The Klosters Golf Club in Switzerland is GEO’s (Golf Environment Organization) first pick for overall environmental quality, in part because of its versatile land-use management strategy and the challenges it faces at 3,900 feet in a highly sensitive alpine environment.
The public nine-hole course becomes the lower portion of a popular ski resort in the winter. Canadian architect Les Furber worked on the conversion five years ago and was able to incorporate the region’s rolling alpine landscape and wildflower meadows into the course design. Of the property’s 49 acres, only 20 require intense turf management.
The club works regularly with environment nonprofits Pro Natura and WWF to monitor and protect the meadows, which host more than 160 plant species, including rare anemone and orchids, and are home to more than 90 species of flying insects.
Two strips of glacial moraine traversing the golf course remain undisturbed, as do several historic hay barns still used by local farmers.
Tasha Eichenseher (source – National Geographic – “National Geographic News series on global water issues.“
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