ENVIRONMENTAL
DRIVING STANDARDS
Pop star Justin Timberlake is hoping to inspire the golf industry to go green with the reopening of his eco friendly course near Memphis, Tennessee. Magali Robathan fi nds out what makes it so sustainable
J
ustin Timberlake hit his fi rst ever golf ball on the site of what is now the Mirimichi golf resort near Memphis in Tennessee, and it was also the venue for the wedding reception of his mother and stepfather. So when the course came up for sale in 2008, Timberlake
and his family immediately snapped it up. “This [area] is where I grew up, this is
home...and it always will be for me,” says Timberlake. “Any time you can give back to that and get 18 holes in, it’s a win-win.” The Big Creek Golf Course, as it was called when
Timberlake bought it, was in a state of disrepair and was struggling fi nancially. It needed extensive renovations and Timberlake was determined from the outset that it would be as environmentally friendly as possible. He also wanted it to be a public, rather than a private, course so that as many people in the area as possible could use it. “I was able to pose the question, is it possible for a golf course to actually be green?” said Timberlake.
Two years on, that question seems to have been answered. The course was reopened as Mirimichi (which is the Native American Cherokee term for ‘place of happy retreat’) in July 2009, before closing again for further
improvements in 2010. The fi nished course, complete with a 9 hole executive course for children and beginners called Little Mirimichi, was opened in September 2010. The original fl eet of golf carts has been replaced with electric carts, native plants and trees have been planted to reduce the need for maintenance, a new irrigation system maximises the effi ciency of water usage and re-circulates water throughout the course and a range of measures have been put in place to protect the site’s wildlife. These, along with many other measures introduced to
ensure Mirimichi is as sustainably-run as possible, have resulted in the course being the fi rst in the US to receive Classic certifi cation by Audubon International – a not for profi t environmental education organisation. It is also one of just 14 golf clubs in the world to be certifi ed by the Golf Environment Organisation, an international non-govern- mental organisation working to improve the environmental performance of the golf industry. Timberlake and the team hope it will inspire other golf courses to follow in its footsteps. “Environmental sustainability at Mirimichi is about more than what we can do at our course,” says Timberlake. “It is about taking a leadership role and encouraging other golf
Water consumption is minimised at Mirimichi and care is taken to ensure fertilisers do not drain into streams and lakes
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ISSUE 1 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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