By Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA – Lawrence Golf Design
Golf course maintenance is evolving fast and sustainability is no longer just a talking point; it’s a practical necessity. Across the Southeastern United States, clubs are rethinking how design and renovation decisions directly impact water use, chemical inputs, and long-term course health.
At Lawrence Golf Design, sustainability is not an afterthought. For Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA, every project integrates design strategies that reduce environmental impact while improving playability and aesthetics.
The truth is simple: sustainable design is also smart business. Courses that use less water and fewer inputs are more resilient, more affordable to maintain, and more enjoyable to play.
Water management begins with shaping the land. By regrading fairways and greens to move and capture water more efficiently, architects can drastically reduce the need for supplemental irrigation.
A well-contoured golf course uses gravity and soil composition as allies. Runoff is directed toward low-maintenance native areas, while playable surfaces dry quickly after rain. The result: less standing water, healthier turf, and fewer disease outbreaks that require chemical treatment.
At Lawrence Golf Design, Jeff Lawrence emphasizes subtle shaping: natural forms that blend into the landscape while optimizing drainage. It’s a technique honed through projects in all climates, where water management defines course success.
Choosing the right turf species is one of the most powerful ways to lower maintenance inputs. In the Southeast, that often means converting older, thirsty grasses to modern Bermuda or Zoysia varieties that thrive in heat and need less irrigation and fertilizer.
During the Cougar Point Country Club renovation, Jeff Lawrence oversaw a full turf conversion to salt-tolerant turf suited to the coastal environment. The club immediately saw real, measurable sustainability benefits that also reduced operational costs.
Thoughtful renovation decisions like this deliver both environmental and economic results.
Every superintendent knows: bunkers are expensive to maintain, and their upkeep often requires significant sand replacement and chemical edging control. Sustainable course design minimizes unnecessary bunker square footage and uses modern liners and drainage systems to prevent washouts.
Jeff Lawrence’s designs, including work at GlenArbor Club in New York and The ACE Club in Pennsylvania, show how smart bunker strategy reduces both maintenance labor and chemical use. Better-placed bunkers improve strategy and aesthetics while lowering the environmental footprint.
Replacing rough areas and out-of-play turf with native vegetation is one of the most
effective ways to reduce inputs and support local ecosystems. Native grass zones require minimal irrigation and eliminate the need for fertilizers and pesticides.
Lawrence Golf Design often works with superintendents and agronomists to identify where naturalization can add visual depth without compromising playability. The approach not only saves resources but enhances the visual character of the course, creating a stronger sense of place that reflects each club’s regional identity.
From The Cliffs at Mountain Park in the foothills of South Carolina to the shores of the coastal region, these sustainable plantings are redefining what beautiful golf looks like in the Southeast.
Sustainability also comes from infrastructure. Modern irrigation systems with zone control and soil moisture sensors allow for precise water management.
A thoughtful renovation incorporates these systems from the ground up. Courses can reduce water useage compared to legacy systems, a huge operational saving in states like Florida and Georgia where water management regulations are tightening.
By designing courses with irrigation efficiency in mind, Lawrence Golf Design ensures that sustainability goals are met before the first drop of water hits the ground.
Course design has a direct impact on pesticide and fertilizer needs. Poor drainage, heavy shade, and compacted soils all create conditions for disease and chemical dependency.
Jeff Lawrence’s renovation philosophy emphasizes airflow, light exposure, and drainage to create resilient turf that can thrive naturally. By addressing design flaws that contribute to agronomic stress, LGD helps clubs cut chemical applications without sacrificing turf quality.
At Pine Lake Country Club, design adjustments reduced shaded turf zones and improved surface drainage, resulting in more consistent greens and fewer fungicide treatments. That’s sustainability in action, built directly into the architecture.
Courses that embrace sustainable renovation are seeing the benefits extend far beyond their budgets. Lower chemical and water use means healthier soils, fewer environmental risks, and stronger community relationships.
In an era when golfers and regulators alike value environmental stewardship, sustainable design isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the competitive advantage that defines the next generation of great golf courses.
The best golf courses are designed not just for today’s players, but for the future. In the Southeast, where rainfall patterns, temperatures, and regulations are changing, sustainability must be built into every design decision.
Lawrence Golf Design, led by Jeff Lawrence, ASGCA, continues to help private clubs, resorts, and communities design courses that conserve resources, reduce inputs, and remain visually stunning year-round. Thoughtful design creates sustainability — and sustainability ensures that great golf endures.