From Golf Course to a "Field of Dreams"

If you’ve been paying any attention to what’s been happening at the open spaces around campus recently, you’ll know that UCSB is conducting a huge restoration effort to the west of Isla Vista, which will soon be open for the public's enjoyment. But is "out with the old, in with the new" the right thing to do here?

The restoration site, North Campus Open Space, is occurring over what used to be the Ocean Meadows Golf Course, not-so-affectionately called “Ocean Ghettos” by many restoration advocates. Built in 1966, the golf course had its years of ups and downs before it was sold to the university and the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County in 2013.

“Ocean Meadows was a pretty poor golf course,” recalls Lisa Stratton. Stratton is the restoration manager of the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER), the university organization that is managing North Campus Open Space. “It would get flooded almost every year, and the soils were always salty, especially when Devereux Slough would breach and the ocean water would also flood the golf course.”

UCSB always intended to restore the golf course for public recreation. However, the university spent $7 million to purchase that land from the owner of the golf course, and we will need even more to restore this 64-acre parcel of land back to a wetland. Is that money worth it?

Many organizations think it is. The purchase reflects recent trends in open space and recreation. The Audubon Society states that the number of golfers has fallen more than 16 percent in the last decade and a half, while the number of restoration sites has increased worldwide. However, it's more difficult to restore a habitat than it is to preserve non-developed land, and it costs even more money.

More people use public outdoor walking trails than golf courses, for sure. Before, people would need a reason to be on the golf course, but once the initial restoration is complete, anyone from you to your faculty advisor would be able to walk among the birdsong and open air.

Restoring land has other benefits as well. By excavating the dirt that was originally dumped into the creek during the golf course’s construction, the burgeoning wetland can hold more water and reduce flooding risks to nearby homes.

Additionally, by replanting native plants, habitat is created for native animals. This restoration approach is called the “Field of Dreams” after the movie of the same name that stated “if you build it, they will come” – “they” being the native animals people are hoping to bring back. Benefits like these are called “ecosystem services,” where the biological and physical components of an ecosystem benefit us in ways such as flood reduction or increased pollination of edible plants.

Is it worth sacrificing that land that could be used for golfing? Golf has its place as the sport of choice for those at retirement age, as it provides decent exercise without requiring a whole lot of mobility.

Some also say that it would’ve been possible for the land to remain a golf course while still fulfilling some ecological functions. There is such an effort now at the La Cumbre Country Club close to downtown Santa Barbara. This golf course has a body of water, a small lake that attracts many ducks and other birds. The La Cumbre Country Club is currently certified as bird habitat through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf. They have a biological consultant, David Kisner, who is assessing the ecological resources of the area as part of the program. He has helped set up and monitor nest boxes around the golf course, which are currently occupied by western bluebirds.

Can we keep both golfers and nature walkers around? Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem so. Whizzing golf balls pose a risk to pedestrians. More than that, the ecosystem of a golf course is not especially rich. A comparable flat land with a body of water, Lake Los Carneros Park in Goleta, hosts far more wildlife and three different bird species in their nest boxes.

With the North Campus Open Space restoration already producing ecosystem services after a year of alteration, the benefits outweigh the costs of getting rid of the underused golf course. This is especially prevalent in the face of climate change, where flooding is projected to increase; having a wetland between the ocean and the housing will help prevent such disasters. While some golf courses may be able to help the environment while remaining functional, Ocean Meadows was not one of them.

Ocean Meadows Golf Course flooded after the 2016-2017 rain season. Image from CCBER.

Elaine Tan is a past communications intern at the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER). She writes most often about birds, insects, and the ecosystem, which she hopes to study in the future.

Sources:

Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration. “The past, present, and future hydrology of Devereux Slough.”

International Audubon Society. “About the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf.”

National Audubon Society. “Bye-bye golf courses, hello nature preserves.”