Stream now with KPBS+ / Watch Monday, April 13, 2026 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS 2
Learn how a new wave of golf course managers are reducing their environmental footprint. Golf courses are legendary for their perfectly manicured greens surrounded by lovely landscapes that are generously fertilized, treated, irrigated and frequently mowed. The only "birds" in sight are small, white, round, and hard. New courses are built in place of native habitats, displacing plants, insects and animals.
But there is a new wave of golfers, designers and managers. Golfers don't want to spend their time exposed to grass and grounds heavily treated with pesticides. Golf course managers want to reduce costly and environmentally harmful inputs into their greens and grounds. They are irrigating their courses with reclaimed water (purple pipe water).
In the bigger picture, designers are rethinking approaches and looking to carve out only enough habitat to make room for greens and fairways among the native plants. On this episode, we visit green golf courses and talk with their managers, designers, and patrons to explore the new golf course paradigm.
Resources: The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe; Shady Canyon Golf Course; Palos Verdes Golf Club; Torrey Pines Golf Course; and The Crossing at Carlsbad Golf Course.
Watch On Your Schedule: Episodes of A GROWING PASSION are available to stream with KPBS+, a new free streaming video app designed for ease and enjoyment everywhere you watch including Roku, smart TVs and mobile devices. It’s locally curated for San Diego by the KPBS programming team. With a clean and intuitive design, discovering and enjoying KPBS and PBS content on-demand has never been easier.
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About The Series: A GROWING PASSION is an Emmy-winning lifestyle program that explores San Diego County's agriculture and horticulture activities as an expression of this growing earth-friendly movement. From backyard food production to major horticultural growers, from low-water landscapes to sustainable practices around the home and in the garden, we tell stories about the natural and manmade landscapes that shape the social, cultural, environmental and economic interests of our community. We celebrate how San Diego grows.
