage the emergence of diseases on golf courses. The dollar spot fungus has kept the golf industry on tenterhooks in many countries over the past year.
At the same time as climate change, the authorities are tightening regulations: Water abstraction quantities are being reduced and the use of pesticides is being more strictly regulated. Grass, which is already on the defensive, needs different practices than those that Europe’s greenkeepers have used for decades.
Two European countries are particularly in the spotlight when it comes to adapting to climate change and reorienting grass selection and maintenance: Italy and France, two strong golfing nations that have a lot in common. Top-class sport is a top priority here and tourism plays an important role. This goes hand in hand with the need to deliver top quality playing surfaces. Cool-season grasses have prevailed in both countries for decades. Here and there, water shortages are a problem. In France, the use of pesticides could be completely banned because of the tightened Labbé law in 2022. “This was a wake-up call for everyone,” summarizes Rémy Dorbeau, President of the French Greenkeepers Association and one of the leading experts when it comes to the transformation process towards sustainable greenkeeping.
What unites him with Alessandro de Luca, Head of the Green Section of the Italian Golf Federation, is their belief in scientific test series. At Golf de Chantilly, where he worked as General Manager until 2025, Dorbeau tested the suitability of countless trial fields with a wide variety of grass mixtures Alessandro de Luca carried out an initial series of tests with Bermuda grass in Montecchia in 2010 and then set up a longer series of tests together with the University of Pisa. Bermuda grass has been tested on the greens at Golf de Montecchia since 2016.
‘Many other golf courses in northern Italy have since followed this example and this in turn has meant that the world of football is now also starting to use Bermuda grass,’ de Luca summarises with satisfaction. The training centres of Juventus Turin, Verona and FC Bologna now use it.
According to de Luca, the advantages are obvious at: water savings of 40 to 70 5, 30 to 80 % less fertiliser use, no need for pesticides, better playing quality and often better drainage.
In France, Dorbeau sees ‘Bermuda grass coming, especially on the fairways’, but points out that the future probably lies in customised grass mixtures for each individual golf club. “We have different soils in France, different climates. So we are talking about very specific requirements for the grass.” His advice to golf clubs is that the answer can also only be specific. ‘I would advise every greenkeeper to create their own test fields.’ In his opinion, further developed Tall Fescue varieties, which are significantly less susceptible to disease and also use less water, are part of the solution, as are Bermuda grasses.
The future of grass is exciting for Dorbeau. The openness to all sides also allows him to take a look at Zoysia grasses too, which are not uncommon on golf courses in Asia and Australia and are also highly salt-tolerant. In view of the fact that recycled water is also becoming more and more of an issue for the golf industry on golf courses in Central Europe, this is not an insignificant feature.
Anyone who talks to de Luca and Dorbeau will recognise: The topic of grass in golf has become a field for explorers. Climate change demands innovation from golf. Only those who are prepared to test new things will survive at the end.
