Edition #22

'Fore' The Future

Sustainable September: Autumn Resilience, Proven Progress and a Greener Future for Golf

September marks a turning point in the golfing calendar. The longest summer days begin to fade, temperatures become milder and courses across the UK start preparing for the wetter, cooler months ahead. Yet there is still plenty of golf to enjoy, from late-season competitions and society days to peaceful evening rounds in the early autumn sunshine.

It is also the ideal month to recognise the practical sustainability work taking place throughout the game. Golf clubs are restoring habitats, monitoring wildlife, managing water more carefully and adopting technology that can reduce energy and resource consumption. These projects demonstrate that sustainability is not simply an ambition for the future - it is already influencing how golf courses are managed today.

At Stanners Golf, we share that forward-looking approach. Through responsibly sourced fabrics, durable product design and renewable innovations such as our corn-based golf glove, we aim to give golfers the performance they expect while reducing reliance on conventional, fossil-fuel-derived materials.

September Performance: Ready for Changing Conditions

September golf can bring warm sunshine, cool mornings, sudden showers and stronger winds, sometimes during the same round. Clothing and equipment therefore need to offer versatility as well as reliable performance.

Breathable layers help golfers adapt as temperatures change, while lightweight, weather-resistant fabrics provide protection without restricting the swing. Moisture management remains important, but durability becomes equally valuable as wetter ground and variable conditions place greater demands on apparel, gloves and footwear. A more sustainable golfing wardrobe is not only about the materials used. Extending the useful life of a product can help reduce the frequency with which it needs to be replaced. Choosing versatile garments, caring for them correctly and buying equipment designed for repeated use are practical ways golfers can reduce waste without sacrificing comfort or performance.

Our approach at Stanners Golf is to create products that combine these priorities. Performance, durability and environmental responsibility should work together, helping golfers prepare for changing conditions while making more considered purchasing decisions.

Carnoustie Measures Its Biodiversity

Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland provides an important example of how golf facilities can understand and enhance their ecological value. In 2024, Carnoustie was selected to participate in The R&A's five-year biodiversity project, which is examining the wildlife and habitat value of golf courses. The work includes bat and amphibian surveys, wildlife audits and habitat-condition assessments. Information gathered through these surveys will help identify areas where habitats can be protected or improved.

The project is significant because effective conservation begins with reliable evidence. By recording species and assessing habitat quality over several years, course managers can make better-informed decisions and measure whether those decisions deliver genuine environmental benefits.

For golfers, many of these improvements may occur away from the principal playing areas. Woodland edges, ponds, rough grassland and out-of-play spaces can all provide valuable habitat without compromising the quality of the course.

500 Species at Morley Hayes

Morley Hayes in Derbyshire shows just how much wildlife can be supported within a carefully managed golf landscape. A biodiversity initiative featured by the GEO Foundation recorded 500 species thriving beyond the fairways, illustrating the variety of plants and animals that golf facilities can accommodate when habitats are protected and properly managed.

The lesson from Morley Hayes is that conservation does not depend on a single large intervention. It can result from a connected network of smaller habitats, including native planting, mature trees, wetland areas, wildflower spaces and less intensively managed rough.

September is particularly important for these areas.

As flowering plants begin to set seed and wildlife prepares for autumn, leaving selected habitats undisturbed can provide food and shelter. Golfers can support this work by respecting designated conservation areas, avoiding unnecessary entry into long rough and recognising that a slightly more natural-looking course can also be a healthier one.

Berkhamsted's Long-Term Course Philosophy

Berkhamsted Golf Club in Hertfordshire is another valuable UK example. Its sustainability work has been recognised as a case study by England Golf, demonstrating how environmental management can be integrated into the identity and everyday operation of a golf club.

Berkhamsted is especially notable for its heathland character and its long-established approach to playing surfaces. The club's example highlights a central principle of sustainable golf: courses should be managed in harmony with their local landscape rather than being forced into a single, resource-intensive model.

This can mean favouring grasses suited to local soil and climate, protecting native habitats and accepting natural seasonal variation. It can also reduce dependence on intensive inputs while helping courses become more resilient to drought, disease and extreme weather.

For golfers, this approach encourages a broader understanding of course quality. A sustainable course may not remain uniformly green throughout every season, but it can still provide firm, enjoyable and strategically rewarding playing conditions.

What Golfers Can Do This September

The environmental challenges facing golf cannot be solved by clubs and manufacturers alone. Golfers also influence the culture and future direction of the sport.

This September, every player can take several practical steps:

Respect habitat areas by keeping out of protected rough, wildflower zones and conservation spaces.

Repair and maintain equipment so that gloves, clothing and accessories remain in use for longer.

Wash apparel carefully, using cooler cycles where suitable and avoiding unnecessary tumble drying.

Carry reusable essentials, including a refillable water bottle, to reduce reliance on single-use items.

Support responsible clubs and brands that provide clear information about their environmental work.

Accept seasonal course conditions, recognising that firm, natural or temporarily wet surfaces are part of outdoor sport.

Individually, these actions may appear small. Repeated across thousands of rounds and purchasing decisions, however, they can help establish more responsible expectations throughout golf.

Looking Ahead: A Season of Measurable Change

September reminds us that transition can be positive. Courses change colour, wildlife prepares for colder weather and greenkeeping teams begin the essential work that supports the next playing season.

The case studies at Carnoustie, Morley Hayes and Berkhamsted show that golf facilities can contribute to conservation in different ways. Carnoustie's five-year research project is building evidence about biodiversity. Morley Hayes has demonstrated the potential for 500 recorded species to coexist with golf. Berkhamsted illustrates how long-term management rooted in local conditions can support both sustainability and the character of a course.

At Stanners Golf, we are committed to playing our part through durable design, considered material choices and renewable innovations such as our corn-based golf glove. We believe the future of the game depends on collaboration between golfers, clubs, greenkeepers, governing bodies and manufacturers.

This September, every changing leaf and every late-season round offers a reminder: golf depends on the natural world. By learning from proven examples and making better choices today, we can help protect the courses, landscapes and traditions we value for generations to come.