Oral Presentations
The Links to Cancer: How Golf Became Dangerous and What We Can do to Save the Game
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Chad Bishop
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Wildlife Biology
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Two years ago, my teammate was diagnosed with soft-tissue sarcoma. It was the third girl to develop a tumor and the second to develop cancer on the University of Montana women’s golf team. The coincidence of these events made me consider what effect golfing has on people and the environment. It led to me ask the question: does repetitive exposure to golf courses increase risk of disease? and if so, what can be done?
This study is a comprehensive meta-analysis on health claims linked to exposure to golf courses, more specifically the chemicals used to maintain their appearance. The average golf course in America uses 50,000 pounds of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers each year. They disrupt local ecologies, contaminate ground water, rivers, lakes and streams with run-off, and they are responsible for the bioaccumulation of chemicals which remain dangerous for decades. Despite the adverse effects of golf courses on the environment, there remains an opportunity to transform the golf industry into a sustainable enterprise. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) regulates the Best Management Practices for each states’ golf courses. This study assesses the quality of Montana’s Best Management Practices, provides a list of alternative management practice that have been identified as safe for humans and the environment, and seeks include wildlife management principles. This is especially important going forward as there have been legal decisions that put the liability on golf courses using carcinogenic chemicals. There are always natural alternatives to the synthetic chemicals, and much better ways of incorporating the natural environment into the overall function of golf courses to help minimize their negative ecological impact.
Category
Physical Sciences
The Links to Cancer: How Golf Became Dangerous and What We Can do to Save the Game
UC 330
Two years ago, my teammate was diagnosed with soft-tissue sarcoma. It was the third girl to develop a tumor and the second to develop cancer on the University of Montana women’s golf team. The coincidence of these events made me consider what effect golfing has on people and the environment. It led to me ask the question: does repetitive exposure to golf courses increase risk of disease? and if so, what can be done?
This study is a comprehensive meta-analysis on health claims linked to exposure to golf courses, more specifically the chemicals used to maintain their appearance. The average golf course in America uses 50,000 pounds of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers each year. They disrupt local ecologies, contaminate ground water, rivers, lakes and streams with run-off, and they are responsible for the bioaccumulation of chemicals which remain dangerous for decades. Despite the adverse effects of golf courses on the environment, there remains an opportunity to transform the golf industry into a sustainable enterprise. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) regulates the Best Management Practices for each states’ golf courses. This study assesses the quality of Montana’s Best Management Practices, provides a list of alternative management practice that have been identified as safe for humans and the environment, and seeks include wildlife management principles. This is especially important going forward as there have been legal decisions that put the liability on golf courses using carcinogenic chemicals. There are always natural alternatives to the synthetic chemicals, and much better ways of incorporating the natural environment into the overall function of golf courses to help minimize their negative ecological impact.