Core Ideas• A survey of land-use characteristics and environmental stewardship programs on US golf courses was conducted in 2015 as a follow-up to an initial, 2005, study.• There were significant acreage reductions in maintained turf, as well as in overseeded and irrigated turf.• Trends in decreased acreage came about primarily through a combination of voluntary reductions in acreage and a net decrease in the number of golf facilities in the USA.•

Since an initial survey was conducted in 2006, U.S. golf courses have reduced their water use by 21.8%, from a projected 2.379 million acre-feet/year to 1.859 million acre-feet of water per year. Factors contributing to this decrease include voluntary reductions in number of irrigated acres, reductions in number of golf facilities, and water conservation practices. These practices allowed U.S. golf courses to use less water than predicted by reference evapotranspiration (ETo) values. There is dramatic regional variation in water use patterns across the United States. The median amount of water used by an 18-hole golf course was highest in the Southwest (3.87 acre-feet/acre per year) and lowest in the Transition zone (cool-to warm-season grass adaption areas) (0.60 acre-feet/acre per year), and water use ranged from no irrigation to >9 acre-feet/acre per year on a course-by-course basis. Regional variation was most heavily influenced by climate, due to the broad range of ETo and precipitation values among the study's seven agronomic regions. Recycled water use has increased to approximately 25% of all water used on golf courses in 2013, from 14.7% in 2005. Future decreases in golf course water use will likely depend on further development of water budgeting and water management plans, adoption of monitoring technology, improved irrigation efficiency, and further reductions in irrigated acreages.

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Between an initial survey in 2007 and a follow-up in 2014, US golf courses have decreased their nutrient use, with annual reductions of 34% (30,970 tons) for N, 53% (17,867 tons) for P 2 O 5 , and 42% (37, 419 tons) for K 2 O (potash). Reductions in the number of fertilized acres, golf course closures, and reductions in nutrient use rates were responsible for the observed trends. There is dramatic, climate-driven regional variation in nutrient use across the United States, with the lowest rates in the cool climates of the Northeast and North Central regions and the highest rates in the warm climates of the Southeast and Southwest regions. Future reductions in nutrient use on golf courses will be facilitated by continued adoption of conservation measures, adoption of lower nutrient use guidelines, additional governmental regulation, and cutbacks in the number of golf courses.

Irrigation water quality is one of the most important environmental issues facing the green industry today, especially in urban areas with competing interests for limited water resources. Fifty‐eight irrigation water survey kits were sent to golf courses within the Groundwater Protected Area of southeastern Pennsylvania. A total of 35 (60%) water samples were received and grouped into one of five water source categories: domestic, lake, recycled, stream, and well. Laboratory analysis measured or calculated 26 parameters for each irrigation sample and also rain water. For all samples, 22 of 26 parameters were observed within the normal range for turfgrass, but four parameters were not: pH, bicarbonate, iron, and nitrate. All irrigation water samples, however, were considered to be of acceptable to good quality for establishing and maintaining turfgrasses in southeastern Pennsylvania. Information from this survey was used to communicate proper irrigation water quality monitoring and environmental stewardship to the golf course segment of the green industry in southeastern Pennsylvania.