Having pioneered scientific research and discussion on carbon sequestration in turfgrass and other land on golf courses, through our sister company Carbon Par, we are industry-leaders in climate-focused golf course design and consulting. We track emissions from all new projects and provide our customers with a range of resources, helping them understand and reduce their emissions, as well as communicating their work to communities and stakeholders in and outside golf.

Winter turf damage, due to anaerobic conditions under ice encasement, is of critical concern for many golf course owners in northern latitudes. Design and related management can have a profound impact on the likelihood of such damage. 

Design is based on geographical information gathered using remote sensing technology, including drone photogrammetry and LIDAR, increasing quality and reducing travel time, cost and emissions. Travel is not required, only optional. 

Design data is tailored to GPS-connected construction machines, eliminating repeated on-the-ground staking, interpretation of plans and guesswork by contractors and machine operators. According to our findings since we first implemented this technology in 2018, machine hours can be reduced by as much as 25%, contributing significantly to savings in project time and cost.

For more than twenty years, a vast majority of our design work has included other land uses besides golf, such as paths for general outdoor activities, horse riding, cross-country skiing and fishing, mixing innovation with safety considerations. This breaks down barriers between golfers and other stakeholders, encourages more acceptance by others, and sometimes creates new revenue streams, such as by encouraging better use of the clubhouse by people who do not play golf.

Combining new ball launch monitoring technology and aerospace engineering, we can assess safety risk from errant golf shots and intelligently minimize mowing, irrigation and fertilizer footprints by applying our own extensive golf shot database to any combination of wind, temperature, altitude, topography and golfer demographics.

Golf simulators are not only changing the way we think about practice, play and elite training. They can also change how we use land and resources. For example, the driving range landing area can sometimes be used as a short course. Meanwhile, practice-thirsty players can use simulators that are also revenue generators during winter. Our golf shot prediction technology demands that we know a lot about golf simulators. This is knowledge we can share. 

Many nine hole golf courses have a hidden ability to expand to twelve holes. Interestingly, this investment in a 33% increase in the number of holes can sometimes double the number of tee times, with fewer 1st tee restarts and more evening play. This is among the insights gathered from the start of the Why-18-holes project in 2008.  This was jointly announced by Edwin Roald and the USGA at its Innovation Symposium in Tokyo in 2019.

The recent and ongoing emergence of robotic mowers has introduced new opportunities for golf course design to better meet the needs of the golfer and course owner. This includes consideration to the area size ratio between fairway and mown rough, slopes, machine turning space, charging stations’ energy sources etc. 

Pace of play is a constant concern. Understandably, much effort has focused on encouraging and educating the players themselves. On the other hand, golf course design and management is perhaps equally important. By using known principles, such as the Queueing theory, the flow of play can be improved with quick and easy changes in golf course setup. This can produce more tee times and happy golfers.