The Problem with the Golf Courses

There are 32,000 golf courses around the world. This game is popular mainly in the English-speaking countries such as U.S., UK, Canada, Australia.

The Bulgarian Golf Association has been trying to advertise and develop the game in Bulgaria in the last couple of years. The first golf course was built near Ihtiman, others followed in Sliven and Ravno pole. Golf courses near Razgrad, Bansko, Dolna Banya, the area between Kostenets and Borovets, the area between Balchik and Kavarna, Primorsko are currently being constructed or planned. A British newspaper recently forecasted that in a few years there will be 40 courses in Bulgaria. How are we to react to these prospects?

Most Bulgarians will remain indifferent to this fact. Golf has no traditions in our country, and it’s also affordable only for the rich. Only the subscription for the higher-quality courses reaches tens of thousands of dollars. There are however many facts about this sport’s development in Bulgaria that bring about worries.

Not every lawn or meadow in Bulgaria is suitable to be a golf course. The standard course is about 500-600 decares (50-60 hectares), but the more special ones reach up to 1600-2000 decares (160-200 hectares) in size. Their construction involves taking away the surface layer of the soil, thereby changing the relief. A new soil layer is put. It is enriched with fertilizers and treated with pesticides and herbicides against weeds and pest. An irrigation system is constructed, artificial ponds are created. The terrain gets covered with turf. Grass mixtures of species, untypical for the region, are sown. 13 tons of such mixtures were used for the grassing of the Sliven course only.

The natural landscape, flora, and fauna disappear. There are about 16,000 golf courses in the U.S. Most of them are situated in California where the usage of potable water for their maintenance periodically creates water shortages. Spain, where water resources are scarce, has similar problems. There, the watering of the numerous golf courses along the sea coast not only uses up drinking water but also gives rise to secondary salting of the soil and subsequently of groundwater.

In fact, problems arise when the places where golf courses are built are not carefully chosen. The golf course near the village of Ravno pole destroyed a spring marshland where thousands of water-loving birds used to flock during their migration along the Aristotle migratory route. In 2005, it was buried beneath tons of silt brought by the swollen Lesnovska river.

The golf course near Razlog was threatening to dry up a marshland where several very rare plants can be found.

The golf course at Trakiyski skali, between the villages Bozhurets and Topola (Kavarna region) proved to be the most problematic of all golf courses in Bulgaria until now. Its construction has already begun over an area of 1600 decares, on the landslide terrace in the waterless Dobrudzha plateau. It is the place with the most expensive drinking water in Bulgaria. An artificial pond and villa complex are being built in a region with an active landslide. The golf course and the vacation settlements around it destroy unique West Pontus steppe whose protection is a priority for the European Union.

The populations of tens of protected plant and animal species, some of which have only one habitat in the country, are under threat. Bulgaria is breaking its commitments related to the European Natura 2000 network. This is taking place following the issuing of an unscrupulous report on the Environmental Impact Assessment, full of mistakes and deception , which recommends “transferring” the protected species elsewhere. And what will happen afterwards when the golf course situated over the landslide starts to be irrigated with Dobrudzha’s scarce water?

We are not against the development of this sport in Bulgaria. But it should be accompanied by a very careful assessment where and how new golf courses are to be built. This shouldn’t happen at the expense of our nature and the interests of local people. Our country boasts a rich biological diversity, and golf doesn’t have many fervent fans among the people. Instead of encroaching on valuable natural ecosystems, golf courses can be built on fallow agricultural land.